Scott’s picks for DCA and DEP are a sign of change to come

[JCMach1]

Source: Gainesville Sun

In a move with the potential to unravel decades of growth management and environmental policy, Gov. Rick Scott has named two agency heads who have strong ties to the state's development industry.

Scott, who has promised to rid the state of "job-killing" regulations, named Billy Buzzett, a land-use lawyer who has worked for one of the largest developers in Florida, to lead the state Department of Community Affairs, the state's top agency for regulating developers.

Scott has also indicated his support for diminishing the role of the DCA by merging its responsibilities with those of several other agencies, including the Department of Transportation... The appointments, which drew praise from some business groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce, are an indication that the new administration may be ready to significantly scale back growth-management and environmental regulations, such as laws requiring developers to pay for new roads or requiring major developments to go through a regional-impact review.

Growth-control advocate Dan Lobeck calls Buzzett's pick to lead DCA a "radical" choice, arguing that a developer should not be in charge of development regulations.

"If there every was a case of the fox guarding the henhouse, this is it," Lobeck said. "This is a full-scale abandonment of growth management in Florida."

Read more: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110108/ARTICLES/110109582/1169?Title=Scott-8217-s-picks-for-DCA-and-DEP-are-a-sign-of-change-to-come-

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:grr:

The rape of Florida continues.

[abq e streeter]

1. .... continues with the full consent of a majority of Florida voters

no one to blame but their own ignorance (those that voted for him; not the innocent victims who did their part to try to and stop this criminal asshole from being elected )

[TxVietVet]

2. k&r

[jmowreader]

3. I think Florida is going to be in for a very rough ride

To Rick Scott, ALL regulations kill jobs. Therefore, he plans to get rid of them all.

[Tribalceltic]

4. This bell is tolling for me

and my family.

People in my area are now afraid to call an ambulance, for fear they will be arrested "accidently". Empty homes are being gone through for salvage. People are dying in the streets, and in the woods and he throws a $3 million party.

[JCMach1]

5. Welcome to DU

:toast:

[quaker bill]

6. And yet

his own transition slide show indicated that in places around FL at the current rate of growth there is a 30 to 40 year supply of approved developments yet to be built. Growth management and regulation of this industry is not the problem, virtually no demand for the product is. Some of the pros are betting that demand will come back and are buying up dead but already permitted/approved projects nearer the urban areas, at bankruptcy auction prices.

The chapter 7 and chapter 11 tide has passed leaving a great deal of stranded wreckage, but the salvage rights are cheap. No one seriously in this business will need much in the way of a permit or regional approval for a long time. I am processing minor changes and extensions to existing permits, very rarely is a proposal for a truly new project even seriously discussed.

If there was a moment where putting ideologs in charge of these departments was nearly harmless, it is now, because few if any interests are proposing anything new for these guys to rule on. Believing, as they seem to, that making the process less complex will spur demand is simply silly. There is no demand because there are no buyers, and the very few buyers that still exist are spending their remaining funds picking up truly cheap properties at bankruptcy auctions, at prices that are well less than fifty cents on the dollar, already approved, and largely constructed.