"Do we want to live in a high-rise jungle? Do we want more traffic pouring into our city? Do we want to spend our taxes to attract even more tourists? Do we want our quality of life to deteriorate? How much is enough?"
Those were the questions Eric Fricker asked Cocoa Beach residents last fall, as he successfully became the first elected Green in the state of Florida. In a city that is 80% registered Republican, Fricker found common ground with residents on a quality of life, slow-growth, low density, pro-family agenda. Located on a barrier island just south of Cape Canaveral (Orlando is an hour inland), Cocoa Beach has traditionally been home to a large senior population, and is now home to a growing number of young families.
With 12,500 year round residents in a city of only 3.5 square miles, the city swells by 250% during tourist season to 30,000 people, overwhelming local services and infrastructure. Even though the city charter calls for keeping Cocoa Beach a "low-density, residential, resort community", high rise condominiums, time shares, and motels increasingly dominate its 6.5 miles of beach front. The city's one main traffic artery - A1A - is increasingly congested. Years ago residents voted to prevent it from changing from 4 to 6 lanes. "Unfortunately," according to Fricker, "developers are still building as if the road had been widened."
As a first-time candidate, Fricker's election was evidence of a residents' backlash against toverdevelopment and tourism. Fricker walked door-to-door to every home in the entire city and found his message resonated with residents. Even though he was outspent four to one by his pro-development opponent, Fricker won all five of the city's precincts and finished with 56% of the vote.
A 17-year Cocoa Beach resident, surfer and former lifeguard, with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida, Fricker supported two referendum proposals to give residents the right to vote to control development. Both were challenged in court.. One of the two - the right to control density - made it to the ballot while still on appeal, passing with 72% aof the vote. Fricker also supported a third referendum, requiring a unanimous vote of the Commission to dispose of city property. This passed with 75% and is not being challenged. Prior City Commissions had sold public beach access land to private hotels for very little compensation - and with even less public debate
Fricker sought construction of new, safe bike paths; maintaining and improving the community's athletic fields; and "beautifying all parts of our city, not just the tourist oriented business sections."
A founder of the local EarthSave chapter and active with his neighborhood food-coop, Fricker has long been an involved community member. In 2000 he was asked to run by the slow-growth Citizens' Action Committee. Now in office, Fricker finds himself on the short end of a 3-2 Commission split on development. Yet he remains hopeful he can shift policy, hoping to begin by taking advantage of the city's new zoning code designation to establish buffer zones between residents and large hotels, by rezoning part of the hotel districts as small-scale, neighborhood-serving commerical areas.
Source: The Green Pages
