| At their meeting Tuesday, Florida's Governor and
Cabinet voted to keep the Area of Critical State Concern designation in
place. A state law passed in 2006 provided for lifting the
designation next year if the Keys met strict goals in the
areas of wastewater treatment, wildlife habitat preservation, affordable
housing, and hurricane evacuation. The goals were not met, and
earlier rulings, if adhered to, would have resulted in a 20% reduction
in building permit allocations. The state stopped short of
imposing that penalty. From the October 1 Key West Citizen:
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County will get ROGOs
By TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
The governor and Cabinet on Tuesday ruled the Florida Keys will
not lose 20 percent of its building allocations this year,
despite not making "substantial progress" on certain issues the
state requires before lifting Monroe County's designation as an
Area of State Critical Concern.
The state said it will give the county another year to meet its
criteria on upgrading wastewater systems, increasing affordable
housing, reducing hurricane evacuation times and protecting
endangered species habitat. During that time, the state, county
and Keys municipalities will establish goals toward lifting the
designation, a plan the governor and Cabinet are expected to
vote on at an Oct. 28 meeting.
Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a stern warning that Gov.
Charlie Crist and the Cabinet will withhold the county's
building allocations -- known as ROGOs for Rate of Growth
Ordinance -- if the county does not step up efforts.
"It's important that we lay down a mark and are not disappointed
with the plans," McCollum said.
Everglades Law Center General Counsel Richard Grosso, who
represents Keys environmental groups Last Stand and Florida Keys
Citizens Coalition, on Tuesday changed his earlier position and
supported the county keeping its allocations, as long as it
created a framework for meeting state requirements. It was
during the Cabinet aides' meeting last week that he requested
that the state withhold the allocations.
Monroe has been an Area of State Critical Concern since the
1970s, when the state said county officials were not doing
enough to protect the environment from developers. Since then,
state approval is required for most decisions about the county's
growth and development, and the county is limited to 197 ROGO
units a year.
The Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the state agency that
oversees development in the county, said it likely will be
several years before it lifts the designation, because the Keys
have a considerable amount of work remaining to install central
sewer systems for all properties by a state-mandated July 2010
deadline. Only 12 percent of the work has been completed. The
remaining work will cost at least $350 million, an amount that
could increase with time, DCA planner Charles Gautier said.
The county also plans to supplement its tier map system, which
divides property into three categories ranging from most
environmentally sensitive to least, with a plan to make all or
portions of the Keys national parks.
County officials last week discussed the national parks idea
with Cabinet aides and had planned to discuss it further on
Tuesday, but there was little talk of it. County Mayor Mario Di
Gennaro referenced it in his speech, but the governor and
Cabinet did not address it.
County Administrator Roman Gastesi and Growth Management
Director Andrew Trivette said the national-park plan is the best
way to preserve sensitive wetlands and other wildlife habitat
without exposing county taxpayers to costly property-rights
lawsuits.
With national park status, the federal government would help
fund the purchase of property whose importance as native habitat
prohibits development, and would defray the cost of
property-rights litigation.
tohara@keysnews.com |
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