A PETITION TO THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE

The undersigned residents of the City of Fort Lauderdale hereby request that the City of Fort Lauderdale (“City”) immediately  cease and desist approving and issuing any further building permits for the construction and development of commercial, industrial and multi-family buildngs (the term “multi-family buildings” shall not include detached or semi-detached single-family dwellings and townhouses, but shall include rental apartments, condominiums, co-ops, homeowner associations and other forms of multi-family residential and mixed use buildings exceeding three (3) stories in height or containing, as to each such building, more than ten (10) dwelling units) unless and until:

(a)   the aging, worn-out and insufficient water, sewer and storm drainage systems of the City (“City Infrastructure”) have been replaced and upgraded to properly serve the current needs of the City’s existing residential dwelling units and commercial buildings in the City, as well the anticipated future construction and development of such units and buildings;

(b)   the City enacts appropriate ordinances to impose and collect significant development impact fees (comparable to those currently imposed by Miami-Dade County on development within the county) on all future construction and development of commercial, industrial and multi-family buildings within the City prior to the issuance of building permits for any such development.  Such pre-development impact fees shall be imposed and collected to assist the City to fund and off-set the cost to the City of the additional expenses for improvements and upgrades to roads; water, sewer and storm drainage lines; fire, emergency and police services; and parks, recreational and educational facilities, which additional expenses will be necessitated by such developments;

(c)   all of the City’s budgeted funds that, in prior years, have been earmarked for the upgrading and repair of the City Infrastructure, but have been surreptitiously re-assigned to other less-needy and discretionary projects, have been restored in full to the budgets of the City Infrastructure; and

(d)   the City stops the pumping and dumping of waste water and construction debris into the canals, waterways, rivers and storm drains in the City.