Amendment 4

[Janice]

Go get the Sunday paper out of recycling and read the Letter from
Readers in the B section of the paper! Janice

[Janice]

In case you missed the letter to the editor in Sunday's paper.....

Reply: Amendment 4: It doesn't limit zoning changes

Source URL: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2010-09-03/story/reply-amendment-4-it-doesnt-limit-zoning-changes

The Times-Union misinformed voters with a front-page headline describing Amendment 4 as a "zoning amendment."

Amendment 4 has nothing to do with zoning!

Instead, Amendment 4 (Florida Hometown Democracy) gives citizens of a community a seat at the table when major changes - "comprehensive plan changes" - are made to our local land-use plan, which is our community's shared vision of its future.

Such changes affect our community's character and our quality of life - and may be unaffordable to us taxpayers.

The article also asserts that developers and conservationists have joined to oppose Amendment 4. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Can the developers name a valid conservation group allied with them?

If they say 1000 Friends of Florida, that group has no official position. In contrast, the Florida Hometown Democracy website lists over 140 environmental and civic organizations that endorse Amendment 4.

Amendment 4 was put on November's ballot by a million citizens' petitions to curtail politicians' reckless approvals of developers' requests for land-use changes that benefit developers.

Throughout Florida, developers' desires are considered more important by our elected representatives than the needs and property rights of existing neighbors.

The scam is this: Developers buy "low density residential" or "agricultural" land cheap. They then seek to convert it, say, to "high-density residential," making millions at taxpayer expense.

Or they get politicians to change your neighborhood from "Residential 1" to "Residential 3," crowding in more homes or high-rises.

Amendment 4 will fix this by giving us a say in how our communities grow.

This is right because we residents and taxpayers bear the impact of bad development, long after the developer has left town with his check.

With candidates' campaigns heavily funded by the developers, whose interests do you think our elected representatives represent?

Amendment 4 will protect our home values from overdevelopment. It provides property-rights balance and fairness for us residents and taxpayers.

Our taxes and quality of life are too important to leave to politicians. Give yourself a seat at the table by voting Yes on Amendment 4!

MARY ELLEN PARRISH

Jacksonville Beach

[harrise...@comcast.net]

Thank you!!!! For the update.

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[Dawn Blanton]

In response to Janice's email below, I would like to encourage each of you to be correctly and completely informed about Amendment 4.  It is extremely important that each and every "one" of us be 100% clear on what this Amendment stands for and encompasses.  Please visit/go to www.florida2010.org to learn.   More importantly understand what Amendment 4 is all about!!  Janice you are right it is "not" about zoning, there is a much bigger picture that comes along with this Amendment.  We all owe it to our beautiful State of Florida and be diligent in our efforts to be "correctly" informed before we go to the polls in November to cast our ballots!  There are consequences to  approving this amendment in November - if you have friends without jobs and/or live in St. Petersburg area - they can tell you all about how this amendment has effected their growth and more so the "maintenance" of their city.  Again - be "totally" informed on how this Amendment effects us!  God Bless......The Blanton's.  

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From: Janice <hwt...@bellsouth.net>
To: westside_...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 4:00:32 PM
Subject: Amendment 4

[Janet Peterson]

I'll surely vote YES to Amendment 4! --- On Tue, 9/7/10, harrise...@comcast.net <harrise...@comcast.net> wrote: