Monday, November 16, 2009

Vote NO for Amendment 4!

Amendment 4 will be on the Florida 2010 ballot. This Amendment requires voters to approve all local comprehensive land use plan changes. With this Amendment, the citizens of Florida, not the representatives they elected, will be expected to decide 400 to 500 intricate land-use planning amendments every year. To the average person, the Amendment sounds like a great idea. However, this Amendment will paralyze any chance this state has of emerging out of the current depresive economic environment. It will be virtually impossible for construction to exist in this state should this Amendment be passed.

If the Amendment is passed, Cities and counties will be required to hold elections for each proposed comprehensive plan change whether it be major or minor. In the last four years alone, this amendment would have required an average of over 10,599 additional local votes per year in Florida. In fact, had Amendment 4 been in place in 2006, the voters of Carrabelle - a small Franklin County town - would have seen 617 separate questions in a single ballot!

Further, the cost will be astronomical. Every city and county in Florida will be burdened with the time and cost of holding additional elections to vote on proposed changes to comprehensive land use plans.

"Floridians for Smarter Growth" is an organization that has been established by our State's business and community leaders to combat this dangerous Amendment. Feel free to visit their website at www.florida2010.org

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

No more impression seals for engineers!

Chapter 471.025(1) of the Florida Statutes requires that all engineers obtain a seal in a form approved by the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Until recently, that meant an impression type seal. Effective November 16, 2009, rubber stamps will also be allowed. Pursuant to 61G15-23.001 of the Florida Administrative Code, "Any seal capable of leaving a permanent ink representation or other form of opaque and permanent impression which contains the information described herein is acceptable to the Board".