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| The
Miami Herald Leaders of the Builders Association of South Florida and Latin Builders Association on Wednesday said they yanked their joint proposal because the county has started to address the issues that prompted its introduction. The builders groups believe the county's current method for determining how much land is available for development relies on outdated data. They have argued the county will run out of land sooner than government staffers predict. BASF President Lani Kahn Drody and LBA head Gus Gil said Wednesday the county is beginning to update their criteria, citing a recent draft report by a county advisory panel calling for improvements. And, over the last year, the county's planning and zoning department has begun monitoring impact fee payments by developers to glean a more current picture of development countywide. ''If they are using real-time facts and figures and plan accordingly, then we are satisfied,'' said Kahn Drody. "The debate . . . gave all parties a new appreciation for the rate at which available land in Miami-Dade is diminishing and difficulties surrounding how to measure and manage it.'' Whether to extend the Urban Development Boundary, which limits development along the county's western and southern border to one dwelling per five acres, has been the subject of intense debate. Opponents -- including Gov. Jeb Bush -- fear moving the line to allow large-scale development will result in crowded schools, congested roadways and further strain the county's infrastructure. They also worry that Miami-Dade's water supply cannot handle the new growth. Proponents respond the time is right because Miami-Dade's population continues to grow but the county is quickly running out of developable land. They say concerns ranging from water to traffic can be effectively addressed. The county considers changes to the UDB every two years. On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade County Commission will consider the latest round of requests. Three home builders already have withdrawn their bids to move the line in the past two months, in the face of opposition by state regulators and county planners. Six projects, ranging from a proposed Lowe's Home Center to offices and industrial warehouses, are still in the running. Florida's Department of Community Affairs has recommended all those be rejected as well; county planners say all but one should go. The LBA and BASF proposal sought to change language in a document called the Land Use Element, which lays out how the county decides future housing needs -- and whether or not the UDB should be moved to meet those needs. County planners and state regulators criticized the proposal, which has been revised several times, as being vague and unclear. Florida's DCA and Miami-Dade's Department of Planning & Zoning had recommended commissioners reject it. Opponents to moving the development boundary cheered the builder groups' decision Wednesday. ''In my opinion this was even more important than some of the individual applications because this text amendment could have meant that we see dozens more applications in the next cycle,'' said Cynthia Guerra, executive director of Tropical Audubon Society. Guerra said no matter what the builders' intent was, the proposal's language would have forced planners to move the line again and again in the future. For instance, the original proposal required county planners to ensure a 15-year supply of land for single-family homes, as opposed to including multi-family development. Meeting such a goal, critics said, would require moving the line frequently because single-family homes require so much land as compared to apartments or condominiums. ''There is no doubt in my mind that
if the language was passed as originally proposed, that other developers
would have used that language to force movement of the boundary
in the future,'' Guerra said. |