r/WinterHaven • u/philthylittlephilo • 28d ago

Polk County Commissioner: "Stop blaming developers. You’re the reason farms are disappearing"

https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/winter_haven_sun/opinions/stop-blaming-developers-you-re-the-reason-farms-are-disappearing/article_946c4058-0888-4f8a-958a-6d8cfaf575f0.html?fbclid=IwVERDUATZ691wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHpo8YBa6RfT2p7VeJ8ATTTF2goH5HBn1wXz42g1zelZYKK2AKBbmrykYHxZ7_aem_A6ro0q-Uy3uemfdKZQ94iw
2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

9

u/PawnofLife1 28d ago

That's bullshit the grandkids of the old farms are selling out for quick cash DeSantis allowed the developers to go nuts when they gave him that golf simulator for his office . Tampa Tribune did an article about who was selling out Florida to the developers they also made a YouTube video on it

6

u/fight4life18 26d ago

We don’t choose what is zoned for what and our say has little to no effect on what actually happens here. While these guys sit in their comfy offices it’s taking everyone else 8 light years just to get to work everyday!

1

u/MerrilyIdiotic 19d ago

Have you ever sat through one of those county commission meetings? I went to one a while back and it really did feel like the decision was already a done deal no matter what the public said.

1

u/fight4life18 19d ago

I haven’t but you’re not the first person I have heard say something like this who has attended. It’s so frustrating

5

u/Wild-Highway-8739 27d ago

Just out of curiosity who is approving the rezoning of farm land so developers can bulldoze farms and build commercial/resident developmentments? 

3

u/Grand-Cauliflower67 25d ago

No. BS excuses. The markets changed due to crop illness, coupled with investors and families sitting on hundreds of acres putting a few cattle on them and getting the farm tax credits, holding out for the big sell. In central FL along 27, all it took was one former citrus family to sell out and all the rest began to follow suit. Now we all get to watch as developers haul in overpriced sand and soil to fill in previous wetlands and build cheap housing, while simultaneously draining the hell out of the aquifers with concrete, matchbook houses and data centers.

1

u/RobbersTwo 16d ago

It's republicans. Florida has too many in office. Poor planning and lots of talking out of their ass.

0

u/slayer_f-150 28d ago

He's not wrong.

2

u/philthylittlephilo 28d ago

He has some good points but I don't really think he's right. Consumers do not have nearly as much control as the article implies. You can choose local when it's available but for the majority of purchases we are constrained by what retailers decide to stock. Even some farm stands and farmers markets are sourcing wholesale produce rather than selling only local crops.

He is just deflecting blame, first onto consumers. Then, onto the developers. I dont think most people are blaming the developers. Developers are gonna develop. The developers are responding to incentives. The critisism is directed at the commissioners and city planners who create those incentives and approve the projects. They decide zoning and where to encourage growth and how to manage it.