Who pays the price when we lose open space? All of us.

Oakland Park commissioners have a chance to act locally in turning back the threat of global warming and climate change by rejecting any potential zoning change that would allow development of hundreds of homes on 140 acres of the former Oaktree Golf Course.

Let me explain why. One of the most important mitigation efforts to climate change is to creatively repurpose the urban landscape to include as much open space of trees and foliage, which sequester carbon and cool the environment.

Open green spaces also replace and counter the urban heat production of asphalt, cement, buildings, reflective glass surfaces and the cumulative effect of additional air conditioning the energy it uses, and the heat it releases as a by-product.

This is exactly why it is important to avoid the rush to develop open spaces, like Oaktree, which compounds the problems created by denser and denser urban heat zones.

Even as we bear live witness to the hottest months on record in 2019, we must acknowledge the impact additional devastation of open spaces will have on this issue.

Does Hurricane Dorian not bring better focus to the issue of flooding? Do we need to experience the flooding devastation of Freeport and Abaco Islands in the Bahamas to learn from these issues?

South Florida is at severe risk of local flooding and storm surge precisely because of its low elevation and location in a prevalent hurricane zone. Every recent storm that has impacted South Florida and even those King Tide days that did not involve storms, resulted in severe flooding and huge losses to homeowners, cities and counties.

As global warming continues to threaten rising sea levels, open spaces become even more critical in mitigating flood damage by serving as natural reservoirs.

Planted open spaces mitigate these risks by becoming reservoirs of surplus water, protectors from wind damage, and natural filters to our imperiled drinking water aquifers.

All the while open spaces serve as refuges for the wildlife and native plants that make ‘La Florida’ a unique ecosystem: promoting our unparalleled natural beauty and quality of life that attracts millions of visitors each year.

Allowing this large parcel of land to be developed and not preserved as open space runs counter to everything we have learned about confronting global warming, and comes at a potentially devastating price tag. Developing 405 homes on this site would be one more nail in the coffin of South Florida’s unique way of life, ecosystems and water table.

And yet there is Federal Emergency Management Agency money and new initiatives by the State of Florida to pre-empt storm damage by intelligent mitigation projects precisely like the opportunity presented by this parcel.

Where is the foresight by our commissioners to purpose this space for the protection and benefit of everyone, not just the shortsighted benefit of a few?

We urge commission members to delay this zoning change until it has had the time to explore these and other options to protect this large and important piece of open space in Oakland Park.

Please see this 140-acre parcel of open space for what it is: a bulwark in the fight against climate change. Allowing development on this open space has a price tag we can’t afford.

Peter Medaglia chairs the Fort Lauderdale Chapter of The Climate Reality Project, which was started by former Vice President Al Gore in 2006. Its mission is to raise awareness and find solutions in the fight against global warming and climate change.

Note: Oakland Park commissioners will be holding a decisive meeting with public comments on the proposed zoning change on Wednesday, September 11, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at Oakland Park City Hall, 3650 NE 12th Ave, Oakland Park.

As global warming continues to threaten rising sea levels, open spaces become even more critical in mitigating flood damage.