Even in Jacksonville, with our horrendous record of wrong-think and bad decisions it is hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that we would even consider a bill that will further our record of blunders.
Here is a story for those who think these things are minor or temporary bumps in the road to our future. When I was a City Councilman in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City had the opportunity to land a major manufacturer that would create thousands of jobs. OKC is already a powerhouse in the automotive industry with a General Motors assembly plant, and several component plants, including one that turns out Ford transmissions. The site location team for that major manufacturer included their CEO. No effort was spared and the prospective new residents got the royal treatment and tours of the city. Unbeknownst to any of us, the CEO and his inner circle escaped from the hotel and drove all over the city...ALONE. The next day, their visit cut short, they announced that they would NEVER locate in a city who's transit system is virtually non existant and it's infrastructure a shambles. They released photos they took on the unofficial tour that included dirt paths in lieu of sidewalks, narrow potholed and patched roadways, and miles of litter.
Why would we promote sprawling suburban development by eliminating the funding for the very public improvements that make our community more livable. There is a hidden indication that this fee will result in a property tax increase in order to pay our "fair share" of road widening, mass transit, streetscapes, street lighting etc.
Giving the developers a blank check to build whatever, whenever and however they so desire by placing the infrastructure burden directly on the backs of the existing citizen is foolish.
Seriously, how many million dollar homes or developments have been stopped dead by a few thousand dollars of impact fees? NONE!
If we were at war, with our city's very survival at stake, it appears that our generals would adhere to a tactical military rule known as: "Advance to the rear!" We finally have something both unique and workable, a award winning prototype being studied by cities around the globe. True to form, we 'pink slip' the genius that created this plan and we now propose to eliminate the highly praised plan itself.
How many more jobs would be created and how many new industrial, office or residential project will take root in a city that uses such fees for continious improvement as opposed to one that sells itself cheap? Even at the peak of the recent realestate boom, Jacksonville managed to fall far behind the competition, which begs the question, why didn't Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta or Nashville suffer the same fate even though THEY HAD higher fees? The answer is obvious, the cities that collected various impact fees reinvested those dollars into local improvements and those improvements did far more to attract new development then giving the builders a free ride.
It has been said that Jacksonville is a diamond that wants to remain coal, but there has never been tangible proof until now. There is simply no reason for us to progress when failure is so easy to achieve.
OCKLAWAHA
