|
Blaming environmentalists for affordable housing crisis is ludicrous
The recent op-ed by the Pacific Legal
Foundation ("Lawsuits are making affordable family housing an endangered
species") lacked credibility and accuracy. In the 19 years I've worked
on Keys issues, I've not run into these folks. Perhaps that's part of
the problem.
Their claim that "current environmentalist
lawsuits are imperiling the ability of ordinary Florida families to find
affordable housing" is ridiculous. I, for one, cannot take seriously the
notion that the enforcement of environmental laws is the problem in a
sub-tropical paradise with a small land mass where everyone wants to
live and where there are huge profits to be made building mega-homes.
It's the realities of the free-market system that have created an
affordable housing problem in the Keys and throughout Florida.
As to the lawsuit against
government-issued flood insurance in the Florida Keys, it is the finding
of a federal judge — not, as the PLF folks suggest, simply the view of
environmental activists — that the National Flood Insurance Program
enables development harmful to endangered species such as the woodrat
and cotton mouse. When government subsidizes the cost of building in an
area, it skews the free market. Amazingly, PLF admits that private
insurance companies are wary of issuing policies in this flood-prone
area. Their argument — that government must "fill this void" is
startling. We all support private property rights, which are ingrained
in the Constitution, but these guys think the government should
subsidize market-rate development. If the PLF was really true to the
ideals it espouses and not simply reflecting the agenda of the large
landowners who fund it, one would expect it to join the effort to stop
the expenditure of taxpayer dollars to subsidize building in flood-prone
areas.
I'm also amazed at the complete lack of
honesty or understanding about basic science or the needs of wildlife in
the Keys reflected in the PLF view. If homes are not built in the
habitat of an endangered species, the species' chances of survival are
dramatically increased. That's basic stuff that scientists, courts and
regular people have known for decades. Also, they cite a lawsuit on the
mainland brought to protect critical habitat of the Florida panther.
Their claim that such areas encompass "most of South Florida" is so
untrue as to bring into question both their motives and knowledge of the
issues. Given how crucial the basic working of the ecosystem is to the
Keys economy and character, it is outrageous that this group would
advocate continued destruction of habitat, particularly when there are
thousands of lots with no habitat and prime for building affordable
housing. I will mention, because PLF failed to, that we have advocated
this for years.
Most residents of the Keys and this
country expect balance in development policy. Building (particularly at
taxpayer expense) in areas that are needed to prevent wildlife species
from extinction is not my idea of balance. The PLF rhetoric that
environmental groups don't care about working people and affordable
housing is dishonest. Knowing, as I do, that the vast majority of new
permits being issued in the Keys are for mega-homes for the very
wealthy, it's hard to take seriously their claim that they are fighting
for affordable homes for the working families of the Keys. If these guys
had done their homework, they would have noticed that for years, the
environmentalists in the Keys have been arguing for major improvements
to the land-use plan to improve affordable housing — like allocating
most permits (not just a small fraction) to affordable and not
market-rate building, and requiring commercial development (which
increases the affordable housing demand) to provide the housing demand
it creates. Our proposals have been opposed by many in the Keys who
claim to be champions of affordable housing, and never implemented,
because they hurt profits. The PLF hasn't been around for any of those
discussions, either. If that group really wants to help the Keys working
families, it ought to work to support direct subsidies to families in
need of affordable housing, not second and third homes for the wealthy
in critical wildlife habitat.
Richard Grosso is an associate law
professor at Nova Southeastern University and executive director and
general counsel of the Environmental and Land
Use Law Center. He represents the
Florida Keys Citizens Coalition and Last Stand in their challenge to the
proposed county land-use rule change. |
