In fairness, I asked to be removed from Al Formans mailing list after he exposed himself as a dedicated denier of global warming... anyone denying 97% of all peer reviewed and published science on the issue the last ten years is too loonie to trust.. having said that, I believe he is spot on here, as I have heard from other sources how John Haddox is in bed with this....and I voted for John.. sigh... Martin County Defender Early Warning ALERT 11-05-14 Unrestrained Growthers plot to incorporate Palm City in order to bypass re-elected Commission majority In another consecutive County election, residents have voted to have a Commission majority made up by recently re-elected Commissioners Sarah Heard and Ed Fielding, plus Anne Scott, who was elected in 2012. These Sensible Growth commissioners have done a fine job restoring the provisions in the Comp Plan that protected residential communities and the environment that had been eroded by prior developer-compliant Commissions. They have also intelligently re-written the costly sweetheart contract with the Business Development Board, and rejected projects that would have exploited the County, especially South County. Rounding out the five-person Commission are Unrestrained Growth Commissioner Doug Smith, a holdover from the old developer-compliant Commission (won his 2012 primary with 44% plurality thanks to a third spoiler candidate) and John Haddox, first elected in 2012, and often considered the swing vote -- though he seems to be swinging more frequently with Doug Smith despite what some voters expected from rhetoric in his election campaign. More on Haddox in a moment. The frustrated Unrestrained Growthers The people who backed the unsuccessful, and often contemptible, campaigns of the candidates opposing Heard and Fielding have clearly been frustrated that voters continue to reaffirm that the best way to retain our quality of life is to keep electing Sensible Growth commissioners. It cuts into their profits that used to be enjoyed under the old Commission by developers -- especially from out-of-county - and their enablers (lawyers, land planners, environmental and engineering consultants, financiers, construction trades public relations, and business organizations, etc.), and large landowners. The plot to incorporate Palm City As the frustrated people noted above came to realize that thoughtful, restrained growth rather than bubble-burst growth would be the path taken, certainly for the next two years, and probably well beyond, they looked for a way around the rules that kept them in check. Whether or not someone shouted Eureka! when the idea was put forward to convert unincorporated Palm City into an independent municipality like Stuart we dont know, but it has led smart money fast growth folks to warm to the idea. Consider the potential opportunities when all that campaign money can be focused on just the 23,000 residents of Palm City and their municipal officials instead of the 150,000 County residents and their officials. Land use rules, variances and zoning could be manipulated to accommodate all kinds of development. Of course, the State Legislature must authorize it, and they may be reluctant to do so unless it appears that the people of Palm City really want it for themselves. So various County area business leaders are reported to be working on this, but for now the Palm City Chamber is the focus for carrying the ball for the business groups. It lends a veneer of local grass roots. . It will be a challenge to convince Palm City residents that they should welcome incorporation. FACT: In the more than seven years that we published Martin County Defender every week, and distribution rose to 5,000 subscribers, we enjoyed considerable back and forth communication with many of those readers. Yet never once did any reader ever suggest that Palm City should incorporate. Ah, to be a fly on the wall of a pro-incorporation meeting sitting round the conference table, kicking around ideas on how to persuade residents to like the idea. The arguments they would concoct to sell the idea, the scripted pitch to deny the negatives, plans to fund the campaign, brainstorming socially acceptable approaches to attack opponents, and clever ways to make unfulfillable promises sound reasonable -- it would be revealing and entertaining. Commissioner Haddox might like a piece of the action; his plan for commercial sprawl Palm Citys local weekly newspaper, Your Voice, interviewed Haddox, and published the result in its Oct. 31, 2014 issue. He is all aboard, claiming that incorporation seems like an economically good decision for Palm City, which he represents as part of District 5. So much so that he is quoted as saying: If they incorporate, I would gladly volunteer to be their city administrator. Well, the job would probably pay more than double what the County pays a commissioner. Does he have experience to qualify for the job? Worse yet, Your Voice reports: Haddox already has an economic-development plan. Id go out (Martin Highway) and develop the (expletive) out of it, he said. If youve ever traveled from an interstate exit on a long thoroughfare to a town, you know what that usually looks like: Maybe a nice strip mall and office building or two, but scattered along the way on that on Martin Highway, there likely would be gas stations, bars, burger joints, car repair, a used car lot, used furniture, a motel and maybe a tattoo parlor. Though legitimate businesses, is that what (non-developer) residents want to greet incoming traffic? HOW WOULD AN OVER-DEVELOPED INCORPORATED PALM CITY IMPACT ITS RESIDENTS AND THE REST OF THE COUNTY?. ► Chances are that as a municipality, property taxes will rise. We see it in Stuart where residents pay proportionately more for fire/rescue. Even if such vital services as police and utilities are contracted with the County, it will cost more because of scale. A must-negotiate price is always more costly than a shared cost. A city of Palm City would not have FPL in its tax base. ► A logical city is fairly compact and urban, like Stuart. Bedroom towns like Jupiter Island and Sewalls Point are a different matter. Palm City is spread out, mostly suburban and rural, especially west of the Palm City Bridge where all that relatively inexpensive farm land out to I95 and beyond has no doubt caught the eye of developers. ► An efficient government structure that must provide a wide range of services for its residents takes years to develop. We see screw-ups in long established governments. Just imagine the early years of a start-up government struggling with mistakes and costly deficiencies year after year. ► An incorporated city has the power to annex adjacent communities. Would that please the neighbors of the City of Palm City? ► Even a home rule city is still subject to certain county rules. So incorporation adds another layer of government to those already in place. ► Stuart, with its 16,000 population, will be competing with the residents of Palm City, now at 23,000 and pushed to grow fast by incorporation advocates. Business will be lured away to a competitor not suffering from All Aboard Florida (if that railroad monstrosity should become a reality). The County will be under pressure to put County buildings in Palm City. The growth of a municipal Palm City would contribute to the decline of Stuart. ► Some County tax revenue will be diverted to the city with new city taxes. So will such County services as libraries and parks be reduced? Or will County have to increase its property tax to compensate? All for what purpose? So Unrestrained Growthers will have a more free hand to develop at the expense of most everyone elses quality of life. Picture what an incorporated Palm City would look like on the five-mile stretch on Martin Highway from I95 to Citrus. Now its pristine greenery. After an incorporation, and developing the (expletive) out of it, the view would not be a pretty picture. Al Forman PS: You are welcome to forward this ALERT to everyone on your contact list.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:41:22 +0000
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