Florida Hometown Democracy closer to ballot after court victory

Florida Hometown Democracy closer to ballot after court victory

By Deborah Nelson
June 20, 2009

Florida’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a law allowing voters to “revoke” their signatures on constitutional amendment petitions is unconstitutional.

The 4-2 ruling clears the way for Florida Hometown Democracy to place their much-embattled amendment on the 2010 ballot.

“We are excited that Florida voters will finally have the opportunity to have a vote on growth,” FHD founder Lesley Blackner said in a statement.

A total of 676,811 petition signatures are currently required for any citizen-proposed amendment to be placed on the ballot for vote.

FHD has collected 711,168 signatures, according to Florida’s Division of Elections. Of those, 13,280 were “revoked,” after heavy campaigning by building and other growth industry interests.

The FHD amendment would require Comprehensive Plan changes to be approved by public vote.

Comprehensive plans serve as local government blueprints for growth.

Major land use changes like large subdivision or shopping center rezonings require a Comp Plan update before approval.

Comp Plans may be changed twice a year, and also require state review. Smaller developments that don’t impact the existing Comp Plan don’t require change approval.

Currently, local governments may pass approval without a public vote. The FHD amendment would require future such Comp Plan modification be approved by voters.

It has been vigorously opposed by Florida’s building lobby and the Chamber of Commerce.

Amendment supporters say the measure is the only way to protect dwindling state resources from irresponsible overdevelopment.

“The Hometown Democracy Amendment will simply give voters a say on how their community is planned and only applies to changes to local comprehensive land use plans,” Blackner noted.

“These long-term plans mean nothing when they are subject to piecemeal, willy-nilly changes. The Hometown Democracy Amendment will give voters a citizen veto over elected officials who just can’t say no to speculative developer proposals.”

An industry-backed opposition group called “Floridians for Smarter Growth” is working on an opposition amendment. It would supersede and curb FHD’s measure. That measure currently has 443,510 petition signatures.

“This ridiculous proposal pretends to give a vote on growth but the devil is in the details,” Blackner remarked.

“Voters get a referendum on a comprehensive plan change only if ten percent of the voters go in person to the Supervisor of Elections within 60 days of adoption to sign a petition.

“Many, many Floridians, including the home-bound and military deployed abroad, will be excluded by design from participating in any such citizen-petition process.”

The revocation law was struck down Wednesday, after FHD filed for an expedited hearing to ensure they could get signatures verified in time to make the ballot. Signatures expire after four years.

The Court will issue a full opinion in the future, according to reports.