Comment Up
On a 3/2 vote with McVoy and Maier dissenting, Ordinance 2016-04 was passed on the First Reading. The three commissioners who took the side of a developer by voting to upzone these parcels, are all running for re-election.
The city attorney is still sticking to his opinion that the Charter Heights Amendment and our right to vote on it does not exist. The city waited to move the results forward to Tallahassee in March 2013 with the hopes/ possibility of Rick Scott signing a bill three months after the fact that had nothing to do with HB537 so that they could gleefully tell us that our vote didn't matter. The people won that vote in March 2013 by nearly 56%.
The fact of the matter is the election results of 45 feet stand per Florida Statutes
Section 166.031(2) and was effective on the date it was certified, March
19, 2013. According to the Inspector General's office, the date that
the revised charter was filed with the Department of State, or whether
it was filed at all, has no legal effect on whether or when the charter
amendment is effective.
The bill, HB 537 prohibits initiative or referendum
processes for any development order, local comprehensive plan amendment, or
map amendment. That was NOT what the heights election was about. It was a CHARTER CHANGE and in order to change the Charter, it must be by vote of the electorate.
The Charter is the bible or Constitution of the city, not the comprehensive plan or a map that can be changed by a political vote from the dais. The Charter already addressed heights. That is why Respectful Planning PAC was formed and took the issue to the voters. Their vote was decided on March 12, 2013 and it is supreme.
My comment last night stated that for this upzoning request to even appear before the commission was because the commission ignored our vote and its outcome on the charter amendment, stomping on the rights of the people in order to move forward with their desires. They could have honored our vote but they chose to ignore it. Why? We are the people they serve. Why wouldn’t the wishes of their constituents be of concern? Are we still a democracy?
"I am here to remind you that there was a charter amendment on heights. We all take our vote very seriously as should you, as it is the most important right we have as citizens. And no matter how you feel personally about it, the people won at the ballot box on 45 feet in the area of the Gulfstream. As elected representatives of all of us who have standing in this endeavor—those of us who petitioned for (incidentally Helen Marino and I were the top petitioners), those of us who campaigned for and who voted for this Charter Amendment, expect you to honor this vote.
Palm Beach Post article, another article by them that NEVER mentions the Charter Amendment. Why not?
4 comments:
If you think about this, Scott, Pam and Andy are totally unacceptable as commissioners. They are so insulated by their friends who support them like MF and his wife who are both in love with arrogance. It is sickening. To have a group of people such as this continue to lie and get their way, you have to wonder if some palms are being greased. There is always a self-serving reason when an elected body goes against the electorate.
If you look at the future land use map, which is pretty comprehensive, he is asking for the zoning to be what is the same from Dixie to Golfview and from 1st Ave South to 2nd Ave North. It is all the same zoning. Downtown/Mixed Use.
Preventing him from changing his zone is preventing him from building anything but multi family on those few lots. So you want town houses there?
No of fence but i'm gonna have to follow the advice of a real lawer the city atterny. he's got a license to be a lawer and he say that charter vote don't count. You ain't no lawer, just a wannabe
Well, that's what you should do anonymous @ 3:44...you sound like a very intelligent guy who has been on the sauce for awhile.
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