{"id":275103,"date":"2026-05-18T13:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/275103\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:02:08","slug":"floridians-deserve-a-real-role-in-deciding-how-our-state-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/275103\/","title":{"rendered":"Floridians deserve a real role in deciding how our state grows\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Owens, 1000 Friends of Florida<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

This month, after the Republican supermajority in Florida\u2019s Legislature muscled through a mid-cycle congressional redistricting, Gov. Ron DeSantis justified the new map by citing Florida\u2019s rapid population growth. \u201cFlorida experienced 10 years of population growth in three,\u201d he said at a news conference<\/a>. \u201cDistricts are not apportioned properly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Putting aside the obvious partisan motivations behind the redistricting, Florida is indeed still growing, even if it\u2019s at a slower pace lately. Yet in recent years key legislators have taken repeated aim at the section in state law, Chapter 163<\/a>, that was conceived to address Florida\u2019s population growth with locally designed, citizen-informed planning to promote fiscally and environmentally sustainable development.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial view of housing in Florida (iStock image)<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just inconsistent; it\u2019s recklessly shortsighted for a state whose identity and prosperity depend on its environment and quality of life \u2014 both imperiled by poorly planned growth. It\u2019s an especially timely topic for Miami-Dade County, where a periodic review of the comprehensive development master plan is underway.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

State Sen. Stan McClain, the homebuilder who chairs his chamber\u2019s Community Affairs Committee, told a forum last month<\/a> that he would like to \u201cbuild consensus\u201d behind a rewrite of Chapter 163 that would allow for more development proposals to be administratively approved.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with development law, administrative approval means skipping public hearings, where citizens have the right to deliver comments and local officials go on the record by voting. This approach strikes at the heart of the provision in Chapter 163 that declares, \u201cIt is the intent of the Legislature that the public participate in the comprehensive planning process to the fullest extent possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since Florida\u2019s seminal Growth Management Act of 1985 was passed under Gov. Bob Graham, our state\u2019s laws governing land-use planning have undergone multiple changes. The best have arisen from groups convened to represent a full range of stakeholders. The worst have come from piecemeal changes hastily made during legislative sessions under heavy lobbying pressure from development interests, without meaningful input from others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. McClain himself has acknowledged that the piecemeal approach should not continue. Recently U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, currently the front-runner for the Republican nomination to be Florida\u2019s next governor, told a crowd<\/a> that the state needs to do a better job managing its growth.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Owens<\/p>\n

Chapter 163 remains the foundation for \u201corderly and balanced future economic, social, physical, environmental, and fiscal development\u201d throughout Florida. Any credible effort to enact further revisions must involve representatives of every group with an interest in how our state grows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. In a series of reports<\/a> we have published with the University of Florida\u2019s Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, 1000 Friends of Florida has shown how millions of acres of critical natural and agricultural land could be needlessly lost in coming decades to poorly planned development. If that\u2019s allowed to happen, Floridians will pay higher taxes or receive poorer public services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our environment, including our water supply and our wildlife, will suffer irreversible damage. But so will our economy, especially agriculture and tourism. And so will our communities, from the increased risks we\u2019ll face from storms and flooding to the worsening traffic we\u2019ll be forced to endure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We welcome a conversation about Florida\u2019s laws guiding growth. But it must be an informed dialogue, with seats at the table for every group invested in our state\u2019s future.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul Owens is president of 1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens\u2019 advocate for fiscally and environmentally sustainable community planning.\u00a0Banner photo: Housing under construction in Florida (iStock image).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here<\/a>. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Paul Owens, 1000 Friends of Florida\u00a0 This month, after the Republican supermajority in Florida\u2019s Legislature muscled through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[108284,445,108286,28,30,100,29,117462,117463,1064,24759,10351,412,30903],"class_list":["post-275103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-administrative-approval","tag-byron-donalds","tag-chapter-163","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-legislature","tag-florida-news","tag-growth-management-act-of-1985","tag-land-use-planning","tag-miami-dade","tag-population-growth","tag-redistricting","tag-ron-desantis","tag-stan-mcclain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}