Florida's Spring Break Debate & Hiaasen's Tourist Season

Spring Break!

I've previously posted about Hiaasen's take on environmental protection in Florida. Hiaasen is about to be our guide again, this time as we delve into tourism issues in the Sunshine State.

Unfortunately, there's trouble in one of America's beachy paradises. From Saturday's Florida Today article "Sparse spring break crowds worry Daytona Beach businesses:"

Some local businesses in Daytona Beach are worried they are losing much-needed revenue as spring break crowds dwindle and hundreds of thousands of tourists head to Panama City Beach. Daytona Beach was a spring break haven for college students for years, peaking in the 1980s with MTV hosting live events there and injecting an estimated $120 million into the local economy.  

 But with the booming business came tragedy. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported eight people fell off balconies, one fatally. Fights broke out and three hotels were shut down amid reports of urine, vomit and feces in the halls and stairways. Some tourism officials felt the spring break market had high risk and limited reward and scared away family vacationers. “There were many businesses that made a lot of money, but the (negative) impact on the community was too much,” said Blaine Lansberry, who owns the Best Western Plus Aku Tiki Inn and the Bahama House. “Our hotel business agreed to evolve away from spring break and focused more on families.”  

Seabreeze Boulevard used to be a popular gathering spot for college students for its bars and clubs. But now on most night, those clubs only receive sporadic business during spring break. “It’s going to fold up,” said Derrick Butler, owner of BEG4It Entertainment, referring to the businesses along the boulevard. “You already see it now, all you see is for rent signs in the windows. It’s obvious what’s happening.” The owner of Maui Nix Surf Shop, George Karamitos, says the city has turned its back on a high economic generator and hasn’t replaced it with anything. Many spring breakers now head to Panama City Beach, where tourism officials there are expecting between 250,000 to 300,000 students this year. Daytona tourism officials anticipate only 15,000 spring breakers. 

So the conflict between tourists, locals, and business owners continues in Florida. Carl Hiaasen covers all of this -- and the impact on the environment -- in his novel Tourist Season:

When the president of the Miami Chamber of Commerce is found dead inside a suitcase with his legs sawn off and a rubber alligator stuffed down his throat, news and police locals prefer to believe it's simply another typical South Florida crime. But when letters from a terrorist group, Las Noches de Diciembre, link the man's death to the disappearances of a visiting Shriner and a Canadian tourist, former newsman (now private eye) Brian Keyes intuits that someone is out to kill Florida's tourist trade. His investigation leads him to an old journalism crony obsessed with fury against the state's irresponsible development policies.

Florida Wetlands Supreme Court Case & Hiaasen's Native Tongue

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a major case involving environmental protection in Florida, Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District. I'll leave it to the Tampa Bay Times article "Environmental protection at stake in high court case" to break down what's at stake:

...The case asks whether it is constitutional for an environmental permit to require that the owner restore wetlands on land miles away to mitigate the damage of his project. If the court rules for the landowner, Florida could be hamstrung in its wetland mitigation efforts and in its attempts to get developers to pay for the public impact of their development. 

The case began in 1994 when Coy Koontz Sr., who died in 2000 (the case has been carried on by his son), sought a permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District to develop 3.7 acres of his land near Orlando. Koontz's project called for dredging 3.25 acres of wetlands. To secure a permit, Koontz agreed to give the district a conservation easement on 11.5 acres. But water management officials told Koontz he would have to pay to restore wetlands on other district property miles away as well, or he would have to reduce his development plans to 1 acre. Koontz rejected these conditions, and the permit was denied. 

Koontz sued, claiming the permit rejection constituted a taking of his property by the government without just compensation in violation of the federal and state constitutions. He said he shouldn't be forced to pay for environmental repairs that have little relationship to his property or project. He won before a trial judge... But that victory was reversed by the Florida Supreme Court... 

The high stakes are evident. Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court could use this case to curb the power of government, expand property rights and weaken environmental regulations. That's why more than a dozen amicus or "friend of the court" briefs have been filed. The Obama administration and 19 states (not including Florida) are supporting the water management district.

For a novel about the conflict between developers and environmental protection in Florida, try Carl Hiaasen's Native Tongue:

Imagine you're driving a rented Chrysler LeBaron convertible to the perfect family vacation at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills when a rat is tossed into your car by a passing pickup. The rodent in question is not a rat, but a rare blue-tongued mango vole just liberated from the Kingdom by the militant Wildlife Rescue Corps. Welcome to the world of Native Tongue , where dedicated (if somewhat demented) environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys.