In a 7-1 vote on Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council approved changes to its the comprehensive land use plan. The proposal is in response to the citizen petitioned "Hometown Democracy" Amendment 4 , which would require voter approval on changes to the comprehensive land-use plan.

According to Council-member Karl Nurse, there were 259 land use changes in St. Petersburg in the last five years. He and other council members voiced concern on how the amendment would be implemented in the city and who would finance the potentially numerous referendums.

"One thing I want to protect is this city's home rule. We know what we want. We know where we're going and we have the imput of the citizens to get where we are and that is what's important to be," said Council member Leslie Curran before the vote.

The crucial vote in November may be months away but Nurse showcased St. Pete's response to Amendment 4 if the legislation passes in the form of a new land use map. The current land use map's 23 categories would be grouped into five larger categories which would dictate what developments could go where. The broader decisions would require voter approval but the nitty gritty of the changes would still be up to city council.

"This has been a seven year struggle to give citizens the opp to decide if they want to have a vote on issues that impact their property values and quality life. What St. Petersburg is attempting is an end-run around our constitutional rights," said Jill Yelverton, a Dade city resident with Hometown Democracy.

Council member Steve Kornell voted no on the proposal.

"Amendment four will not work in many ways, but in January I think that would be the appropriate time to consider this and at that time I may be a yes," said Kornell, "But I don't particularly want to do it before the people have a voice."

Over one million Floridians signed the petition to get Hometown Democracy on the ballot and 60 percent of the public is in support of the action. But even speakers at last night's meeting were honest about their hesitation towards Amendment 4.

"I want you to know I didn't support Hometown Democracy, until this week.It has been a bad week for democracy and this is not where we expect this to be coming from," said Shore Acres resident Cathy Harrelson.

Tuesday St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler called the city's new plan a "decoy" but says the city isn't being sneaky about what they are doing. Mayor Bill Foster agrees.

"We're playing within the rules. We're playing within the law and the rules of a very of a very poorly drafted ballot amendment," said Foster.

The second hearing of the proposal is scheduled tentatively for September 2 at City Hall.

For more information on amendments to the city's comprehensive land use plan visit www.stpete.org and click on the agenda for July 22, 2010.

This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.