On March 13th, the Planning and Zoning Commission weighed in on an item that would eliminate the the need for a supermajority in order to make amendments to the current Comprehensive Plan.
The supermajority ruling that is currently in place requires that four out of the five commissioners vote in the affirmative on any proposed amendment that is brought up for consideration for the Comp Plan or Land Use Plan. The ordinance, proposed by County Attorney’s office, would seek to change that number to three affirmative votes needed to make changes.
May 2016 saw a first attempt at repealing this supermajority voted down. The Planning and Zoning meeting held on March 13 was the preliminary step preceding the actual hearings that will take place on the 11th and the 25th of April, where a final decision will be made by the Board of County Commissioners.
Arguments heard from the citizens of Hernando County as well as interested third parties saw a general consensus reached on the matter even before a formal decision was made.
It was brought on more than one occasion that the removal of the ‘checks and balances’ of the Commission’s supermajority would invariably leave the door open to the rise in influence of special interests.
They also brought up the fact that with this increased influence, the ‘special interests’ would be able to pass amendments easily that would subsequently allow construction projects, like an open pit mine being used on an commercial property, to go through when previous zoning categories prevented them.
It would open doors, they argued, for ‘unnecessary developments’ or projects while necessary projects like sidewalks are being put on hold.
Gwen Bassick, a member of the Sierra Club, argued that the ‘willy nilly’ addition of amendments would be nothing but harmful to the planning and zoning committee as they have had to plan years in advance for some projects. The lack of a supermajority could negatively impact property values if the same consideration that planning and zoning has been using all these years is not matched by those seeking to make amendments. Partnerships established during this planning process could be lost or hurt.
The Planning and Zoning Commission, after public input, saw no evidence to support the need to repeal the supermajority that is already in place- citing that a lot of their arguments mirrored the concerns of the citizens- and after Commissioner Cohen made the initial motion, the move to keep the supermajority in place passed unanimously and was met with applause and sighs of relief from the citizens still present.