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Obstructionist label depends on
viewpoint
In response to your characterization
of environmental groups as “obstructionist” for taking legal action when
necessary (Keynoter editorial, December 25), I submit that
one person’s obstructionist is another person’s protector. Lawsuits and
administrative appeals are part of the democratic process.
Your editorial singled out Last
Stand and Florida Keys Citizens Coalition as having crossed over the
line of “obstructionism” because we filed an administrative appeal to
the county/state deal which would allow an increase in the building
rate. The reasons for our actions are valid and based on facts and the
law.
The magnificent environment of the Florida Keys that
sustains us all is at risk of collapse.
Near shore water quality
remains critical. Polluted beaches plague our tourist economy, and the
world-renown coral reef is becoming a pile of dead rocks. On shore,
according to the six million dollar Florida Keys Carrying Capacity
Study, the remaining tropical hardwood hammocks and pinelands cannot
survive any more development pressure.
Overpopulation of the
low-lying Keys threatens human life as well. No matter how evacuation
numbers are juggled, evacuation for a major hurricane is only barely
possible within the time required by the state and within National
Hurricane Center guidelines.
The amount and types of
development and tourism are ruining the very things that make the Keys
the Keys.
In challenging the state's
administrative rule to increase the growth rate in the Keys, Last Stand
is living up to its name and its mission to protect the natural Keys and
the quality of life for residents. For years, Monroe County has
promised to take action to protect native forests and to clean up
wastewater and storm water, but again and again has failed to meet the
goals required by its own comprehensive plan's work program and previous
legal settlements with environmental groups.
For over 20 years, the Keys
have been a designated area of critical state concern because of their
ecological importance and because of the impacts of growth. Because of
the link between development and environmental degradation, when the
county fails to meet its work program goals, existing state rules
require a 20 percent reduction in the annual number of building
permits. This is to keep things from getting worse. Once again in
2003, the governor and cabinet determined that the county had failed to
make substantial progress on the previous year's work program. But
instead of cutting the number of permits, the administrative rule we are
challenging, in exchange for yet more promises, proposes not only to
increase the annual number of permits by 25 percent, but also to
restore units forfeited in previous years because of the lack of
progress.
Last Stand supports the
goals laid out in the state/county agreement to buy and protect
environmentally sensitive land, to provide effective wastewater
treatment, and to increase affordable housing. We oppose only those
portions of the administrative rule that would reward the county with
increased development in advance of real compliance. Wastewater
improvements should be fully operational before nutrient reduction
requirements are removed.
Water quality, habitat, and
evacuation limits have all been reached or exceeded. Nobody wants to
talk about it, but we’re now drawing all the water from the Biscayne
Aquifer we’ll ever be able to get.
Last Stand is in favor of
affordable housing. Instead of increasing the annual number of permits,
we need to increase the ratio of affordable housing permits. Currently,
a measly 20 percent of permits are allocated for affordable housing,
while 80 percent go to market rate housing. Affordable housing should
get 80 percent of the annual permit allocation. For years, public
policy has worked against affordability by allowing vacation rentals,
allowing conversions to transient housing, granting transferable ROGO
exemptions, and other practices that have reduced the affordable housing
stock. And the proposed administrative rule would still allow the
majority of annual permits to go for market rate (un-“affordable”)
homes.
Affordable housing impacts
the environment just like other types of development. It should not now
be used as an excuse to increase development before the long-term
protections are in place to ensure that the unique environment of the
Florida Keys will be preserved for future generations.
Last Stand works toward and welcomes
legitimate progress in solving Keys problems, but so-called “solutions”
that add many more people before addressing existing impacts will only
make the problems worse.
Dennis Henize
Vice
president, Last Stand
For the
Last Stand Board of Directors |
