Remember the promise from the BOCC that the citizens of Martin County would have one information meeting regarding the “Rural Lifestyle” amendment. It has not happened yet.
As of March 12th, (when I am writing this), nothing is on the county website advertising the meeting. The supposed facilitator, the Guardians of Martin County, have nothing on their website. The commission meeting when the rural lifestyle was approved for transmittal to the state was on Feb 22nd and included the plan for just one information meeting. At that time, staff said the state would have the approval back to the county within 50 days. The BOCC can vote to add the rural lifestyle amendment section to the comp plan once it is returned.
This may be the most significant change to the comp plan since its inception. What I am hearing from the majority of the commission and county government is “trust us.” Well, I would trust you if you were transparent and you have been anything but that.
Perhaps by the time you read this, the meeting date, time, and place will be on Martin County’s website. Perhaps a press release will go out soon. Members of the public get only one bite at the apple to have their questions answered and their fears either confirmed or alleviated.
Through detective work this is what I have learned. The meeting will take place on March 23rd at the Wolf Technology Center at IRSC Chastain Campus between 4-8 pm. This is apparently your only chance to know more. If you can’t attend, then too bad. If you live in Palm City Farms, Jensen Beach, or western Martin put aside time for the commute. If need be, the county believes, you should take off from your job, your business, and your kid’s ballgame. You won’t get another opportunity.
Discovery, which precipitated the comp plan amendment, is a good project. It could have been approved without the rural lifestyle change. They do believe in transparency because they have a sound project.
They will be having a second meeting to explain their project at 7:45 am, March 24th at the Polo Club off Bridge Road on the site of the proposed development. Because it is a good project, I am hoping that Discovery will have more informational meetings throughout the county and speak about the rural lifestyle amendment. Yet this is no substitute for the county making sure that the public is informed. The county idea of one meeting in one place just won’t suffice.
Martin County government makes it impossible to trust them because they are not working to gain the citizens’ trust. If this amendment to the comp plan is so good, then they should be anxious to educate us so that citizens have the information to have an informed opinion. A little openness goes a long way.
The county is the one with an artificial time limit on approval not the people. Let us have 20 meetings. Go to each part of the county and educate the citizens.
Citizens, you are treated this way because some commissioners may feel you are irrelevant. You should stop voting for commissioners if they are not listening to what you want. If you have been a commissioner term after term for years and years because there is no (or only token) opposition, then why bother to listen to the people. Re-election is a certainty since so many of us have no memory of how we are treated between elections.