The recent investigation by journalist Derek Gilliam of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune revealed that developers have overly generous access to county officials. These developers often defend their close relationship with taxpayer-funded planning officials by citing the strong property rights protections provided in Florida law and Article 5 of the Constitution, which states that private land may not be taken for public use without just compensation.
However, the question remains: is their development request actually a property right, or just what the developer wants? As the late County Commissioner Nancy Detert once pointed out, "Property rights are what you have."
Property regulations govern every inch of Sarasota County, including zoning rules that dictate what kind of structures a property owner can build and operate on their land. For example, if a property is zoned for commercial purposes, there is a long list of businesses that can be built on that land. If it is zoned for residential purposes, the owner can build a residential structure depending on the type of zoning district they are located in (single-family or multi-family). To exercise their property rights, a property owner simply needs to go to the permit office to begin the process of building on their land under the existing rules.
However, legal experts confirm that property owners are not entitled to have the government change the rules for them. The type of behind-the-scenes access and planning described in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune article is almost always about changing the zoning rules or our comprehensive plan to make them more favorable for developers. The resulting development applications are to grant developers additional property rights they do not already possess. If the County Commission denies the developer's request, they will not forfeit any property rights since they never had them to begin with.
This logic also applies to the claim about taking private property without compensation. The fact is the government cannot take away an existing, vested use of the property or severely diminish its current allowed use, rendering the property essentially worthless. If a property owner requests something that is not permitted on their land at the time of the request, they will not lose anything if that request is denied. Some residents may wonder why a developer cannot take a commercial or residential property and turn it into a park. While it would be nice, if the property is already zoned for commercial or residential use, the developer has the right to build those types of structures on their land. If a developer has land zoned for single-family homes but wants to construct apartment complexes instead, that is simply a desire or a want, and not a property right.
In short, typically, whenever there is a public hearing on a property before the County Commission, the owner is requesting a discretionary – not mandatory – approval of something that is not currently permitted as a matter of right under the current zoning regulations or comprehensive plan. To justify the outsized and early influence the development community has over the County staff and elected officials as a simple matter of "protecting private property rights" is a disingenuous attempt to deny the reality of the uneven playing field where the concerns of the affected public are ignored.
Remember that the next time there is a public hearing on a proposed development project. It is clearly just something a developer wants and not a vested property right.
Lourdes, RIGHT ON, WRITE ON