The Flagler Home Builders Association is preparing to sue Palm Coast government over the City Council’s approval in June of sharply higher development impact fees for fire, parks and roads. The new fees don’t apply until Oct. 1.
The HBA today sent a 14-day notice to the city of its intent to sue, as is required before a civil lawsuit is filed against a government. The suit would be filed on behalf of HBA, five construction companies and two city residents.
The pending action argues that the city’s new schedule violated the law by raising fees too sharply and too quickly, without a substantiated showing of “extraordinary circumstances” that would justify the sharper increase, among other alleged violations.
“We believe the notice of violation accurately states the law as well as the defects and deficiencies of these ordinances,” Annamaria Long, Executive Officer of the Flagler Home Builders Association, is quoted as saying in a release by HBA. “We are committed to protecting citizens and ensuring a fair business environment in our community.”
A city spokesperson said the city had received the notice and was reviewing it.
Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri, who pressed for higher impact fees with three different council colleagues last year and again this year, countered HBA’s notice in strong language today.
“It’s unfortunate that at a time when our city has experienced incredible growth and unprecedented increases in infrastructure construction costs, our homebuilder’s association would find it necessary to threaten us with legal action, rather than recognize the importance of growth paying for itself—which it never truly does,” Pontieri wrote in a statement to FlaglerLive. “Impact fees are a necessary cost of doing business, and they ensure that the city’s future infrastructure needs and public safety are adequately funded. Providing residents with fire stations and safe roads is not optional—it’s our duty. Additionally, providing for parks and recreation keeps families healthy and active. Its unfortunate that we, as public officials, have to defend our quality of life to the HBA—the same folks that earn money by selling houses in the very community we work so hard to keep safe and beautiful.”
Notably, the HBA’s action is also an outgrowth of recently passed and controversial legislation that forbids local governments from adopting land-development regulations that would be burdensome to developers. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 180, largely addresses recovery measures after natural disasters, but also applies the “burdensome” prohibition across the board, whether an area is in recovery or not. The legislation is itself facing litigation and sweeping opposition from local governments.
Local and state officials have said it is very likely to be revised in the coming session. How that will affect litigation citing SB180 is unclear, though HBA’s lawsuit is multi-pronged and would likely not be nullified if the burdensome” standard was narrowed.
The Palm Coast City Council in June approved increases in its fire and rescue, parks system and transportation impact fees. The fire impact fee rose 117 percent, the parks fee 73 percent, the typical transportation fee 115 percent. The city increased water and sewer impact fees 30 percent last year.
The HBA states Palm Coast more than doubled combined impact fees on homes and businesses from a minimum of $5,764 to $11,646 as of October 1, 2025. When added to water and sewer fees, a 2,000 square foot home would carry at least $31,528 in impact fees, according to the association.
“It is incomprehensible,” the HBA’s notice states, “how over a 100% increase in impact fees with a $5,681 increase for a single family, 2,000 square foot home, could be anything but ‘more burdensome’. The Ordinances would, therefore, be found null and void ab initio.” That’s Latin for “to start with,” or “from the outset.”
Impact fees are one-time fees, barely distinguishable from taxes, imposed on new development–houses, office buildings, industrial buildings–to defray the “impact” of that new development on the community. The impact fee revenue is intended to fund necessary infrastructure improvements and schools caused by a larger population, though fee revenue is generally not enough to meet all such needs.
Governments must justify the fees through rigorous studies that directly link population increases, including projections, with need. The HBA successfully argued several years ago that an attempt by the School Board to double its impact fees was based on a questionable study. The proposal was scaled back before it was approved. The HBA is making a similar argument in Palm Coast’s case, focusing on the city’s claim that “extraordinary circumstances” exist to justify the large increases.
A relatively new state law limits impact fee increases to one every four years, and to no more than 50 percent during that four-year period–unless the local government can show “extraordinary circumstances.” Those are defined as population increases faster than the state average and unusually high construction costs. HBA claims Palm Coast failed to meet those standards.
“The impact fees are not proportional or reasonably connected to or have a rational nexus with the need for additional capital facilities for the properties as there was no effort whatsoever to apply such impact fees to neighborhoods or even regional areas within the City,” the notice to the city states.
The notice was drafted by Daniel Webster, a Daytona Beach attorney. While he claims that the city’s study lacked rigor, the same may be said of at least some parts of the notice, leaving them easy pickings for the sort of merciless attorney the city is in the habit of hiring to fight lawsuits.
Webster says, with questionable accuracy, that the city’s study was not Palm Coast-specific, relying instead on national and state data. The city relied on such city and county-specific data as that provided by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research and the Census Bureau, both of which provide Palm Coast and Flagler County-specific data.
Webster states the city did not make a case for “extraordinary circumstances” other than to show that there was inflation, and that the local population increased, “which in Florida is the norm, certainly not extraordinary.” The statement is disingenuous: while Florida’s population has increased almost every year for decades, Fagler County’s increases in some years after 2018 placed it among the fastest-growing counties in the state, with most of that growth in Palm Coast. That growth continued last year.
The notice also claims that “The Ordinances are unlawful because they are assessing impact fees for the reconstruction or replacement of previously existing structures.” That would be illegal: impact fees may be used only to add capacity, not to repair or replace existing capacity. But in all publicly announced city projects, the city appears to have abided to that requirement quite strictly, and its administration is quick to remind council members what their impact fees may or may not fund.
For example, impact fee revenue is being used to build a new fire station in Seminole Woods (Fire Station 26). It has been used to expand a water treatment plant, and to add new amenities to existing parks. The notice does not include examples of violations of that standard.
The notice refers to Fire Station 26, if with odd reasoning: “With respect to Fire Station 26, they are showing it as a current need with a $10,910,978 budget that serves the growing Seminole Woods area; so, therefore, cannot be benefiting those within the entire City and cannot be a need based on future growth or apportioned by neighborhood.”
The reasoning assumes that, say, a new turning lane, a new fire station or a new park in one neighborhood would be a violation of impact fee use since it would not benefit the entire city, but that’s not been the reasonable application of the standard since by necessity, almost all impact fee spending is geographically specific: even water treatment plants serve specific areas of the city.
The notice seems to go even further afield when it claims that “The City fire stations also serve areas outside of the City and utilize as personnel Flagler County Fire Department personnel operating out of City Stations, which also serve areas outside of the City. This was not addressed.”
It is true that city fire stations serve areas outside the city: mutual-aid agreements are in place with Flagler County and Flagler Beach. That has been true since the founding of the city. It is also true that county personnel operate out of city fire stations. That’s because the county alone operates ambulances, which are stationed jointly with city personnel as an efficiency measure. It is almost unimaginable that someone like Circuit Judge Christ France, before whom this lawsuit is likely to play out when filed, would find either of these arrangements objectionable or relevant to a case against higher impact fees.
Webster’s claim that “There has been no allocation or explanation as to the current actual needs nor any study showing why additional stations or personnel are needed” is not accurate: the Fire Department produced data showing that the new station in Seminole Woods was needed because the area is underserved, and a new station would cut response time in half for many residents. (See: “As Seminole Woods Soon Gets Its Own Fire Station, Emergency Response Times May By Cut in Half for Many.”)
Webster’s arguments against the city’s proportional calculations of needs may be sounder when he shows that the capital needs the city shows can be paid for through impact fees include all of the city’s firefighters in the equation, rather just the 33 additional firefighters who would be needed through 2035.
Webster applies similar approaches to the city’s transportation and parks impact fee calculations, finding them wanting and concluding that “there is an exceptionally strong case to overturn all three (3) Ordinances.” (Each impact fee increase was ratified through a separate ordinance.)
“It is unfortunate that the consultants hired by the City, undoubtedly at a substantial cost to tax payers, failed to address the fundamental requirements required under the State’s legal precedent,” the notice concludes. “Additionally, the studies failed to mention or address the statutory changes, which were pending before the legislature, and approved by the Governor on June 26, 2025 – – which was four (4) days before the Ordinances were adopted.”
Really annoyed says
If you don’t agree then leave and build somewhere else! We don’t need you!
Jane Gentile-Youd says
I am a proud Realtor and I have no problem suggesting Palm Coast pass an immediate Residential construction moratorium for a minimum of 6 months to give time to the wacked out Home Builders Association time to put their brains , their decency and their money to the table. If that does not work extend the moratorium until it does. LOL
ELLEN says
THEN BUILD SOMEWHERE ELSE….. FILL ALL THE EMPTY HOUSES AND APARTMENTS BEFORE YOU ADD MORE
Reason says
K Let’s double the fees again then.
Land of no turn signals says says
Of course they are,the greed of these builders runs rampant.Don’t dare touch there bottom line because the profit margin is thin.Lol.I hope the new city lawyer has the balls to shut them down.More cities are going to follow suit in raising impact fees.They just add it to the price of the already ridiculous price of the house.
Cisco says
When are we going to stop letting these builders bullying our city council, like they did before when they put all of their trucks around town center and took up most of the parking knowing that old people such as myself couldn’t walk that far for the meeting. The foolish builders only care about their costs,and wants the city to pay for all of the expensive infrastructure and pass it along to the long term residents that are already here for many years, yet it’s their heavy equipment that tears up our roads and their trying to build this city faster than the infrastructure and funds are available, so my message to the builders is to suck it up Buttercup and go pound sand if you think any sane judge will not believe that y’all are the root of Palmcoast’s problems and need to accept the cost of being the solution, c’mon people get a working brain. I will be more than happy to testify to the judge the harms that they have caused our city by putting greed over the best interests of our citizens. PLEASE Do!
thought from a Traffic Engineer says
It all starts with Good Planning
Palm Coast should require more detailed Traffic Impact Imapct studies and require Applicants to mitigate Project traffic impacts (ie roadway improvements inclduing additional lanes, upgraded/new traffic signals including Adaptive Traffic Control Systems). Palm Coast could/should develop a Transporation Improvement District to collect fees for future roadway impovements.
JimboXYZ says
Welcome to Alfinville, the legacy & ghosts of 3.5 years of growth BS. Just keeps getting better doesn’t it ? And Norris is the one that was sandbagged by Biden-Harris. The lies of Covid => present. Here comes that lie of a soft landing, someone else has to get burned for the last 4-5+ years & not those that caused it. The rest of us end up paying for it all. As the dump truck drives by with another load of debris to erect another duplex rental.
Kendall says
This is exactly why voting for anyone in the construction, development or real estate business- or anyone married to/born to someone in those industries is terrible for our quality of life.
Dennis C Rathsam says
HBA, With all due respect….Scratch my ass!
JM says
Question: would every person on the city council reveal if they have any connections to any of the builders, developers, realtors , or companies that they represent , and be upfront enough to be open and admit at the next council meeting their involvement,( or profits made from said association with builders, developers, etc). If your vote has allowed you to profit from previous mentioned association then you should resign.
If the governor were to have 1000 people contact his office to DOGE Palm Coast, I would imagine that all of their financial records would be investigated. Remember the State Attorney has Limitless Subpoena Powers.
If there have been or is any wrong doings in the City of Palm Coast, this would set the citizens minds at ease!
t.o. Doug says
Remember this the next time someone representing the builders tries to pretend they are part of our community. As soon as it comes time to chip in their fair share, the builders immediately revert to their true nature- ENEMIES OF THE CITIZENS OF PALM COAST
Pogo says
@All the usual brats
… who ate all their candy from trick or treating the same night they got it and are sick as they can be.
ROTFLMAO
Ray W, says
Does every FlaglerLive reader understand the seriously ignorant comment posted on this thread by JimboXYZ? He has it backwards when he writes his thoughts about a soft landing.
Back to the basics for you, JimboXYZ.
When the pandemic hit, economies all over the world were disrupted, including our own. Our economy rapidly cooled. Millions lost their jobs. Economists began expressing worry that if nothing was done, recession might not adequately describe the worst that was to come.
In response to the rapidly evolving negative economic news, in March of 2020, the American Senate listened to the economists and voted 96-0 to pass an unfunded stimulus bill totaling $2 trillion in funds. The House passed it on a voice vote. President Trump immediately signed the act into law. How many times have any FlaglerLive reader witnessed a 96-0 Senate vote on such an important issue?
Later that year, in December, Congress passed a second unfunded stimulus spending act, this time for $900 billion. President Trump signed that bill into law, too.
In 2021 and 2022, Congress authorized another $3 trillion in unfunded stimulus spending. President Biden signed those two bills into law.
Never in the history of the nation had so much unfunded stimulus money been thrown into a flailing economy. No economist could predict the outcome of such an extreme experiment.
In a few months, the American economy was defined as having entered into recession. But the recession turned out to be the shortest lived in American history, as the trillions of stimulus dollars heated the American economy out of recession. Still, no economist knew what would happen, as the numbers involved were just too vast. No one had a predictive economic model that worked under these conditions.
Meanwhile, the Fed had convened a committee to perform a final review its internal operating paradigm, as it does every five years. After debate and much study, the Fed’s internal operating paradigm was modified to permit the running of a hot economy, meaning an economy running with an inflation rate about 2%. The Fed also expanded the amount of funds in the national credit market by $3 trillion in March 2020, and it lowered the lending rate to 0%. In time lenders began offering 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at numbers as low as 2.7%. Millions of homes were refinanced, freeing up monthly cash for their owners. Millions of other homes were bought and sold, with buyers bidding up home prices in hopes of locking in 30-year mortgages at such low lending rates as quickly as possible. Homebuilders went into overdrive.
At that coalescing point in time, with trillions having been pumped into the economy, almost every economist began predicting that the huge sums would cause the economy to overheat. and that the Fed would respond by raising lending rates in order to cool the overheating. The result would lead to a rapidly cooling economy that would crash through a landing into a second recession.
Months went by. Even though inflation began rising, the job market never faltered. Those economists who had predicted a second recession began predicting a “hard” landing, one that didn’t necessarily go into recession, but still hit bottom hard.
In 2022, as many as 12 million unfilled jobs existed in the jobs market, nearly twice the ideal rate of 1.0 to 1.2 open jobs per unemployed person. Despite millions of immigrants pouring into the country, employers were creating more jobs than could be filled by both native-born and immigrant workers.
According to FactCheck, through July 2024, 15.7 million jobs were created during those three-and-a-half Biden years. 6.3 million more people were working in July 2024 than were working just before the onset of the pandemic in February 2020. With a native-born populace that was not growing appreciably, and it is still not growing appreciably, that meant that some 6 million of the additional workers were immigrants. We needed those immigrants in their millions to keep our economy growing.
Months went by. Even though inflation was getting hotter and hotter, the Fed held off raising the lending rate, relying on their newly adopted paradigm that allowed them to have inflation running above 2%.
More months went by, and the Fed finally responded by raising the lending rate. Over a period of about a year, numerous Fed raises to the lending rate finally settled in at a rate of over 5%. The jobs market remained stubbornly strong. The unemployment rate remained unusually low. GDP growth remained healthy. Inflation hit a high of 9%. Economists began arguing that the Fed had waited too long to raise lending rates.
Nonetheless, in more time, economists began talking of a “soft” landing, one in which the economy would land but not crash. Many still argued for a hard landing, but no one was arguing that recession was coming.
Even more months went by, and the jobs market remained strong. Unemployment dropped to as low as 3.5%, about a half-point below what is considered a healthy unemployment rate, but less than fully healthy does not automatically mean bad. GDP growth remained positive.
A few economists began talking of an economic recovery that never landed at all. The economy, the said, would coast back into a fully healthy economy that had structural issues requiring a far longer time period to fully heal. Most continued to predict a soft landing.
After just over two years, the Fed deemed the nation’s economic recovery sufficiently strong for it to begin lowering lending rates. Over three meetings in mid-to-late 2024, after the year-over-year inflation rate had dropped to 2.3%, the Fed lowered the lending rate a total of a full percentage point. Inflation immediately began to pick up, if only barely. The Fed announced that it was no longer ready to continue to lower the lending rate.
Including the inflation rate fluctuations, the year-over-year lending rate hit 2.3% again in early 2025. The Fed continued to hold off on lowering lending rates. But inflation continues to rise. Now, the CPI over the past 12 months is at 2.7% inflation, and the “core” CPI is at 2.9%.
For four years now, the Fed has focused primarily on the jobs side of its Congressional mandate. The last time the Fed met, 10 of the 12 voting members voted to hold off on lowering the lending rate. Days later, a new jobs estimate came out, reflecting a weakening jobs market. The jobs estimates for May and June were adjusted downwards by a significant yet not unusual number.
The American economy has yet to crash back into recession; it has yet to even crash into a hard landing. For the record, recession is defined by a decline in GDP. A healthy economy has GDP growth in a 2.5% to 3.0%. A hard landing could be GDP growth of 0% or slightly more.
Neither has our economy yet experienced a post-pandemic soft landing.
In sum, there has been no landing at all, at least as of yet.
But the American economy has stopped its inexorable glide back to a healthy economy with ample GDP growth and an inflation rate of 2.0%.
Since the early months of this year the inflation rate has been steadily rising. First quarter GDP growth dropped into negative numbers as American businesses sent billions of dollars overseas to buy international product before tariffs hit. Economists say that .5% of the drop in GDP was due to those fleeing billions of dollars. The economy rebounded in the second quarter, but GDP growth during the first six months of the year is a combined 1.2%, an unhealthy growth figure. Many economists argue that tariffs and deportations are responsible in no small part for the low GDP growth figure. But with tariffs being as high as they are, no one has yet developed an economic model that can be considered accurate. We remain blind to the future, as we so often are.
Thank you, JimboXYZ, for allowing me to correct your seriously ignorant comment. The past four or five years has seen an American economy returning to health far more quickly than just about every other advanced economy. As the Wall Street Journal and the Economist put it, President Trump inherited an economy that was “the envy of the world.”
T says
Jimbo leave the cult get a life
COMPLETELY OUTRAGEOUS says
So now it’s out in the open. War between the residents of Palm Coast and the Palm Coast/Flagler County Mafia called the Flagler Home Builders Association. They and the realtors run the show here in Flagler County and Palm Coast, as much as they deny this is the case.
The Flagler Home Builders Association are the same group that bankrolled the campaign of Ty Miller, current PC City Councilman, whose wife was Vice-President of the Flagler Home Builders Association during his campaign, and funded his campaign to the tune of $30,000. Verifiable. Look it up. That information is all verifiable.
Do you really believe that our City of Palm Coast City Council is impartial and makes their decisions based on what’s good for the residents? NO. They’re puppets of the Flagler Home Builders Association.
But now they’re out in the open with it and they don’t care. The gloves are off.
The City of Edgewater has a building moratorium in place and was voted for by their city council as follows:
The Edgewater City Council voted 3-2 to uphold existing moratorium ordinances, defying a new state law (SB 180) requiring their repeal. Residents overwhelmingly support the moratoriums, citing concerns about flooding and over-development.
The council plans to join a coalition of municipalities challenging SB 180 in court.
Unfortunately, the City of Palm Coast has a city council that doesn’t have the guts to vote for a building moratorium. Why? Because they’re bought and paid for by the Flagler Home Builders Association.
The Palm Coast Mafia is now out in the open and its name is the Flagler Home Builders Association.
William says
Double it !our public schools need refunding since the republican cuts!
If they only they protected kids as much as the Epstein files.
Greg says
Love it. The city kisses the ass of these builders, then they stuff the city up the ass. Hold your ground, and let them build elsewhere.
Taxpayer says
Stop with the building of homes and apartments when they are sitting empty. How about working on the traffic that is out of control.
Why does it seem like buildings are in charge of the City of PC because them seem to be able to build wherever they please and as large as they please.
There is no system in this town, and we can only blame City Officials for that.
Pig Farmer says
It should be relatively easy to prove the increased impact fees are necessary. The current infrastructure is inadequate to support the EXISTING residents. The State even said so. Add in another 26,000 homes and the entire system could collapse without SUBSTANTIAL infusions of cash. If the builders don’t like the facts, go build elsewhere.
Atwp says
An older man once said, to get a person’s attention, hit them in the pocket. How true! What will come of this is anybodies opinion.
HBA should pay full for water treatment plants says
The HBA wants homes to build, but doesn’t want to pay taxes to build them, so these homes can have access to things like clean drinking water. I hope they counter sue them so bad the HBA are cleaning dirty toilets for a living.
Jay Tomm says
“extraordinary circumstances”
Does the lack of proper water, sewer, roads, lights, stop signs, added police, added fire, & added traffic not qualify? WTF
Done my research says
How many H-2B visa workers are the builders (including roofers, and all construction entities, etc) using in Flagler County and Palm Coast? I think we’re entitled to that information.
The National Roofers Association directs its members on using H-2B visas workers. Look it up.
Don’t know what an H-2B visa worker is? Why would the construction industry as a whole want to use H-2B visa workers instead of American workers? These are hard questions that need to be asked of the Flagler Home Builders Association, as well as all elected political “officials” who were put into office by huge donations to their campaigns from the Flagler Home Builders Association.
I’d like some answers from the Flagler Home Builders Association (but I already know the answer).
People out there in the community, you need to educate yourselves regarding what’s going on, the fact that H-2B workers are taking jobs away from Americans, AND who follows up to make sure these temporary construction workers go back to their home countries once their visas end.
The main point, is that the construction industry as a whole uses H-2B visa workers over American workers.
And you wonder why many new home builds, new and replacement roofs are defective and substandard.
This topic is a huge story that needs to be told to the public.
Miss Eileen M says
Build elsewhere. Palm Coast will be better off without you! Greedy builders!!!!
Timbo says
No surprise that existing residents don’t care that impact fees are doubled. They won’t be paying it.
NJ says
The Realtor/Contractor/Developer Cartel has just Declared WAR against “We the People’ of Palm Coast! NOW is the TIME for “We the People” of Palm Coast to UNITE and Return CONTROL of Development to the people by STOP electing RINO people (aka Danko, Malfin, and other RINO Losers). DeSantis (another RINO) has SCREWED every Florida City and Town with Bill 180 (which only BENEFITS the Realtor/Contractor/Developer CARTEL). Palm Coast(also Flagler County) needs Common Sense Conservative Republican Leadership which the RINO Club (the Flagler Republican Executive Committee) does NOT have!!
Notthatsherry says
Senate bill 180 should have nothing to do with new developments in our city. This bill is about rebuilding after a hurricane. If builders are adding to the impact on our city they need to foot the bill. They have gotten away with putting stress on our infrastructure far too long. The cost is hundreds of millions of dollars. Extenuating circumstances are real in our city. Existing homeowners should not be responsible for the strain being placed on the infrastructure that developers create. Pay the impact fees or move on builders.
Paul says
The part about It’s our duty to see that the citizenship has safe roads That’s true But you just need to tell Andy dance that Because he has no road department It’s all shot it’s about getting kickbacks
Republican Dave says
Blame it on Biden, blame it on Harris, or blame it on your Momma if you can. The reality is, Republicans changed the law and our Governor, in Tallahassee, has changed the rules of the game, giving the power to the developers, to made it possible for these developers to sue. Follow the money. You voted these people in.
Doug says
It seems funny, once the mayor starts talking about a building moratorium all the commissioners who are beholding to the builders turn on him and try to get him out of office. The roads in this city are being destroyed by all the heavy trucks used in construction, who pays for that? On the two streets around me we have four houses that the builders finished and can’t sell. People talk about empty new houses all over town.
John says
How about not letting them build anything else period!!! Florida is full! We demand bo more building anythings home related. No houses, or apartments or section 8…..Absolutely nothing!!!!!
Ed P says
In 2024 the city of Palm Coast collected 33.5 million(33,500,000) dollars in impact fees.
Impact fees are variable so a moratorium would cut that revenue stream off.
Now what?
City bond rating would also be effected. Unfunded projects slowed or suspended. Could enough reductions be found to replace that kind of money?
I have zero dogs in this fight, but someone has to point out the obvious.
CK says
@NJ You should know. It takes a RINO to KNOW A RINO. That being YOU!!!
Declaring war ? More like you’re the one declaring war on many residents within the Palm Coast community. You’re nothing more than a keyboard warrior that’s been removed from other social media platforms due to your foul mouth and rebel rousing. All you do is come on FlaglerLive to call people names. Especially the Democrats.
Plus the fact you’re a big time supporter of Norris and your big mouth sounds just like his. Always in the midst of starting fights that you can’t possibly win.
UNITE and Return Control? Your RINO Democrat side is showing!!!
Find something productive to do with your sad self.
The court will decide the lawful outcome of the case.
Calm yourself down. Get a life.
Pogo says
@Ed P
Truly, an elegant example, that a broken/stopped clock, is correct twice a day.
Well done.
Flagler county would be better without Palm Dust says
I hope people move away and Palm Crust turns into a ghost town. A fitting end to one of the most absurdly ran towns in America. GO AWAY
Dave Z says
It’s an interesting set of comments on this very divisive subject. It certainly does seem that our politicians have made it more difficult for local governments to to put the brakes on the exploding growth throughout Florida. Most of us that live here now came from places outside of Florida and we appreciated the opportunity to move here. But when is enough enough.
I don’t think it’s for me to say – I’ve got mine, you are not welcome. That’s not to say that there shouldn’t reasonable controls on growth. But what is considered “reasonable” to one person may not seem so reasonable to another. We all tend to see things from our own self-interest It’s just human nature. But growth benefits many interests and feels damaging to many who are already here.
Trying to write legislation is terribly complicated and perhaps our legislators had the best of intentions. But lawyers like Daniel Webster are willing to overlook the real intent of legislation and challenge every phrase or word to twist the meaning. And so it goes in our world of lawyers.Bit, of course, when we need for things to be interpreted in our favor, we find a good lawyer.