Brian Gleason column: Money, control drive areas to incorporation Date: March 16, 2007 Section: Cities are the new black. Just as the fashion winds blow styles and colors in and out of favor, political and financial fortunes move people to seek autonomy or cede control. In Englewood, the second incorporation movement in six years is gaining steam. In Punta Gorda, enclaves within the city limits and a new development on its border are mulling annexation into the city. In Port Charlotte, a lack of leadership has stymied political independence despite widespread dissatisfaction over code enforcement, crime and redevelopment. Joe Mazurkiewicz, a consultant who has prepared 17 incorporation studies in Florida, including the Englewood-Cape Haze study in 2001, said seminal events such as county land-use decisions frequently fuel drives toward cityhood. He cited a hotel approval on Fort Myers Beach as the catalyst for the island's successful incorporation. A dump drove Golden Gate to become a city. With no such event driving Englewood's 2001 effort, the financial incentives simply weren't there, Mazurkiewicz said. "They looked at the numbers and said it's not attractive, there's too much unknown," Mazurkiewicz said. One unknown this time around is control over future development. In a referendum held Tuesday, Sarasota voters gave the county control over development on land annexed into cities. Part of the area historically considered Englewood is in Sarasota County. "If Englewood incorporated, I don't think they would get control over development issues (in Sarasota)," Charlotte County Administrator Bruce Loucks, who was involved in several incorporation drives while serving as an assistant county administrator in Lee County. The unknowns and knowns prevented isolated sections of unincorporated Charlotte County within Punta Gorda's city limits from seeking annexation for years. Of late, those obstacles have been worked out; wide swaths along U.S. 41 and U.S. 17 and The Loop project off Jones Loop Road are likely to be absorbed by Punta Gorda. City codes that restricted activities such as promotional displays were unattractive to businesses such as Palm Automotive. Regulatory concessions made the move possible. "Sometimes our codes are more strict in certain areas. We did create an amendment to our (land development regulations) for that type of business," said Punta Gorda City Manager Howard Kunik. Money is the wild card. Cities collect property taxes, get a share of state sales taxes and collect fees from phone, waste collection and cable companies, Mazurkiewicz said. How an area's property values compared with surrounding unincorporated property determines how low a city can set its millage rate. Significant savings come from lower levies for public safety and utilities, Kunik said. Beyond that, city residents can realize tax savings based on the level of other services and amenities they seek. Kunik said businesses annexing into the city will have lower taxes than they do now, but that is not a given for Englewood. Some new cities, such as Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs, offer lower tax rates to residents and business, but others, such as Marco Island, saw taxes go up. "They've chosen to do that, to have that level of service. That's a choice of the individual community," Kunik said. Residents typically push for incorporation, although business support is critical because of the cost. Mazurkiewicz said a feasibility study, boundary survey and attorney fees for writing a charter and the legislation needed to create a city can run $40,000 or more. He said Englewood's bi-county status can lower costs if proponents use existing boundaries for its water or fire district. That said, cross-county differences in appraised values can make incorporation thorny. Bonita Springs, a community that historically crossed the border of Lee and Collier County, chose to incorporate only the Lee County portion due to valuation differences, but Longboat Key, which straddles Sarasota and Manatee counties, overcame that obstacle, Mazurkiewicz said. What Englewood has, high-value properties (read Manasota Key and coastal Cape Haze) and leadership, Port Charlotte lacks. "That's always the big question," Mazurkiewicz said. "In most studies, it has been a question of leadership. Who will step up to be a local elected official? Is there a pool of applicants or candidate willing to run for local elective office?" While Port Charlotte made three unsuccessful bids for incorporation in the 1960s, calls for incorporation (outside this space) have fallen silent since Monroe "Randy" Randal passed away in 2002. Resident incohesiveness and the lack of a unifying organizational force (the Cape Haze Englewood Chamber sponsored the 2001 study for that area) are two reasons incorporation talk is muted in Port Charlotte. Another is successful business efforts to work with the county, said Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julie Mathis. "I think we've got a real good relationship with county government. From time to time there may be frustration but they know who to contact to push the buttons if they need to," Mathis said, noting that the chamber has members stretching from Englewood to eastern Charlotte. After Hurricane Charley, a bloc of members formed a U.S. 41 business coalition to lobby the county on sign ordinances and redevelopment issues. Resolving those issues through long-established channels is an example of forestalling the "seminal events" that Mazurkiewicz says galvanize incorporation movements. Even when all the forces are aligned, though, incorporation often falls short. Of the 17 studies he has conducted, only two communities went all the way to cityhood. Will Englewood succeed? Will Port Charlotte ever "city up"? Will Punta Gorda balloon south and eastward? If history is any judge, it will come down to two things, taxes and antagonism. Even then it's anybody's guess. Copyright (c) 2007, Englewood Sun