In Florida, rural homeowners form group to fight encroaching development

Many move to the country hoping to escape urban sprawl. When that sprawl starts getting too close to home, some of these rural residents take action. In lesser developed areas near Tampa, Fla., some rural residents formed the United Citizens' Action Network, or U-CAN, to fight development near their homes, reports The Tampa Tribune.

"The rural activists belonged to groups in specific areas fighting local battles, and then discovered they would have more power together," Yvette C. Hammett writes. "They shared one another's experience and expertise, joined forces at public meetings and then in January formed U-CAN."

The fight is primarily over what will happen to the land outside Hillsborough County's urban service area, Hammett reports. "Of the 574,390 acres in unincorporated Hillsborough, 361,364 acres remain outside the urban service area, according to the county planning commission," she writes. It is this land that U-CAN hopes to protect. One of the group's plans is to start charting the voting records of county officials on the Web site, u-canhillsborough.net. The site currently proclaims the scrolling message, "Watchout!!! The Brandon Bypass is coming and we must stop it!!!" (Read more)