Solid theory and soft implementation in policy design: Florida compact development policies

Abstract

Florida's 1985 Growth Management Act (GMA) was amended with three policies in the 1990s: the 1993 Transportation Concurrency, 1996 Sustainable Communities Demonstration Project and the 1999 Urban Infill and Redevelopment. These policies seek to restrain urban and suburban developments that spread towards agricultural and natural systems and, instead, to direct growth to urban areas and to increase compact development. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the legislation of Florida's three compact development policies and its potential impact on local communities. Evaluation is conducted along three elements of policy design: causal theory, implementation tool and intergovernmental implementation process. The conclusion is that the three policies display sound alternative theories and unique intervention modes to alleviate and manage the sprawl problem through a distinct compact development solution; albeit the design of implementation tools and processes is problematic. Discretionary tools are too flexible and lack specific prescriptions for implementation. Intergovernmental planning processes and state-level coordination are overly decentralized and state power is gradually transferred to local governments. To sum up, Florida compact development policies offer solid theories and soft implementation tools and processes. Hence, the relation between theory and implementation also seems weak. These shortcomings in policy design may lead to implementation breakdowns and limited outcomes. To increase effectiveness in implementation, comprehensive policy design should correct these problems in advance. In addition to sound theories, design should offer feasible implementation mechanisms and link them to theories.

Notes

1. The 1973 Oregon Land Use Act preceded the 1985 GMA. State growth management acts followed in New Jersey (1986), Maine (1988), Vermont (1988), Rhode Island (1988), Georgia (1989), Washington (1990) and Maryland (1992) (DeGrove, 1992, pp. 1–2). The 1985 GMA is titled the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act. In this article, the reference to that original legislation is Florida Statutes, Chapter 163.3161–3243, 1987. Post-1987 legislative changes in title, section numbers, and contents appear under the reference (updated version) Florida Statutes, Chapter 163.2511–3245, 1999. The original ‘GMA’ acronym is kept throughout the article. The GMA was the policy response to Florida's 32.7 per cent population growth in the 1980s. Florida was the fourth largest state in the nation in population size and the sixth in percentage of the population living in metropolitan areas in 1990. The state continued to grow by 23.5 per cent in the 1990s reaching 15.9 million people in 2000 (US Bureau of the Census, 1993, pp. 28–9, xiii; University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, 2002, pp. 14 and 17).

2. For an extensive discussion of these and other policy design elements, see Birkland (2001, pp. 150–76) and Bobrow & Dryzek (1987, pp. 200–11).

3. A 1990 survey indicated that 75 per cent of localities identified traffic congestion as a particularly severe growth issue. Another 1990 survey marked roads, particularly state roads, as the local infrastructure type expected to encounter the greatest capacity deficits over the next five years (Turner, 1993, p. 192). A 1992 study of 146 local governments showed that of all communities with a high level of capacity deficit, 87 per cent were likely to be heavily populated and 78 per cent to have a high growth rate (Audirac, O'Dell & Shermyen, 1992, p. 28).

4. Some developers even preferred to seek out sites in sparsely populated semi-rural areas with surpluses in road capacities. Concurrency costs were much higher in urban and suburban areas with inadequate infrastructure capacities (Bollens, 1992, pp. 460–1; Altshuler & Gomez-Ibanez, 1993).

5. This process that starts with a legislative study committee and concludes with incorporation into the GMA is typical to Florida growth management legislation and repeats itself in 1996 and 1999.

6. Mandated by the DCA when concurrency was enforced in 1989, the CMS is a computer-based information system that keeps track of infrastructure capacities and deficits of all local public facilities (Rule 9J-5.001-016, 1989).

7. Various definitions of sustainable development tend to promote different elements of sustainability, including: place-based economy, liveable built environment, equity, harmony with nature, ‘polluters pay’ and responsible regionalism (Berke & Conroy, 2000); retention of capital (human, social, cultural and natural), urban design, and ecosystem management and metropolitan governance (Hempel, 1999); and economic security, quality of life, citizen empowerment with added responsibility and ecological integrity (Kline, 1995).

8. The GCSSF report and the legislation both took after the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) that is mandatory for every city in Oregon. The UGB clearly separates urban and rural lands and thus minimizes trade-offs between economic development and environmental protection. Urban and potentially urban lands are inside the UGB, farming and forest lands are outside (Weitz & Moore, 1998). Because Oregon UGB is not as close to built areas as Florida UDB, the latter invites more development pressures. See Portland, Oregon versus South Florida example in Turner & Murray (2001).

9. From 1990 to 2000, Florida metropolitan areas grew by 23.4 per cent. Of the top 30 sprawl-ridden metropolitan areas in the United States, five were in Florida. In 2001, the Florida population was 16.3 million, with over one-half in unincorporated areas (mainly outlying suburbs) and one-half of the counties with fewer than 80,000 residents (Sierra Club, 1998; Growth brings pluses, minuses, 2001; University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, 2002, pp. 14–16).

10. From 1990 to 2001, the number of licensed drivers in Florida grew from 11,612,402 to 14,346,373 and the number of registered vehicles increased from 12,465,790 to 13,448,202. From 1997 to 2000, the annual mileage traveled by vehicles grew by 13 per cent for all state roads and highways and by 14 per cent for urban roads and highways. At the same time, the increase in roads and highways mileage was miniscule, from 114,572 to 116,651 throughout the state and from 48,321 to 49,227 in urban areas (University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, 2000, p. 410, and 2002, pp. 424, 427 and 439).

11. The absence of physical-spatial aspects in Florida laws is evident in mapping and GIS requirements, almost all dictated at the local level. The State Comprehensive Plan is described as ‘a narrative devoid of spatial content’ (Clark, 1994, p. 431; Evers et al., 2000).

12. Contributing to low participation by citizens is their mistrust in local government, shared by 33 per cent, 44 per cent and 66 per cent of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties' residents respectively; and the notion that local governments are ‘run by big interests', shared by about one-half of residents (FAU/FIU Joint Center for Environmental and Urban Problems, 2000, pp. 64–7).