Is growth management working in our third-most populated state?
by Kirk Kirkland
There is a point every winter when the rainstorms and the cold temperatures finally get to me, and I pack up my folding kayak and fly home to Florida. There, daytime temperatures are in the seventies and migrating birds are abundant on the rivers and the swampy shorelines of the crescent of Florida.
These annual visits give provide renewal. The view from the marina in my hometown on the offshore islands remains unchanged after 50 years. The state parks department bought the last two barrier reef islands, which have become home to more osprey and eagles since I graduated from high school. These last two desert islands could have been paved over with 10-story condos, beach bars and private homes like all the other barrier reefs in Pinellas County.
Today the state is growing–1200 people move to the state each day. The population has grown to over 20 million, making it the third most populous state. It seems impossible, but this growth has paid for wildlife habitat for many endangered species which were near extinction when the Endangered species Act was passed in 1974.
The state growth management program and an aggressive state parks department has preserved islands for shorebirds and rivers with natural springs. National Audubon and Nature Conservancy were able to create a system of wildlife refuges 100 miles in length from Homosassa Springs to St. Marks, a town just 20 miles south of Tallahassee.
In addition, in the interior of the state, the county water districts have purchased riverbanks where rainfall recharges the state’s aquifer. These aquifers are necessary to support all the real estate development along both coasts of Florida where the large populations demand water for their golf courses and suburban homes in an otherwise desert island climate.
In 1988, the Florida panther in the Everglades was nearing extinction. Manatee numbers had dwindled down to 350. Since then, manatee populations have grown back to 7,000 and were removed from the Endangered Species list. Panthers have been able to escape the Everglades and migrate north toward Orlando following the St. John River corridor using the green spaces that water districts have preserved.
Growth management has also played a key role in protecting farms, horse ranches and pastures by confining growth to suburban areas where existing utilities, schools and fire districts can absorb and accommodate the expansion of people and new homes.
As a native of Florida who explores the interior rivers with annual visits, there is much that I have learned about growth management and park funding that has been useful in Washington State. Over the past 30 years, I have been part of a team that was able to pass a real estate excise tax that funded county roads and parks where growth is directed.
A sales tax that added a Penny for Pinellas County translated nicely into an idea for an election campaign in Pierce County. The Pierce County impact fee for parks passed in cooperation with the realtors association, adding $56 million over ten years to expand parks within the Urban Growth Area. With these and other funds, Pierce County Parks has completed a trail system and added programs that have served over 200,000 people who have moved here since the 1970s. Many residents in unincorporated Pierce County are now enjoying the benefits.
This year, Pierce County’s Comprehensive Growth Plan is up for renewal. Major changes are allowed to set new policies to reduce the smoky skies in summer, plant more trees to offset carbon emissions from increased car traffic.
The County Comp Plan must address the decline in well water in the Parkland and Spanaway aquifers. An amendment is needed to set up a sustainable recharge program to raise the ground water level in winter and re-establish year-round flow in Clover Creek. This will increase drinking water for additional residents and make streams deep enough for salmon to access their spawning grounds.
In both Florida and here in Pierce County, many of us have long understood that we should have done a better job of controlling suburban growth and limiting traffic on our arterials. There is more work to do with our Comp Plan, and that opportunity awaits this spring and summer.
In the next addition of Environmental Coalition, I will outline some of the proposals that are going to be reviewed in the coming months. To learn more about these proposals, and state legislation changes in Growth management,