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Mayor
says building ban includes 2-acre lots
BY TRAVIS JAMES
TRITTEN
keysnews.com
After months of balking
and political wrangling, the county decided Tuesday to temporarily ban
building on its natural lands.
But there is disagreement
among county commissioners and environmentalists on which parcels of
natural land will get protection. And whose maps will be used to
identify those lands.
The state negotiated a
2-acre size requirement Tuesday as part of a deal that could spare the
county penalties for its lackluster environmental record in 2003. The
county pushed for a ban on areas that are 4 acres or larger.
County Mayor Murray
Nelson attempted to lay the moratorium questions to rest Thursday with a
firm definition, which says county maps will be used.
"It is the [land] in the
natural conservation areas that are 2 acres or more and are considered
hammock," Nelson said.
Two of Nelson's fellow
commissioners and some environmentalists say that the maps only show
land that is 4 acres or larger -- one criterion for making the
conservation list -- and a few of the smaller lots.
Gov. Jeb Bush and the
Florida Cabinet will review the moratorium at the end of the month to
determine if the county has made progress on conservation. As an Area of
Critical State Concern, the Keys are required to make progress on land
conservation and other issues every year. The deadline for Monroe County
to take conservation action was last month but the Cabinet allowed a
one-month extension to find a last-minute fix.
The Department of
Community Affairs has been working with the county for months to come up
with a plan to protect natural lands, as well as upgrade sewers and
build affordable housing. If the Florida Cabinet finds the
responsibilities were not met, it can limit the number of homes
residents can build each year.
Some say those new county
conservation maps are inaccurate and omit important, threatened natural
habitat. They were created last year when commissioners first began
discussing a moratorium.
The omissions leave
hundreds or thousands of patches of native forest in danger of being
bulldozed, said Debra Harrison, South Florida program director for the
World Wildlife Fund. During consideration of the moratorium on Tuesday,
many environmental activists claimed that even 1-acre patches of native
vegetation can provide critical habitat for Florida Keys animal species.
"The majority of the
lands that we intended to be protected under the county's action will
not be protected," Harrison said.
Nelson denied claims that
the maps do not show many 2- and 3-acre parcels of land, and that those
areas could slip through the cracks of the county protection plan.
"[County] Growth
Management feels they have good handle on areas of 2 acres," he said.
The moratorium plan
changed several times Tuesday while the county commission and the state
Department of Community Affairs negotiated terms.
"I think it is an honest
confusion," said Commissioner David Rice, who voted in favor of the
moratorium, believing the county's maps would not be used.
DCA Secretary Colleen
Castille mentioned using state maps that outline habitat by quality not
size during the meeting, and Rice said he believes she left the
conference room believing the county would proceed using those.
"I voted on that
[moratorium] based on the assumption that we will honor that request,"
he said.
Castille was not
available for comment Thursday.
The only dissenting vote
came from Commissioner George Neugent, who said he voted no because he
believed the moratorium would leave out important habitat.
Several sources said they
believed Castille was aware of the confusion and planned to contact the
county today.
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