REP. PROCTOR DEFENDS FSDB EMINENT DOMAIN, ZONING LAW EXEMPTION

Letter: FSDB is only state school without eminent domain
Posted: December 21, 2011 - 11:57pm
By William L. Proctor
State representative District 20 St. Augustine

Editor: The recent article pertaining to Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and the Collins House was thorough; however, additional points and clarifications may be helpful to the reader.

FSDB is the only public school in the state education system that does not have eminent domain authority. Such authority is granted 67 school districts, 10 state universities, and 28 community colleges. No reasonable explanation has been provided as to why FSDB should be excluded.

To argue that the school should not have eminent domain authority because trustees are appointed from different areas of the state overlooks the fact that the University of Florida, a land-grant institution, like the school, has a state-wide mission. The University’s trustees do not all reside in Gainesville. The same may be said of all state universities and community/state colleges.

Their trustees do not all reside in the communities where the institutions are located.

House Bill 1139 addresses more than eminent domain, It provides FSDB greater latitude in using the properties assigned to the school or that may be acquired. President Danny Hutto stated the school has no current plans to acquire additional properties. Readers may be surprised to learn, however, that the administration receives frequent proposals from owners to purchase nearby properties.

Concerning the historic neighborhood, it is likely that the school is one of the oldest facilities, if not the oldest, in the area; thus it may be assumed that those residing in the neighborhood were cognizant of the school’s existence when they elected to reside nearby.

It is unfortunate that the renovation of the Collins House, which was necessary if the building was to be preserved, is linked to the east section of the Genoply/Alfred block. The city’s effort to control that section of the block is not in the city’s best interest. If in the distant future the school needed to construct another facility, it would be wiser for the city to rezone the east section of the block the school owns rather than compel the school to purchase other properties and remove them from the tax roll. Such purchases could be made with or without eminent domain. As in the past, however, the prices would be inflated beyond true value; hence, the need for eminent domain.