| On March 31, Florida Department of Community Affairs
rejected Monroe County's proposed "working waterfront" plan, based on
several objections... described below in an article from the April 2
Keynoter. May we say "I told you so" yet? |
DCA again rejects county
By Alyson Crean acrean@keynoter.com
Waterfront law again has problems
The Florida Department of Community Affairs on Monday told
Monroe County that parts of a proposed ordinance to preserve the
working waterfront in the Keys does not comply with state
statute.
The rejection came as no surprise to County Commissioner George
Neugent.
“I felt this was going to happen,” he said. “This was the
creation of a fatally flawed ordinance that was created through
thoughtless actions of three county commissioners and one
attorney.”
Neugent's harsh criticism comes from controversial changes to
the ordinance, approved by commissioners Dixie Spehar, Mario Di
Gennaro and Sonny McCoy, from last-minute suggestions by
attorney Jerry Coleman, who represents Robbie's Marina on Stock
Island.
The ordinance for unincorporated Monroe County moved from being
one that would have protected the commercial fishing industry to
a hot potato outlining the future development of only Stock
Island.
This is the second time DCA has objected to the ordinance, which
has taken the better part of two years to draft. In December,
DCA issued objections to a first incarnation stemming from a
lack of “data and analysis” for many of the policies in the
ordinance.
One of the more controversial aspects has been the inclusion of
the ability to build residential units and hotel rooms on
waterfront property that has been zoned marine industrial.
The statement DCA issued this week says allowing construction of
public lodging facilities is inconsistent with county policy
that prohibits new transient residential units.
Some of the additions made by Coleman are specifically cited in
DCA's objection. They include measuring building height from the
base flood elevation, which could increase heights above the
county's 35-foot restriction.
Coleman also added language that would have exempted a possible
new hotel on the Stock Island waterfront from the county's
rate-of-growth ordinance, which dictates the number of building
permits issued.
DCA noted that “exempting development from the adopted
allocation systems is internally inconsistent with the
comprehensive plan because [county policy] prohibits new
transient residential units including hotel and motel rooms....”
New Stock Island Properties, a group of developers, is looking
to redevelop land adjacent to the island's deep-water port with
docks, retail space, a hotel and a boardwalk connecting it all.
“I feel for the developers who got caught up unfairly in this
situation,” Neugent said. “I'd like to see if there's anything
we can do to work with DCA to move forward while truly
protecting the working waterfront.”
Mediation might be the answer. According to the ruling, people
affected can seek mediation by filing a request with the state's
Division of Administrative Hearings.
“It's all a matter of negotiations now,” Di Gennaro said. |
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