EDITOR’S DESK

Speak Up!

It’s not often that Tampa Bay residents get a chance to weigh in on the future course of development in the region. A new campaign called One Bay "VoiceIt", an outgrowth of the region’s Reality Check visioning effort, provides that rare opportunity.

Now it’s time for citizens to speak up and express their views.

Where and how will we accommodate new growth and locate new jobs? Will we continue to encourage sprawl or plan for more compact, pedestrian-friendly communities that reduce dependence on automobiles and make mass transit more feasible? Can we grow in a way that better protects green spaces and environmentally sensitive lands that safeguard our water supplies?

These questions take on even greater urgency in light of population forecasts projecting a potential doubling of the region’s population to seven million people by 2050. It’s important that we begin planning now if we want to preserve our quality of life and natural resources.

To help people visual the alternatives, four distinct scenarios were created to explore the consequences of potential growth patterns for the Tampa Bay region. The scenarios are based on citizen input generated from Reality Check events across the region.

Readers can learn more about the scenarios in a special pull-out section beginning on page 7, then share their opinions by completing the survey provided or online at MyOneBay.com.

Organizers have done a yeoman’s job in reaching out to diverse sectors of the community in an effort to give all residents an opportunity to be heard. More than a thousand residents participating in a series of events last year built virtual communities based on priorities or guiding principles they deemed most important. Those priorities included clustering higher density, mixed-use development around transportation corridors; maximizing mobility through multi-modal transportation; preserving natural systems, emphasizing connectivity and sustainable water supplies: balancing jobs and affordable housing; attracting higher-paying jobs; and preserving farmland and an ongoing agricultural presence.

Adding your voice to the dialogue will help ensure that future development is shaped by choice, not chance.

Your turn – talk back!
We welcome letters to the editor on topics covered in Bay Soundings. Send them to editor@baysoundings.com.

— Mary Kelley Hoppe

In 1990 voters in Hillsborough County were given a chance to approve a bond referendum authorizing county officials to expend up to $100 million to preserve environmentally sensitive lands. Voters seized the opportunity and approved the measure overwhelmingly with 73 percent of the vote. Over the ensuing eighteen years the County has preserved approximately 44,700 acres of land protecting some of Hillsborough most important natural areas and water resources for our enjoyment today and for future generations.
Because of the foresight of voters who approved the initial $100 million in 1990, fifty-one tracts of environmentally sensitive lands have been permanently protected through ELAPP. For example, 1,124 acres of prime fish and wildlife habitat have been preserved within the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve of which 500 acres of native coastal habitats are being restored with the help of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Mountain bikers are pedaling along eighteen miles of trails at the Balm/Boyette Scrub in southeastern Hillsborough County, a 5000-acre tract that also provide critical habitat for Florida’s threatened Scrub Jay, Gopher Tortoise, and other wildlife populations. ELAPP administrators have stretched the buying power of ELAPP funds by securing matching funds from state sources such as the Florida Communities Trust. For each dollar of county funds expended for land acquisition, an additional $0.67 has been leveraged from state grants to extend the conservation benefit.
Voters will have another opportunity to continue this highly successful program to preserve the natural areas, wildlife habitat and water resources without increasing taxes in the November 4, 2008 general election. The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners accepted the recommendation of its Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program citizen advisory committee in June to place the following referendum on the November ballot:

TO CONTINUE THE
ENVIRONMENTAL LANDS
ACQUISTION
AND PROTECTION (ELAP)
PROGRAM TO PRESERVE
ENVIRONMENTALLY
SENSITIVE LANDS

Shall Hillsborough County continue the ELAP Program to acquire and preserve lands which protect wildlife habitat, drinking water sources, and water quality of rivers, lakes and bays, by issuing general obligation bonds, in one or more series, at interest rates not exceeding the legal maximum, maturing in not more than 30 years from issuance, not exceeding $200 million, aggregate amount, payable from ad valorem taxes without limitation to finance related capital projects?

By voting for this referendum in November, we can continue to preserve the natural areas, wildlife habitat, and water resource so important to preserving our quality of life here in Hillsborough County.

Not only has the program protected many of our county’s environmental gems, it has been competently administered and has an impressive track record. If voters approve continuing the program, the same checks and balances that have served our citizens so well will continue to be in place. There will be an annual public audit of how the funds are spent. Land will only be purchased from willing sellers on a voluntary basis. A citizens advisory committee will guide county commission in their decision-making.

Best of all, a YES vote for continuation of the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program will not increase the annual tax burden on property owners. This is simply a continuation of the existing program. Due to the county’s expanded tax base, the amount assessed property owners annually to fund the land preservation program should decrease.

With continued growth and development is Hillsborough County and the dwindling amount of natural lands, we must act now to protect our last remaining open space for our children and grandchildren before they are lost forever to development. Please join me in voting YES in November for continuation of the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program – and please tell your friends and neighbors why this program is so important so they vote yes too!

If your civic group would like to schedule a presentation to learn more about the upcoming referendum, you can do so by emailing eckenrods@verizon.net.

Former director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Dick Eckenrod is acting executive director of the Tampa Bay Conservancy, a land conservation organization devoted to protecting the region’s natural, agricultural and scenic heritage.