Incorporation? More on Both Sides In response to last month's Happenings front-page letter by Cheryl Bames, we thought we should respond to let people know some information. As far as the commercial zoning to our south, there is 600 feet on either side of Port St. John Parkway that will be commercial. 600 acres East and West of the Interchange between Bridge Road and the PSJ Parkway have been bought and closed on by the state of Florida for conservation approximately 6-months ago. There is also no hotel currently planned for this property 3OO feet east of Grissom and on the south of PSJ Parkway. The interchange was planned for at least ten years to be 1/2 mile south of Bridge Road due to the high cost of condemning the number of houses at Fay and 1-95, and the interchange was planned for the size ofour community besides being for an emergency exit. The West Connector to the 1-95 interchange was also pushed to allow a second exit for our residents west of 1-95. There is going to be some commercial at this interchange. There have been committees to look at quality growth at this location. Everyone must be aware and get involved. The web site that offered to post the feasibility study has not posted it with the pages in the right order. PSJ for Tomorrow has no liability here. We gave out the study correctly. What anyone else does with it after it is other hands, we cannot help Titusville has annexed 1700 acres just North of Reliant(OUC),and plans a development of 5400 homes all onTitusville sewer within 3OO feet of KingsHighway. The impact to PSJ will be tremendous, Grissom would be 4-laned, in aybe even Kings Highway, our schools would be impacted, and our recreational facilities. PSJ has sent a letter to the Department of Community Affairs who will approve/disapprove the zoning. We gave our concerns and support a traffic impact study the county is conducting. The Cypress Woods development has asked to approve Phase 3 of their development adding 350 homes exiting onto Grissom only a couple of hundred from feet from King's Highway/Fay Blvd. intersection. PSJ4T asked for a traffic study on Grissom's impact. We read with interest Charles Lowe's announcement in the Florida Today Opinions page March 20 that the PSJ Civic League has been founded to oppose incorporation. We welcome folks doing their own research. Please share it with us all, but we feel uncomfortable with the statement that although their research has yet to be done, the Civic League is opposed to incorporation. We will certainly need to hear and see their source of the research and make sure under these circumstances it is unbiased. If the PSJ Civic League thinks there are misleading statements and misinformation in the Feasibility Study, they must go to the University of Central Florida who conducted the study and found it feasible, and to the Brevard County Commissioners who has the contract for the study with UCE A member of the Civic League asked me how we could just go ahead with the study. At referendum, 73.4% of the voters of PSJ voted to conduct the study and at a town meeting at which Senator Futch and Representative Ball were present, Representative Ball asked a crowd of approximately 200 if he and Senator Futch should take it forward to bill. Only 8 people said NO. 5 departments in Tallahassee scrutinized the study, and all departments allowed the study to go to the state legislature, which voted to allow our community to vote on this issue in November The PSJ Civic League flier has misinformation in it, so my confidence is not abundant. If anyone can come up with undisputable figures that we cannot afford to be a city, we won't vote for it. We will also continue with town meetings and nearer November, invite the Civic League to forums and debates so the people can make an educated decision. Port St. John has reached a point of population where it has become impossible for enough volunteers to maintain the quality of life it now enjoys. We hope the PSJ Civic League is willing and able to take on this responsibility, and we sincerely hope that the PSJ Civic League is mindful to put the FACTS out there because if this referendum is voted down on their misinformation, and PSJ falls prey to predictions, they will have an awesome responsibility. But all we wanted was to give PSJ a chance to look at the feasibility of becoming a city, a chance to make their own decisions, for us to protect our own by members of Port St. John. We hope.we will make the right decision. Maureen
Rupe, Co-Chair
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Pd Pol Adv by Civic League of
Port St. John, Inc