In a letter sent to City Council members on Monday, CONA's president, Will Michaels, says his group wants the council to hold off on approving of the Comprehensive Land Use Map that Nurse has introduced until after the November election, writing:
At the end of the presentation and debate at our July meeting, the Board of CONA voted to ask City Council to delay approval and implementation of the proposed CLUP Map until after the election. The vote was unanimous. Our members strongly believe that the proposed map deserves much more public study and input before it is made a part of our development regulations.
Many of our members took part in the Vision 2020 exercise and have dedicated countless hours to the committees that helped to write our new Land Development Regulations (LDRs). As a group, they are informed and aware of development issues in our community. Their concern is that this new CLUP Map will be made a part of our development code before Amendment Four may pass, before the enabling legislation for Amendment Four has been written assuming it passes, and before the impacts of the new CLUP Map are clearly understood.
The Council is scheduled to vote on the Nurse map tomorrow.
Meanwhile, CL's Jason Green reports that there will be a roundtable for those of you who aren't certain about which way to vote on Amendment Four to be held later this month. It will take place at St. Petersburg College's Clearwater Campus (2465 Drew St. in Clearwater) at the Fine Arts Auditorium on Monday, September 20, beginning at 11:15 a.m.
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.
