DO YOU WANT MARTIN COUNTY TO CHANGE DIRECTION? 

The Commission votes in August!


Our current County Commission chairman, Doug Smith, announced that it is time for Martin County to change direction. He claims that our land use and environmental rules that protect our residents and our natural resources are damaging our economy and slowing growth.

DO YOU WANT FASTER GROWTH? 
DO YOU THINK IT’S TIME TO ABANDON THE POLICIES THAT MAKE MARTIN COUNTY DIFFERENT?

Change is on the way. Final adoption of Comp Plan amendment CPA 17-10 is scheduled for August.
The first step in changing the rules is hidden in technical changes to the Comprehensive Plan that allow larger high risk septic systems in the rural area and allow extension of water and sewer lines outside the urban boundary.


We all know we don't need more big high risk septic systems that pollute our waterways.
Approving them on a case by case basis does not protect our drinking water or our river.
More septic make no sense at a time when Commissioners are planning to spend millions and require homeowners to spend tens of thousands of dollars on converting small residential septic systems to sewer.
The second step, the attack on the urban service boundary, is more complex, but it's not hard to understand. 
The amendment will allow large scale development outside the urban boundary that are:

1. much more intense than those currently allowed.
2. unrelated to agriculture (which is the only use that is currently allowed outside the boundary).

Commissioners will insist they are NOT changing the urban boundary. They are not moving the line on the map.
THEY ARE SIMPLY MAKING THE URBAN BOUNDARY MEANINGLESS.

That changes the pattern of future development. It hurts the river and that hurts your pocketbook.
The amendment will allow urban public services to be extended anywhere outside the urban boundary on a case by case basis.

ONCE YOU HAVE HIGH INTENSITY LARGE SCALE NON-AGRICULTURAL USES AND URBAN SERVICES OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TURN DOWN HOBE GROVES AND THE DEVELOPERS WHO BUY CHEAP RURAL LAND TO BUILD NEW CITIES.
That can turn our towns along the coast into the sad "left behind" strip you see east of I95 through Palm Beach and Broward County.
Commissioner Doug Smith says he wants us to be like Delray Beach. DO YOU?
email commish@martin.fl.us your message

- reject comp plan amendment 17-10 (CPA 17-1)

- don't allow bigger septic systems

- keep our rural area rural

Most of all "Martin County doesn't need a new direction. We like it like it is. That's why we came here.


________________________________________________

The Martin County Conservation Alliance website seeks to inform residents about development projects and Comprehensive Plan amendments which threaten our special Martin County quality of life. We invite the public to attend our monthly meetings. Please become a member of the Martin County Conservation Alliance and stand with us. The state has severely weakened the Growth Management Act, so we must join together and act locally. It is our best hope of preserving our Martin County difference.

Website by the Martin County Conservation Alliance, P.O. Box 1923, Stuart, FL 34995