Friends and Neighbors
The events of the last week have made us realize that there is quite a bit of misinformation and confusion over who we are and what our purpose is.
We formed ProtectFMB to support your rights. Our purpose is to encourage responsible development on our island.
ProtectFMB is not anti-development. We love this island and want to see her come back better than ever. What we do want though is responsible development that does not violate the Comprehensive Plan. We took action on the Seagate project because it does just that. The Comp Plan allows for developers to ask for more than what they can have by right. There is a trade off for that ask referred to as “Public Benefit”. The “public benefits” offered by Seagate are not add-on items to benefit anyone. With the exception of public access to restrooms, they are things that the developer would have had to do anyway. So, we took action. We would like to explain the action we took.
We did not “file a lawsuit”. What we did was hire an attorney to help us find a way to bring the project back to council for reconsideration. We want to see more public input and less towers. What we were counseled to do was file a “Writ of Certiorari”. Certiorari is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. When the Town Council votes to approve a project, it is a quasi-judicial action. As the town attorney explains before each case, it is neither Legislative nor Administrative, but somewhere in between. Quasi is Latin for “as if”. Quasi-judicial therefore, is “as if a court”. Quasi-judicial decisions involve the application of rules and policies to the facts of a particular development proposal. Essentially, they (Town Council) are a legal body making a decision of law. A Writ of Certiorari asks a higher court to look at the action taken and review it.
We filed the Writ of Certiorari on March 5, 2025. The next steps are a response from The Town of FMB and Judicial review. We will keep you apprised as things progress.
We are always happy to answer your questions. Do not hesitate to contact any of us with any questions you may have.
Laurie, for ProtectFMB
A Copy of the Writ of Certiorari filed with the courts
A conversation between Greg and Bill regarding the Seagate project
A quick recording of “bought the sky”, written by Bill Veach about the effect of the irresponsible development.