The Miami Herald

Posted December 1, 2005

Dade keeps growth plans alive

Commissioners sent proposals to change Miami-Dade's urban development boundary to Tallahassee for review, delaying a final decision until next year.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN, NOAKI SCHWARTZ AND TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE tfigueras@herald.com

To the dismay of environmentalists, Miami-Dade County commissioners bypassed another opportunity to torpedo any in a slew of proposals to allow warehouses, homes and offices on more than 1,000 acres of land currently off-limits to development on Miami-Dade's western and southern fringes.

Instead, commissioners on Wednesday sent the controversial building proposals, which would expand the Urban Development Boundary, to the state for further review -- a move that effectively keeps the projects alive well into the New Year.

Opponents fear the commission sent a disconcertingly mixed message about the future of the boundary, created decades ago to protect the county's agricultural land and natural resources from urban sprawl.

''This was an opportunity to send a clear signal,'' said Alan Farago, one of the leaders of the Hold the Line campaign, a loose coalition of neighborhood groups and activists fighting the expansion. "It seems very transparent that the County Commission has avoided the hard discussion.''

The clear signal sought by preservationists: Have the commission vote outright to reject the projects, which it could have done Wednesday. But the commission essentially postponed a yea-or-nay decision on any of the proposals.

Gus Gil, president of the Latin Builders Association, said the commission was wise in waiting for input from the state.

''I don't see anything wrong with what happened today. Everything got transmitted,'' said Gil, whose influential group has not taken a stand on individual applications but is asking for changes in how the county calculates its housing needs. That application was also sent on to the state, with a recommendation of denial.

''Everything deserves a fair review,'' Gil said.

Despite the setback to preservationists and antidevelopment groups, Wednesday's meeting wasn't as cantankerous as a meeting last week on the boundary proposals in which citizens angrily protested limits on their chance to object to the projects.

TIME TO STUDY

Sending the applications to Tallahassee, reasoned some commissioners, allows time to study them more while still affording the commission a chance to reject developments in a final vote, expected in April.

Commissioners are not required to tag on recommendations before transmitting the applications to the state. But the commission ''recommended'' that four of the nine applications be denied, including the 300-acre Eureka Palms development in Southwest Miami-Dade. The commission took no position on the remainder.

That tactic of pegging recommendations rather than taking decisive action prompted criticism from the dais. Commissioner Natacha Seijas -- who has generally been sympathetic to efforts to expand the boundary -- said colleagues were picking the least contentious option.

''To deny and transmit is cowardly,'' she said. "It is a way to make everyone happy.''

The proposed changes to the boundary include plans to build the 300-acre housing development on the western tip of Eureka Drive in Southwest Miami-Dade, a hoped-for Lowe's Home Center at the edge of Kendall and commercial development on a landfill site annexed by the city of Hialeah.

The total acreage represents the biggest push to expand the amount of Miami-Dade's buildable land in more than a decade.

Established in 1975, the Urban Development Boundary restricts any development outside the line to one dwelling per five acres.

The line -- which runs mainly along the southern and western edges of the county -- is considered by many to be a crucial defense against urban sprawl, congested streets and crowded schools. It also was intended to serve as a buffer for the Everglades and the county's agricultural communities, such as the Redland.

Opponents have urged county officials to embrace so-called infill development, which would direct development to areas closer to the county's urban core rather than westward.

Those who favor moving the line counter that the county's population is bursting at the seams and boundary shifts are needed to accommodate those numbers.

''You can't have it both ways,'' said attorney Stanley Price, who represents developer Shoma Homes in a bid to build on 80 acres of agricultural land off Killian Drive and Southwest 167th Avenue. "Urban infill is a wonderful concept except if it's in your individual neighborhood.''

Changes in the boundary have been rare in recent years, and the line has not been shifted for residential development since 1993.

The most recent change came only after a bitter fight in 2002 that allowed two industrial projects: Beacon Lakes by developer Armando Codina and another development led by a group including state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

The latest applications have spawned a political fight that has proven to be exponentially more bruising.

LOBBYISTS HIRED

Developers have hired legions of lobbyists to plead their cases. Municipalities across the county, as well as neighboring Monroe County, have taken an antidevelopment stance when it comes to urban boundary issues. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who has veto power over the commission votes, has also championed opposition to moving the line. Gov. Jeb Bush said earlier this year he had serious reservations about the expansion.

A hearing last week was clouded by acrimony after opponents complained they were restricted from voicing their concerns on each of the applications. Commission Chairman Joe Martinez said speakers would get only two minutes before the commission -- total -- and that no opportunity for comment would be allowed at Wednesday's hearing.

Martinez opened the podium to limited public comment Wednesday.

Martinez urged both sides of the debate not to jump to conclusions based on what transpired at Wednesday's meeting.

''Anyone who does investigations wants more information,'' he said.