BARTOW | County commissioners Monday rebuffed local planning activist John Ryan's suggestion that they work together to pass a charter amendment that would put limits on new residential development in Polk County.

 

Ryan said afterward he will launch a petition drive to get the issue before Polk's voters.

"I had hoped to work with the county, but we'll go a different way," he said. "We'll go out and get the signatures."

Ryan, a member of the Polk County Planning Commission, unveiled the proposal in October. It would amend the county charter to limit residential growth within a defined urban growth boundary, based on the densities allowed in city and county growth plans.

If voters approve the proposal, the only way to expand the county's urban growth boundary would be through another charter referendum.

Commissioners discussed his proposal Monday after hearing a staff report from Merle Bishop, the county's growth management director. The issue will be discussed again at Wednesday's commission meeting.

Bishop raised a number of issues about the impact of Ryan's proposal that included:

It would be difficult for city and county planners to calculate how many residential units are allowed under the current growth maps.

It would require developers to purchase development rights from rural areas if they wanted to exceed the cap.

The restrictions could cause sprawl or increases in housing costs.

Bishop said that is a different process than has traditionally existed in Polk County.

"Developers would have to pay for extra density," he said. "Now you can go to the County Commission and have them give it to you."

Bishop said one problem with a ballot measure that refers to urban growth boundaries is that Polk County's growth maps are out of date and don't reflect annexations by cities that have expanded urban services into areas that previously were classified as rural under the county map.

The other is that if the growth boundaries were expanded now in anticipation of the charter amendment, it could encourage urban sprawl, he said.

Bishop said because of the questions and potential problems, he would prefer to not put the issue on the ballot and to concentrate instead on the upcoming periodic evaluation of the local growth plans, which will be completed by 2009, and to work with the Rural Land Stewardship Program and Polk Vision.

Although Commissioner Jean Reed didn't dispute Bishop's recommendation, she asked whether Ryan's proposal would be preferable to Florida Hometown Democracy, a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would require votes on all growth changes. Commissioners and Bishop oppose the amendment.

She said the proposals reflect the public's frustration with the growth process.

Commissioner Bob English opposed Ryan's amendment.

"This is going to be another layer of chaos," he said, and argued it flies in the face of representative government.

Assistant County Attorney Anne Gibson said there is an attorney general's opinion that says Ryan can propose the amendment.

Interim County Attorney Linda McKinley said it would be up to Ryan to submit the ballot language and to get it approved, adding the issue will likely end up in court.

"I can't foresee it's going on the ballot without a legal challenge," she said.

Commission Chairman Sam Johnson said he views Ryan's proposal as a kind of condemnation of private property, but Bishop disagreed.

"It doesn't condemn property; it recognizes rights that this would create," he said.

Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said perhaps it's time to consider a countywide planning board, but Bishop said that approach has complications, too, based on the experience of Hillsborough County, which has had such a panel since the 1940s.

Nevertheless, Wilkinson said he plans to bring the issue up at Wednesday's commission meeting.