June 10, 2004

Mr. Thaddeus Cohen, Secretary
Florida Department of Community Affairs

Dear Secretary Cohen:

Florida's system of managing growth will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2005. Communities across Florida have adopted, amended, and updated local comprehensive plans, drafted future land use maps, and enacted land development regulations to promote better planning.

But clearly, on-the-ground results are mixed. On the positive side, Florida has publicly acquired and protected more than a million acres of sensitive natural lands, more than 100,000 units of affordable housing have been developed, and downtowns across the state are being revitalized. At the same time, as around 850 people a day continue to move to Florida, traffic congestion worsens, sprawl continues to encroach on rural lands, schools are overcrowded, and frustration with quality of life issues continue to mount.

Growth management in Florida is at a crossroad.

1000 Friends of Florida, a bi-partisan nonprofit statewide organization founded in 1986 to advocate for effective growth management, recognizes that many of the results of our current system are unacceptable, and warrant significant change. Florida's growth management process continues to be viewed as a national model, but it has resulted in local comprehensive plans that comply with minimum state standards rather than achieving a community's vision of its future. Citizens and developers alike are frustrated with the often complex and time-consuming process. Finally, unless sufficient funding and resources are provided and properly directed, no system of growth management will be truly effective in Florida. Clearly, there is a need for reform.

Some propose that a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of every change to a local comprehensive plan is the answer. We do not agree. As a starting point, 1000 Friends recommends the following steps to improve the way Florida manages its growth:

• Provide adequate state funding and resources for growth management, and direct their investment to limit sprawl and promote better communities.
• Encourage vision-based planning, starting at the neighborhood level.
• Empower citizens to participate more meaningfully in community planning.
• Upgrade local comprehensive plans to exceed minimum state standards.

For more details, go to Growth Management for Florida's Future.

1000 Friends intends to take a leadership role, partnering with other stakeholders in the growth management process (citizens, developers, environmentalists, business leaders, affordable housing advocates, and others) to reach consensus, and propose much-needed growth management reform in the 2005 legislative session and beyond. We hope that you and the Florida Department of Community Affairs will work with us in shaping meaningful reform in order to save special places, fight sprawl, and build better communities across Florida.

Sincerely,

Charles Pattison, AICP
Executive Director
1000 Friends of Florida

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E-mail your thoughts on improving Florida's growth management process to friends@1000fof.org.