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State's Slump Offers A 2nd Chance For Sustainable Development

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By VICTORIA TSCHINKEL

Special to the Tribune

Published: December 14, 2008

Florida is in a painful pause, as is most of the world. I suggest that we view this period, to the extent that we can, as not as being in the middle of a bad accident on the way to the emergency room, but allow ourselves to be in a sunny convalescence, planning for our healthful future.

True, a lot of terrible things are happening. Many are hurting as the national financial crisis deepens. We are third in the country in the rate of foreclosures (one in every 157 homeowners in Florida are now in foreclosure) and thousands more families are facing the loss of their homes. Our net worth is declining from deflating housing values. With today's higher food prices we are paying considerably more for everyday needs, and we have seen how quickly a rise in fuel prices makes commutes to work, school and the store a source of financial misery.

As if that were not enough misery, we know that Florida will be expensively and heartbreakingly affected as hotter temperatures increase the risk of devastating hurricanes and loss of habitat. We have borrowed $672 million from the hurricane recovery fund just to keep us afloat until the Legislature can meet to revise our budget.

Floridians are paying the price for the way this state has grown and developed during the past 50 years. Although it's true that growth management laws have lessened the catastrophic public costs of unwise growth, taxpayers are still subsidizing roads and sewer lines for sprawling development. We get hit in the pocketbook again when we pay for long commutes on congested roads. Transportation in Florida generates almost half of the state's contribution to greenhouse gases, speeding the impacts of climate change. Water managers have already declared portions of the state off-limits for additional withdrawals, and expensive non-traditional sources are contemplated. If we continue the same sprawling pattern of development for the next 50 years, the state could lose as much as another 7 million acres of agricultural lands and natural habitat, permanently altering the face of Florida and leaving our grandchildren the bill.

Some are looking for a quick fix to the state's crippled real estate industry. Wasting no time to find yet another excuse to maintain the old development model, they are proposing policies to roll back land management and environmental laws and regulations under the guise of "jump-starting" the economy. These include proposals to eliminate Florida's growth management laws, and dismantle the Florida Department of Community Affairs. We know that this will just make our existing challenges impossible to overcome.

Florida has a second chance! More than ever, Florida needs strong leadership and a strong backbone to meet these challenges. We must and can save taxpayer dollars, promote sustainable economic development, protect natural lands and address climate change, wisely reduce water and energy consumption and lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Gov. Charlie Crist has set a good pace with his bold energy policies and the protection of the Everglades. Now is not the time for our Legislature to hunker down and hide out in Tallahassee.

Let's focus our efforts and our financial resources on creating great urban places and keeping Florida's rural lands rural. Federal dollars will be available, and we must not waste them. We will promote affordable, energy-efficient housing close to jobs, schools and shops.

Florida will continue to grow and lead in adopting green residential technology, making us the envy of the world. Our communities will be energy-efficient, walkable and bike-friendly, reducing our dependence on the automobile but also helping our waistlines and health.

We will support public transportation to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel and give citizens alternative, less costly ways to get to their jobs. Public investment in the building of this new infrastructure will create jobs and stimulate the economy.

Vibrant cities include attractive and usable parks and recreation areas and protected natural features. Recycling historic and older buildings for new uses can save energy and help maintain a community's unique identity. Promoting cultural opportunities is essential. These must remain high priorities if our cities are to flourish.

Much of our rural land can maintain its character. Some will remain natural, providing opportunities for recreation for humans and habitat for wildlife. This state's great farmlands will remain productive, providing fresh and reasonably priced nourishment for Floridians and others, and hopefully significant energy supplies.

These undeveloped lands also offer the greatest potential for carbon sequestration to offset the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Thirsty Floridians will be grateful for the water supplies rural lands protect.

Finding the way to acquire lands identified as essential for maintaining Florida's natural balance, and to encourage landowners to keep their lands in agriculture, forestry or other sustainable land practices needs to be one primary goal. The other is to support responsible and meaningful local planning with state oversight. Florida's citizens will have access and meaningful participation in their future.

While Florida's growth management process showed great promise when it was enacted in 1986, it has been steadily chipped away over the years. We need to cheerfully applaud the successes achieved, and rededicate ourselves during this opportunity (not wished for, surely) to recapture the Florida dream and thoughtfully rededicate ourselves to a sustainable Florida.

Let's give short shrift to those who want to give up on the dream for their own short-term gain. Our country has learned a lesson forever that the common good is not served by the narrow focus of a few. We must commit to smart, sustainable communities throughout our state.

Urgent, strong and decisive leadership is needed to bring Florida into the 21st Century. In this time of economic hardship and declining natural resources, no longer can we afford to pay the high costs associated with sprawling, automobile-dependent, resource-wasting development.

The basic tools are in place. Even as we help those who are struggling through these financial times, let's plan and direct ourselves to the exciting and sustainable Florida in our future.

Victoria Tschinkel, former head of Florida's environmental enforcement, is chairwoman of 1000 Friends of Florida. This statewide nonprofit organization was created in 1986 to serve as watchdog over Florida's growth management process.

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