The challenge of managing sprawl – What stage of sprawl is your community in?

The newest, and last, outpost for housing in the Tampa Bay area has some thinking that management of the area needs to be handled regionally.

"The state of Florida could really lead the nation in how we govern ourselves," Lauten said.

Rhodes of Foley & Lardner states the situation simply: "Growth," he said, "doesn’t recognize county lines."

What’s lacking, some say, is a regional group to handle everything falling through the cracks: demands on air and auto travel caused by new development; the future of regional transit; county border disputes over zoning; the marketing of sports and arts centers as regional draws; providing access to specialized health centers which serve a multicounty area, like the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor said the county is forced to spend millions of dollars resolving traffic jams in New Tampa in part because of a lack of coordination with Pasco County development. And she fears a similar disconnect with "little to no dialogue" with Manatee County about its growing effect on the southern Hillsborough region she represents.

Acting as a region, she said, would be much more cost-effective.

"I don’t think there’s a choice for us," added Avera Wynne, planning director with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. "Within five or 10 years there will have to be some sort of regional federation or authority to solve some of these issues."

Full Story: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/01/Business/Manatee_completes_a_c.shtml