Each day, Florida grows by more than 700 new residents. This section describes some of the consequences of Florida's rapid growth, some of the problems this growth presents in infrastructure and planning, and documents some of the ways Florida's citizens are attempting to meet the challenges of growth.
Florida's growth can improve the state's economic health and well-being, if it is well planned and managed. The consequences of not doing so are evident in many forms: crowded roads, inadequate water and sewer systems, and loss of qualityÊofÊlife. In 1987, a legislative advisory committee concluded it would take roughly $53 billion to implement the goals of the stateÊcomprehensiveÊplan adopted in 1985 by the Florida legislature. Nearly half of this cost ($35.9 billion) would be required for improvement of existing roads and construction of new roads.
Decades of rapid population growth have taken a toll on Florida's environment. Fifty-five percent of Florida's original wetlands have been lost to drainageÊandÊfilling. One-third of the state's upland forests have been converted to agricultural and urban uses. Approximately 730 billion gallons of treated domestic and industrial wastewater are discharged annually into the state's surface waters and onto upland areas. Few problems are more serious than the need to protect Florida's water resources. Wise land use planning is closely tied with sound water management practices. State and local planning and growth management processes offer Florida's citizens real opportunities to address these and other aspects of their quality of life.
Population Growth
Florida is a growth state. This single fact characterizes much of the state's history, and helps explain many of the stateÕs current dilemmas as well as some of its good fortunes. The state's population almost doubled between 1970 and 1990, eclipsing 10 million people in 1984 and reaching almost 13 million by 1990. Florida is projected to be home to over 15.5 million permanent residents as the twenty-first century dawns.
The state's annual population also includes as many as 40 million tourists. There are economic and social trade-offs for residents living in tourist areas, such as increased traffic on highways and larger crowds in shopping areas. Tourists also mean jobs and economic benefits to many local businesses, retail outlets, the services industry, and tax revenues for government. Local officials must plan for greater capacities of water and sewer systems, local roads, and other public facilities and services that visitors expect. Like new residents, tourists do not bring those things with them. Counties and municipalities must plan locally for these seasonal demands.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure encompasses the major physical facilities that provide safety and convenience within communities, regions, and the state as a whole. Infrastructure is usually provided and maintained by the federal, state, and local government. Infrastructure includes interstate highways, state and local roads, water and sewer facilities, stormwater runoff systems, solid waste disposal facilities, police and fire stations, schools, and libraries. Furthermore, citizens who value their quality of life want good roads and schools and other infrastructure items. Federal and state laws also require minimum quality standards in building and operating public facilities such as water and sewer systems.
Adequate infrastructure is something most citizens take for granted. State and local officials who fail to address problems of congested roads, polluted lakes and rivers, flooding and drainage problems, and crowded schools often face unpopular political consequences. But providing adequate infrastructure can carry a big price tag. Further, providing it when it is needed for new development creates enormous problems for fast-growing states like Florida. Past arguments that suggested that growth in Florida would pay for itself were short-sighted at best, and not fiscally sound. Local officials can charge impactÊfees that pay some of the costs of new growth. However, local impact fees can not be used to pay for infrastructure backlogs. The state faces similar problems in providing new state highways, prisons, universities, and other state facilities. One of Florida's biggest challenges is creating a tax structure capable of raising enough money ot meet the infrastructure needs of state and local governments.
Planning and Growth Management
In 1971, rapid population growth in south Florida collided with the state's worst drought then on record, forcing state and local leaders to confront growth and development problems. Since that time, Florida's citizenry and its leaders have addressed these issues through better state and local planning, environmental protection programs, sound land and water management practices, acquisition of environmentallyÊsensitiveÊareas, and closer attention to infrastructure planning and budgeting.
Florida has become not so much a planned state as it has become a planning state, through its governmental and business leaders as well as its citizens. Florida leads the nation with state laws that call for better comprehensive planning and growth management. The purpose of conprehensive planning and growth management is to anticipate problems and to propose and implement solutions before the problems become unmanageable. Environmental and infrastructure planning is a hallmark of the state's growth management system, whereby state policies guide efforts in every region as well as in every municipality and county to plan for orderly future growth and development. In 1985, the legislature adopted a State Comprehensive Plan containing 26 general goals to help guide future growth through the end of this century. State growth policies address major questions of how to deal with urbanÊsprawl, continued growth in sensitive coastal areas, better land and water management practices, energy conservation and efficiency measures, encouraging public transit systems, and providing affordable housing. These are carried out in large measure through regional and local comprehensiveÊplans. All 457 of Florida's local governments have adopted comprehensive plans to help guide future growth and development in their communities, consistent with state and regional comprehensive plans.
Counties and municipalities may allow future development only when there are plans for adequate roads and bridges, water and sewage facilities, and other key infrastructure items. New growth must pay its own way under this approach, known as concurrency. At the same time, state and local leaders are being asked to pay the bills due on unmet infrastructure needs postponed from years past.
State laws and programs governing growth and the environment address many past environmental errors and misjudgments. They require reducing the number of landfills, cleaning up toxicÊwasteÊsites and undergroundÊpetroleumÊspills, acquiring more land for environmental preservation and conservation purposes, and restoring important wetland and upland habitats. They also mandate improved waterÊquality and restoration of many of the state's important surfaceÊwaters such as Tampa and Biscayne bays, Lake Okeechobee and Lake Apopka, and the Indian River lagoon. New environmental restoration objectives also include reversing environmental damage caused by channeling and straightening the Kissimmee River, restoring the partially built Cross-FloridaÊBargeÊCanal into a coast-to-coast greenway, and restoring the Florida Everglades to resemble its original grandeur.
The state's environmental assets constitute a vital economic resource. Florida's sandy beaches and coastal waters, its woods and its wetlands, its natural bird and wildlife habitats, its clean rivers and lakes, its recreational fishing opportunities, and its other environmental treasures are irreplaceably linked to the state's continued economic health. These environmental assets are not easily measured in the millions and billions of dollars that they represent. They are nonethel
