WaltonisOne, you either have no conception of community planning or you do not wish to accept it. Since it is obvious you are intelligent, I'll have to assume it is the latter. So lets just say we disagree and you pursue the use and development of land in a hodge podge build anything you want anywhere you want and do what you want and to hell with your neighbors and I'll opt for a well planned, strictly enforced land use with zoning to protect my and my neighbor's peace, quiet and rights.
Andy, I must not be that intelligent, as my personal concern is not coming through crystal clear.
When I and others purchased residential property here many years ago, we knew what we were buying, residential property in a tourist economy.
I bought here to live, others bought here to rent. Every time the county officials elect to not enforce the laws on the books in response to illegal activity within residential areas in the county, the county government gets manipulated into making changes to the Land Development Code to appease a small group of people. This has lead to the "hodge podge" that you referred to in your well thought out point.
Each time, these changes to the LDC reduce the rights of what we can do with our property, and the values of our property, and the saleability of our property. Essentially, our properties are no longer what we originally bought as the rights associated with the property have been diluted or reduced.
Yet, our property taxes are not reduced accordingly with the changes in residential use and its "new value" when these negative changes take effect.
The problem is, when the county government fails to enforce the laws, a few people in this county manipulate the Planning Department to promote changes or adds to the land development code in order for the county to take rights away from other property owners who are not causing the problem in an effort to make it look like something is being done by county government. This situation is no different.
There is actually a much larger agenda in the background that is ongoing, and in this case, "A money trail" has been identified.
Those who know me in the county will tell you, the last thing I am is not neighborly. I, like you, want my neighbors to live in peace in quiet within the already established boundries of a Tourist Area. I have been pushing for some time now for the Sheriff and the county govt to enforce the noise, parking, trespassing, and disturbing the peace ordinances in an effort to protect the rights to peace and quiet of those affected by the so-called "wedding houses".
By the county electing not to enforce the laws on the books, the residents who really are suffering from "wedding houses" will never get the peace and quiet they desire.
Meanwhile, if legislation goes into effect to reduce what rental property owners can do with their residential property and it causes these property owners to lose revenues and property value, the county (and us tax payers) will have to pay the cost of these losses. This has already been established in Florida Case law:
http://www.veniceflorida.com/features2/pdf/Gwynn_Court_Order.pdf .
And the worst of all, new investors in this county will not materialize, and those who have suffered substantial losses in property values over the last 4 years will continue to do so thereby negatively impacting the county tax base unless the millage rates are raised again. And local businesses will continue to suffer, and the county's construction industry will never make a comeback.
In the end we all end up on the losing side together.