Don't let crucial growth plan get watered down

There's a new baby in town! An aggressive little Chihuahua in Lake County government just birthed a walrus! Maybe that's why it took four years.

[mininn]

I've read most of the new comprehensive plan and the LPA has done a commendable job putting this together. It's actually a plan. Ritchie is right in that opponents are trying to tank it by saying it needs to be flexible. TJ Fish of the the road planning/building organization Lake Sumter MPO is making the rounds saying the plan needs to be more flexible and easy to change.. exactly what Lake does not want. It makes you wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that TJ's wife is Amye King, Director of Lake County Growth Management (who has alignments with the development community and has done some questionable things in the past). Is there any connection that she is having TJ do her work to try to change the plan?

[Nobody]

Thanks is all you'll get from the citizens of Lake, from those who want to preserve the natural beauty as is. However, while the locals see one house per 5 acre tract, our good friends from the North, that are coming in the thousands,see 5 houses per one acre tract as open space. They are not interested in rural areas, they are only interested in homes so their friends can join them in Florida. Developers know this and will play our friends from the North like a fine tuned Stradivarius. They would like nothing better than to rename the county "The Villages" and have it look like Clermont. All you see now from the the Citrus Tower are roof tops 6 feet apart. Developers know that these people carry the all powerful tool that politicians fear... THE VOTE

[Think Hard]

Ahh, the LPA puff piece. I lost a bet over this. I figured this column would have been written a week ago.

As for the plan, Ms. Ritchie spells it out completely. Over the next five years, the county government will become irrelevant. The cities are willing to work with businesses to provide jobs that are needed in this community. The county - not so much. If it was up to the county, growth would be stopped and affordability would be lost.

I operate a business in Lake County that pays 2 to 3 times the median wages and does clean, non-development related professional services, bring money into the county. However, if my employees lack affordable housing in a couple years, I will be forced to move to a county where I can find it.

I do not have to be in Lake County, I choose to be here. I wish for one moment the government would demonstrate that they want me here.

[MCO]

Residential housing NEVER pays for itself in taxes, especially if it is build all over the place. The cost infastructure will drain city and county coffers alike. Learn a lesson from the North.
Note I am from the North and don't want anything like Clermont or The Villages.
I can't see this limiting affordable housing, housing is cheaper in Lake than much of the Central Florida Area. If growth is maintained around the urban cores like Clermont and Leesburg there will be plenty of housing and room to grow for everyone. Natural Areas need to be protected and managed for the future. Does Lake want to join the growing list of Counties that have had Florida Scrub Jays become extripated? Do we want to have a future where "wild animals" are pigeons, starlings, and rats or do we want places that hold real beauty and diversity with turkey, deer, bobcats, and tortoises? A smart growth plan will give us both jobs and housing while preserving key areas for wildlife, clean air, and clean water. I also know that some bussinesses are just not worth the money they pay no matter how much that is. There are new job markets coming and with Orlando nearby people will come here to live and play. THey certainly won't find FLORIDA in ORLANDO I know I live there.
Though maybe not for much longer.

[Robert]

The LPA started out on the right foot but after a few years got way off track. The board was highjacked by people who have a zero-growth agenda and who said they cared about getting the plan finished but really didn't. Comm Cadwell made them finish this plan otherwise they would still be "debating" important stuff for the County's long-range plan like punctuation and the type of shrubs that should be included in the landscape codes.

This board, with the exception of a few members (Nadine Foley) is dysfunctional to put it mildly. They don't represent Lake County - only one has a child in school. Despite what the current LPA would have you believe, they don't represent business. They represent wealthy people who are only concerned about themselves. It's easy to say no to everything in the name of being green when you've got your 5-acres on a lake or a $500,000 house. These people including Lauren, call themselves environmentalists and smart growth experts. They think economic development is bringing a few movie theaters and some nicely dressed shopping centers. And I promise you, they live, including Lauren, in neigborhoods and 5-acre tracts that are the very definition of urban and rural sprawl.

Five years is way to long and we are the only ones that suffer. This fiasco has cost us good economic development and yes, good conservation regulations put on hold.

BCC, please show some leadership, dissolve this board and create a new one again. Its not the process, just some of the participants who have been very destructive for this County.

People, educate yourselves about this issue (outside of the OS). Comms Renick, Connor and Stewart appointed most of these people to the LPA - contrary to the propagandist Lauren, they have been destructive to this County. Lauren's view is very on-sided. The Comp Plan is about how all issues, including our economy, fit together for a better County.

In 2010, we can take a big step in moving our County towards a sustainable future - start educating yourself about the issues now.

[Open Your Eyes]

Robert, You are 110% correct. The LPA was hijacked by zero growth folks and have created a document that will be detrimental to the economic survivability of Lake County. It is unbelievable the way Lauren Ritchie continues to be the propaganda purveyor for this group. Whenever called on, at the opportune time she spews out the party line in an attempt to sway public opinion with half truths and misinformation. This whople group is Un-American as they come. They don't care what you or I think or want. These self-rightous folks see themselves as saviors and will stop at nothing to push LAke County further into the economic dark ages. Whenever anyone disagrees with them they make every effort to undermine and discredit them. The comments by "mininn" are a prime example. TJ Fish is an honorable and quality professional that we should be thanking for his tireless and enthusiastic leadership. It is unbelievable that the OS would continue to employ LR.

The proposed comp plan has been written by special interests such as those represented my Mr. Schue, a full time paid employee (Lobbyist?)of the Nature Conservancy. I venture to say that 90% of his time is spent on the LPA. While the Nature Conservancy is a tremendous organization, I do not want them writing our Comp PLan any more than I would want the LPA dominated by development interests. A good reporter would point this out. Not laud Mr. Schue while spreading this zero growth group's self rightous position. Good law is equitable - it protects the rights of all citizens. Good journalism should present both sides of the story.

[Resident]

Hijacked, eh?

Everyone and anyone who is a resident of Lake County has had oppotunity to provide input into the LPA. If you didn't get your way, it happens, that is life. We don't always get what we want. Did you apply to be part of this group? Have you participated in any way -- be it the LPA or any other growth issues? Do you attend public workshops? Do you go and speak at BCC meetings? If you can't say yes, then you have no right to complain.

[Open Your Eyes]

Resident wrote:

Hijacked, eh?
Everyone and anyone who is a resident of Lake County has had oppotunity to provide input into the LPA. If you didn't get your way, it happens, that is life. We don't always get what we want. Did you apply to be part of this group? Have you participated in any way -- be it the LPA or any other growth issues? Do you attend public workshops? Do you go and speak at BCC meetings? If you can't say yes, then you have no right to complain.

I guess I've earned the right to complain. I have attended and participated in many meetings. The LPA became quite adept at shelving any thoughts outside their agenda. Like many others it became clear long ago that to attend and comment at the LPA meetings became a waste of time. They were only open to those suggestions that mirrored their zero growth agenda. I personally withnessed rude treatment of petitioners that disagreed with proposed policies. The LPA had no interest in listening to reasonable requests of land owners. I question any process whereby there is not even a vestige of consideration for the rights of tax payers. It is truly UN-AMERICAN. The document that has been transmittted to the BCC is in need of much work. Hopefully our BCC will honor the rights of its taxpayers return some equity to this sham of a process.

[Robert]

Open Your Eyes wrote:

<quoted text>
I guess I've earned the right to complain. I have attended and participated in many meetings. The LPA became quite adept at shelving any thoughts outside their agenda. Like many others it became clear long ago that to attend and comment at the LPA meetings became a waste of time. They were only open to those suggestions that mirrored their zero growth agenda. I personally withnessed rude treatment of petitioners that disagreed with proposed policies. The LPA had no interest in listening to reasonable requests of land owners. I question any process whereby there is not even a vestige of consideration for the rights of tax payers. It is truly UN-AMERICAN. The document that has been transmittted to the BCC is in need of much work. Hopefully our BCC will honor the rights of its taxpayers return some equity to this sham of a process.

Well said Open your eyes. I too have earned the right to complain. I have been to more meetings than probably anybody who reads this article. Lauren Ritichie didn't make it to any meeting I was at. And I have it on good word from a currently employeed OS reporter that she never went to one in the entire 5 years. This is propaganda. The current LPA (with the excpetion of a few)is an embarrassment to BOTH real environmentalists and economic development interests. despite the rural areas designation, this plan does nothing to discourage 4 unit per acre developments like Kings Ridge - Some homebuilders actually like this Comp Plan.

[Resident]

Well done for participating. While I don't agree with you that the LPA shut out input and I (and I am sure others) feel that the plan being put forth is in the best intrests of the comuunity as a whole, I can respect someone who had made the effort to effect change.

[Local Resident]

Ok Robert and Open Your Eyes -

Keith Schue lives on 1/3 arce in a house that is less than 2000 square feet. Ms. Bellflower lives in a home that is less than 1000! How do I know? You can check public records to find that information if you know how to work the county websites as well as this response page. While you are there you can also pony up and VOLUNTEER to sit on county committees and place yourself in a hotseat. I say kuddos to anyone who would volunteer to take on something like the comp plan of an entire county in this state! That's right - the LPA is made up of voluteers, non paid and the county is required to select from the available applicants a cross represntation of ALL the various types of citizens the committee is to represent.(not all of us have kids or are sr. citizens) This comp plan was a long and difficult item to create (not to mention LC has be out of compliance for YEARS with an outdated comp plan that has created the overgrowth that everyone complains about) Horray LPA - you got it done and delivered just like Cadwell asked you to do. If there are those who think it was a rush job you can take it up with Cadwell and the BCC soon enough.

[Open Your Eyes]

Local Resident wrote:

Ok Robert and Open Your Eyes -
Keith Schue lives on 1/3 arce in a house that is less than 2000 square feet. Ms. Bellflower lives in a home that is less than 1000! How do I know? You can check public records to find that information if you know how to work the county websites as well as this response page. While you are there you can also pony up and VOLUNTEER to sit on county committees and place yourself in a hotseat. I say kuddos to anyone who would volunteer to take on something like the comp plan of an entire county in this state! That's right - the LPA is made up of voluteers, non paid and the county is required to select from the available applicants a cross represntation of ALL the various types of citizens the committee is to represent.(not all of us have kids or are sr. citizens) This comp plan was a long and difficult item to create (not to mention LC has be out of compliance for YEARS with an outdated comp plan that has created the overgrowth that everyone complains about) Horray LPA - you got it done and delivered just like Cadwell asked you to do. If there are those who think it was a rush job you can take it up with Cadwell and the BCC soon enough.

There's two great examples. One is a paid lobbyist and the other is a perfect sheep following the flock. And Local Resident, it was no rush job, just the opposite. If these folks could have delayed this process (that should have been complete over two years ago) any longer they would still be at it. As soon as DCF told LC no more amendments to the comp plan until the new plan was complete, certain PA members had no intention of completing the task until the threat was eminent that the BCC was going to step in. What planet are you living on!

[Resident]

It seems that Mr. Schue gets beat up a lot by people in these forums just because he cares about the comunity he lives in and is willing to take the time to work for the betterment of his community.

Yet when someone makes comments about Tim Baliy everyone cries foul. Interesting......