Nassau County Record (September 22 Edition, Page 4)

Across the country and certainly here in Florida, we’re seeing explosive housing markets and governments taking action to accommodate growth while working to maintain a high quality of life in their area. Similarly, Nassau County is facing a huge population infusion.

The Nassau County Commission and staff have taken some positive first steps to plan for future growth, including better land-use planning – much of which will internalize future impacts through compact, mixed-use development. They’ve raised impact fees substantially to ensure that growth pays for the effects of future growth. The county has hired experts to get a better handle on how they’ll address an enormous capital deficit built up over decades in the form of unpaved roads and woefully deficient park and recreation facilities, to name a few. Unfortunately, the county commission has also substantially raised our taxes to begin to address some of the capital priorities that should have largely been borne by higher impact fees long ago. Despite that, all of these steps have moved the county in the right direction.

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