MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Tue, Apr. 13, 2004

DEVELOPMENT
Project aims beyond urban limits

For the third time this year, a developer wants to build outside Dade's Urban Development Boundary for a community that would be adjacent to Krome Avenue.
BY CHARLES RABIN
crabin@herald.com

A developer wants to build a community about the population of Coral Gables on what may be sensitive wetlands and protected agricultural land only about the size of South Beach.

The plan by Horton Homes calls for 1,655 single-family homes, 8,785 apartments, two schools, a pair of 35-acre parks and 650,000 square feet of retail space.

And the company wants to build most of it outside the county's Urban Development Boundary, an imaginary wall that was created in the mid 1970s to protect ecologically sensitive areas from urban sprawl.

It's a wall so tough to break through that county commissioners haven't permitted any residential development past it since 1993.

Horton Homes' plan would provide homes for as many as 35,000 people by 2015 on 960 acres roughly between Southwest 104th and 120th streets and 162nd and Krome avenues.

But the plan faces a host of regulatory hurdles, including a review by the South Florida Regional Planning Council, which has never supported a project outside the urban boundary.

And only once since 1993 have commissioners granted an exception to the urban boundary line. That exception was for a 436-acre warehouse in West Miami-Dade.

INTEREST GROWING

Horton's application is the third this year seeking to build outside the county's urban boundary. Most years, regional planners get no more than two or three such applications.

Experts believe the drive to build outside the boundary is fueled by several issues, chief among them a citizen's movement to place the Hometown Democracy Initiative referendum on November's ballot.

The statewide initiative would leave changes in comprehensive plans and zoning decisions up to the voting public. Also, the county is in the middle of a massive water study that is due in the summer of 2005. The study is looking at how water consumption affects Biscayne Bay, private property rights, and agriculture.

And interest rates for the relatively cheap property on the outskirts of Dade continue to hover at all-time lows.

''We've seen an uptick in applications,'' said one regional planner. 'It could be because of the initiative, or maybe people are thinking `Let's get our applications in before the water study is done.' ''

reprinted with permission from the Miami Herald

So Horton's first hurdle is convincing members of the planning council that the project has enough upside to be built -- a tough task.

''We have always supported the county's efforts to hold onto its Urban Development Boundary,'' said Carolyn Dekle, the planning council's executive director.

In its glossy, 35-page preapplication, Horton Homes outlines how it plans to build the community, dubbed Providence, on 960 acres in an area the Federal Emergency Management Agency says is a flood zone. The land could be inundated by up to three feet of water during a storm.

The developer has also hired Miguel DeGrandy, a prominent lobbyist, to sell the plan to commissioners, and archaeologist Bob Carr to research the land for historical significance.

Karl Albertson, a Horton consultant, said no one from the company would comment on the developer's plans until after the preapplication hearing with the planning council set for Monday. That's when the developers are likely to face stiff opposition, including the wrath of environmentalists worried about drying up the Everglades.

''We'll be right in their faces along with many other environmental groups,'' said the Urban Environmental League's Nancy Liebman. ``The boundary needs to be kept so that we can protect the water.

``There are more creative ways to accommodate people moving into the community.''

County planners say the project cannot be built under existing regulations.

So Horton Homes must tell the planning council next week how it will deal with protecting any wetlands, agricultural concerns, a flight path from a nearby airport that crosses the property, and a railroad track on the western border, among other issues.

STUDIES PLANNED

Horton's preapplication only tells of how it will go about studying the area to make sure the development makes sense. It has not yet completed any studies to determine, for instance, if part of the property is on a wetland.

''I know that's an issue, wetlands,'' Dekle said. ``Remember, they were all wetlands at one point. We're in the Everglades.''

Whether or not the planning council supports the plan, its recommendation will end up before Miami-Dade County commissioners.

The plan falls within the district of Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, who said unless the Urban Development Plan is expanded -- and there is nothing on the table to do so -- Horton ``can plan all they want.

``That's a massive project, and I don't think the area can hold it at this time unless everyone starts buying helicopters.''

Greg Bush teaches political history at the University of Miami and is an active environmentalist.

''The big question I would have is what the heck is [an urban development boundary] for if it's not adhered to,'' Bush said. ``The [boundary] was created so there would not be endless sprawl.''