The Miami Herald

Editiorial

Posted on Friday, 07.31.09

UDB upheld

Score one for good planning. Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet rejected the Miami-Dade County Commission's approval of a Lowe's Superstore to be built on 52 acres outside the Urban Development Boundary.

The 3-1 vote Tuesday mirrored a ruling by Judge Bram D.E. Canter in an administrative hearing. Two environmental groups challenged commission approval of the Lowe's. The judge agreed with county planners' data, which show plenty of developable land inside the UDB.

On a second development outside the UDB the governor and Cabinet abided by Judge Canter's decision that it was allowable because it set no new precedents and was surrounded by roads and other development. We would rather the state officials had disagreed with the judge on this one, to maintain the UDB's integrity. But this project is far less intrusive than the Lowe's would be.

County Mayor Carlos Alvarez twice vetoed the Lowe's project only to be overriden by the pro-development commission majority. Gov. Crist and the Cabinet sent the right message to commissioners wishing to move the UDB by precedent-setting dimensions: Don't.