MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Wed, Feb. 09, 2005

FLORIDA CITY | URBAN DEVELOPMENT BOUNDARY

A desire for land draws line in sand
A controversial plan to let Florida City annex several thousand acres of South Miami-Dade wetlands met with stiff opposition at a Tuesday hearing.

BY TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE AND CURTIS MORGAN
tfigueras@herald.com

Florida City's designs on a large swath of South Miami-Dade wetlands prompted an outpouring of concern Tuesday from environmental groups, neighboring Monroe County and two federal agencies who warned county commissioners that a boundary change could lead to damaging overdevelopment.

Otis Wallace, mayor of Florida City, accused the critics and county planners of unfairly entangling the city's annexation effort with a move by a private landowner to build a massive new neighborhood for as many as 18,000 people, roughly double the current population of Florida City.

But opponents said the annexation could ease the way for the proposed megadevelopment, raising flooding concerns, creating a dangerous bottleneck during hurricane evacuations from the Keys, threatening wildlife and wetlands and jeopardizing parts of the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration.

''The question is, is this a good idea for the county for this area? Your staff has told you in many compelling ways, no, it is not,'' said Richard Grosso, a land-use attorney representing the Sierra Club. ``Don't act with blinders on. Act with the reality of what is going on.''

The six members of the Infrastructure and Land Use Committee held off on formally weighing in on the annexation application, opting instead to forward the issue to the full commission for an additional public hearing.

''I think that this is an important issue that needs to be heard before the full board,'' Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler said, noting that the two commissioners who represent South Miami-Dade do not sit on the committee.

The 4,284-acre site is entirely outside the Urban Development Boundary line, created to shield agricultural and environmental resources from urban sprawl.

PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

A private company currently owns a large section of the land eyed by Florida City and has floated preliminary plans to build 6,000 homes, a multiplex movie theater, a hotel and 300,000 square feet of retail space.

The company, Atlantic Civil, has yet to pull formal permits on the project, and has to overcome several major hurdles at the state and local levels. Atlantic Civil has until April to file its application for review by the South Florida Regional Advisory Council.

County records show that major builder Lennar Homes signed an option to buy 981 acres of Atlantic Civil property last year.

The County Commission would have to move the urban development boundary to allow for the megaproject -- a measure that environmentalists fear could become increasingly attractive as South Miami-Dade's booming housing market continues to grow.

Ed Swakon, a consulting engineering for Atlantic Civil, said critics were misleading commissioners about the ecological value of the land, much of which had been farmed for generations. Other sections already are permitted for rock mining.

''It's blown way out of proportion,'' he said.

Wallace said that his city is willing to annex the land even at the current restrictions: one house per five acres, which would allow a small enclave of ''ranchettes'' he said would help boost the local tax base.

But he concedes he's not necessarily opposed to the idea of a large-scale development, either.

''I'm not going to stick my head in the sand,'' said Wallace, who said he would wait for the planning council's verdict and the completion of several on-going studies of growth in the area, including a $3 million watershed study due for completion near year's end. ``I want to see the science behind it.''

Wallace says the annexation will save Florida City from being ''landlocked'' by neighboring Homestead, which is also seeking to annex land outside its city borders, and incorporation by the nearby Redland area.

County Manager George Burgess urged commissioners in a memo to deny Florida City's bid, noting a host of objections from county departments, including the Department of Environmental Resource Management.

MONROE'S CONCERNS

Monroe County also sent an emissary to Tuesday's meeting. Marlene Conaway, director of planning and environmental resources, said Monroe officials are concerned over damage to the county's water supply and access to the mainland during storm evacuations.

Others in the chorus of disapproval included representatives from the state and local Audubon Society chapters and Everglades National Park.

Dan Kimball, the park's acting superintendent, urged the panel to postpone any decisions until the county completes several studies of growth in the area.

Kimball's sentiments were echoed by commissioners Carlos Gimenez and Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz, who was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the Everglades Restoration and Eco-System Task Force.

The proposed development could be a significant obstacle to the Biscayne Bay coastal wetlands project, an ambitious plan for restoration of a 13,600-acre stretch of land from the Deering Estate south to the Turkey Point nuclear plant.

FLOW OF WATER

The goal of the plan, part of the Everglades restoration project but still years from reality, is to restore the natural flow of water from the Everglades to Biscayne Bay to revive the struggling sea grass beds, mangroves and wetlands in Biscayne National Park. While the project is still in planning stages, the Atlantic Civil site is in a broad swath scientists are studying for use.

Swakon said the company had already discussed with regional water managers how to incorporate any restoration projects into the development plans -- an offer he said should be attractive given the skyrocketing costs of land and construction.

Wallace also said environmental concerns were being largely overplayed, saying that the annexation request is at the behest of his city -- not on behalf of a private landowner.

The public fallout, he noted, has been significant.

Said Wallace: ``I went from the well-intentioned mayor of Florida City to the Dr. Doom of the environmental universe.''