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St. Petersburg, FL - Those against Amendment 4 call it a "vote on everything." Those for it say it is nothing like that.
Mitch Kates with the Hometown Democracy campaign said, "Amendment 4 will give the voters an opportunity to have a seat at the table in determining decisions that are made in their communities."
The vote "no" folks with Citizens for Lower Taxes & Stronger Economy say giving that seat to voters will stunt development and kill jobs. Kathleen Peters, Mayor of South Pasadena who also works for the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce said, "267,000 jobs are subject to be lost if Amendment 4 passes because [not only] businesses will not move to Florida. Why would they when they have such cumbersome restrictions?"
"There will be no seismic shift in development. Development will continue to happen. What Amendment 4 will do is help control and make smart growth happen and not this sprawl we see all across the state of Florida," retorted Kates.
Both sides agree on one thing: Florida has not grown smart.
"We do need a solution. The problem with this one is it is too broad," said Peters.
Peters showed us an example of a comprehensive plan. It is the City of Clearwater's from 2008. Three inches thick, it includes a lot of minutia, like bike and pedestrian routes.
"If you want to put in a ball field just like Tierra Verde wanted several years ago, that would have required a vote of the people," said Peters.
Kates says what would be put to a vote are bigger projects the community would have a stake in. "If there's an area that is determined to be commercial and it's a big area and they want to change it to residential or vice versa. If that is ouside the purvue of what is already in a community's comprehensive plan, then the voters would have to decide if that's how they want their community to change."
In Pinellas County, St. Pete Beach has something similar to the Hometown Democracy idea. Five years ago, residents blocked a hotel height increase of 15 stories and brought it back down to the original height restriction of five stories. Since then, there have been a slew of lawsuits ever since and it has cost taxpayers a lot of money.
"If government is making bad decisions, there should be a safeguard in place," said Mayor Michael Finnerty. "It has been unfortunate how much it has cost our city as a result of the lawsuits."
Video - Vote Yes on Amendment 4
Video - Vote No on Amendment 4
Erica Pitzi, 10 News Reporter