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State sets goals to protect Keys land
"This is
really a landmark document because it is the first time the county and
state have worked together to accomplish all the issues of wastewater,
workforce housing and the conservation lands." Mayor Murray
Nelson
BY TRAVIS
JAMES TRITTEN
Citizen Staff
Writer
A state
proposal released Wednesday would give the county a three-year extension
to meet its mandated environmental protection goals.
The revised
work plan, negotiated by the county and drafted by Gov. Jeb Bush's
office, sets out yearly conservation goals for Monroe County meant to
save endangered habitat from growth and provide much-needed affordable
housing.
The county and
the state have been negotiating the changes since last winter, after
Monroe County, labeled an Area of Critical State Concern by the state,
drew sharp criticism for a lackluster year of conservation.
"This is
really a landmark document because it is the first time the county and
state have worked together to accomplish all the issues of wastewater,
workforce housing and the conservation lands," said County Mayor Murray
Nelson, who conceived of and pushed the state for the changes in
December.
Residents are
able to challenge the proposal. Public workshops in the Upper, Middle
and Lower Keys will be held only if requested, according to the
governor's office.
Monroe County
was originally ordered in 1997 to enact laws to protect hammocks and
nearshore waters within five years. The revisions will extend that work
plan to 10 years.
Many of the
requirements are goals that were unmet in years past.
Under the
proposal, the county must:
* Bond $40
million to upgrade antiquated sewers that many blame for nearshore
pollution;
* Bond $80
million that will be recovered from customers who hook into new public
sewers;
* Spend $10
million to build affordable housing for workers such as nurses, teachers
and police officers.
In return for
agreeing to the new deal, Monroe County will be rewarded with increased
growth, including increased annual allotments of home-building permits
that were once taken away because of poor local efforts at conservation.
The state's
concessions are not listed in the rule changes released Wednesday and
must be agreed to in a separate document, most likely a memorandum of
understanding, Nelson said.
The state
Department of Community Affairs guaranteed the county:
* That it will
speed up the purchase of $93 million worth of natural lands targeted for
state conservation;
* Budget $30
million to upgrade sewer treatment systems in the county;
* Give $20
million to build workforce housing.
If passed, the
plan will be added as a permanent change to the county's comprehensive
land-use plan, the master document for guiding growth in years to come.
The approval
process could be wrapped up within two months, Nelson said.
"If nobody
requires any of those [public] meetings, that will hold," Nelson said.
"Then it goes back to the governor and Cabinet and the rule-making
committee get together and go over it." |
