Throughout city planning history, there have been many communities and people that have been excluded from the decision-making table. We will never be able to replace these missing voices from our past that could have created a better future for everyone. However, as planners, we are responsible for understanding our communities and how to improve their future, including how to overcome the legacy of actions and decisions made that often defaults to inequity. We are called to this by our adoption of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) professional Code of Ethics:

“We shall seek social justice by working to expand choice and opportunity for all persons, recognizing a special responsibility to plan for the needs of the disadvantaged and to promote racial and economic integration. We shall urge the alteration of policies, institutions, and decisions that oppose such needs.”

 

To fulfill these responsibilities, APA has taken unique strides to understand the varying needs around our diverse planning community and find innovative strategies to remove existing barriers, especially for those who have been historically under-resourced.

National APA has continually strived to incorporate equity, diversity and inclusion since 2017, beginning with their Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Since then, APA has incorporated many initiatives including requiring Equity continuing education credits, and most recently, updated the APA Code of Ethics to include statements on equity.

APA Florida has been a leader, nationally in this field, from the publication of statements promoting equity to the establishment of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee in 2019. The EDI Committee has set the standard for inclusionary practices beginning with an equity survey in 2020. They have also developed a resource guide for members who want to focus on equity, diversity and inclusionary practices within their planning work. In addition, the EDI Committee provides many educational and professional development opportunities including webinars, blogs, articles, videos, and in-person workshops, such as the Planner to Leader Series. In addition, the EDI Committee provides guidance to APA Florida on legislation and political statements to promote equitable planning practices.

We know we have a long way to go to ensure that all voices are heard throughout our planning practices. With your help, we know we can represent the full needs of our diverse community and ensure every voice is heard.

Get Involved: florida.planning.org/edi

Q&A with Past APA Florida Presidents

Timeline:

• 1928 Zoning Enabling Act
• 1949 Housing Act
• 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act
• Fair Housing Act of 1968
• Executive Order 12891 for Environmental Justice
• Florida Civil Rights Act
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1992
• House Bill 7

Quotes:

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” ~ Jane Jacobs

 

“There are vast inequities in the distribution of healthcare, housing assistance, food accessibility, and educational opportunities, among others. While access to this social infrastructure is to a large extent driven by policy, certain spatial challenges exacerbate the situation—but they don’t have to.” ~ Ishita Gaur

 

“The physical characteristics of walls are not decisive as to their meaning. Rather, the key question is: Who is on which side of the wall? Does the wall perpetuate power, or defend against it? Does it reinforce domination, or shield vulnerability? Does it strengthen hierarchical relationships among people, or does it pave the way towards greater equality?” ~ Peter Marcuse

Suggested Reading:

• Cyclescapes of the Unequal City by John G. Stehlin
• Changing Lanes: Visions and Histories of Urban Freeways by Joseph DiMento
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro
• Planning as If People Matter by Thomas W. Sanchez and Marc Brenman
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
• Reinventing Cities: Equity Planners Tell Their Stories by Norman Krumholz and Pierre Clavel
• Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World by Julian Agyeman and Robert D. Bullard
• Fair and Healthy Land Use: Environmental Justice and Planningby Craig Anthony Arnold
• Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity by Robert D. Bullard
• Planning Atlanta by Harley F. Etienne and Barbara Faga

Enter the Counter-Revolution

As the first decade of the new millennium came to a close, the nation was still in a recession and Florida was paralyzed by heavy financial woes, most stemming from housing foreclosures. In efforts to spur the state economy, the state legislature passed a series of laws aiming to weaken comprehensive plans (and the 1985 Growth Management Act), which they hope would entice developers. The 2009 Community Renewal Act revised requirements for for adopting amendments in regard to capital improvements of local comp plans, concurrency requirements, and adoption fees as well as authorized local governments to use alternative review processes to designate DULAs (Dense Urban Land Areas)  It was the last part that pitted cities against the state, who called an the new law an unfunded mandate that required them to rewrite their comp plans and pay for transportation improvements without financial help. The law was deemed unconstitutional in 2010.

In 2011, state legislators authored another bill – the Community Planning Act of 2011 – that was signed by newly-elected Gov. Rick Scott, which eliminated the Department of Community Affairs in an effort to deregulate and loosen rules that were perceived as slowing growth and driving up costs. The legislation’s main purpose was to strengthen local government’s role and powers while significantly restricting state and regional review authority. Other changes were made to DRI law to reduce oversight, which opened the door for large-scale Sector Plan projects that avoid anti-sprawl criteria and eliminated the criteria to show need.

Since 2011, the legislature has authored several bills targeting the preemption local government home rule and undermining local comprehensive planning authority.  During the 2021 session, there were more than 400 preemptions bills targeting local authority to regulate/deregulate vacation rentals, fracking, puppy mills, paper straws, plastic bags, etc.

Q&A with Past APA Florida Presidents

Context of Florida in 2011

• Florida’s population is 19 million
• Continued to be the fastest-growing state in the country

Who’s Who – The big players that made it happen

• Governor Charlie Crist
• Governor Rick Scott

Quotes

“Whenever you’re fighting an issue, you have to have a bogeyman. DCA isn’t evil. They didn’t do a bad job across the board. It’s that they were just a more difficult agency for the growth community to deal with than they had to be.” ~ Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida.

 

“As challenging as things look now for the future of Florida, it was even more daunting in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Political corruption over land deals were rampant, the Everglades burned, untreated sewage flowed freely into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and the concept that developers should pay their share of costs for new infrastructure was revolutionary.” ~ Nathaniel Pryor Reed, 1000 Friends of Florida.

 

“What is needed now is a return to a thoughtful and diverse stakeholder approach to establish evolving policies necessary to manage booming population growth while maintaining Florida’s unique environmental treasures. Such a body should ask, what state policies are needed to ensure that Florida attracts quality economic development while maintaining the planet’s most attractive climate and abundant natural resources?” ~ Bob Graham

 

“Florida is a land of extremes. The Sunshine State covers 58,560 square miles and contains the fourth largest U.S. population. If one divides the State into thirds, South Florida is known for its ostentatious lifestyle, Central Florida is home to the “happiest place on earth,” and North Florida has some of the country’s most diehard football fans. It is no wonder that these extremes have induced the need to manage its land development.” ~ Zachary Jellson

 

“People are going to wake up in a couple of years and see the results of this growth management and say, ‘What can we do to keep our countryside from being chewed up by development. And the answer will be nothing.” ~ Eric Draper, Audubon of Florida

Suggested Reading

• Home Rule Redux: The Community Planning Act of 2011 by Linda Loomis Shelly and Karen Brodeen (2011)
• Green Light for Sector Plans by David Powell (2011)
• The Community Planning Act: Market Over Planning by Zachary Jellson (2012)
• Florida’s Growth Management Odyssey: Revolution, Evolution, Devolution, Resolution by Bob Rhodes (2020)
• The Effectiveness of Home Rule: A Preemption and Conflict Analysis by Judge James Wolf and Sarah Harley Bolinder (2009)

Adapting to Change – Challenges Arise: 1990s – 2010

Florida continued for almost two decades and through four governors to pursue the integrated growth management system set up in 1985, with adjustments to the laws as the state, its agencies, and local governments gained more experience in their implementation.

Q&A with Past APA Florida Presidents

The Beginning of Growth Management in Florida: 1970s – 1980s

Recognizing the serious ramifications for Florida’s quality of life and economy, state leaders put in place a host of new environmental measures over those earlier decades. Beginning in 1972, the state took serious steps to start managing the many impacts associated with rampant population growth, culminating in the 1985 passage of Florida’s landmark Growth Management Act under then-Governor Bob Graham.

Early beginnings of Comprehensive Planning in Florida

• 1972 Water Resources Act
• 1972 Land Conservation Act
• 1972 Environmental Land and Water Management Act
• 1972 State Comprehensive Planning Act
• 1975 Local Government Comprehensive Planning Act (1979 deadline for local governments to adopt)

Regional Acts

• Regional Planning Council Act 1980
• State and Regional Planning Act of 1984
• Omnibus Growth Management Act of 1985
• Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act of 1985

Context of Florida in 1972

• Fastest growing state
• Population of 6.7 million
• Difficult adjustment into the modern era of civil rights
• Serious drought conditions, causing muck fires in the Everglades
• Growing environmental movement
• Progressive state political leadership

Who’s Who – The big players that made it happen

• Fred Bosselman (ELWMA & DRI)
• Governor Reubin Askew (Task Force on Land Use & ELMS I)
• Dr. John M. DeGrove  (Father of Growth Management, First DCA Secretary)
• President Nixon (National Land Use Policy Act)
• Governor Bob Graham (ELMS II)
• Thomas Pelham (Glitch Bill, concurrency)

Quotes

“It was not until the notion [that growth paid for itself] was recognized as false that Florida began to face fully its growth management problem . . . implementation weaknesses [also] blocked attempts to solve complex and difficult problems.” ~ John M. DeGrove

“Florida, like California, is in great danger of becoming a ‘Paradise Lost.’ ” ~ Gov. Reubin Askew

“The longer view of Florida’s history suggests a process of evolution, not revolution. It bespeaks political consensus and bipartisanship, not combat. The past thirty years’ achievements were attained by our ability to work together and respond in a measured way to development—by appropriately balancing the competing constituencies. That is the only way we will make a lasting change again.” ~ David L. Powell

“It remains to be seen whether Florida can successfully implement and operate a truly integrated statewide comprehensive planning process. While the necessary statutory framework is now in place, the real challenge for the legislature, state and regional agencies, local governments, and all of Florida’s citizens, will be to make it work.” ~ Thomas Pelham

Suggested Reading

• A History and New Turns in Florida’s Growth Management Reform by Nancy Stroud, FAICP (The John Marshall Law Review)
• The Quiet Revolution in Land Use Control by Fred P. Bosselman and David Callies, (1971)
• Critical Area Programs in Florida: Creative Balancing of Growth and the Environment by Dr. John M. DeGrove
• The Political Dynamics of the Land and Growth Management Movement by Dr. John M. DeGrove
• Growth Management in Florida: Lessons for the National Economy by Randall G. Holcombe (CATO Institute)
• The Effect of the Growth Management Act on Local Comprehensive Planning Expenditures: The South Florida Experience by K.T. LIou and Todd Dicker (Public Administration Review Journal, 1994)
• The Effects of Florida’s Growth Management Act on Housing Affordability by Jerry Anthony (Journal of the American Planning Association, 2003)

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Q&A with Past APA Florida Presidents