Voters’ message: Preserve rural land
Winning candidates in Tuesday’s elections say that voters in Seminole and Orange counties sent a clear message to local governments: Stop approving developments that lead to urban sprawl and do more to preserve the environment.
In Seminole, two incumbents won in landslides despite attack ads against them linked to money from development interests.
Commissioners Bob Dallari and Lee Constantine, two Republicans who voted against the controver
sial River Cross development that would have violated a rural boundary put into place by voters in 2004, walked away with 60% and 66% of the vote, respectively, against challengers aided by money tied to River Cross.
“People are just tired of sprawling developments,” Constantine said. “They’re tired of the traffic congestion that it brings. They’re tired of the congestion in their schools. They’re tired of the congestion in their living spaces. It’s about their quality of life…. It’s no longer about building for building’s sake. People want smart growth.”
While in Orange County, Nicole Wilson – an environmental-law attorney who campaigned against urban sprawl – defeated incumbent Commissioner Betsy VanderLey, who raised tens of thousands of dollars from developers, with 57% of the vote.
In Wilson’s west Orange district, residents have grown increasingly frustrated with local governments approving large-scale developments in areas that have long been zoned as rural or low-density, Wilson said.
“We have in the rural districts, promises that were made [to residents] that their community would stay rural,” Wilson said. “But residents feel like their pleas [to not approve high-density developments] have fallen on deaf ears, and that every single development that comes before the county gets a rubber stamp of approval.”
And Orange Commissioner Emily Bonilla, who was first elected in 2016 in an upset against then-incumbent Ted Edwards in a race that largely turned on controversy over growth in largely rural east Orange, was re-elected Tuesday by 51% of voters.
Paul Owens, president of 1000 Friends of Florida, a non-profit that advocates for new projects in already urban areas rather than new construction on outlying land, said his organization is encouraged by the recent campaign victories, regardless of political party, who advocate for smart growth and environmentally-responsible developments.
“Florida continues to grow, and we have a finite amount of natural lands,” Owens said. “So, there is a greater recognition among voters that unless we protect those natural lands, they are going to disappear.”
Democrat candidate Katrina Shadix, a wildlife and environmental advocate, who is running against Dallari for the Seminole commission District 1 seat in the Nov. 3 general election, said smart growth and preservation of the natural environment is a bipartisan issue.
“I think voters from all parties are realizing that we need to start focusing on smart development,” she said. “If you look at a satellite picture of Seminole county from 16 years ago and one of today, you’re going to see a dramatic decrease of green space….And people are starting to notice that developers have gotten these ‘yes’ votes for so long and that people’s quality of life has been decreasing, the wildlife is disappearing and the green space is disappearing. Our quality of life depends on a healthy environment.”
Dallari campaigned on protecting Seminole’s rural boundary during his primary campaign against Longwood Mayor Matt Morgan.
“People want controlled growth, and they want responsible growth,” Dallari said. “People want to make sure that the proper infrastructure is in place before a development gets approved…. They want to make sure that we’re not paving over paradise. They want to make sure that when they move here, and that when they see open spaces, that those areas will remain as open spaces.
Last May, Dallari proposed Seminole enact a “rights of nature” rule that would allow people to file a lawsuit on behalf of a river or natural land when those entities are harmed by pollution or other forms of environmental destruction. The Seminole commission later rejected the idea.
In August 2018, Seminole commissioners unanimously turned down River Cross, a request to build a mega-development of hundreds of homes on 669 acres just east of the Econlockhatchee River within the county’s rural zone. Hundreds of residents attended the county meeting to protest the development on land that is currently zoned for up to one home per 10 acres.
Republican primary candidates Morgan and Ben Paris, who challenged Constantine, said during the campaign that they supported protecting Seminole’s rural boundary, which was established in the county charter by voters in 2004.
But campaign finance reports showed Morgan and Paris received large contributions from the River Cross property owners. And attack ads against Dallari and Constantine were paid for by a political committee run by the same people who received contributions totaling $150,000 from River Cross developer Chris Dorworth to another political committee.
Constantine’s opponent in the November general election is Democrat Kim Buchheit, who also strongly supports protecting Seminole’s rural boundary.
One of Wilson’s main campaign issues was her opposition to Orange County commissioners voting late last year 5-2 in favor of a new expressway backed by development company Tavistock that would cut through the Split Oak Forest nature preserve. Wilson said west Orange County residents have grown increasingly frustrated as large oak trees and open spaces are bulldozed for strip malls and traffic-congested highways.
Wilson said during her campaign she heard from residents “on both sides of the aisle” that are tired of seeing developments rising up in areas that lack the roads, classrooms and police and fire services.
“Land conservation is a bipartisan issue,” Wilson said. “People are asking: ‘Why are we not infilling? Why are we not filling in areas with empty spaces” such as abandoned strip malls.
“Because once that conservation land is built on, you can’t undo it,” Wilson said. “It’s about building in the right places.”
Richard Creedon, a longtime Geneva resident and strong proponent for keeping east Seminole rural, said he was pleased Constantine, Dallari and Wilson won Tuesday’s elections. And that voters are becoming much more attuned to conservation.
“I think they are paying more attention,” Creedon said. “People realize that if we don’t preserve green spaces, there won’t be anymore green spaces. And I’m gratified for that.”