Five Questions

In 2005, the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida was created in an effort to explore challenges and solutions the state could face up to 50 years from now. The commission’s 15 members are appointed by the state Senate, Speaker of the House and governor. Among the members is Dennis Gilkey, former president and CEO of Bonita Bay Group, and now the CEO and managing principal of the Gilkey Organization, a land-use strategy consulting firm.

1. What is the Century Commission?
It was initiated to look at the future of Florida 25 and 50 years out and consider major issues, including governmental issues, funding, natural lands issues, and how the state is to develop into the future. It’s an advisory commission to the Legislature and the governor, and we’re required each year to provide an annual report.

2. The 2008 report outlines five recommendations, from convening a water summit to designing sustainable communities and monitoring energy security. What steps are being taken to address them?
The first thing the Century Commission looked at was global warming and energy issues. When you look out 50 years or beyond, the consequences in Florida [are] kind of an eye-opener. The focus this year is more on water issues: How do we become sustainable in a way that we’re not depleting our water resources? Maybe in 50 years the use [will be] no more than it is today, even though the population might double. The same with energy. How do we conserve—not just find new sources but conserve?

3. Some might see this as just another political or academic exercise. How would you answer that?
It’s the only group that really is looking out that far into the future. A lot of today’s current problems were yesterday’s solutions. Forty or 50 years ago, some of the things that we see as problems today were actually thought of as a good thing at that time [such as] things we’ve done on drainage [and] zoning. Some [suburban] sprawl pattern was actually looked at as a good thing; areas like Cape Coral or Lehigh were looked at as a very positive economic influence.

4. Why might businesses want to be involved?
Growth is a positive economic thing as long as it’s managed well. There’s a lot of good business leadership in the state now and I think most of the responsible larger businesses do recognize the importance of not destroying what brings people and attracts people here.

5. What issues do you see as most critical to Southwest Florida?
The recommendation that we’ve [made] to focus on the impact of global warming is important for Southwest Florida [because] it’s a coastal area. We’ve been trying to [encourage] mixed-used developments that don’t have as much external demands, especially on traffic; there will be some long-term impacts as far as urban and rural forms of development. Also, we’ll always have long-term water issues here, as most of the state does. But we’ve got to look at conservation and supply issues long-term to make sure Southwest Florida has its own sustainable elements. That’s where regional vision probably comes in.