| Although Last Stand
sees no serious environmental threat posed by the proposed Enchanted
Island housing development at Key Haven, public safety is very much a
quality-of-life issue. For that reason, we support the US Navy's
objection to the proposed housing development on safety grounds.
If the Navy says there is a potential danger from air crashes beneath
the approach to their runways, people (including county commissioners)
ought to be paying attention. Our opposition is highlighted in
this article from the July 16 Key West Citizen: |
Home project gets 2nd objection
Last Stand joins Navy in fight against Key
Haven development
BY TIMOTHY O’HARA
Citizen Staff
A Florida Keys environmental group on Tuesday released its
objections to a controversial
project for 43 upscale homes near the Key Haven entrance, citing
public safety and noise
issues.
Last Stand said it opposes the developer’s request for Monroe
County to plat the property, two
areas called Raccoon Key and Enchanted Island, which is the
first step toward developing it.
The Monroe County Commission is expected to vote on that request
at its meeting today at
the Harvey Government Center in Key West.
“Our opposition to this project is based on, and is in support
of, the concerns raised
by Naval Air Station Key West regarding the air crash potential
at this location so close to
the approach pattern to the Naval Air Station airfield,” Dennis
Henize, Last Stand
board member, wrote in a letter on Tuesday to the commission
that outlined the group’s
objections.
“While aircraft noise, which some may consider just an
annoyance, may be mitigated
by soundproofing and notification in property deeds, nothing can
absolve the county
of responsibility in the event of a calamitous air crash, given
that the United States Navy
is warning you of the crash potential, and that state law
requires the county to work
with the military on such planning issues near military bases.”
Henize wrote that approving the project would endanger citizens’
lives and ultimately
endanger the Navy’s continued presence in the Keys.
The project once again has pitted the county against the Navy in
the argument over
Navy flight maps.
The County Commission has refused to recognize the Navy’s Air
Installation Compatible
Use Zone (AICUZ) map, which shows where jets fly, where they
potentially could crash, and
what decibel level of noise they produce in various areas.
The Navy is opposed to the county allowing more development in
the Key Haven area
because it would mean more homes in an area prone to loud jet
noise and, potentially,
crashes.
The Navy measures sound on an average day-night level, called a
DNL. Raccoon Key is
within a Navy 60 DNL zone, where sound attenuation and a noise
disclosure statement is
required for new homes, Navy base business manager Ron Demes
said.
Enchanted Island is in a 65 DNL zone, which means residential
development is discouraged,
unless the county and developers can demonstrate a community
need for the homes, Demes said.
If the County Commission approves the plan, the Navy will ask
the state Department
of Community Affairs (DCA), which oversees development in Monroe
County, to reject it,
Demes has said.
Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro said he did “not see any
real good reason
to deny” the project, as the county has not adopted the AICUZ,
and the DCA and
the owners of the property have an agreement that allows
development there.
“It’s just another case of we are damned if do and damned if we
don’t,” Di Gennaro said.
“I wish we could resolve all of the issues with the Navy.”
Wayne Lujan owns the property and Florida Keys developer Ed
Swift is working as a
consultant on the project.
In other business at the County Commission meeting, the board
will:
• Discuss three proposals that would allow private developers to
build hotels at the Marathon
and Key West airports. The county would lease a hotel owner the
land in exchange for
a cut of the profits.
• Vote on a proposal to release the former county administrator
from a section of his contract.
Tom Willi, who was fired in December and walked away with a
$282,000 severance
package, has asked the County Commission to release him from the
section of his contract
that states he will not lobby the county for two years after his
termination. Willi has started his
own consulting firm dealing with wastewater issues and wants to
be able to lobby the county, said current County Administrator
Roman Gastesi, who initially received the request and placed
it on the agenda.
tohara@keysnews.com |
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