DCA now questions land boundaries
Sides will hash out interpretation of moratorium
By Alyson Matley
amatley@keynoter.com
State Department of Community Affairs Secretary Colleen Castille on
Tuesday asked Monroe County Mayor Murray Nelson to clarify terms of a
deal for millions in state money for the Keys that was struck just a
week ago.
"I will try to talk through a remedy to her concerns," said Nelson.
"We don’t want a deal breaker and there’s no reason to have a deal
breaker. Any land not protected under the moratorium, the county can
move forward and try to purchase that land. I do not want to torpedo
this agreement."
In a 4-1 vote Jan. 6, the County Commission agreed to impose a
temporary building moratorium in some environmentally sensitive areas in
exchange for state funding to buy sensitive habitat.
The moratorium calls for Monroe to retain building permit allocations
under the county’s rate-of-growth ordinance, which restricts development
based upon the time it takes to evacuate under threat of a hurricane.
In a letter to Nelson dated Jan. 13, Castille questions the minimum
size of parcels that would be protected using some $113 million in state
money.
Overall, as part of the deal to impose the moratorium, the County
Commission agreed to pledge $130 million over the next few years toward
wastewater upgrades and affordable housing, if the state agrees to come
up with $143 million for those same crucial projects, including
purchasing environmentally sensitive land.
In the letter, Castille asks Nelson to confirm her understanding of
the lands that would be restricted under the moratorium.
Since the meeting, wrote Castille, county Growth Management Director
Tim McGarry had e-mailed her asking for such clarification.
"[McGarry] felt that the board had intended to protect only that
habitat located within the Conservation and Natural areas formerly
referred to as Tier One," wrote Castille. "I believe that we must apply
the moratorium countywide to ensure the habitat protection consistent
with the directions of the governor and Cabinet."
Tier One lands are considered the most environmentally fragile. Tier
Two lands are considered partially developed and partially buildable.
Tier Three lands are where significant development has taken place, and
where there are scarified lots.
Under Castille’s interpretation, the moratorium apparently would
address all undeveloped Keys land.
The actual language of the conceptual proposal approved by the
commission read that the county would "institute an interim moratorium
on ROGO/ NROGO allocation awards in areas containing native upland
vegetated lands of two acres or greater within Conservation and Natural
Areas...."
Whether there is a large discrepancy between the state’s definition
of boundaries and the county’s is up for interpretation.
Nelson met Tuesday with McGarry and the county’s land attorney, Jim
Hendrick. Nelson says he is certain that the County Commission voted to
use Tier One maps to define the moratorium.
"Those are the only maps we’ve looked at, the Tier One maps," said
Nelson. "County staff says that there is less than 100 acres in Tier Two
or Tier Three that could be affected under Castille’s understanding of
the agreement. Still, that would be an expansion to what we agreed to."
Debra Harrison, Keys representative of the World Wildlife Fund,
disagrees.
"We’re talking about hundreds, potentially thousands, of parcels,"
said Harrison. "The county staff interpretation had been that the
two-acres-or-larger language applied to the established boundaries of
Tier One. But the definition of Tier One is that the parcels included
maintained a minimum of four acres. The boundary as it exists now does
not include parcels under four acres."
County Planning Director Marlene Conaway told the Keynoter last week
that, although most of the parcels in Tier One maps are larger than four
acres, there were ways to include smaller parcels by aggregating them.
Harrison says that the few parcels that are smaller than two acres
that can be connected within the current Tier One maps are incidental
and that many will be lost.
Nelson said he planned to call Castille and iron out any
misunderstandings. |
