Nearly 200,000 people throughout the United States have signed 236 change.org petitions aimed at stopping growth and development that they see as harmful to their communities.
Florida residents launched 22 of the petitions as part of what change.org calls the Stop Disruptive Building in Our Community movement. Below are excerpts of some of the petitions along with a Google map showing locations of the petition drives. Click on locations to see change.org links.
A petition in Oveido, Florida, asks the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners to reject efforts to nearly 70 acres of land that “has been home to Pappy’s Strawberry patch forever.”
The petition states:
Make your opinion known to prevent the industrialization of rural Oveido, and sign this petition. Thanks for your effort to protect “Old Florida.” Build where it is already zoned to do so and as we don’t need to create a “special exception” and destroy the area.
In Broward County, Florida, residents want to stop what they describe as “a huge commercial development planned for Heron Bay.”
Their petition states:
There is a plan to develop 69 acres of pristine land on Coral Ridge Drive and Nob Hill Road within the Heron Bay residential community. The planned commercial development includes 47 acres in Parkland and 22 acres in Coral Springs.
Three proposals have been submitted, ranging from 500,000 square feet of retail space to 800,000 square feet, which would make the shopping center one of the 25 largest in the State of Florida. By way of comparison, City Place in West Palm Beach has 600,000 square feet of space; The Promenade in Coconut Creek has less than 300,000 square feet of space; and Mizner Park in Boca Raton has less than 400,000 square feet of space.
In addition to filling up the roadside on Nob Hill, the Heron Bay Shopping Center will engulf many homes within Heron Bay. Parkland will be the new shopping, restaurant, and bar destination city of South Florida. This is not good for Parkland, and particularly not good for those in the shopping center’s proximity. Goodbye quiet, peaceful, residential lifestyle. Hello, loud noise at all hours of the night (every night), traffic and more people coming to our community.
The current proposals include three-story office buildings, and as building codes and noise ordinances are lifted, we can expect up to 50 foot high structures (twice as high as the surrounding homes), and an extremely busy, loud environment.
In St. Johns County, residents say they “have very serious concerns regarding the extremely large-scale Greenbriar Helow project in the NW sector of the county. We would hope that the Commission will give careful review and further examination of this proposed project.”
Their petition states:
Greenbriar Helow proposes building 3,500 homes and 2.5 million square feet of new commercial space which is larger than the St. Johns Town Center (1.4M sq. ft.) in comparison. Currently the development tracker indicates the NW sector has 25,984 residential units/houses approved and approximately only 5,254 units have been built.Greenbriar Helow is 2,211 acres zoned Rural Silviculture and falls outside the approved area for development in the Comprehensive Plan. The county is losing agricultural land at an alarming rate as the fastest growing county in the state and agriculture has been a critical economic sector in our County.
In Hollywood, Florida, residents are protesting the development of a condominium on what they describe as taxpayer-owned land.
Their petition states:
Defend what is ours, make the extra effort, share, talk, inquire, ask for a fair REFERENDUM
The City of Hollywood is planning to authorize the construction of 30 Story Luxury condo on Tax Payer-Owned land.
Allowing this action will pave the way for many other builders to come and build, leaving the residents of Hollywood with little or no place to go and enjoy OUR BEACH. It is all well known that the area is already crowded and with very few and expensive parking places.
Allowing this will turn into a whole road of private beaches where we will not be able to enjoy what we pay for with our tax money.
Additionally; the imminent destruction of natural habitat for turtles that every year come to our shores during the nesting season.
All around this is a bad deal for everybody humans and nature; preserve our beach and the right to enjoy a tranquil place where families can converge and enjoy the day. Look no further try to go to the beach in Sunny Isles, Golden Beach or Hallandale Beach is that what you want for us?
SAY NO defend our free access to the beach, and protect our natural resources.
In St. Lucie County, residents worry that the Edenlawn plantation will be lost. Their petition states:
The Edenlawn plantation just north of the Jensen beach causeway on Indian River Drive is a well known 9 acre, majestic and unique part of history on our beloved Treasure Coast !! Named after “The garden of Eden” from the Bible for its magnificent “rain forest like” landscape, the plantation founded in 1880 (over 140 years ago) has lived on through many phases ever since. From it’s early days as a pineapple plantation, too serving as a place of refuge with its many cottages on site for soldiers or those simply passing through by ship, a “speak easy” type location for transportation of alcohol during prohibition, a low income rental community for those down on their luck needing a place to stay and work to get back on their feet, a market, restaurant and eventually a rehabilitation center! The original main building on the property is around 200 years old and was moved there in 1880 when the plantation was founded. The property is also home to Jensen Beach’s very first post office as well as St. Lucie County’s very first in ground swimming pool!! As of today this wonderful place is in contract for development, rather than becoming a permanent historical landmark or restoring the beauty, bringing life back to a place that once gave so much to countless individuals and families from all over! It is now in danger of being completely bulldozed and forgotten in time just to become another corporate high price development, but by signing this petition we can stop them and save this truly special treasure for individuals and families of future generations to cherish as well!!