Six weeks after he took office, Florida’s new governor, Rick Scott, visited the state’s Department of Community Affairs. Scott told the employees gathered in the lobby that they were doing a great job. Then he told them to stop.
Scott wants to gut the DCA. He contends the agency in charge of managing Florida’s growth is a red-tape-crazy job-killer standing in the way of economic recovery. As an example, he cited a development in Collier County that needed “75 or 78 permits, just for the land.”
Legislative leaders, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and home builders have chimed in to agree with Scott. They’re pushing for a sweeping overhaul of the state’s 1985 growth management law. There are proposals to get rid of regional planning councils, eliminate requiring developers to show the need for new subdivisions and make it nearly impossible for anyone to sue to stop an unpopular project.
Read the full story at miamiherald.com.