The Florida House of Representatives just passed a bill to streamline land development approvals. The environmentalists are steamed.

“In 30 years of working to protect Florida’s unique natural wonders, never have I witnessed such an egregious and blatant dismantling of those protections,” said Debra Harrison of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Those of us in the construction business for many years have watched the steady increase of complexity of environmental regulations and land development approvals. Every year for decades the time and cost to get a project approved for construction has increased. The rules tend to get written by folks who benefit from the increased complexity. Consulting engineers and planners have their fees increase as the land development process requires more. Local boards and zoners feel more power against developers as their regulation books get fatter.

Meanwhile, the cost of construction goes up and the appetite of owners willing to jump into the convoluted mess goes down. Hopefully, the Florida legislators will lead the way for many other regulatory bodies to consider simplifying.

I consider myself a conservationist, spending large amounts of time in the woods and in nature. We have a responsibility to take care of the Earth. Our environmental responsibility must be balanced with our responsibility for economic growth and productivity. You can eat wetlands, but they taste like crap.

A few years ago I was managing construction on a 100,000 sf factory for welding firm. The Owner’s Rep was building a factory in California at the same time. When he’d start railing about our punitive approval process and the extra costs he was having to endure, I’d discreetly ask about the CA project. Then he’d really get fired up! CA was making him spend on all sorts of whims…like putting a 8′ high brick wall around the entire 30 acre property or putting a lawn irrigation system for all the grass areas. We sucked, but not as bad as CA.

As those trends have come forward, CA has become a place no one wants to build or do business. We aren’t quite there yet, but we’re headed in that direction. This financial crisis and slow recovery recession should help legislators and local officials think hard about where they want to head. The story of the golden goose applies.

If we are are going to succeed together, we need to drop our arrogance and our win/lose mentality. We need to learn to see the other person’s point of view and compromise. It’s what made America great and we need to find that skill again.