Imagine if the government passed a law that stated the phone company can put a pole anywhere that Stuart has a “right of way”. AT&T would not have to ask permission or pay more than $15.00 a year to place its antenna on that pole. Verizon, Sprint and Comcast could erect similar structures at a stop sign or park or in the grass strip in front of your house. You would be outraged. You couldn’t believe it can happen in the U.S….in Florida. Stuart and Martin County would be powerless to stop it.
The same day that the poles go up in Memorial Park and in front of your house, your neighbor next door decided to make his home into a hotel. The neighbor on the other side of you decides that she wants to convert her living room into a convenience store and nightclub. Your neighbors on either side do not have to register anywhere or obtain the city’s permission. Stuart could not do anything to prevent it. When those new businesses open, they wouldn’t have to pay anything additional for the increased services that the city would have to provide because of increased traffic and police presence.
This is not fantasy. We are not being invaded by a foreign government. But it does smack of a totalitarian state doesn’t it? There are currently bills in the legislature that would make the above a reality. The Speaker of the House and a hand full of his followers have decided that local government is an enemy of business. It is their belief that we are unfriendly to business by requiring a utility to obtain a permit and the permission of that municipality before erecting a structure in a place that is owned by the citizens of the city.
Speaker Corcoran and some other legislators think that anyone should be able to turn his/her home into a hotel for “short term rentals” without any local oversight. These same legislators believe that local government should not have any authority to make sure businesses operate in the best interests of their communities. Their belief is that the legislature is all-knowing and that you should not be able to decide how your community should look.
This undemocratic and perverse logic will result in people fleeing the state rather than moving here. People want to have control over their local communities. They want to be able to live in towns and cities that reflect their values not those of a group of legislators from Tampa or Lee County. This is not a partisan issue but a philosophical one. We must fight this incursion on our sovereignty.
The right of “Home Rule” is just as important as “Freedom of Speech” or our 2nd Amendment Right. It is vital to making sure that the people have the communities that they want. Every time we are denied that ability, our liberty is eroded just a little bit more. If a locality is not infringing on a constitutional right, then the state or federal government should not intrude on how we govern ourselves.
There is an economic cost to such mindless, one-size-fits-all laws. Some in the legislature may see it as helping business. However, when local government has its sources of revenue impacted by Tallahassee, the locality must find other sources of income to continue to provide services, usually on the back of the residents. As the quality of life is negatively impacted, then businesses suffer. And, if that comes to pass, we won’t need all those antennas in “rights of way” providing internet because there will be fewer people and businesses choosing to be here as a result of the legislature’s misguided policies.