Thaxton pushes local politicians to defend home rule, to save strong local urban fertilizer ordinances from preemption
Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC
Commissioners and Council Members,
I am writing today to offer an opportunity to sign on to an elected official letter to legislators in defense of home rule and to save strong local urban fertilizer ordinances from preemption. Since 2007, local governments across the state have been steadily adopting strong, rainy season application ban urban fertilizer ordinances. Sarasota County was the first County to do so. Today 18 counties and more than 100 municipalities are protected by common-sense policies that help reduce the flow of urban fertilizer pollution that fuels the harmful algae outbreaks that hurt our waterfront economies.
During the last legislative session, a year-long moratorium on strict urban fertilizer ordinance adoption was implemented. There is a great deal of concern that an extension, or even an expansion, of that moratorium, may arise in some form during the current legislative session.
Time is of the essence. This official sign-on letter is one tool the collective of local governments, businesses, and clean water organizations can use to stop the preemption of strong, local urban fertilizer ordinances.
You can reference the University of Florida IFAS report, Effectiveness of the timing of seasonal fertilizer restrictions on urban landscapes, which contains nothing that would justify relaxing urban fertilizer restrictions. The report makes it clear that the Florida Consumer Fertilizer Task Force, back in 2007, was correct in its conclusion that a local watershed-by-watershed approach, as opposed to one statewide rule, was the only way to go, and that local governments should retain the ability to protect their own waterfront economies from urban fertilizer pollution. For your reference, here are our initial talking points in response to the release of the report.
Another very useful tool is the recently released report on the Impacts of Water Quality on the Southwest Florida Economy that underscores offers real data to support what local governments already know: The damage poor water quality and toxic algae blooms do to a local economy can be catastrophic.
Attached is an op ed I submitted for publication in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, an edited version was published on January 12. I offer the unedited version as it describes the amazing work Sarasota County has done to improve water quality.
Please help us defend our waterfronts and home rule.
Jon Thaxton
Senior Vice-President for Community Leadership
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