City Council prepares to Halt Mobility Fee

[dougskiles]

The issue is that NOBODY likes to be threatened.  It immediately puts them on the defensive.  Believe me, the lobbyists for this bill are winning right now, not because they are threatening, but because they are offering promises.  Our job is to demonstrate that our vision produces a better Jacksonville than theirs does.

[JeffreyS]

Your right and I got it. I will not threaten accountability again.  Kid gloves if that is all they can handle that is what they will get.  I want to be productive not win an argument.  It did surprise me how thin skinned they were.

[Bridges]

I was just coming to post the same response he sent me. 

Edit: Tried to attach the pdf.  Didn't work.

[John P]

I would take a "non existent" $800000 for street car, bike lanes etc.

[Bridges]

I don't think he took into consideration what I even wrote him. 

The scary thing about that line of thinking is that I see no end in site to this moratorium.  If it doesn't succeed in an uptick in construction (which isn't the argument we're making), then you could argue the same "non-existent" line again next year.  If it does lead to more construction then we could see it used as an excuse for a longer moratorium. 

[hillary supporter]

I would take a "non existent" $800000 for street car, bike lanes etc.

Yeah, i'll bet you would get more jobs in that than in construction of new commerical props

[JeffreyS]

Commercial property is not selling any better than residential.  all warehouse space you need is available on any side of town. This is just to get the Mobility Fee sidelined so that it will be a fight to bring it back.

[JeffreyS]

As feared this seems to be more of a trial period than a "TEMPORARY" suspension.

Mr. Sutton:

Thank you for your follow up email.

If approved, the moratorium established by ordinance 2011-617 will sunset (expire) automatically twelve months after the effective date..  I can assure you that if the numbers (at the end of the year) do not reflect new jobs and a substantial increase in ad valorem valuation, then I will be the first to vote on any ordinance which attempts to reintroduce the practice.

John R. Crescimbeni
City Councilman, At-Large, Group 2
Office of the City Council
City Hall at St. James
117 West Duval Street, Suite 425
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
(904) 630-1381

[north miami]

Attorney Terrell Arline,at the time with Thousand Friends of Florida and a Florida Wildlife Federation Board Member,once mumbled that the then newly emerged  Jax "Fair Share " was "illegal".

Cheers!

[dougskiles]

Well... I was at the City Council meeting and seeing that 2011-617 was going to be added to the agenda, I filled out the little blue speakers card for the general public comment period.  The public hearing for this particular bill was back in September, so my understanding was that I cold no longer address the council when the bill came up for vote, any comments would have to be during the general comment.  I also knew from several email exchanges that there was very little chance of this not being approved unanimously.

Before the meeting started I had a nice exchange with Mike Herzberg.  He joked about me saying things about him all over the message boards (and now I'm just trying to live up to my reputation).  He says that he has all kinds of data proving that this type of incentive works. I asked him for the data and will share it once I receive it.  Mike and I have been friends for several years.  We just happen to be on opposite sides on this one.

There was a nice recognition of John Crofts and his service.  John was understandably a little emotional about it and did an amazing job of expressing his gratitude and disappointment over how the situation was handled.  John will be missed.

So - then we got to the general public comment.  I listened to a wide range of pleas by citizens - some carefully prepared and some, not so much.  But I was ready to express my disappointment about not having more opportunity for public input and request that the effectiveness of this moratorium be tracked.  The promise is that this will lead to more building permits and jobs.  This should be easy enough to track, we just need to make sure that we are comparing our performance to the economy in general, and not giving credit to this moratorium when in reality it was an uptick in the economy as a whole that provided the results.

But, my name wasn't called.  There was a second public comment period at the end of the council meeting and I can only assume I didn't make the cut for the first period.  It wasn't my intent to stay late so regrettably I had to leave.  I did get a chance to talk to Stephen about it, and hope to hear from him how it played out.

I am not done with this, however.  I will continue to reach out to the council members and will begin a system of tracking that should provide them (and all of us) a more informed opinion about the entire matter.  If anyone wants to join me in the research and meetings, please email me.

[JeffreyS]

We have to begin our campaign to not have this "Temporary" moratorium extended.  My guess is when it is due to expire the Tea Party will step up and claim it amounts to a new tax that only Obama would love.  Thanks for your efforts Doug.  I am waiting to hear from Stephen as well.

[north miami]

How about just leaving it as is?  Why should the general public have to pay for the negative impacts caused by unsustainable private development?

[JeffreyS]

How about just leaving it as is?  Why should the general public have to pay for the negative impacts caused by unsustainable private development?

+1

[SunKing]

I have to say that I am reading this thread and wondering why this group is unanimously opposed to this?  I hear the "make the developer pay!' argument but really question the stick it to the rich logic.  Read the numbers provided by Planning.  2006 less than $8million collected?  2006!  that is as good as it gets!  2007 was more only bc of the development backlog.  So we are not talking about a great deal of money to the city and moreover, the city will receive roughly the equivalent of the impact fees EVERY YEAR after construction is completed through ad valorem taxes which is what pays for city services.  $800k last year?  why bother?

In terms of the moratorium lifted forever, i seriously doubt that once development starts whenever that may be and for whatever reason, dont think our city leaders at that time wont relook at all of that potential "revenue" once again.

If the argument is just anti-development or anti-sprawl well then that is another argument.  My guess is that Metrojaxers wouldnt be singing the same tune if a developer proposed a TND in Brooklyn as a result of the moratorium....

[JeffreyS]

If the argument is just anti-development or anti-sprawl well then that is another argument.  My guess is that Metrojaxers wouldnt be singing the same tune if a developer proposed a TND in Brooklyn as a result of the moratorium....

Because that is the whole point of the Fee.  Smart development is rewarded while development that has a negative impact has to pay for itself.