St. Pete Beach Commission To Consider Complete Repeal of the City's Amendment 4-Style Rules

St. Pete Beach's long and tortured experience with Amendment 4-style land use regulations is about to get even more interesting.

During a meeting of the St. Pete Beach City Commission on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, District 3 commissioner Marvin Shavlan expressed extreme frustration with the profusion of lawsuits and skyrocketing legal expenses incurred by the city as a result of the city's attempts to implement the Amendment 4-style land use regulations that were adopted by the city by a referendum vote in 2006.  Commissioner Shavlan's frustration has led the city commission to schedule consideration of  a full repeal of the city's Hometown Democracy provisions during the next meeting of the commission on July 13, 2010. 

The regulations adopted by the city in 2006, (which require a citizen referendum vote on all changes to the city's comprehensive plan involving 5 or more parcels) sparked so many costly lawsuits against the city and proved so unpopular with city residents that major portions of those regulations were repealed by an overwhelming majority vote of the people in 2009. 

After the 2009 repeals, only changes involving building height, density and intensity and categories require a referendum vote.  When St. Pete Beach residents voted on the repeals in 2009, many hoped that scaling back the Amendment 4-style regulations would minimize the city's legal expenses.  Unfortunately, not only have the legal bills continued to rack up, but the number of new lawsuits against the city continues to grow...the most recent lawsuit having been filed last week.

Ironically, if the St. Pete Beach city commission approves a repeal of the remaining provisions, that resolution would have to be put on the ballot for approval by St. Pete Beach residents, and it would be put on the same ballot as Amendment 4, in November of 2010.

Furthermore, if the commission approves the repeal, and if the voters of St. Pete Beach approve it at the polls, this would be a complete repudiation of the core principles of Amendment 4.  Having been convinced to try Hometown Democracy, the people of St. Pete Beach will have decided to restore their full trust and confidence in their elected officials to enact land use and comprehensive plan changes.

No doubt about it.  This is going to be an exciting election!


Read the June 27, 2010 St. Petersburg Times story