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Land-use loophole or good conservation?
County
commissioners to discuss banning 'aggregation'
BY TRAVIS JAMES TRITTEN
keysnews.com
A proposed
county law would ban some land owners from combining multiple lots under
existing growth laws in order to clear larger swaths of native habitat
while building a home.
Critics say
the practice is a loophole that allows those with money to sidestep the
county's stringent growth ordinance on clearing land. Monroe County
Commission Wednesday will consider changing the county law allowing the
practice.
Smaller
stretches of native vegetation would be destroyed when new homes are
built if the county bars aggregation on some wooded lands, County Mayor
Murray Nelson said.
Developers are
typically allowed to clear a specific percentage of a lot's native
vegetation depending on its quality — up to 60 percent on low quality
land, Nelson said. Some developers would buy 10 lots, aggregate those
lots and then clear-cut two whole lots, he said.
That has been
detrimental to natural lands in the Florida Keys, Nelson said.
"If you just
take 20 percent out of a lot, basically the lot can still maintain the
biodiversity," but when aggregation occurs it often cannot, he said.
However,
Commissioner George Neugent said the practice is not always bad for the
environment, and said he thinks considerations on aggregation should be
taken case by case.
"I think that
someone could make a case on conservation and environmentalism why there
should be aggregation," Neugent said.
For example,
an owner of 10 lots could agree to a conservation easement on nine of
those lots if the county allows just enough clearing to build a home, he
said.
"I see that as
a positive of aggregation," Neugent said.
Residents can
voice their concerns on the proposal during a Monroe County Commission
meeting Wednesday in Key Largo. The change is scheduled to be discussed
with the other items for public hearing, which are set to begin at 5:01
p.m. or as soon thereafter as possible.
In other
commission business, Neugent scheduled time for public input on the
Jewfish Creek Bridge, which is slated to be replaced by the state
Department of Transportation with a 75-high fixed-span bridge.
"There is a
spectrum of concerns from the standpoint of it being a precursor to
four-laning the [18-Mile] Stretch," Neugent said. "There are some that
are concerned about the size and appearance. ... I felt like we are
better off hearing the input early rather than in the eleventh hour."
Meanwhile,
Commissioner Dixie Spehar added an agenda item asking the county to take
part in a countywide health insurance trust fund.
A private
entity, which Spehar said she would not name due to ongoing
negotiations, may loan money for the project, which has been in the
works with the Monroe County Rural Health Network since 2002.
"I am just
looking for conceptual agreement that they [commissioners] will go into
the health insurance trust fund that I am working to create," Spehar
said. "This body that is considering loaning us this money wants to know
that major employers will buy into this program."
The county and
the county school system are both major employers in the islands and
could lend bargaining power when negotiating with health insurance
providers. The school board has yet to make a decision on the issue.
It is
difficult for many in the Keys to find affordable coverage due to the
island chain's isolation, relatively low population and high cost of
living.
Neugent said
such an important item should have been scheduled much earlier, not as a
last-minute add-on item.
"It never
ceases to amaze me, the more important the project is the more likely it
is to be an add-on," Neugent said. "If I didn't stop by my office
Sunday, I wouldn't have got the info at all."
Joining the
health insurance trust fund could have a major impact on property taxes
— something some areas like Ocean Reef might oppose, he said.
"Down here, I
see a tremendous amount of questions that need to be asked and answered
before we can get there," Neugent said.
Also on the
Wednesday agenda:
* A resolution
to approve spending $1.3 million in sales tax revenues to drop new sewer
project costs for residents on Conch Key and Bay Point.
* A resolution
to approve a contract with the URS Corp. for an engineering evaluation
of the beleaguered south Stock Island sewer project.
* A public
hearing on a law adopting commissioner expenses, including travel, per
diem, meals and a mileage policy.
ttritten@keysnews.com
What it
means:
AGGREGATION:
The practice of combining multiple adjacent properties into one lot to
allow a larger area to be cleared for development. The county's current
growth law allows aggregation of lots, but some say it is a loophole
that allows damaging development despite serious concerns over vanishing
native forests. |
