On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council will vote on a second reading on a proposal brought forth by Councilman Karl Nurse. He says the proposal would prevent any deleterious effects if Amendment 4, also known as the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment, is approved by voters and becomes state law in November.
To quote from CL's Arielle Stevenson's report in our most recent issue,
Nurse has presented a multi-colored map of St. Petersburg that would reduce the number of categories in the city's land-use plan from 23 to five: neighborhoods, activity centers, corridors, preservation and recreation/open space. While Amendment 4, if passed in November, would give citizens a direct say in any changes to the city's plan, Council's map would enable such referenda only for the "bigger fights" — when a development project would impact one of the five big categories.
Needless to say, Nurse's move, which was approved by all but one of his fellow city council members when they initially voted on it, is controversial.
Now CONA, the Council of Neighborhood Associations of South Pinellas County, is weighing in.
