Planning process raises concerns

But controversy surrounding the County Commission's rejection of key growth restrictions in the Tavernier-area Livable CommuniKeys Program has soured some to the process.

The fallout has extended the length of the Keys.

The Livable CommuniKeys Program was the Monroe County Commission's response to demands for greater local control over planning that swept the island chain in the late 1990s and threatened to reduce Monroe to a series of incorporated cities.

"There was a recognition that the 2010 Comprehensive Plan was great at protecting the environment, but it did not address what I call the human-crafted environment," Planning Director Marlene Conaway said.

"The Livable CommuniKeys Program was written to address local community needs while balancing the needs of all Monroe County communities."

Under the LCP, planning officials and consultants work together with residents of specific areas to single out shared goals for community enhancement, development and preservation. Those goals are forwarded to the Planning Commission and County Commission as proposed planning guidelines or ordinances.

LCP plans for Big Pine Key and No Name Key have already been approved by the county and state and have entered the implementation stage, Conaway said.

The Stock Island and Key Largo LCPs, which began last summer with visioning workshops, should be completed by late spring or early summer, she said. The Lower Keys LCP process — from Little Torch Key through Sugarloaf Key — will follow.

But last fall, the LCP process for the area from Tavernier Creek to mile marker 97 upset several residents when a handful of proposals was deemed unacceptable by county commissioners and sent back for revision.

Two rejected items in particular — a maximum of 2,500 square feet for any new commercial development and a limit of four units per building for workforce housing — irritated residents and spawned a petition drive.

Commissioner Murray Nelson said the proposed growth restrictions could jeopardize a county agreement with the state and force the county to compensate owners of commercial properties that couldn't be developed.

The agreement with the Florida Department of Community Affairs promises to bring much-needed funding for the purchase of sensitive lands, the construction of workforce housing and the construction of central sewers in the Keys.

Noting opposition from the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce to limits on commercial development, Nelson said the LCP plan was the work of a handful of activists who do not represent the majority of Tavernier residents.

In December, members of the Tavernier Community Association began circulating a petition to demonstrate a countywide desire for each community to be able to define its own character without interference from the commission.

Nelson's colleague on the commission, George Neugent, said he understands why Tavernier residents are upset.

"Why go to the effort if you're not going to get the product that you're asking for," Neugent asked, rhetorically, last week.

Neugent dismissed as "balderdash" Nelson's contention that DCA might not uphold its agreement with the county if Tavernier insisted on a maximum of four units per building for workforce housing.

"It has never been brought up that there are legal constraints and that Tavernier's request would affect the deal with the state," Neugent said. "For one county commissioner to sway the thinking of others based upon misinformation is wrong."

Neugent said a few members of the Sugarloaf Property Association are now concerned that their LCP efforts in the coming year might not pass muster with the county.

There are mixed feelings elsewhere about the community visioning process.

Key Largo resident Meredith A. Cline, who participated seven years ago in a commercial visioning process led by the Economic Development Council, said she has lost faith in the process.

"What's the point?" she asked. "I'm skeptical. It's more likely to end up as the vision of some contractor, someone who doesn't live here."

But Donna Pacho, a Key Largo businesswoman who participated in the first two LCP workshops for the mile marker 97-107 area, believes in the program, though she has questions about funding the eventual community vision.

"Is there a cloud over the process? Absolutely not," she said. "I'm excited about it. It's a good process, but where is the money [for improvements] coming from?"

Business owner Johnny "J.T." DeBrule said he will continue participating.

"I think that whatever we come up with will be dealt with fairly by the county," he said.

The final workshop for the Key Largo LCP will be Jan. 20 at the Key Largo Lions' Club.

The LCP process also continues on Stock Island.

Andy Griffiths, owner of a Stock Island marina and member of the Monroe County School Board, said he didn't believe the Tavernier controversy was having an impact on Stock Island.

"Everybody is so busy trying to eke out a living and run their businesses, there's not much time to attend meetings or charettes," he said.

Kim Wigington, a Stock Island resident and former candidate for the Monroe County Commission, said achieving community consensus would be a challenge for planners. She did, however, indicate that some residents are aware of the situation up the highway.

"A few folks have mentioned that they hope what happened in Tavernier doesn't happen here," Wigington said. She did not know the TCA petition was being circulated countywide.

TCA President Chris Gardner said that he has not counted the petitions yet, since they will not be presented to the County Commission until February.

"We've got a bunch of them," Gardner said.

The County Commission is scheduled to hear the item at its Feb. 16 meeting at the Key Largo Library.