But I respectfully suggest it goes too far and goes too fast. The committee will take official action on the bill in the upcoming weeks. Bills that stand to transfigure the landscape of the entire state are triggering turmoil in the corridors of the Capitol and plunging lawmakers and members of the Florida Cabinet into disagreement. With the state population pushing 15 million, clashes between the old Florida and the new, between suburbanites and city dwellers, are becoming increasingly testy. At stake is how best to control the state's growth and preserve its natural character and resources while accommodating the inevitable crush of demands for more offices, homes, shopping malls and roads.
Environmentalists call it a nightmare.
What this amounts to is a fairly comprehensive devastation of growth management in Florida, '' Charles Lee, vice president of the Florida Audubon Society, said. In recent weeks, environmentalists say, legislation that strips away layers of environmental protection has sped through House and Senate committees with little debate. It seeks to block government agencies from imposing land-use restrictions on farmlands. The bill unanimously passed the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, and a companion bill is scheduled to be heard today in the House. Environmentalists also cite House Bill 659, which would make it easier for property owners to collect payments from taxpayers for lost property value as a result of zoning and land-use decisions.