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County back to 2 acres and up
BY TRAVIS JAMES TRITTEN
Citizen Staff Writer
KEY LARGO
The county
commission Wednesday reversed an earlier decision and voted to scale
back a proposed one-year building ban meant to protect endangered
hammocks and uplands.
The proposal
approved at the Key Largo county commission meeting would halt building
homes or businesses on some 2-acre or larger patches — 941 acres of
natural land in all — until the county can develop new laws to
permanently protect habitat.
The county
commission agreed to create a one-year ban in January after the state
ruled it had not done enough to protect the environment in 2003.
"What it will
do is say we are on the same page now with [the county's negotiated
agreement that] was passed by the governor and Cabinet," said
Commissioner Charles "Sonny" McCoy.
McCoy, who
sponsored the latest version of the building moratorium, asked that it
be passed into law without more public hearings, but the county attorney
rejected the attempt. Wednesday's proposal must still have two public
hearings before it can be passed into law.
A wider
1,076-acre ban that included all 1-acre or larger parcels was passed
unanimously last month, but was reversed Wednesday when County
Commissioner Dixie Spehar sided with top opponent County Mayor Murray
Nelson and McCoy.
"The use of a
1-acre moratorium is a deliberate attempt to fool property owners,"
County Mayor Murray Nelson said. "It only makes it more difficult for
working families to own a home because they can't compete with
developers."
Commissioners
vowed to buy up 1-acre patches of natural land that it cut from the
proposed moratorium, but no money is available this year, according to
the Monroe County Land Authority.
The new
proposal was supported by two Key Largo homeowners associations and the
Key Largo Chamber of Commerce. Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys
also supported Wednesday's proposal because representatives said the
earlier building ban that included 1-acre parcels would eliminate
development on half of its land.
The 1-acre
parcels that are no longer part of the building ban provide important
habitat for birds and other wildlife, said Commissioner George Neugent,
who sponsored the wider-reaching ban last month.
"No one is
going to convince me that those 1-acre parcels are not valuable and
anybody that [says they are not] is lying to themselves," Neugent said.
"I can't change my vote from where we are right now because I truly
believe it was the right thing to do."
Also, the new
2-acre proposal could cause problems when the moratorium boundaries are
mapped. The overlay maps used by the county to determine the ban
identify 1-acre or larger patches, and far more on-site inspections will
likely be needed to correct the data.
Some,
including Spehar, fear that unclear maps could lead to public
frustration and possibly lawsuits against the county.
"It was an
unanimous vote [last month] because it was the only way to move
forward," said Joan Borel, who worked with a team of residents who
studied the mapping. "We must have a map to define the exact lands
covered to have a legally defensible moratorium."
ttritten@keysnews.com
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