Growth Cap Coalition Formed in Polk County

A Growth Cap Coalition, endorsed by the Sierra Club and Lake Region Audubon Society, has formed in Polk County, Florida. Their website has recently launced, which includes a printable petition to get a growth cap amendment added to the upcoming ballot.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this, whether or not residents of Polk County have a vision for their region, or if developers will be determining these issues. Being one of the fastest growing counties in the state, much of the population is new to the area, and may not have much investment in "rural character" and may not be aware of local environmental issues.

In reference to transit, the Coalition's proposed charter ammendment "will ensure a trend to higher density urban areas which will make mass transportation more feasible."

On April 1st, the Winter Haven Planning Commission is having their regular metting.

Stay tuned to Eggs n Bloggin for the Official Solution to Overdevelopment.

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What to do About All That Traffic

An article in the Lakeland Ledger yesterday stated that Polk County commissioners have voted to put the CSX terminal and commuter rail placed on hold until it can be further studied.

Of course, it is important to know as much as possible about a project before starting. But improving transit is not something that should be forced to wait in Central Florida. Especially if this further investigation the commissioners are requesting is superfluous.

This blog has previously discussed the transformation of Haines City and the I-4 Corridor into a bedroom suburb of Orange and Osceola. If that is indeed the region's future (and present reality) then rapid transit ought to be of the highest concern for city planners and tri-county area leaders.

In a second article on Thursday, the Ledger reported that Lake Alfred officials are "ecstatic" about a road construction project that will widen 17-92 as it passes through the city. This project is being pushed through quickly following an incident of congestion that occurred when I-4 was closed.

The idea that building more roads will alleviate traffic is a fallacy. To lessen the traffic burden on I-4, Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties need to build rapid public transit, like the proposed commuter rail.

In Miami-Dade County, there is a need for more Metro-Rail lines, but there is a sentiment that it is almost too late. Because development is so dense, it would take massive restructuring of neighborhoods, large amounts of land acquisition, and lots of money.

If Central Florida wants to avoid a similar situation the counties involved need to act quicker than they have been. In the case of Orlando, existing sprawl may already make this an extremely difficult task. This request for further investigation needs to move quickly.

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Yay, Development!

In today's edition of the Lakeland Ledger, an article reveals that Polk County is "outpacing both the state and national averages" in terms of population growth. The article provides population estimates and growth percentages for different cities in the county, and compares this growth to other counties in the state.

However, nowhere in this report does Mr. Rufty address the environmental costs of this growth, or whether this type of growth is sustainable and healthy for existing communities.

The so-called I-4 corridor is reported to have experienced the most growth, as it is developing into a bedroom community for employees in Osceola and Orange counties.

Is this something to be proud of?

East Polk is providing cheap land to large developers, and encouraging excessive commutes, suburban sprawl, and the environmental degradation that too much of this state has already experienced.

I understand that not every report will contain an analysis of how rapid growth impacts the environment and the quality of communities, but this article had a great opportunity to do so, and didn't.

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Police Attack on Martin Luther King Celebration

On January 21, twenty minutes after a Martin Luther King Day celebration was supposed to end, police officers in Lake Wales, Florida began shooting tear-gas and pepper balls into a crowd without warning. Captain Pat Quinn said the target was a group of “500 to 600 children.”

There was no fighting, no violence, no problems, until the police fired into the crowd. What provoked the attack? Officer Velazquez said one group had “started using profanity.”

This is back in the news today because the Lake Wales chapter of the NAACP has filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Apparently, officers wore gas guns around their necks during the King Day celebration, but not at the all-day Mardi Gras event the city hosted this year on February 2, an event which had more than 20,000 in attendance. The annual Mardi Gras event, incidentally, draws a much larger crowd of white Americans than does the King Day celebration.

Capt. Quinn stated this is not a black-white issue.

So here, then, is the issue: Mardi Gras, an event which lasts late into the night, beginning with a parade, costumes, continues with live music, beer gardens, and where drinking is encouraged and profitable to the city and local businesses, was treated by the police as a family-friendly event and party-goers were allowed to roam the streets of the city’s quaint downtown at will; versus, a community celebration of a martyred pacifist who was assassinated for a controversial message of civil rights for blacks in America, which was squelched twenty minutes after 8 p.m. by the same weapons used against demonstrators in the 1960s, whose message of equality made the status-quo uptight then, and apparently now, as well.

Read the full article in today’s Lakeland Ledger, here: http://www.theledger.com/article/20080219/BREAKING/673770353

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