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“LIVE LOCAL” ACT – A GOOD IDEA?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published September 29, 2023
Governor
Ron DeSantis signed SB
102 – dubbed the “LIVE LOCAL” Act – into
law. In my opinion this bill was a bad idea and hasn’t gotten
any better with amendments in committee hearings. Even if it was
a bi-partisan bill it seems that our legislators once again
pushed a law that is not supported by a majority of voters.
All over
Florida we are seeing total overdevelopment, with the developers
not being forced to create the necessary infrastructure before
building huge amounts of new homes.
And
taking away the rights of local governments to make the
decisions about zoning is an even worse idea. Local governments
– elected by the people who live in these cities and counties –
are there for a reason – and these citizens should have a voice
in deciding what’s happening in their neighborhood.
As much
as I understand that all the “new” Florida citizens need housing
– the families who are fleeing the blue states up North because
of high crime, bad schooling and even higher taxes –
overbuilding is a bad idea.
Our roads
ore overcrowded, traffic is horrific, and we have permanently
water-shortages because our government in its infinite wisdom is
selling our drinking water to out-of-state companies.
We’ll see
what the courts will decide, because this new law has been
challenged in court by various counties. Does our State
government have the right to take power away from the local
governments – and in reality the citizens of these counties and
cities?
It seems
like lots of folks – according to their opinions – don’t like it
here in Florida. Maybe somebody should file a bill suggesting a
swap between families who want to move to Florida and folks who
don’t like it here. That might solve the problem of
overdeveloping our great State of Florida.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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