What is Amendment #4?

[Lee]

This is specific to Florida (or possibly only South Florida).  I have seen an amazing amount of signs stating "Vote No on Amendment #4".

I have yet to see one sign that says to vote for it.

I will admit that I am completely uneducated on what amendment #4 is.  Do any of you know?  I find it interesting to see such a disparity in the advertising of this Amendment.

[Dave Gray]

I was curious about this, too, so I did some research.

This is the best I can describe it:  It has to do with requiring a vote to go ahead with new land development.

The pros of the amendment are that it helps limit unchecked growth and urban sprawl.  Proponents also point to so many houses already being empty and not needing to build new.

The cons are that it will be costly, because it requires more government intervention and size to do the job, it will get projects that otherwise wouldn't be an issue caught in the red tape (non-condo), and with the economy how it is now, that it's a dangerous time to prevent growth at all.

From the research I could find, every newpaper in the area recommended voting no.  It appears that most of the "yes on 4" money comes from a single donor, this one lady.  They are very underfunded, as compared to no, which has the support of lots of different business, and the development community.

[Phishfan]

From the research I did it seems communities will only see a few of these referendums a year. The vote no people seem to be overblowing the numbers some (which always happens on both sides of an argument). My issue with voting no, Florida politicians seem to be too closely tied to the builders. I am a bit of a conservationist, although I am far from being an extremist about it, so I kind of like the idea of being able to have a check and balance against back door deals getting through.

FYI, the St. Pete ads are not accurate as they did try something similar, but it not the same plan as Amendment 4. Under Amendment 4, the people are only involved after government has put together a plan (which they have to do already). Amendment 4 is just a check system to put a vote forth on the plans. The St. Pete version was basically allowing citizens to put forth land plans. That is why they were having so many struggles and lawsuits.

[Buddhagirl]

I actually got a voicemail telling me to vote "yes" on this. I have no idea what it's about. I vaguely understand it, but not really.

[CF DolFan]

please vote no on 4. People will lose jobs and it will cost the governement more money to hold these elections. Next you can add in the fact they will have numerous more voting being done by people who have no clue as to what they are voting on. We need to find a way to stop governement from cutting deals but this isn't it.

Trust me. I freaking  hate the politics of government and development but if this gets passed development will completley get screwed and come to a standstill. This includes upgrading or remodelling current urban areas.

[Phishfan]

This includes upgrading or remodelling current urban areas.

Not as I understand it. It only applies when land use plans are changed. For example the switching of residential land to commercial, farmland switched to an apartment complex, etc.

Also, these are not special elections so it doesn't cost that much. They will go into the next scheduled election day. They already have to spend the money on the plan anyway. All this does is give the people a direct say in what they want our land in Florida used for.

[CF DolFan]

Not as I understand it. It only applies when land use plans are changed. For example the switching of residential land to commercial, farmland switched to an apartment complex, etc.

Also, these are not special elections so it doesn't cost that much. They will go into the next scheduled election day. They already have to spend the money on the plan anyway. All this does is give the people a direct say in what they want our land in Florida used for.

We amend land use all the time. The new wave is turning commerical into a combined residential -commerical. Think living above the stores. This is the new trend and will require a vote for every single piece of property. The redevelopment board is constantly getting creative to allow more uses for properties.