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An update from the Anthony James Catanese Center for Urban & Environmental
Solutions (CUES) at Florida Atlantic University
December 2004
We at CUES wish all of
our friends a joyous
holiday season and a happy and healthy 2005.
| CUES Senior Fellow Authors Brief to US Supreme
Court in Key Eminent Domain Case |
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument
this Spring in Kelo v. City of New London, 843 A.2d 500 (Conn.
2004), which presents the question of whether it is constitutionally
permissible for a local government to exercise the power of
eminent domain to transfer private property from one owner
to another private owner for the sole purpose of economic development—with
the goal of hopefully creating jobs, enhancing the tax base
and revitalizing the local economy. Fifty years ago the Supreme
Court in Berman v. Parker 348 U.S. 26 (1954) found constitutional
the use of eminent domain to condemn private slum and blighted
property and pursuant to a redevelopment plan, transfer it
to another private owner for redevelopment. In Kelo, the City
of New London is asking the Court to expand the “public
use” concept under the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
to include economic development so that they can condemn private
homes to transfer them to a developer to build a more intensive
and higher value development on the site.
Frank Schnidman has prepared a “Friend of the Court” brief
for “Amicus Curiae” John Norquist, President of
the Congress for New Urbanism. The purpose of the brief is
to educate the court about the various ways land assembly occurs
in the private sector and to explain that prohibiting the use
of eminent domain for economic development purposes would not
halt the improvement of local economies. It is important that
the Court understands this issue, explains the brief, so that
they can deliberate the case without concern to arguments that
cities must have such a tool in order to have successful economic
development programs. The
Kelo case, Schnidman’s brief
and the Berman case can all be found on the CUES website. |
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| Update on Manatee Protection
Plans |
| CUES and its consultants have been working
on Manatee Protection Plans (MPPs) for two South Florida counties.
MPPs are required in 13 “key” coastal
Florida counties considered to have ecologically significant manatee populations.
Broward County’s second public workshop on the Draft Interim Boat Facility
Siting Plan of the MPP was held on December 7th with approximately 60 participants,
representing a wide range of interests. Eric Myers, Director of the Biological
Resources Division of Broward County’s Department of Environmental Protection,
provided the opening remarks, followed by Mary Duncan of the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission, Kalani Cairns of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Jay Gorzelany of Mote Marine Laboratory, and Dr. Lenore Alpert of
CUES. The discussion and audience comments focused on the draft boat facility
siting criteria. For Palm Beach County (PBC), the first public orientation
workshop was held in West Palm Beach on December 16th. CUES’ consultant,
Bob Ernest of Ecological Associates, Inc., reviewed the data he is using to
develop boat facility siting criteria in that county. Paul Davis of PBC’s
Environmental Resources Management Department and Dr. Lenore Alpert joined
Mary Duncan and Kalani Cairns, who discussed their agency’s roles in
the MPP development and review process. Link
to more
information on the Broward
County effort and the Palm
Beach County plan. |
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| Special Storm Report Submitted to Florida
Legislature |
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 On October 7, 2004, after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne hit the Treasure Coast
region, Senator Ken Pruitt (R), Port St. Lucie requested that the Committee
for a Sustainable Treasure Coast (CSTC) focus on developing recommendations
to forward to the Legislature regarding issues related to hurricane damage
to the Treasure Coast. He suggested that the consensus input from the CSTC
could help direct emergency funding to the appropriate places and help focus
on some of the long term issues that may need to be addressed. The CSTC’s “special
storm drafting group” developed the Committee’s Special Storm Report
in December, 2004 and will inform the development of the interim report in
January, 2005 and final report to the Governor in September, 2005.
This Special Report captures five overarching issues that
the CSTC felt was of high importance and needed to be addressed,
they are: 1) Reimbursing Local Government Recovery Cost; 2)
Sustaining the Role of Agriculture; 3) Enhancing Affordable,
Safe Housing; 4) Rebuilding the Tourism Sector; and 5) Priority
Funding for Regional Hazard Mitigation Projects. CUES serves
as staff to the CSTC. See www.sustainabletc.org to download
the report.
The next meeting of the CSTC will take place on Friday,
January 7, 2005 in Vero Beach.
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| Florida Public Officials Design Institute |
Ft. Lauderdale Comm. Cindi Hutchinson,
Delray Beach Mayor Jeff Perlman, Doral Councilman Robert
Van Name |
The Florida Public Officials Design Institute at Abacoa, dedicated
to improving South Florida communities by offering training in
smart growth and design, hosted its fifth session in Jupiter,
Florida, on December 9th and 10th, 2004. Three public officials
learned first hand how to apply sound design principles to their
cities, based upon the projects they had selected. December’s
session included the cities of Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale
and Doral from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, respectively.
Participating public officials included Delray Beach Mayor Jeff
Perlman, Ft. Lauderdale Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson, and Doral
Councilman Robert Van Name. For more information on the design
problems that these elected officials sought advice on, see www.floridadesigninstitute.org. |
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| Activities & Events |
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Congress for the New Urbanism Florida Chapter:
First Statewide meeting
The first CNU Florida Statewide Meeting will be held at Rollins
College in downtown Winter Park on the 13th and 14th of January
2005. As a prelude, the Chapter will also offer an “NU
101” Course at Winter Park Civic Center on Wednesday,
January 12th. The Statewide Meeting seeks to bridge the gap
between the annual CNU national Congress and the regional group
gatherings that have begun to occur regularly throughout Florida.
The Meeting is an opportunity for CNU members from around the
state to come together to debate issues of regional or statewide
concern and to learn about the latest ideas, findings and projects.
More information at www.cnuflorida.org.
Transportation Today
Don’t miss this first seminar of the year on timely transportation technology
and policy topics. The session will take place on Wednesday, January 19th at
FAU’s Commercial Boulevard Campus. This seminar will feature information
about bicycle facilities in Gainesville, State Road 9A/I-95 Managed Lanes,
Clearwater Roundabout, ADA and Traffic Design, and Broward County’s Intelligent
Transportation System. For more information and to register, go to www.fau.edu/fiog/.
4Th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy,
and Livable Communities
This national, multidisciplinary event, taking place January
27-29, 2005 in Miami Beach, will build on the tremendous success
of the first three annual “New Partners for Smart Growth” conferences
held in San Diego, New Orleans, and Portland. There are many
great reasons to attend this important and timely event. The
program will feature cutting-edge smart growth issues, the latest
research, implementation tools and strategies, successful case
studies, interactive learning experiences, new partners, new
projects, and new policies. This dynamic event also offers you
the opportunity to network with your peers as well as practitioners
who come from many different disciplines but have the same goal—building
safe, healthy, and livable communities for all. For more information,
see www.newpartners.org.
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