Yesterday, at a League of Women Voters Forum in Lake Mary, Florida, Lesley Blackner debated Ryan Houck, the overpaid lobbyist for the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the PAC with the warm and fuzzy name, Floridians for Smarter Growth.
Don't let the name fool you. Houck is running around the State to represent developer interests, those very people who are directly responsible for the bad developments and over-growth with their devastating results. He is there looking out for the size of the Chamber's wallet at the expense of our great State.
The fact of the matter is "amendment 4 wouldn't require voter approval of every new hotel and grocery store, but it would require voters to approve changes that weren't already allowed in development plans. For example, voters would be asked to decide if the use of a parcel of land should be changed from farming to housing."
All Mr. Houck's arguments are falling down. Read about it HERE.
Read the latest Florida Trend Magazine article.
Lynn, this is childish at best. Let's at least try to report things factually ... stop trying to twist things. There are NO exemptions in Ms. Blackner's Amendment 4 - any and all changes to the Comprehensive Plans would require a vote. Doesn't matter how technical, how small, how good ... all would require a vote. Stating that it would only be items that aren't already in the plan and acting as if the plans are perfect is just silly ... unless of course you think that policies to encourage green building, prevent climate change, preserve open space, permanently preserve conservation land, etc are not necessary. FACT - all of these items require plan changes. Please don't distort things.
ReplyDeleteGee, are you still "stewing?" If this is David, you got elected with over 68% of the vote. What more do you want? If this is Ryan, well keep on stewing. There is NOTHING I wrote that is not accurate.
ReplyDeleteStewey,just what do you think a Comprehensive plan change is ? Only VERY MAJOR CHANGES TO A COMMUNITY are done by changing a Comp plan. There are no small changes! ONLY, ONLY ONLY land use changes to the plan ,ALREADY APPROVED by a towns elected officials would come before the people.If an elected body is allowing more than a few changes a year to their towns Comp plan, then they are NOT doing the job the citizens elected them to do.They are probably nothing more than a group of paid off growth whores.Comp plan changes SHOULD BE HARD TO GET ! Why do developers think that they can come into a town and be allowed to disrespect that towns vision of what it's community wants growth to be ?It's past time to take the decisions out of the hands of elected officials who only represent their campaign contributors,and who can't,or won't say no to bad growth in their towns.
ReplyDelete'Stewey' is all mixed up, isn't he! Lynn, your account of Amendment 4 is accurate. The opposition to Amendment 4 (developers, land speculators, and crooked pols) are frantic that their gravy train might be ending, and -- since they can't make a case for the status quo -- they resort to lies and accusations, just as Stewey does. These people can't see -- so self-absorbed are they -- that we see the wolf under their sheep's clothing! Thanks for speaking up, Lyn. You are the trustworthy source, not Stewey.
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