Urban Sprawl
If you missed the latest installment from “Seeking Rents” reporter Jason Garcia on how a big Florida homebuilder effectively wrote a new law to build subdivisions faster and cheaper, check it out here. It’s key to understanding how the “sprawl”…
Last week the Martin County Board of County Commissioners sided with a developer over clean water and constituents, approving a project known as “The Ranch” (formerly “Calusa Creek”) which will be some 6,000 feet — that is, more than a…
We’ve spend a lot of time and space analyzing the dreck oozing from Tallahassee this session, the terrible bills and bad ideas destined to result in dirtier water, more reckless development and more citizen intimidation. This week, let’s take a…
Welcome to the good, the bad and the hideously ugly. The 2024 Florida Legislative session began Tuesday, Jan. 9, and continues through Friday, March 8. More than four dozen bills that could have an impact on clean water have been…
Here at VoteWater, we’re in favor of responsible, measured development that inflicts minimal impacts on water quality and quantity, neighboring communities and the environment in general. The “Live Local Act” ain’t it. On March 29 Gov. DeSantis signed SB102 into…
One down, one to go — and not in a good way. On May 24, after weeks of lobbying and email campaigns and public pleas by citizens and conservation groups seeking a veto, Gov. Ron DeSantis ignored it all and signed…
And so the 2023 Legislative Session has come to an end. Mercifully. Let’s be frank: It wasn’t a good year for clean water or Florida’s environment in general. While the Legislature did allot a record $1.1 billion for land acquisition…
VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart was in the state capital of Tallahassee last week, speaking to key Florida legislators about clean-water issues and bills that are now under consideration in the state House and Senate. Alongside Friends of the Everglades…
Given the clout the sprawl industry wields in Florida, it’s hardly surprising the Florida Senate passed controversial Senate Bill 540 on April 19, over the objections of conservation groups (like VoteWater) and citizen advocates around Florida. The bill, which may…
We hate it when we’re right. Back in February, before the Florida Legislature even convened, we predicted this would be a “Session of Sprawl.” Just as we feared, bad bills that make paving over natural Florida that much easier are…