Gainesville Sun
Letters to the Editor
Published: Friday, February 26, 2010
Florida entwined by serpent of sprawl
The Graham Center at UF recently hosted a talk by Bob Rhodes on growth management that was billed as part of the series on Florida history. Rhodes is a real estate lawyer whose clients include the St. Joe, Arvida, and Disney development companies. The talk was mainly a trashing of the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 (A4).
There is presently a serpent in the system allowing ugly sprawl. The proposed state constitutional amendment specifies that local voters will have the final approval on any amendments to the local seven-year comprehensive land use plan.
It is reported that about 350,000 empty housing units exist in Florida, and that present comp plans project a population of 100 million. Those numbers suggest that without control we are planning to build houses to nowhere.
If Bob Rhodes and the developer industry defeat A4 on Nov. 2 they will have a free rein to continue the sprawl. The Graham Center should allow FHD to present its historic version of Florida's growth management.
Chuck Hawkins, Gainesville
Florida Hometown Democracy Committee
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