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HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE
STATE
FAPA’s President Elect, Legislative
Representative, and Chapter staff met this week
with Teresa Tinker (Governor’s Office of Policy
and Budget) and Secretary Colleen Castille
(Florida Department of Community Affairs). They
were told that next Tuesday morning, January 21,
2003, the Governor would hold a press conference
to unveil his budget, as well as to announce the
combining of the Department of Community Affairs
and the Department of State. If approved by the
Legislature, the new agency will be known as the
Department of State and Community Partnerships.
The new agency will focus on linking community
programs and growth management, and will house
many of the same functions that both agencies each
currently administer, including: elections;
historic preservation and cultural affairs;
community grants/library grants; the Main Street
Program; community planning and growth management;
and emergency management (although the Division
Director will report directly to the Governor).
The Florida Housing Finance Corporation will link
to the new agency similar to its current
relationship with the Department of Community
Affairs, and could assume some additional
responsibilities such as the Affordable Housing
Study Commission. Additionally, there are programs
within the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection that have a community focus, which are
proposed to be folded into the new agency, such as
the Florida Recreation Development Assistance
Program and the Florida Greenways and Trails
Program. Following the unveiling of the Governor’s
budget, additional detail will be provided in next
week’s FAPA Legislative Report.
For those
of you following the Georgia-Florida-Alabama
tri-state water discussions, the three states
agreed to extend the deadline for reaching
agreement for dividing water from their common
rivers for another six months. The new deadline
for agreements on the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and
Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basins is
July 31, 2003. Georgia and Florida continue to
remain furthest apart in the negotiations. Florida
wants lower water levels at Lake Lanier and
demands that Georgia cap its withdrawals from the
Chattahoochee River. Georgia officials have
refused both requests.
Final versions of
both Rule 9J-11, F.A.C., Governing the Procedure
for Submittal and Review of Local Government
Comprehensive Plans and Amendments, and Rule
9J-35, F.A.C., Local Government Comprehensive
Planning Certification Program, may now be found
on the Department's statutes and rules
page:
www.dca.state.fl.us/fdcp/DCP/statutesruleslegis/index.htm
Furthermore, ORC reports for active comprehensive
plan amendments will be posted on line beginning
Tuesday, January 21. Each ORC report posted will
remain on the site for 90 days.
FEDERAL INITIATIVES
The International
City/County Management Association (ICMA) is
seeking local government representatives to
participate in a peer exchange to discuss land use
controls. The Land Use Control Peer Exchange is an
opportunity for brownfields practitioners to learn
from peers that are addressing common issues and
to share innovative strategies. Specifically, ICMA
is researching applications for a model Land Use
Control Implementation Plan. ICMA is also
researching data management tools that can be used
to track land use controls over time. In the peer
exchange, ICMA will work with a mentor and protégé
community to examine strategies and challenges to
local government implementation, monitoring, and
financing of land use controls. If you are
interested in participating, contact Tom
Groeneveld by e-mail at tgroeneveld@icma.org, or
fax at 202/962-3605, by January 31,
2003.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
agency recently released guidelines explaining how
the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots
that were established prior to the new brownfields
law can “transition” under the new law. For more
information, go to
www.epa.gov/brownfields/html-doc/bcrlf-0.htm
In an effort to address the problem of the
nation’s decreasing wetlands, the Bush
Administration last month adopted a new plan and
guidelines for replacing swamps and bogs that have
been filled or drained to make way for highway,
housing or other development projects. The
Environmental Protection Agency worked with the
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior and
Transportation, and the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers to achieve the goal of no net loss of
wetlands with the release of a comprehensive
action plan and improved guidance to ensure
effective, scientifically-based restoration of
wetlands impacted by development activities. A
copy of the full press release and links to
additional information may be found by going to:
www.epa.gov/epahome/headline_122702.htm
REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
The Final Report on
Model Development and Field-Testing of the Fiscal
Impact Analysis Model (FIAM) is now posted on the
Department of Environmental Protection’s website
at
www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/legislative/igov/pub.htm.
The
December 2002/January 2003 edition of the National
Association of Development Organizations’ Economic
Development Digest includes an article entitled,
“Integrating Transportation and Land Use
Planning.” The article addresses some of the smart
growth tools and plans employed by a three-county
rural region in South Carolina and in the Puget
Sound region of Washington State. For more
information, go to www.nado.org/pubs/dj033.html
The Wekiva Area Basin Task force submitted
its Final Report and recommendations to the
Governor on January 15, 2003. If you are
interested in obtaining a copy of the final
report, you may download it from the Wekiva Task
Force website at
www.dca.state.fl.us/fdcp/DCP/wekiva/wekivariver.htm
The
Emergency Preparedness Initiative Guide for
Emergency Managers, Planners & Responders is
available. To view or download the report, go to
www.nod.org/pdffiles/epi2002.pdf
GRANTS, FUNDING, & RFPS
The deadline for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s selection
of approximately ten Brownfields Environmental Job
Training grants has been extended to February 14,
1003. For more information, go to
www.epa.gov/brownfields/html-doc/jtguid0.htm
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
recently announced its interest in receiving
applications to perform research on the
consequences of global change for air quality. One
of the three topics of interest to EPA is “changes
in the spatial distribution of stationary source
emissions due to regional development patterns and
technology changes.” EPA anticipates awarding 12
to 15 grants, each for $150,000 to $250,000 per
year for up to three years. Eligible applicants
include nonprofits, academic institutions, and
tribal, state and local governments. The deadline
to receive applications is April 9, 2003. For more
information, go to
es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/current/2003_global_change.html
AICP NEWS & INFORMATION
Good News and Bad News:
First, the bad news—the Chapter Office still has
not received the AICP Study Manuals. Now for the
good news—they are boxed for shipping and UPS is
supposed to pick them up and ship them to us on
Tuesday. With any luck, we will have them in hand
by the end of next week and will be able to ship
them out to those of you who already placed your
orders. Thank you for your patience.
The
next meeting of the First Coast Section AICP study
group is TOMORROW, Saturday, January 18, beginning
at 10:00 a.m. It will be held on the third floor
of the Haskell Company (111 Riverside Avenue,
downtown Jacksonville). Please direct questions
and RSVPs to Emily Mager at
(904)357-4823.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Job Marts Posted since
January 3, 2003:
Senior Community Planning
Specialist (Pinellas County)
Transportation
Project Engineer (England, Thims & Miller,
Inc./Jacksonville)
Transportation CADD
Technician (England, Thims & Miller,
Inc./Jacksonville)
Junior Level Planner
(England, Thims & Miller,
Inc./Jacksonville)
GIS Mapping Analyst
(England, Thims & Miller, Inc./Jacksonville)
Land Development Engineer (England, Thims
& Miller, Inc./Jacksonville)
Drainage
Project Manager (England, Thims & Miller,
Inc./Jacksonville)
Urban Planner/Urban Designer
(Ivey, Harris & Walls, Inc./Winter
Park)
Principal Planner (North Central Florida
RPC)
Visit www.floridaplanning.org/jobs2.asp
for salaries, descriptions, minimum requirements,
and application deadlines.
CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Website Update: The
website is undergoing significant changes that
will make it a better resource for FAPA members.
It is being restructured to make information
easier to find and to add new features, such as
posting articles from Florida Planning, and
archiving past issues of the newsletter, e-mail
bulletin and FAPA Legislative Report. Improvements
are also being made to the graphical design and
navigation system. Behind the scenes, the inner
workings of the site will change from static to
more dynamic content, which can be updated
directly by staff. At this time, all formatting
and graphical elements from each page are being
stripped and a database is being built that will
contain all dynamic content, as well as membership
information that will be used for password
protection and other future uses. The next step is
to present a revised site layout for the
communications committee to review. Once this is
approved, the site will be rebuilt using the new
blueprint and design elements, and with a little
luck, will be up and running by the beginning of
February.
Once the restructured website is
up and running, a sophisticated online forum will
be added where members from around the state may
share issues in threaded discussions. If you are
interested in helping to moderate the discussion
board or in helping to develop protocols for how
the discussion pages may be used, contact the
Chapter Office at fapa@floridaplanning.org.
Congratulations to the new Heart of
Florida Section Officers:
Chair: Christina's
Hummel, AICP
Vice-Chair: Merle Bishop, AICP
Secretary: Stefanie Von Paleske-Bush,
AICP
Treasurer: Trey Fragala
FAPA MEETINGS & OTHER
EVENTS
FAPA CHAPTER AND SECTION
AFFAIRS:
January 24, 2003: Executive
Committee Meeting (Orlando)
January 31,
2003: Gold Coast Section Luncheon with guest
speaker, Pat Blackshear, AICP, Director, Okaloosa
County Growth Management. The lunch will be held
at Rick’s Crab Trap at the Boardwalk on Okaloosa
Island from11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. RSVP to
Christy Godwin at cgodwin@co.okaloosa.fl.us (or
850-651-7533).
February 19-20, 2003: FAPA
Legislative Workshop in Tallahassee. Go to
www.floridaplanning.org/whats_new.htm#legis for
registration information.
March 29-April 2,
2003: APA National Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Go to www.planning.org/2003conference/ for
registration and program
information.
September 3, 2003: Executive
Committee Meeting (Palm Beach) in conjunction with
the FAPA Annual Conference.
September 3-6,
2003: FAPA Annual Conference at the Breakers Hotel
in Palm Beach. Information coming
soon!
OTHER SCHEDULED
EVENTS:
January 23, 2003: Urban Land
Institute presents, Place-Making: From Mall to
Main Street. Speaker: Brett Hutchens, the
partner-in-charge of Casto retail development in
the southeast United States. Time: 3:30 p.m. –
5:00 p.m. Place: Economic Development Offices, 220
East Bay Street, Suite 1400, Jacksonville. To
register: call 1-800-321-5011 (Reference Meeting
#8124-0310). $20 members; $25
non-members.
January 30 – February 1, 2003:
2nd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth
Conference, New Orleans. For further information,
go to www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/SmartGrowth/.
February 4-6, 2003: Florida Forestry
Forum: Using Our Abilities to Sustain Forest
Viability in Florida; Best Western Gateway Grand
Hotel, Gainesville. In addition to its focus on
forest sustainability and viability, the forum
includes sessions on the impact of land use
changes, rural development, and urban interface
research. For additional information and
registration, go to www.fl-dof.com.
February 11-13, 2003: Florida Chamber's
Environmental Network's Annual Growth Management
and Environmental Permitting Short Course, Rosen
Plaza Hotel, Orlando. Program brochure and
registration information are available at
www.flenvironmentalnetwork.com/frameset2.html.
February 26-27, 2003: Planning and Zoning
Institute; sponsored by the University of
Illinois, Department of Urban and Regional
Planning, Champaign-Urbana campus; for further
information contact Pattsi Petrie at
p-petrie@uiuc.edu or visit www.urban.uiuc.edu/ce
for updated programming
information.
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