making tea with smart growth: the fall of statewide growth management in florida

Making Tea with Smart Growth: The Fall of Statewide Growth

Management in Florida

Samuel R. Staley, Ph.D. DeVoe L. Moore Center& Randall G. Holcombe

Deparment of EconomicsFlorida State University

Presentation Prepared for the Preserving the American Dream annual conference,

Washington, DC, October 28, 2013.e. sstaley@fsu.edu

The Goal of Statewide Growth Management is to Expand Political

Control Over Land Development

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Economic Social/Cultural

Politics

Florida’s Growth Management Struggles

Year Population Change

1920 968,470

1930 1,468,211 499,7411940 1,897,414 429,2031950 2,771,305 873,8911960 4,951,560 2,180,2551970 6,789,443 1,837,8831980 9,746,324 2,956,8811990 12,937,936 3,191,6122000 15,982,378 3,044,4422012 19,317,569 6,379,633

• Population Growth

• Congestion• Urban

infrastructure• Environmental

degradation• Lower housing

affordability• Solution: Growth

Management (1985)

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Hallmarks of Florida Growth Management

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• Started in 1970s; modified in 1985

• Consistency: top down planning Compliance with State Plan

• Concurrency

• Anti-sprawl Compact development

DCA determinations for Florida’s Submitted Plans

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DCA determinations for Florida’s Submitted Plans

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Costs of conventional planning

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• Development approval is lengthy

• Substantial upfront costs for entitlement and approval

• Housing markets are less dynamic, resilient and innovative

• Zoning is largely ineffective and serves to promote existing land uses

The heavy hand of state government planning

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• Compliance was negotiated Cities: 2-4 years Counties: 2 years

• DCA evaluated plans based on their ability to advance state goals Not just compliance

• Concurrency prevented new development Amendments allowed twice per year Restricted current lands Limited adding supply of new land

Housing affordability

in Florida plummeted through out

the 2000s

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Effects of state planning on housing prices

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20%

26%

0%5%

10%15%20%

25%30%

Florida (metro) Washington

(statewide)

Estimated Impact of Statewide Growth

Management Laws on Housing Prices

Public attention began to focus on these effects

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• Public resistance Large land developers Local elected officials Property Rights coalitions

• Academic research showed the weaknesses of the act DeVoe Moore Center James Madison Institute

• Initiatives began to fail at the ballot box Bipartisan resistance to Hometown Democracy

Florida’s Housing Market Collapse

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Rick Scott’s Ascendance

• Elected in 2010 with strong Tea Party support Cut spending and taxes Cut spending for education Opposed Obamacare

• No friend of Smart Growth Rejected federal spending for high-speed

rail Dismantled the Dept of Community Affairs

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Was the dismantling of DCA a Tea Party victory?

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• Tea Party created a broad base of support for shrinking government

• Tea Party as not influential in dismantling DCA Reform was quick and an inside job

• Tea Party was weak in governance Did not give strategic direction to reform efforts Tea Party focus was on other, larger issues

• Tea Party support was politically necessary but not sufficient for implementation

Critical roles for the Tea Party

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• Raising awareness

• Providing popular political support

• Strategic policy focus

• Grass roots connection

• All of the above were crucial toward creating a political climate that allowed the dismantlement of the DCA

Thank You!

Samuel R. Staley, Ph.D.

DeVoe L. Moore Center, FSU

e. sstaley@fsu.edu

www.coss.fsu.edu/dmc

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