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September 2, 2010 |
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| July 02, 2009 |
By: Terry Sheridan |
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n the month since sweeping changes to Florida’s growth management law took effect, local government opposition to the amendments has been building. Now, a group of cities and counties is poised to fight the new law in court.
Weston, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Key Biscayne, Cutler Bay and Miami Gardens, along with Lee County and Lake County’s Fruitland Park contend the new law violates the state Constitution by requiring local governments to pay for revisions to plans and road construction to accommodate builders’ projects without financial help from the state, so-called unfunded mandates.
The governments also are challenging the law’s affordable housing and security camera requirements, saying they have nothing to do with growth management and violate the Constitution’s single-subject rule.
“Seven governments have joined Weston [in opposing the law], and several others are considering this within the next two weeks,” said Weston City Attorney Jamie Cole of Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske in Fort Lauderdale.
Senate Bill 360, sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in early June, targets the state’s 29-year-old Growth Management Act.
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Called the “Community Renewal Act,” the law establishes “dense urban land areas,” which are defined as municipalities averaging 1,000 people per square mile and having a minimum population of 5,000; or counties with an average of 1,000 people per square mile or a population of at least 1 million.
Developers in areas designated as “dense urban land areas” are not subject to local requirements to mitigate the impact of their projects on roads and schools.
Under the new law, 245 jurisdictions encompassing about half of the state’s 15 million people will be considered dense urban areas, Cole wrote in a June 15 summary to Weston officials.
The law’s critics say that’s one of the most onerous provisions because it allows a greater portion of the state to be considered densely populated. Under that designation, development in those areas can bypass road-building and other transportation requirements for new projects.
Giant mixed-use projects that span multiple governmental jurisdictions, called developments of regional impact, can avoid county and city planners’ reviews under the new law.
The law also prohibits local governments from regulating security cameras in private businesses.
Weston officials, concerned about the bill’s potential impact long before it became law, decided to sue the state if other local governments would join the effort.
In a June 16 letter to all of the state’s cities and counties, Weston City Manager John Flint offered to file and help fund a lawsuit if other local governments would join as plaintiffs and contribute $2,500 each. Weston will pay the remainder.
Weston city officials today are expected to approve the lawsuit, which would be filed next week, Cole said.
Crist’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
“Looks like we’re going to court,” Bennett said. “But I’ll get the last laugh because [the Legislature] will be back in session before they get a court date. Now that I know what their objections are, we’ll fix it. And I still contend we’ll get growth going again in this state.”
For Weston, nothing makes the law’s impact clearer than the proposed Davie Commons, a 2-million-square-foot mixed-use project by Turnberry Associates in Davie, Flint said.
“The new law removes traffic [requirements] from the planning process and that’s a key issue for us in that project,” Flint said. “I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned in trying to defeat the Commons.”
Davie and Weston have been battling for months over the traffic impact expected from the project at I-75 and Royal Palm Boulevard.
Broward County planners say several nearby streets in Weston will have to be widened to accommodate the Commons traffic. That requires Weston’s approval, which the city has refused to give. Studies haven’t yet shown how much of an impact the project would have on traffic or how much Weston would have to pay, Flint said. But governments typically pay at least some portion of road work.
Davie Mayor Judy Paul did not return a phone call by deadline. Former Mayor Tom Truex, who was in office during much of the early planning of the project, declined comment.
Beyond Davie Commons, though, the law offers enough worry “to go around” for all local governments, Flint said.
“Our concern is that some elected body will be left to explain why taxpayers will pay for roads instead of the developers,” he said.
Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher said city commissioners didn’t need a lengthy debate over the lawsuit before voting unanimously to join Weston’s effort.
Other cities and counties either have not responded to Weston yet or are still weighing joining the lawsuit.
Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis said the city is awaiting the opinion of City Attorney Sam Goren before deciding to join the lawsuit. Ortis, former president of the Florida League of Cities, said the league also is considering joining the lawsuit.
Goren was vacationing and unavailable for comment.
Rebecca O’Hara, legislative director of the Florida League of Cities, said it would be highly unusual for the association to become involved in issues at the circuit court level.
But, “we’re all about home rule and I’m not about to stand in the way of any city doing what they think is in the best interests of their citizens,” she said. “If they think [the lawsuit] will serve their objectives and quality of life, that’s what they are elected to do.”
Hallandale Beach has agreed to join the suit but has not yet officially contacted Weston, and Parkland was expected to approve the measure this week, Flint said.
City of Miami spokeswoman Kelly Penton said officials were still evaluating Weston’s planned lawsuit. Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, a former legislator, said the City Commission is expected to consider the measure Tuesday.
The growth management amendment roiled this year’s legislative proceedings with the most significant changes since the law was enacted in 1985.
Passed with minutes to spare at the close of the legislative session, some lawmakers refused to vote for a bill they said was certain to carry controversial measures that had been added in the final hours with scant time to debate their value.
Terry Sheridan can be reached at (954) 468-2614.
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