FLORIDA COUNTY NIXES AGENDA 21 PROJECT

Submitted by: Nancy Battle

NO AGENDA 21 FOR THIS COUNTY

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The six counties to the south will have to plan ahead for the next half-century without Indian River County's input, county commissioners agreed Tuesday.

In a 4-1 vote, amid residents' applause and waving of American flags, commissioners withdrew from the Southeast Florida Regional Partnership and its "Seven50" planning effort.

"I don't want a regional board deciding what's good for our economy," Vero Beach resident Nancy Cook said. "We are small enough. We can deal with issues as they present themselves."

Cook was one of more than 20 people who spoke out against the partnership and its goals of creating an economic region from Indian River County south to Monroe County.

Before a packed audience in the Commission Chambers, some of them blasted regionalism as the first step toward a global system under the United Nations. Most opposed the idea of Washington bureaucrats and Miami consultants forcing the county to join the region to qualify for federal grants.

Indian River County, which they praised for its low-density zoning and low-rise development, has nothing in common with sprawling counties like Miami-Dade and Broward.

"After a year and a half or two years, most plans are history and you get a new plan," Vero Beach builder Toby Hill said. "I don't know who would tell you a 50-year plan makes sense — unless they plan for a living."

Kevin Foley, chairman of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, and Marcela Camblor, director of the Seven50 project, said the planning process was voluntary.

If Seven50 included things like giving up local rights to regional planners, Foley said, the planning council would have rejected it.

Camblor likened the region to a business, with its counties as major divisions and cities as departments. And every business, large and small, has a business plan, she said.

"But there's no business plan for Southeast Florida," she said. "Everyone's efforts aren't coordinated."

She said Indian River County could keep its low density and stay in the region by simply embedding its existing land-use plans as its chapter in the regional plan being formed.

Commissioner Bob Solari drew muted applause by making a motion to withdraw. He said he was frustrated when planners wouldn't even acknowledge that there could be problems.

"This process puts us on the wrong road, which is why I don't even want to be on that road," he said.

Peter O'Bryan, one of Seven50's executive board members, dissented. He said the county could always opt out once the plan was complete in 1 1/2 years.

Commissioner Wesley Davis, however, said the county would always be a minority at regional discussions. He balked at having to fight for the lifestyle the county already enjoys.

"Why should we have to defend it?" he asked. "People elected us to do it. Just keep it here."

John R. Marler

Georgetown, Texas

Tea Party and 9-12 Member