Only sound planning can preserve the Keys
If there's one thing
that has not missed the notice of property owners in the Florida Keys,
it is property values. To say they are quickly rising is gross
understatement. Property values in the Keys are soaring, and it's
affecting all manner of change.
For sale signs are
sprouting like weeds throughout Keys neighborhoods as homeowners realize
they can get double the price their home would have brought two or three
years ago. Older resort properties and RV parks are being redeveloped
into larger upscale rental properties tailored for affluent tourists.
Developers are buying Keys trailer parks — homes to retirees and both
low- and moderate-income workers — for redevelopment into more
profitable, high-end condominium communities.
Land speculators are
buying and selling like mad, and development rights are bartered as if
they were platinum or diamonds.
A microcosm of this
sea change is Stock Island, where multi-million dollar land transactions
occur among the fish houses, marinas and aging trailer parks with such
frequency it's hard to keep track of who owns what. Change rapidly is
gaining momentum, but its direction is still anyone's guess. And therein
lies the problem.
Redevelopment in much
of the Keys is inevitable, and in many ways, beneficial. But just how
beneficial, and to whom, depends largely on planning and the "r" word —
regulation. Already, three different visions of Stock Island's future
are competing for dominance: Incorporation (the vision of several large
land owners), annexation (the vision of Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley and
others in the city), and Communikeys (Monroe County's community planning
program that, theoretically, is the composite vision of residents).
Don't look for a
glowing portfolio from any quarter.
The county has nothing
concrete on its resume to date to dispel a hard-earned reputation for
inflexibility, user unfriendliness and the inability to enact virtually
any land-use regulation without threats from Tallahassee. If Communikeys
becomes a success, Stock Island would be its first graduate.
Key West looks toward
Stock Island — and Key Haven's enticing tax base — with its own
self-serving agenda. No doubt, there could be benefits from annexation.
But the city doesn't exactly enjoy a reputation for doggedly fighting
for the benefit and betterment of the average Joe, and it's not likely
to overcome the trust handicap among Stock Island voters.
Then there's
incorporation. Our skepticism about incorporation stems from the
familiarity of the rhetoric. We heard incorporation proponents in
Islamorada talk about preserving the quaint, fishing village character
of that community. That was right before they set about turning it into
another Boca Raton. And considering the many millions to be made from
upscale redevelopment on Stock Island — particularly if the developers
are making all the rules — we find it hard to believe that preserving
the lifestyles of commercial fishermen and live-aboard boaters is a key
element in the incorporation vision.
Nothing will stop what
has been set in motion in Stock Island and elsewhere in the Keys. But
one thing is clear. The only thing that will preserve the economic and
cultural diversity of our communities, that will enable the Keys to
sustain a workforce in the face of soaring property values, and that
will truly preserve the character of the Florida Keys is sound planning.
On Stock Island, the
ball is in the county's court. Now would be a good time for it to show
residents it is up to the challenge.
— The Citizen |
