Environmental groups appeal development ruling
BY BECKY IANNOTTA
Citizen Staff
Two local civic groups
are again challenging a deal struck last year between Monroe County and
the state that would allow more homes to be built in exchange for
preserving land deemed environmentally sensitive.
Last Stand and the
Florida Keys Citizen's Coalition filed an appeal in the Third District
Court of Appeals in Miami, again challenging the state's proposed
changes to the land-use plans of Monroe County and Marathon on Friday.
The appeal challenges a
June 30 decision by Administrative Law Judge Carolyn S. Holifield that
upheld the changes as "not arbitrary or capricious."
The rule change, which
Last Stand and the Citizen's Coalition first challenged last summer,
would allow a 25 percent overall increase in development in
unincorporated
Monroe
County and the city of
Marathon, according to a press release from the two groups.
"This increase is totally
unwarranted because Monroe County's three main growth limits — the
health of its marine system, the carrying capacity of its terrestrial
habitats, and evacuation capabilities — are all currently exceeded,"
Last Stand President Dennis Henize said in a written statement. "What's
more, the county continues to make insubstantial progress on the
environmental tasks to which its annual rate of growth is tied."
County
Commissioner
Murray Nelson, who brokered a deal with the state Department of
Community Affairs, which regulates growth in the Keys, said appeals
threaten to block the county from moving forward with building
much-needed affordable housing. Under the agreement, DCA will give the
county an additional 264 building permits for affordable housing and 126
for market-rate housing. The county has spent $11 million on workforce
housing and buying environmentally sensitive land, he said.
"What's the reason to
appeal, other than being arbitrary, capricious and obstructionist?" he
asked Monday night. "They are continuing to represent obstructionist
views to stop the process of providing workforce housing for our
families."
Nelson is headed to
Tallahassee
Wednesday to discuss the deal with aides to Gov. Jeb Bush and his
Cabinet before the Cabinet meets Aug. 9.
"I'm going to Tallahassee
to support DCA's recommendation of approval of an agreement between the
county and the state of Florida," he said.
The Florida Keys were
designated an Area of Critical State Concern more than 20 years ago,
giving DCA regulatory authority over Keys growth and development. A work
plan associated with the county's Comprehensive Plan requires certain
goals to be met each year in the areas of water quality improvement,
wildlife habitat protection, acquisition of environmentally sensitive
land, affordable housing and hurricane evacuation.
The county's progress in
all those areas has been poor, the two groups said.
In late 2003, the state
found the county was not making substantial progress toward its required
goals. In addition, a state-mandated Carrying Capacity Study warned that
further development in the Keys was a threat to native habitat and
vegetation.
"Even though its own
studies concluded that natural habitat, water quality, and evacuation
capability in the Keys were all in peril, the state of Florida bowed to
local political pressure and approved even more development in the
Keys," said Henize. "The
Florida Keys
are the crown jewel of
Florida's environment,
and they have reached a point of no return due to overdevelopment.
Instead of making tough choices to save them, the state has simply
turned the other way. We cannot let that happen."
riannotta@keysnews.com |
