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Fred Hawkins, Jr. claims to be for the environment, but frankly, his voting actions since becoming an Osceola County Commissioner in 2008 indicate otherwise. In 2009 he fought hard for expanding the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) on the northeast side to allow for the "Northeast District", home of the Sunbridge Development and ultimately the further UGB expansion to allow the North Ranch Sector which is estimated to bring in an additional 500,000 people to Osceola. His campaign contribution documents list people involved in those projects as supporters.
Experts have weighed in on the plans and to me, it sure seems like a bad idea. A report submitted to the County showed that the Master Plans fell short in their determinations on what should be important long-term.
Additionally, the east side of Osceola County, especially the Mormon-owned Deseret Ranch is an important water recharge area for the St. John's River which serves the drinking water needs of the east coast, north all the way to Jacksonville. Parts of Orange and Seminole Counties also draw from the St. Johns for their water needs. To me, it makes no sense to think that you can provide water to an extra 1/2 million people if you pave over the areas that are necessary for recharging the very sources which are quickly becoming inadequate to provide for the current state population.
Meanwhile, toward the west side of Osceola County is the headwaters of the Everglades, the water recharge area for the entire South Florida area. All these additional subdivisions remove natural areas of water treatment and flood control that the county is then responsible to deal with. Brandon Arrington was concerned enough with potential flooding to fight for inclusion of a $1.6 million stormwater study in the budget. Heck, if they didn't try to pave every square inch of the county that study might have been quite unnecessary.
From Osceola County's own website:
"Development by humans has led to the destruction, filling and paving over wetlands which has reduced the storage and treatment capacity of stormwater."
Some land is meant to be left in an undeveloped state and Osceola County's unique location speaks to its ability to perform a vital role in providing for the water needs of a fair portion of the state. Water quality will still be dependent on decisions at the state level with regard to biosolids and such. I don't hold out much hope for Fred's ability to maintain an objective position on that subject when I see that several of his campaign contributors are major users of biosolids, enough of an environmental concern in Brevard County to have had that county call for a moratorium on new applications.
Promoting and encouraging development, even in the name of increased tax base and jobs can be quite shortsighted. Sure it sounds good on the surface, but our elected officials should be looking at the long term and what will be left for future generations to deal with. Fred went all in, fighting for the rezoning to allow certain development projects despite expert opinions indicating that it wasn't in the best interest of Florida long term, specifically with reference to water needs.
Rezoning and encouraging building in our water recharge areas and floodplains just shows that he isn't looking at the big picture for Florida when making decisions. He caters to those that think that bringing in construction jobs and the amount of taxable assets in a county indicates positive progress and sound fiscal practices. That's thinking on a temporary solution basis. It works for the immediate need, but doesn't prove sustainable.
Given that Florida's environment IS its economy, I've been pointing out to Fred that since you can't drink development and you can't out engineer mother nature, perhaps all his rezoning and pipe dream "Work, Live, Play" Development Master Plans aren't really good long term investments for Florida as a whole. No companies are going to want to set up shop in these fantasy developments if they have to struggle with water restrictions and quality. Some current residents are already experiencing the effects of flooding caused by questionable development.
This is an email exchange on the subject when Fred voted to approve expansion of the UGB in August 2010. When Orange County used common sense and voted against housing developments that threatened the environmentally sensitive area, Fred jump in full throttle to push it through on the Osceola County side, environment be damned. He is completely misdirecting my concerns with his usual double talk, this time highlighting high paying jobs in Medical City which has nothing to do with expansion of the UGB to allow for RESIDENTIAL development in Osceola County.
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Further, I think he fails to recognize that the residents of these communities may ultimately be spending their tax dollars in Orange County....since it is close and where they work. I question just where is the benefit to Osceola if all that is happening is pretty much providing the bedroom community for Orlando?
Fred seems to fail to recognize the extended value of Agricultural and Conservation Land to the WHOLE of Florida. And I don't see any job creation and commercial tax base to offset the loss...just many more people and traffic given his thinking on developing it. Once again catering to his developer campaign contributors and ignoring the residents that already live here. Just more reasons I say #HellNoHawkins2020.
Select Resources:
Osceola County Special Assessments :First TRIM Budget Hearing - September 5, 2019
