Letter: Builder serves notice on politicians

Letter: Builder serves notice on politicians

Terry W Pacetti
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

In 1979, I developed Prairie Creek and the total engineering costs were $2,500.

We were able to sell 1-acre lots for $7,500 in this beautiful development that boasts 24-hour guard service.

Beyond that subdivision, most of the homes and business properties that we built, during the growth years, are still standing today.

This was accomplished without unnecessary and unwarranted laws, rules and government interference.

However, practical implementation of necessary controls has been overtaken — we are reaching a level that feels like a “police state”. St Johns County survived 500+ years without such ridiculous overregulation. You are accomplishing nothing more than killing the goose who laid the golden egg by allowing it to continue.

By comparison, our most recent foray into development cost us several hundred thousand dollars in studies, etc. and took 2 years to obtain concurrency.

This oppressive interference on our rights, as property owners, did not improve one thing for the residents of St Johns County.

After continuing a 12-year fight to comply with the ridiculous requirements of today’s regulations, we lost it; paving the way for a big Wall Street funded builder to come in and pickup our property for pennies on the dollar, build the homes a local builder could have constructed, but who will, instead, send all the money out of St Johns County.

As a 72-year-old developer of many local subdivisions, a businessman who created numerous jobs and worked 48-years as a Realtor, I will have to keep working until I die — or become too ill.

Politicians, I am here to serve notice on you to stop this ridiculous infringement on the rights of your citizenry. I call on local entrepreneurs, businessmen and businesswomen to join me in demanding accountability from our elected representatives in government.

Overreaching governmental regulation, like we have today, only makes it impossible to sustain continued, profitable investment in our community.

This is my opinion and I welcome yours.