The future of a state agency that oversees development regulations in the Florida Keys could remain in limbo for the next year.

The Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is undergoing a sunset review process in the state Legislature -- a process required for each state agency every 10 years. The Legislature, this session, has three options for the agency's future: Continue it, abolish it or modify it.

What may have been the last chance this session to secure the agency's continued existence slipped away Friday when the House Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council chose not to act.

The DCA will remain intact in the short term without passage of a reenactment bill, but it's long-term future could be in limbo until next year's legislative session.

Not everyone has abandoned hope.

"We are disappointed that our reenactment bill was not heard by the House last week, but we are hopeful that they will reconsider their decision not to hear the bill and will re-enact this important and vital state agency," DCA spokesman James Miller said.

Charles Pattison, chairman of the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida, said he has heard the DCA reauthorization may be a bargaining chip or a "negotiating point at the end of session," which ends in two weeks.

"The question is what are they trading it for and who is trading it," said Pattison, whose organization has sent e-mails to newspapers and lobbied legislators on the importance of maintaining the DCA.

The Senate already approved continued funding for the agency. The House's inaction comes a year after Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and other legislators filed two bills last year aimed at eliminating the agency. Both bills eventually died in committees.

Pattison is concerned the DCA will be more vulnerable next year, as there are no scheduled elections for House members, allowing them to avoid retribution from voters for eliminating DCA.

Pro-development forces see DCA as a roadblock for big construction projects and development. But in the past three years, the agency approved land use amendments that substantially increased development and development potential. DCA records indicate the agency approved 1,571 amendments that resulted in 483,000 new developments across the state, comprising 515,000 acres.

Developers and some elected officials also have argued that counties should have home rule, and the DCA should not have the authority to approve county comprehensive land use plans, which is a requirement for all counties. Nonetheless, DCA records indicate the agency approved nearly 90 percent of submitted comprehensive plan amendments.

The DCA also intervenes when counties approve developments or rules that violate their comprehensive plans or other land use rules. The agency overruled the Monroe County Commission two years ago after it approved changes that would have allowed construction of a large hotel, condominiums and marina on Stock Island that would have displaced historical waterfront commerce, such as commercial fishing. The controversial development was opposed by the Navy, environmental groups and commercial fishermen.

The DCA also intervened when the County Commission approved a plan for more homes near the Navy's runway on Boca Chica Key, an area subjected to loud jet noise and greater potential for crashes. The DCA sided with the Navy, and the plans were scrapped.

The DCA and other state agencies have greater authority in Monroe County than most other counties because the Keys are an Area of Critical State Concern and held to more strict building and development rules. The state limits the number of new residential construction permits that may be issued each year in Monroe County.

tohara@keysnews.com