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The Village of Pinecrest was built by residents who believed in a strong, small, tight-knit community. Now, the quality of living we’ve worked so hard to maintain is in jeopardy.
Our village is home to just over 18,000 residents, and we are now threatened by a group of petition-gatherers who believe they know how to keep us safe better than the police and how to protect us better than our elected community and Village Council.
This petition would require any and all zoning code changes to go through a ballot referendum to pass with 60 percent of the vote. It is a well-circulated rumor that this petition did not originate within Pinecrest, but what we know for certain is that it was not written with the community’s interests in mind.
Reliable adherence to strict zoning codes set forth by our elected officials is core to Pinecrest’s prosperity; members of our community understand and appreciate the need for these rules to protect quality of life. In fact, control over land use and zoning was a founding principle of Pinecrest’s incorporation.
The goal of the petition is to allow special interests to create zoning codes, instead of those we elected to represent us. The petition is being circulated under the guise of Democracy, but really it is overthrowing our way of life, giving our Village to deep-pocketed adult entertainment companies, AirBnB and developers.
We have all seen the billboard trucks, out-of-town petition collectors and suspicious social media “organizations” pushing this referendum. These groups have shared misleading information about the petition and the referendum. I am here to correct the record.
The true motives behind this petition revolve around selling our Village to the highest bidder. The people and companies funding this petition don’t care that it will lead to higher taxes and a decreased capacity of elected officials, police and fire to address emergencies — because they care more about money than the well-being of our close-knit and family focused community. This petition will put strangers in our backyards who will loiter, throw house parties and film porn in the spaces where we live and work.
Pinecrest knows firsthand the importance and effectiveness of representative democracy, which is why the current method of passing zoning codes — through elected officials surrounded by experts with full transparency and public support — is critical. Switching to a ballot referendum method does not expand the voice of the people; it hands these decisions to big tech and rental companies that want to exploit Pinecrest’s land for pop-up nightclubs and adult entertainment production.
Since the petition emerged, the Village Council successfully convinced the county to protect Pinecrest’s control over its zoning codes through a revised ordinance, which the county commission will review on July 19, 2022. Thus, Pinecrest will not have to conform to county density or height standards. This is great news for Pinecrest, and according to the people pushing the petition, this is what they were asking for — so why haven’t they dropped the petition? If they were honest, those backing the petition would drop it, because they got what they wanted. But they haven’t stopped collecting signatures, so we know their claims were just smoke and mirrors for what they really wanted: to strip our police and elected leaders of their power to protect us from lobbyists and those who want to profit from Pinecrest’s destruction.
Fellow village residents: do not sign this petition. I implore the people and companies behind the petition to rescind it, effective immediately. For more than 25 years, Pinecrest has been guided by community-mindedness, and it has led to our success. We cannot allow outside dark money interests to decide the future of Pinecrest. Do not let this happen to our community.
Councilmember Anna Hochkammer has represented Seat 1 on the Village of Pinecrest Council since 2016
