Mason-Dixon Poll: 61% Approve of Hometown Democracy / Amendment 4

As reported by the Jacksonville Observer on May 12, 2010, a telephone poll of 625 registered voters conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows that 61 percent of voters support Amendment 4/Hometown Democracy, while only 18 % are opposed.  The poll was conducted  from May 3 through May 5, 2010.

According to the Observer:

"Respondents from both major parties were overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal, though Democrats and independent voters polled more strongly in favor. Still 54 percent of Republicans support the proposal compared to 23 percent against with 20 percent undecided. Overall, 21 percent of voters say they're still undecided on the land-use proposal."

While it is true that the election is over 150 days away, this poll indicates that Florida voters are very frustrated with the rampant overdevelopment has occurred throughout the state. 

Several important issues remain unresolved by the poll. 

It appears the poll did not ask whether folks who supported Amendment 4 would still do so if they knew that Amendment 4 would subject their cities to increased exposure to the cost of litigation over ballot summary challenges and other legal challenges arising from putting comprehensive plans and amendments on the ballot.  Among the logistical challenges that face any city that tries to put comp plans on the ballot is the fact that Florida law requires all items on the ballot to be described in 75-word ballot summaries--a virtually impossible task.

The city of St. Pete Beach has been crippled by numerous lawsuits filed by anti-development activists who have alleged that the 75-word ballot summaries used by St. Pete Beach when it put its comp plan to a vote in 2008 were deceptively unclear.   If Amendment 4 passes in November, all of Florida's cities (like St. Pete Beach) will be forced to summarize their 150-200 page comp plans/amendments in 75-word ballot summaries.  It would be interesting to see whether the 61% poll number supporting Amendment 4 would change if folks knew that they would be facing similar challenges if Amendment 4 passes!