Judge orders transfer of land use amendment case

WEST PALM BEACH — The statewide battle royale over whether the November ballot should include a proposed amendment requiring citizens to vote on changes to a community land use plans landed in the wrong court, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra ordered that Florida Hometown Democracy's case against Secretary of State Kurt Browning be transferred to the federal district that includes Tallahassee.

Marra did not rule on the constitutional challenges Florida Hometown Democracy made after state officials ruled the group had not collected enough petition signatures - 611,009 by Feb. 1 - to earn a berth on the ballot.

Florida Hometown Democracy is arguing that various Supervisor of Elections around Florida inaccurately tallied petition signatures. They also are arguing a voter-approved Feb. 1 deadline to collect and certify signatures is unreasonably early.

Representatives of the group did not return calls for comment late Tuesday.

The group bills itself as grass-roots and nonpartisan, waging war against developers and unchecked development of Florida land.

It sued Browning, Florida's chief elections officer, alleging it had collected well above the required number of signatures- more than 820,000 - before the deadline, yet was denied a place on the ballot.

The proposed state constitutional amendment - potentially known as Amendment 10 - would require that voters approve any changes to their communities' land-use plans. For example, if a developer wanted to build on land designated for agricultural use, local voters would have to approve the change.

The idea is vehemently opposed by business interests, local governments and even some environmentalists. They say it would cause economic havoc by virtually stopping growth because referendums would be required no matter how minor the proposed plan change.