Category Archives: Sustainable Growth

LET CITIES PROVIDE URBAN SERVICES

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The next time one of your state legislators tell you that they are in favor of small government and letting the people decide don’t necessarily believe it. While they may mouth those platitudes to mirror the sentiments of most Floridians, they may still believe they know what is best for local governments and you. An example is a bill being introduced in the senate to take away the rights of municipalities to bring water and sewer projects forward.

Known as SB 442 it is emblematic of a problem that municipalities in non-chartered counties face. Over time non-chartered counties have come to resemble municipalities in the services they provide. This has resulted in a competition between municipalities and counties that Chapter 180, F.S. was written to avoid. Counties are very much political sub divisions of the state and were created to help the state government in providing state services.

On the other hand, municipalities are also creatures of the state but with the difference that they would be formed by a group of citizens under the auspices of the legislature to provide urban services such as water and sewer. The intention of “home rule” was to allow cities to be centers of urban life surrounded by the rural area in the unincorporated part of the county.  As time passed and the rural areas became urban with higher densities outside the existing city’s boundaries, the city would annex those unincorporated areas and provide urban services to the newly added residents.

The legislature should be encouraging more annexation of unincorporated areas into municipalities as they go from rural to urban. The legislature should also encourage builders of larger, newer developments to provide urban services and to incorporate as cities as part of the approval process.  By having only municipalities providing urban services, the schizophrenic nature of non-chartered counties in terms of what and whether to provide urban services would cease.

As a state, we need to distinguish between the functions that counties should provide and those that municipalities should. If each acted only within the scope of its responsibilities, then instead of competition developing, a symbiotic relationship would occur between non-chartered counties and their municipalities. This would further the people’s right to “home rule” and lessen the issues of “dual taxation.”

Counties need to remember that when surrounding areas are annexed into a municipality the people in those annexed areas are still citizens of the county. They still live within the county, they still vote within the county and they still pay county taxes. The nature of the services provided by the municipality is essential in allowing for increased density and development to occur in the area outside current municipal boundaries.  This development will occur and the citizens of the unincorporated area will demand urban services. Does it not make more sense to have the entity that was created to provide such service to do so? Annexation is a good thing and not something that should be looked on as an encroachment.

2014 A Good Year

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As we in Stuart and Martin County see the close of 2014, it has, for the most part, been a good year. What constitutes a good year is fairly subjective. There were no further releases from Lake Okeechobee this rainy season. However, water continues to find its way to our estuary through the various canals bringing unwanted nitrogen and phosphorus. We passed Amendment 1 which should give the state a dedicated money source to acquire and preserve land. The management and choice of what land to buy is in the hands of Tallahassee. Perhaps the citizens and the state pols will be in synch this time. As we have seen, just because we, the people, vote one way, the legislature and state executives have no problem ignoring our wishes.  One good example is the implementation of the fair redistricting amendment that the politicians and legislators went to court to prevent and used our tax dollars to pay to fight against us.

All Aboard Florida continues its plan to wreak havoc on Stuart and the rest of the Treasure Coast in spite of the immense grass roots uprising against moving forward. While it seems that Patrick Murphy and our local state legislative delegation is with us, Governor Scott, the legislature and Washington (including our two senators) are actively encouraging the plan or are silent. The good news is that it is still far from a done deal here on the Treasure Coast.

In Martin County, the one cent infrastructure sales tax was defeated by 72 votes. Though it was passed by Stuart residents, it was caught in the politics of Martin County. I believe it would have passed if past county commissions had used all of the funds from the last sales tax as intended. Instead, some of that money was used for things that many of us would not consider infrastructure such as Splash Water Park. Government should be concerned with infrastructure repair and improvements not theme parks. Martin County, Stuart and the other municipalities are now poorer for that earlier mistake.

The economy has rebounded with unemployment standing at 6%. While it was lower prior to the Great Recession it still is remarkable progress. Now that the economy is better, we need to encourage smart and sustainable growth within the urban service boundary. Martin County does need to grow in order to continue to be viable. The tax base needs to increase or the rest of us will pay more for fewer services.

Stuart also needs to grow … especially in population. We cannot sustain a city unless we have the people and resources to do so. If we cannot attract middle class young professionals, we will be a city of rich and poor.  The city cannot maintain services if less than 50% of the residents pay little or no tax. While Stuart is business oriented, the inequities of sales tax distribution allows the county to discourage business but still collect the overwhelming majority of sales tax (most of which is produced in the city). This is an inequity that cannot continue.

There were other good things that happened this year. We had a special meeting on the Palm City Road issues and the city commission will be sending the ideas expressed by the residents to the county for study and further implementation since they own the road.  The city commission also voted to have a camera installed in the chamber to record our meetings for viewing at home but also to have live streaming of the meetings in real time.

It seems to me that 2014 was a good year. While not many problems were solved, none are worse.  Maybe 2015 will be the year that we solve and eliminate some of those problems. I want to wish all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

 

We Are Now #3!!!

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The New York Times reported that Florida has officially overtaken New York State in overall population. We are now #3!!! As a transplanted New Yorker (like10% of Florida’s population), I was a little sad. When I was born, New York had the largest population with California a distant second. Texas and Florida were not even in the top ten states. New York had industry and large companies, not only in my hometown of New York City, but throughout the state from Niagara Falls to Buffalo to Rochester to Syracuse, Troy and Albany.

Unfortunately, New York did not pay attention to the basics. The state and local governments thought they could tax and regulate industry indiscriminately without end. Both local and state governments looked at business and productive individuals as “marks” for the taking. These companies and individuals would pay and pay and the politicians would take and take.

At first, the government used those funds to build roads and infrastructure. An enviable state university system took shape. Some needed programs for the poor and even for the middle class were instituted. But politicians are politicians, so they began buying the votes of public employees by generous contracts, regulating businesses in every minute aspect and providing unsustainable welfare benefits to the poor. By 1975, when New York City was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, close to 40% of the population was either on the dole or had government jobs.

Today New York is the Empire State in name only. Through governmental policies and a changing economy, the state is no longer considered an economic powerhouse. New York City has survived and even thrived in spite of its prevailing governing philosophy due to its uniqueness. But now, New York City is more and more a place of the very rich and the very poor. The working middle class that I grew up as part of is becoming less and less of the population because the businesses that would employ them have left the state.

Florida is now the third most populous state in the nation.  It has no income tax and comparatively few social programs. What it does have is an overabundance of government and nonprofit organizations – neither of which produce more national wealth. There is transference of dollars received from taxes and donations from the wealth-producing members of society to governmental and nonprofit employees in salaries and benefits. Both governmental and nonprofit employees now earn more than their counter parts in private industry.

Just like New York did in the 1960’s ‘70’s and 80’s, Florida by transferring dollars from one group to another without creating any new wealth will arrive at the same place. The state and our country cannot continue on this course without eventually bankrupting us. There is a place for both philanthropy and governmental service, but the bulk of those dollars cannot be used to pay employees and not build sustainable infrastructure, an educational system for our future economy and necessary social programs that lift the poor out of poverty by increasing their employment opportunities. Simple math tells us that a decreasing private sector cannot fund a larger and larger public one.

Why I Support the Infrastructure Sales Tax

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Where does Stuart derive funds for its infrastructure projects? Some of the money comes from state and federal grants that usually require local matching dollars. We could borrow the money, but we are fairly conservative and have not typically resorted to that. That leaves either increased real estate taxes or sales taxes. Real estate taxes are 100% paid by city tax payers while sales taxes are paid by anyone who shops and dines in our city. This means we can have our entire infrastructure improvements paid for by an increase borne only by the residents or collect a good portion of the funds by non-city residents.

For many years, the American Society of Civil Engineers has rated America’s infrastructure at a D. We are not spending enough to maintain our roads, bridges and water systems. Unless your dream is to have our 20th century civil improvements disappear, then it is urgent that we spend money to fix and improve our aging infrastructure. You would not allow your home to go unpainted and the roof to leak. It is the same for society’s homes and roofs.

Stuart’s city manager, Paul Nicoletti, has put together a video which is on the city’s website, and I urge you to take a look as he explains what the city will use some of the proceeds of the sales tax to do. Beside road and water projects, Stuart wants to finally install bathrooms at Memorial Park, improve the only recreational center for our children and expand our down town Riverwalk. In order to continue to be a place that people want to live and visitors and tourist want to shop and dine, these are needed improvements.

A city doesn’t remain static…it either grows and improves or shrinks and deteriorates. We do not need to sacrifice our old Florida feel and charm to accomplish the former. But we do need to provide amenities so that our young people want to remain and raise families and our seniors can stay and age in place. This question of livability does not come by burying our heads and saying nothing needs to change. We need to spend our dollars carefully in procuring the needed infrastructure maintenance and improvements. But maintain and improve we must.

Within the city’s borders, we collect 65% of all sales tax generated in the county. Yet because of our small population in relationship to the total county population, we receive less than 10% of the taxes collected. Imagine if every penny of the local portion of the sales tax stayed in Stuart, would there even be a need for ad valorem taxes? Lewis Mumford wrote, “The cities and mansions that people dream of are those in which they finally live.” Stuart is a good place to call home. Let’s continue to improve on the good and make it great.

Development And The Sailfish Fields

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I am pleased to now serve on the Stuart City Commission. How we grow as a city going forth is the most important issue we face. It will be critical that the right choices are made. We can absolutely continue to enjoy the Stuart lifestyle while increasing our population, businesses and jobs. We need to provide reasons for our young people to stay in the city to raise their families and grow their businesses in an inviting environment. The development of the Sailfish ball fields will be one of the ways to accomplish this.

Before explaining my current thoughts on Sailfish, I want to mention my background. I am currently a licensed real estate broker in Florida, New York and Connecticut and, in the past, have been licensed in other additional states. For over 40 years, I have focused on commercial real estate as an owner, manager and broker. I have taught real estate courses and hold the CPM and CCIM designations.  While I have never practiced in Stuart, I am quite familiar with how real estate is developed. This development will be critical to our future.

Within the next year or so, the city will look to develop those fields. What I don’t want to see happen is the city administration creating an RFP that will preclude many of our local builders and developers from participating. If it is one large, 8- plus-acre package without our city designating the grid pattern and infrastructure, I fear that we will have something that will not fit the character of our city.

The reason to develop those fields is to increase population and ad valorem taxes. We also need and want connectivity which would be provided by a street grid pattern aligning with the rest of the city. What I do not want to see happen is a gated community closed off from the rest of Stuart. We don’t need cul de sacs and walls to keep neighbors apart. Why we choose to live in Stuart over the suburbs is because it is a city.  I don’t want Stuart to develop enclaves with walls and gates that separate one resident from another.

The best way that this can be accomplished is by the city creating the grid pattern, designate mixed use (retail and residential multifamily) development, and selling individual lots for development along that grid pattern. This will allow our local Stuart and Martin county builders to buy, finance and construct almost immediately accomplishing our stated goals. The history of Stuart is not the grandiose but the manageable. Our development should not be based on someone from Broward, Palm Beach or New York sweeping in with plans that never quite come to fruition. Just look to North Point which eight years after a lease being signed is still not developed, built and creating income for us.

I do believe we can accomplish our goals of more people, jobs and businesses. Let us not play Monopoly with this project but organically allow development to happen. Instead of elaborate plans with Disney like fantasies, we should use the building and zoning rules we have to build this addition to Stuart. We have chosen to live here because of the way our city has developed and grown. I propose to continue that development and growth in a way we have already embraced and that has brought us our enviable way of life.

The View From Federal Highway

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This weekend I walked from the Roosevelt Bridge to Colorado along Federal Highway. When driving, the trip can take less than 20 seconds if the lights and traffic allow.  But, when you are walking, you have more time to notice your surroundings, and I ended up with a feeling of “emptiness.” As you go south from the bridge, there are a few office buildings interspersed by one story retail spaces, boat yards, car dealers, decaying motels from a bygone era, fast food restaurants, empty lots, downtown Publix center and 2 gas stations. It is neither beautiful nor inspiring.

In the past few years, Stuart has made great strides to develop downtown and Colorado Avenue. We have been woefully negligent of the Federal Highway corridor in our development. We have a charming downtown. Colorado is being reborn. The Sailfish fields are being considered for mixed use with primarily residential development. What about Federal Highway which connects the outside world to Stuart?

Should we continue to have it zoned for these clearly underutilized uses? When these parcels, on such a valuable roadway, are used for a gas station or used car lots, they bring very little in real estate taxes to the city. No matter how much sales tax these businesses generate, Stuart still receives only their proportionate per capita share or roughly 10% of the local county sales tax collected.

We should be looking for the majority of the lots to be a mix of retail and office. There are several such buildings now along that corridor. The empty parcels closest to Palm City Road, which already has residential neighborhoods of one family homes and condos, should be considered for residential development in keeping with the area’s current character. It would be foolish to allow the wrong development to take place because it is expedient so that one or two people can profit at the expense of the entire city.

If we are to grow and prosper, we have to think what is best for all citizens. The economic arguments clearly do not support that the highest and best use for those properties are currently being utilized or imagined. For the City of Stuart to thrive and continue to be a good place to live, our tax base must increase. That is done basically in two ways…more citizens and higher real estate taxes. The way I envision this corridor developing, it will result in both these things occurring. At the same time, it will add almost nothing to the cost of services Stuart provides because they are already in place in this area.

So the questions becomes do we, as citizens, allow this underutilization to continue to our detriment or do we embrace an opportunity to grow in  a responsible manner and at the same time spread the cost of government to more people and entities? I believe the latter. We have chosen to live in a remarkable place. Now we need to think about how we keep it a remarkable place for the next 100 years. The question is not whether we will allow empty parcels to develop (because it is inevitable they will) but how we allow them to develop. The wrong choice by us will have wide repercussions to the amount we pay and the quality of services we receive by the city.

 

GETTING READY

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In less than two weeks, I will assume my seat on the Stuart City Commission. On that night, I will vote on the upcoming budget for the next fiscal year. During the last two months as an incoming commissioner, I have studied that budget and have had many questions concerning it. Every staff member that I contacted and spoke with including the City Manager, Budget Director, other Department Heads and individual employees has been gracious with his/her time in answering those questions. I want to thank them for being consummate professionals.

Just because my questions were answered does not mean that I agree with every aspect of the budget.  It should be remembered that during this budget process, I have had no input on any of the line items. I have brought up several of my concerns with the City Manager. I look forward to working with him, staff and my fellow commissioners to address those issues in the upcoming year.  Approving a budget does not mean that changes cannot be made at a later date. From my experience, I know there are ways that the city can improve on the delivery of services to our residents and other stakeholders while remaining within those approved budgetary lines.

Between now and the end of the year, there are other issues and projects that will be coming before the commission that may be considered controversial. With each, I promise that I will weigh the benefits and liabilities to determine whether it is good or bad for the city before casting my vote. I am neither anti- nor pro-development, but I am for smart development. For Stuart to be a viable city and political entity, it needs to have more residents, jobs and businesses. The ultimate responsibility for the city commission is to measure how any one project impacts that goal and the vitality of the entire city.

As I have written and said many times, I want to see Stuart maintain its quality of life and small town Florida ethos. That does not mean we stand still as I believe that change is inevitable, constant, and if carefully planned, beneficial. Without positive change, we become rigid and stale and ultimately wither and fade. When people think of Martin County, they think of Stuart. We need to market and encourage that. As a commissioner, I will seek to balance seemingly competing interests so that the best outcome can be achieved.

Growth, Population And Sustainability

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Our county and city will be changing. That is a fact. It is not whether changes will occur but how the changes will occur. We can both anticipate and guide the growth or we can allow for unprepared and ill-conceived plans to happen. Some residents will say that growth is unnecessary and if we just say no it won’t transpire, but that is wishful dreaming. That attitude will only lead to things we know we don’t want such as sprawl.

Stuart is, by definition as a city, a place of greater density than other areas of the county. We should encourage development that will increase our population.  Without population increase, the city will not ultimately be sustainable. While business development is important, it brings very little in new taxes directly to city coffers. Few people realize that sales taxes that are collected in the city do not go to Stuart directly but are re-bated by Tallahassee as a percentage of our population. In effect our businesses collect much more in tax than we receive back.

The city’s sustainability is only assured through residential population growth. That is why I believe it is so important to gear our development toward residential use. That may not always be possible, but that should be our goal. While I want to see Stuart maintain its business friendly reputation, I believe that at this stage of our growth we need to aim to increase our population.

Turning toward the county government, I would like to see a continuation of our slow growth policies in the western part of the county. It makes very little sense to encourage sprawl which will only bring increased taxes to pay for services which are outside the Urban Services Boundary. Inside the USB, new residential and commercial development is needed within a sustainable framework. Density should be allowed within the county’s CRA boundaries. Infill development needs to occur to inhibit sprawl outside the USB.

We live in a wonderful place with caring and thoughtful citizens. It is incumbent on all the elected representatives that they make sure that the best interests of the residents are paramount. This will only occur if we plan for the future in a cohesive manner. Nothing happens in a vacuum. One type of project will result in others being developed to compliment and augment what has already happened. Therefore it is important to remember this principle when we approve new projects.

Why Am I Running for Stuart City Commission?

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I was asked yesterday why I was running for Stuart City Commission. The simple answer is I believe that the city is at a tipping point. If we are not careful, we will cease to be a successful municipality. Our downtown has made impressive improvement in the past 25 years in attracting shops and restaurants. But a downtown needs to be more than a block or two of business establishments or it becomes just another outdoor mall.

To be vibrant and sustainable, a downtown needs to attract residents and the infrastructure to support that population. We are at that point today. Too often, city governments believe that a few boutique stores or restaurants alone are enough to be self-sustaining. If the patrons, owners and employees of the mercantile live elsewhere, then it is a Potemkin village and not a true living city. You need the vitality that is only possible by a concentration of residents being there 24 hours a day.

The key to this organic development is not the “one off” of the proposed Northpoint hotel. It is the un-glamorous building of needed housing throughout the CRA for the patrons, owners and employees of the city’s businesses. The housing stock has to be for all population segments which include both rentals and condos. Incorporated with that residential development is the need for retail so that businesses catering to the increasing population can shop for everyday necessities. While not to be ignored, the need for new office space will be less and less as more and more of us work from home.

Without increased population, the city cannot maintain enough of a tax base to continue to provide services even to its current residents. However, it is important that while seeking new residents, jobs and businesses, we do not lose sight of our “Old Florida” charm and livability. There is absolutely no need to go above the current 4-story height limit or have buildings with architectural styles more suited to Boca than here. The only people who believe that new development is an either/or choice are those that lack imagination. Stuart has a well-established reputation and life style that I will fight to keep while allowing for growth.

We should not look for the “single project or developer” concept so ingrained in many of us. Anything that will be sustainable and successful will require more than any one person or project can accomplish. That is why I pledge, if elected, to work with my fellow commissioners and all stakeholders to not only have growth but to do so in a manner in which we will not lose all that is special and unique to us.

Maintaining Stuart’s Unique Charm AND Economic Prosperity

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I am a strong proponent of economic development for our city. I believe that we can maintain our unique “old Florida charm” and still bring new businesses, jobs and residents to Stuart. However, I am not in favor of changing our 4-story height limit (which, according to code, can be as much as 60 feet from slab to peak). I do not want to see Stuart become Delray Beach or City Place. If we are to stand out from the rest of South Florida, we must maintain and enhance our strengths not try to emulate others.

If elected, I will strive to enhance our Economic Development Department. I would like to see it act as an ombudsman with every city department for anyone trying to open a business or construct a building. Most interactions between the public and city departments are informational and problem solving. Every employee should be customer centric. The city government should not be seen as an obstacle but as a resource.

That is not to say that we do not enforce our rules, regulations and laws. Bad projects are still bad projects. Those rules, etc. are there for the safety of all. We do need to treat everyone the same whether they have just come to town or their family has been here for generations. There is no room for favoritism at City Hall. Cronyism will sabotage our efforts to increase our economic development.

At the same time, I am not in favor of subsidies for any individual or business regardless of the promises made for expansion or bringing employment.   Subsidies come from tax revenue collected from our citizens by the city, and tax revenue should not be used to benefit a favored few. The role of government is not to pick winners and losers, but to make our city a good place for every business and family to succeed and thrive.

Within the framework I have outlined, I will work with anyone to accomplish his or her dream of starting or expanding a business in Stuart. I will sit down with any developer who wishes to build here as long as what they propose is in keeping with Stuart traditions. New residents are drawn here because of our water front, neighborhoods, parks and way of life. We cannot destroy any of it in the name of economic progress. Actions that do will only be counterproductive and lead to the opposite of what we are trying to achieve.