Monroe no longer in violation
State dismisses notice after moratorium move
By Alyson Matley
amatley@keynoter.com
As a vote of confidence in the county’s agreement to impose a
short-term building moratorium, the state dismissed its notice of
violation against Monroe on Thursday.
The notice had been issued because the county had not fulfilled state
mandates to protect its fragile landscape from development.
One Monroe County commissioner is worried that the conceptual,
moratorium agreement with the state, forged Tuesday, does not go far
enough to protect these lands. But most environmental groups are
praising it.
"We haven’t accomplished a whole lot with the action we took," said
Commissioner George Neugent. "There were already restrictions in
conservation lands prior to our vote."
Neugent was the sole "no" vote in a special meeting Tuesday between
the county commission and Colleen Castille, the secretary of the state
Department of Community Affairs. The goal of the meeting was to forge an
agreement so that Castille can report to Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet
that Monroe County is making positive steps toward fulfilling state
requirements of habitat protection.
The state has say over development in Monroe because of the Keys’
status as an Area of Critical State Concern.
In a 4-1 vote, the commission approved a conceptual plan that will
impose a temporary building moratorium on some environmentally sensitive
lands, increase the number of affordable-housing allocations for the
county, secure wastewater funding, and provide some $113 million to buy
conservation lands.
Neugent contends that the short-term moratorium on delicate lands of
two acres or more is no different than the current way the county relies
on a so-called tier system. That system designates these same lands as
Tier One, and therefore protects them from development.
Neugent, along with many environmental spokespeople, wanted the
moratorium to apply to single-acre and more tracts, but the county had
initially proposed a minimum of four acres. Commissioner Dixie Spehar
offered the two-acre compromise.
Jody Thomas, director of The Nature Conservancy, says the county took
a big step this week. She said that, although the land specified was
basically Tier One land under the maps that the county staff introduced
last year, the moratorium was a big move toward protection.
"When that boundary was originally passed," said Thomas, "it
established the areas the county thought were worthy of protection. It
allowed the county to buy them, but did not put prohibitions on lands
within that boundary. Now with this next step, you have real protection
within the environmentally sensitive lands."
Nancy Klingener, program director for the Ocean Conservancy agrees.
"They agreed to go forward with habitat protection," said Klingener.
"Last summer they agreed to try and buy these lands. Now they’re
agreeing to protect them. Also, they committed to significant wastewater
expenditures, and that’s new as well and very important."
Neugent says there are no parcels smaller than four acres delineated
on the Tier One map.
County Planning Director Marlene Conaway disagrees.
"Our maps are based on the Carrying Capacity Study and the
environmental information in that survey," said Conaway. "As patches
become smaller and more isolated, the viability of that patch for
restoration becomes lower and lower. Our Tier One areas have a mapping
base of four acres, but there are smaller acreages also in Tier One that
can be connected to larger areas."
She said sometimes something as simple as removing a county road will
make smaller parcels part of the moratorium.
State money not a guarantee
Although most county officials are pleased with this week’s agreement
with the Department of Community Affairs, Secretary Colleen Castille’s
promise of money did come with some caveats, even for the $93 million in
Florida Forever funds that she has committed to the Keys to buy
sensitive lands.
"I want you to be clear on how my commitment works," Castille told
the Monroe County Commission during a special workshop Tuesday. "I ask
the Legislature for money. I know on an annual basis that the
Legislature is 99.9 percent likely to support the Florida Forever
plan.... [They] have funded it every year since 1991. That money is
there so I can say with pretty much certainty that that money is there
for the next three years."
She said, too, that Gov. Jeb Bush committed the state to providing
$18 million for wastewater during the December Cabinet meeting. "He was
able to do that based on revenue estimating" for the coming budget year,
said Castille.
"The Florida Forever and the $18 million are pretty solid. Another $3
million is pretty solid. Over and above the $3 million is risky, but I
will advocate for it."
The county agreed to pledge $130 million over the next few years
toward wastewater upgrades and affordable housing, if the state agrees
to come up with $143 million for those same crucial projects.
Monroe County Mayor Murray Nelson reminded Castille that the
agreement linked the county’s compliance to the state’s.
"If the
state doesn’t show up as a partner, they must consider themselves
remiss, not the county," he said. |
