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Sarasota News Leader December 14, 2012 Page 23 Humphries. All told, that means more than That is a point echoed by Jono Miller, the for7,000 units have been approved under 2050 mer chairman of the county���s Environmental guidelines. Policy Task Force. Is the lack of new construction a reflection of a ���depressed economy or Such successes suggest that 2050 has not been the economic death knell some have claimed, is there some flaw in the 2050 implementation but that has not stopped county commis- that���s keeping people from choosing it?��� he sioners from calling for fundamental chang- asks. es. During a Tiger Bay forum, newly elected Commissioner Charles Hines said he supported loosening up the 2050 rules, and Commissioner Christine Robinson wrote in a Sarasota Herald-Tribune candidate questionnaire that 2050 does not promote ���smart, well thought out planned growth��� but is instead ���a barrier to any growth at all.��� Miller is not opposed to 2050 tweaks, but he says the overall concept remains sound. ���I think the goals are appropriate or relevant,��� he says, arguing that without 2050, ���we could just see the eastern county carved up in lots, with no real guarantee that the habitats are going to be protected and with everything kind of spread out.��� He calls such develop���The development community has told us it���s ment ���rural sprawl.��� not workable,��� Commissioner Joe Barbetta told a man giving a public comment at a Sep- ���This question comes up: Well, it���s only 2012 tember meeting. Barbetta called 2050 a ���great and we���ve got a 2050 plan. Do we need to be plan��� but said it was not right for the inland nervous that it���s not working or is everything area. ���You can���t airlift an urban community on track?��� he asks. and put it eight or nine miles out east,��� he While he is not directly involved enough to said. ���It���ll never work.��� have a ���strong opinion,��� and he would like to Lobeck says he���s ���alarmed��� about the potential changes. He is particularly worried about the possibility of weakening the county���s process for monitoring fiscal neutrality. Developers may argue they simply want to cut red tape, Lobeck says, but the end result is new communities that could become a financial burden on the county���s taxpayers. see statistics on all the different types of new developments being built, Miller says his inclination would be to ���let it ride��� for now. Lobeck calls the situation a ���payoff��� to the commissioners��� ���patrons.��� Neal served as an ���honorary host��� at a September fundraiser for Robinson; Schroeder-Manatee President and CEO Rex Jensen was on the ���host comAnd while critics may blame 2050 for a pau- mittee.��� Neal also backed Hines, and several city of new projects, the real estate collapse companies associated with Lakewood Ranch has been a far bigger factor, Lobeck says. The donated to his campaign. most recent tweaks to the 2050 plan came in November 2006 ��� just before the housing im- ���I would think it would raise alarm bells if plosion. ���Nobody���s building these huge mixed someone asked the fox how to redesign the use developments and you���re going to blame henhouse,��� Lobeck says. ���That���s effectively what the County Commission is doing.��� % 2050?��� he says. ���It���s the economy.���