Wisteria owners say limited development benefits city

BY MANDY MILES mmiles@keysnews.com

A community group is opposing the proposed development of Wisteria Island, and making plans to speak against the project at upcoming government meetings.

Owners of the 21-acre island want to create a managed mooring field around it, a public restaurant and 75 homes -- including 35 short-term rental units, 35 single-family homes and five units for employee housing.

Before any development may occur, owners of the island, which falls under the jurisdiction of Monroe County, must persuade county and state officials to change its zoning designation. Current zoning allows for only two dwelling units.

The Bernstein family has owned the island for 44 years. Three years ago, five members of the Walsh family bought an interest in the island as well, Roger Bernstein said Wednesday.

The two families are working together to create the mooring field and eventual homes.

A managed mooring field, with pump-out facilities, security, restrooms, shower and laundry facilities, is the only way to clean up the island, which has become a dumping ground for derelict vessels and a bastion of criminal activity and homelessness, Bernstein said.

But a mooring field without the revenue generated from the living units is not financially feasible, he said, acknowledging there is some community opposition to the plans.

"We think this area needs to be cleaned up," he said. "And we believe that very limited upland development will give us the return we need to develop and operate the mooring field."

Plans for the island call for 30 percent of it to remain as open green space, Bernstein said.

Project spokesman Bill Barry said the developers placed their own limitations on the number of houses that would be built on the island.

If the zoning were changed to a resort category, legally there could be as many as 500 hotel rooms in that space, Barry said, emphasizing that the developers will not seek permission for additional units in the future.

"They're pushing this as a public restaurant and a mooring field for the public," said Christine Russell, a Key West activist who is one of the founders of the new Save Wisteria Island committee. "But that island will rely on Key West for water, police protection, sewer and other utilities."

Russell acknowledged that the island and surrounding waters are in dire need of attention.

"But as a homeowner, it's up to me to keep my property clean," she said. "If my property looked like that island, I'd be getting code enforcement citations left and right. The property owners simply have not maintained it."

Russell and others have suggested the Bernsteins and Walshes intentionally allowed the island to become an environmental dumping ground so as to more easily convince officials that their proposal is the best answer.

"That's ridiculous," Bernstein said on Wednesday, adding that his family has worked with various law enforcement agencies over the years to clean the island and enforce the "no trespassing" signs that are posted. "In addition, the state owns most of that bay bottom out there, and I can't do anything about stuff on state lands."

Bernstein and Barry have been meeting with community groups to present their proposal. "We're trying to be as transparent as possible," Barry said.

A series of meetings next week will shed more light on the proposal -- and its opposition. Members of the public are invited to speak at each meeting.

The county's Development Review Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Marathon to discuss the proposal and required zoning change.

The county's Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Marathon. The meeting will include a presentation from the developers and a preliminary recommendation from the county's staff about whether to approve the zoning change.

"But we will not ask for a formal motion by the Planning Commission because we want to obtain the city of Key West staff comments that will be addressed at the May 27 city of Key West Development Review Committee meeting," said Christine Hurley, growth management director for Monroe County.

Key West's Planning Department will hold its Development Review Committee meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday in Old City Hall. That meeting will include discussion of impacts the development would have on Key West's traffic, parking and utilities.

On Wednesday, County Commissioner Heather Carruthers said she wants to hold a follow-up meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Key West to solicit input from residents who may not be able to attend the meetings in Marathon.

If the county's Planning Commission approved the request for a zoning change, the decision would go to the County Commission. If commissioners approved it, the proposal would go to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for final approval.

"We can't do anything upland without going through the entire Monroe County planning process," Bernstein said, adding that they would build the mooring field first. "We're making 97 acres of privately owned bay bottom available to the public."

He said the mooring field could bring more than 100 boaters to Key West every week. Those cruising boaters eat, shop, drink and have their vessels repaired in Key West.

"So the idea that the city gets no benefit from this is ridiculous," Bernstein said. "We're taking a problem that exists, that no one could solve, and we're managing it."

In the meantime, Save Wisteria Island committee members want to find another solution while preserving green space and natural habitats.

For more information, visit http://www.kwharbormoorings.com and http://www.savewisteriaisland.com.

mmiles@keysnews.com