Just start building and worry about the planning later? This will affect several cities, and it will have a huge impact on downtown development plans in one of those cities.
This concept of start building now, plan later, boggles my mind. :think:
State: CSX Can Build Before Review Is DoneWINTER HAVEN - State planning officials have told CSX it can begin building a rail transfer center before planning reviews of the massive project are completed. In a letter sent to CSX this week, the state Department of Community Affairs said it would consider an agreement with the company that would allow CSX to begin construction on the Winter Haven project while a comprehensive planning review known as a development of regional impact is under way."
..."Pat Steed, executive director of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, said it is not uncommon for nonresidential projects to enter into pre-development agreements, but developers may be taking risks by beginning construction."
.."But John Ryan, a Sierra Club activist and a member of the Polk County Planning Commission, said the state's decision is a blow to local groups who want a thorough review of what impact the 1,250-acre rail center will have on traffic, the environment and other growth-related concerns.
Allowing construction to begin will give the project so much momentum that it could be difficult for local planning agencies to later force the railroad to modify its plans, said Ryan, who emphasized he was speaking for the Sierra Club, not as a planning commissioner.
Just go ahead and do it, and ask for input from the cities and counties later. But since the project is so far along, it would be hard to stop it. Amazingly arrogant and dismissive of local authorities. This should go over well with city planners and county administrators who have all been so much on Jeb's side...always siding with developers. It is almost like a "take that" to them.