Attorney: Injunction is fault of feds
BY ANN HENSON
Citizen Staff
If anyone is to blame for
the injunction that prohibits some new development from getting flood
insurance, it is the federal bureaucrats who wanted to protect their
turf.
That was one of the
messages given by attorney Henry Lee Morgenstern, who represents several
environmental groups in a 15-year old lawsuit to protect endangered
species habitat in the Keys.
Morgenstern spoke at a
meeting of Last Stand, a Key West-based environmental and civic activist
group, Wednesday night.
In September U.S.
District Judge K. Michael Moore ordered the Federal Emergency Management
Agency and its arm that sells flood insurance to stop selling policies
to new development on some Keys parcels until the agency and the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service come up with a method to protect habitat for
endangered species.
The judge found that the
two federal agencies were working at cross purposes by facilitating
development by issuing flood insurance on one hand, while another
federal agency was charged with protecting endangered species.
"The government hates
this injunction and fights us tooth and nail," Morgenstern said. "They
don't like to be told what to do and they are appealing the case, rather
than working with us to solve the problem."
In fact, both federal
agencies must take action to protect endangered species, according to
Morgenstern.
However, FEMA contends
that it is not subject the Endangered Species Act, Morgenstern said. As
it stands, 50,000 lots are included on what has become known as the "FEMA
list" and owners cannot buy flood insurance.
However, many of these
parcels already have structures on them, some are cleared and others
have no habitat for endangered species.
Last week Morgenstern on
behalf of his clients offered to check each lot and if clear, would ask
the judge to delete it from the list. Morgenstern is working with a
biologist who charges $100 for the inspection, which just covers the
costs.
But, he said, so far he's
gotten only about 50 calls.
"Judging from the
relatively low number of calls, I'd say the list is basically sound," he
said.
He added that sooner or
later the list would be corrected so that it would contain only lots
with habitat.
He reiterated that
existing houses would not be affected by the injunction even if the
owners wanted to add on a room or rebuild.
ahenson@keysnews.com |
