Florida 2060 - Keller Williams Realty



Florida 2060

For more information or to download the “Florida 2060” study – including separate reports on regions within the state – go to:

planning /2060.asp

Studies show future from Florida growth 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Dec. 7, 2006 – Imagine a Florida with twice as many people, double the congestion and another seven million acres of farms, forests and other rural lands paved over or converted into sprawling towns and suburbs.

That’s the “frightening” future Florida will face by 2060 – just 53 years away – unless the state makes dramatic changes soon in its approach to growth management, leaders of the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida said Wednesday as they released a pair of studies on the issue.

Existing requirements for local 10-year comprehensive plans are inadequate to deal with the long-term statewide implications of rampant growth, said 1000 Friends vice president Tim Jackson.

“The governor and Legislature should say ‘Here’s where we’re really trying to go in 100 years,”’ Jackson said. “‘What are the lands we ought to protect? What’s the form and character of communities that we ought to protect and preserve, and what form and where do we want new growth to happen?”’

The studies were commissioned in partnership with The St. Joe Co., Florida’s largest private land owner and one of the state’s biggest developers; A. Duda and Sons, a major agribusiness, and The Nature Conservancy, another environmental group.

“The 1000 Friends of Florida 2060 population scenario is a useful look into what the future could be if we don’t take planning and plan implementation seriously,” said state Department of Community Affairs spokeswoman Alexis Antonacci. But she added, “There are many factors working to change those trends.”

Florida House Environment and Natural Resources Council Chairman Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, said he had some qualms about proposals that might affect property rights but commended 1000 Friends for taking the lead on the growth management issue.

“Overall, it’s good that we’re talking about it,” Mayfield said. “We’re going to have to be much more creative.”

The first study by the University of Florida’s GeoPlan Center forecasts the state’s population will double to 36 million by 2060 and chew up 2.7 million acres each of agricultural land and natural habitat.

Only the Panhandle and adjacent Big Bend area would retain significant open space and then just if current growth and development patterns continue.

Southeast Florida would be almost one solid urban area with a band of development extending across the peninsula to Fort Myers on the southwest coast, where a three county area would be built out.

Central Florida would be another massive urban sector extending from Ocala to Sebring and St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach. Duval County would be built out in northeast Florida with growth spilling into adjacent communities.

Neither the threat of hurricanes nor soaring insurance rates and property values are expected to dampen Florida’s growth, Jackson said.

“The sun’s going to keep shining in Florida,” he said. “People are going to retire and they’re going to want to move somewhere it doesn’t snow.”

The state already has begun meeting the challenge with passage of a new growth management law in 2005, Antonacci said. It included about $1.5 billion for new highways, classrooms and water facilities, but that should be considered just a first step, said 1000 Friends president Lester Abberger.

“We’re going to need a lot more big steps to avoid the frightening scenario that you see on the 2060 chart,” Abberger said while standing near a state map covered with red dots showing where growth is expected.

A second study by Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development recommends ways to avoid the scariest parts of the forecast.

It proposes a new policy for converting rural lands to urban use that would thwart sprawl by setting aside small sectors for high-density development while preserving most vacant property for agriculture, open space and nature.

Antonacci said her agency already is developing such policies.

Other recommendations are to expand and continue the state’s Florida Forever program that obtains endangered lands, create a 100-year legacy plan and find leaders to support the proposals.

[pic]Copyright 2006 The Associated Press, Bill Kaczor Associated Press Writer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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