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Changing DCA views don't bode well for Keys
Some years back,
Islamorada activist Charles Causey was asked why he used every means at
his disposal, from lobbying to litigation, to block any plan or proposal
that might directly or indirectly enable more development in the Florida
Keys.
His answer: Because
Monroe County and the state of Florida have failed miserably at managing
growth.
We've long viewed Mr.
Causey as an anti-growth extremist in the landscape of civic activism,
and more than once we've found his actions inappropriate -- such as
fighting central sewage treatment and improvements to the 18-Mile
Stretch because they could encourage new construction.
However, his
assessment of the state's and county's growth-management efforts may be
closer to ringing true today than at anytime in the recent past.
We don't wish to sound
like alarmists, but a recent interview with Gov. Jeb Bush's appointment
to head the state Department of Community Affairs, Colleen Castille, has
us shaking our heads in wonder about the future of growth management in
the Keys.
The DCA closely
oversees land-use and growth-management issues in Areas of Critical
State Concern. The Keys are the only such area that encompasses an
entire county.
Castille met briefly
with members of The Citizen's editorial board Wednesday. Before she had
even settled in her chair, she remarked how impressed she was with water
quality in the Keys -- she had been kayaking in Marathon the previous
weekend, and the water, she said, was remarkably clear.
We didn't press for
details, but it's a pretty good bet that she didn't rent her kayak in
Boot Key Harbor, where you'd be hard pressed to spot a neon yellow VW
bug on the bottom on a sunny day with no wind. Perhaps the secretary
will take the time some day to attend one of Marathon photographer Larry
Benvenuti's slide presentations documenting the decline of the Keys'
marine environment.
Castille then
explained her view of the department's oversight of Monroe County: It
should be lifted whenever local government believes it appropriate to do
so, she said.
It doesn't take much
brainwork to figure out when that would be, though it might require a
flashback in time.
"We shouldn't try to
stop growth," she continued, adding that growth management should be a
holistic undertaking under the control of local government.
It should be noted
that the reason the Florida Keys fell under the purview of DCA back in
the '70s was county government's inability to regulate its growth.
Longtime residents might remember the Port Bougainville development that
would have more than doubled Key Largo's population.
Anyone with questions
as to whether that situation has changed has to look no further than the
county's recent move to transfer development rights from land it is
buying in Key Largo to a private project in a V-13 flood zone. To do so,
the county commission is taking advantage of a legal loophole to violate
its own land-use regulations.
Then there is the
approval of new development on Duck Key, which apparently has drawn the
attention of investigators in an ongoing FBI probe.
When conversation with
the secretary turned to the Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study,
Castille seemed shocked that The Citizen considered the study flawed --
even though large portions of the study were deemed of little or no use
during a peer review by the National Academies of Science. She also
acknowledged that there is discussion of expanding the county's annual
allotment of building permits to 12,000 over the next 25 years -- nearly
double the current rate.
Another concern voiced
during our meeting with the secretary pertained to the possible merger
of her agency and the Florida Department of State. None of the public
hearings about the proposed merger are scheduled for the one area
arguably most affected by DCA -- the Keys. Castille noted that, out of
consideration of this fact, a hearing could be scheduled in Miami.
Our meeting with
Castille left us with the impression that the governor's goal -- and
Castille's assignment -- might very well be to disassemble the agency.
This might be welcome
news to many developers, who would love to see dissolution of the DCA
and its role in county growth management. But the lack of state
oversight almost certainly would result in continued degradation of the
marine environment on which our tourism economy largely is based, would
make hurricane evacuation impossible and would significantly erode
quality of life in the Keys.
It appears Mr.
Causey's assessment may have been more prophetic than we imagined. |
