Government Gone Wild Brought On Amendment 4

Government gone wild, a widely popular, and rather quaint, political battle cry against the past decade of rampant spending by elected officials of Hernando County, namely those on the Board of County Commissioners, seems to have lost the oomph it once engendered, which some may view as a triumphant accomplishment of the person who brought the phrase to our local domain.

It’s important to keep in mind that, regardless the eventual outcome of the past couple of years that has brought spending under control through significant reorganizations in every conceivable county department, what has transpired in reducing government waste was already undoubtedly destined to materialize. All across this land of good and plenty, the wealth of all levels of government – state, county and city – have had no choice but to cut to the bone to achieve ‘balanced budgets’.

Of course, the exception to that rule of getting spending under control is the continued deficit spending of the federal government, a compulsory result of which is directly attributed to the good old years of money squandering by the previous administration. Unfortunately, the effects of the housing meltdown and the generous bailouts afforded to the too-large financial institutions have created the worst case scenario of trickle-down economic ruin for the middle class.

Therefore, the relevance of the ‘government gone wild’ reveille appears to be passé. Not so. There’s a bigger beast in the county that has supported, and successfully achieved, what will have a greater long-term effect on Hernando County than the current lack of tax revenues to meet the needs of its residents.

The beasts of burden are land developers. Hernando County Board of Commissioners has a proven track record of accommodating the colonization of large scale subdivisions way beyond anyone’s imagination.

Think back for a moment to the land use hearing for Sierra Property’s Hickory Hill super-duper development project. On that date there are three visions that are imbedded in my memory. In reverse order of occurrence, there was ‘cry baby’ Diane Rowden whose emotional outburst came as an immediate reaction to what was an out-of-the-blue camaraderie between then-Commissioner Chris Kingsley and a local resident who was on the right-side of the Hill debate. It was so surreal that no words can describe that moment of revelation, but voila! – The reality of the eventual vote of approval was gallantly revealed.

The most sadly momentous occasion was a comment made by a resident of a nearby plot of land whose owner, a farmer, dressed in his work clothes, expressed the grave concerns of the eventual effects on irrigating his land. Already having to drill a new well for the third time, he was well out of sorts at the prospects of facing further challenges of being successful in his own privately owned business. Droughts occur naturally; sucking the water out of the ground to quench the thirst of newly built homes in mega subdivisions results from careless planning. I imagine this farmer continues to lament, “What will I do when the well runs dry? I’m gonna sit right down and cry.”

Government continued to go wild with subsequent approval of even larger subdivisions: Sunrise and Like Hideaway development projects. Each of these hearings took place from April 26, 2007, through this past Tuesday, August 31, when the Board, minus the inconsequential nay vote from Commissioner Dave Russell, gave the go-ahead for the megalopolis called Quarry Preserve.

These comprehensive plan changes by the BOCC began during the height of the housing meltdown. As laid out by Hernando Times Dan DeWitt’s recent column ‘What Hernando County doesn’t need is Quarry Preserve’, there was an inventory of more than 4,000 in 2007 and the current figure of 2,534 homes currently on the market doesn’t take into account the number of residents who have given up. More foreclosures and walk-aways are sure to continue.

These figures don’t take into account the yet to be built homes in Southern Hills and Hernando Oaks. Mr. DeWitt stated that both of these subdivisions were approved for nearly 1,000 homes and that the number of vacant lots is “82 in Southern Hills” and “288 in Hernando Oaks”.

An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times of April 9, 2006, cautioned, “Hickory Hill is an impressive project. But it also will make an irrevocable impression on Hernando County’s landscape.” But, with the ever-present testimonies of attorney Jake Varn and the oh-so-agreeable assessments of Fishkind & Associates, the BOCC and land developers pay allegiance to their collective successes. Yes, yes, yes… government has gone wild in a context quite different from what the originator of the phrase intended.

With the approval of Quarry Preserve this past Tuesday, the BOCC kept a-galloping along a well-beaten path on its wild ride of unbridled growth.
The reason for the rash of approvals of new subdivisions is Amendment 4, which would give the residents of a community the necessary knowledge about what the future may hold in their surroundings, taking into account the impact such developments will have on the value of their homes, their property taxes, their neighborhoods, their traffic routes, their environments, and at what expense the impact of these new homes will have on them personally.

Amendment 4 would make sure people are aware of what goes on in their local communities. The vast majority of people do not read newspapers. Even for those who do, public notices printed in weekly editions are not very noticeable. The majority of people do not have the time to attend public hearings. Unless they’re retired. Otherwise, hopefully, they’re working, or at least looking for work, or working odd jobs. Ignorance of the populous benefits those in power.

The editorial staff of the St. Pete Times recently wrote of Amendment 4, “The amendment could create chaos in local planning, stifle growth, result in multiple expensive referendums and vastly increase local government legal fees.” But, more importantly, the paper admitted, “The public's deep distrust of government helped fuel Amendment 4, the so-called ‘Hometown Democracy’ initiative on the November ballot.”

Take into account a recent comment by Robert Widmar in a Hernando Today Feedback column. He wrote, “… currently residents elect officials who hire professionals to review and recommend change.” Residents/voters do not trust the decisions of their elected officials or the professionals who tend coddle to those who pay them their fees. I repeat – ignorance of the people is blissfully sanctioned by decision-makers in government positions.

Of approved subdivisions, the sum of dwelling units to be built in Sunrise and Lake Hideaway subdivisions will total 8,500 new dwelling units. The completion date of each is 2013. Assuming two people per unit, the county’s population will grow 17,000 or more three years from now.

Quarry Preserve will complete 6,000 dwellings by 2019 – 12,000 additional residents. Take a trip to The Villages in Sumter County and take a look at the sites of 10,255 households. It’ll give the viewer a first-hand glance at what the future holds for Hernando County.

On a smaller scale, Hickory Hill will provide homes for 3,600 new residents by 2021. That’s a grandioso total population growth of 26,600 in little more than a decade, a whopping 15% increase. This data can be viewed at http://www.wrpc.cc/developmentsofregionalimpact.asp

The bottom line here, folks, is that ‘government gone wild’ is still applicable. The result of years of approving new housing subdivisions out of proportion to the foreseeable needs in this and other counties in Florida is Amendment 4.