Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The governor and Cabinet on Tuesday ruled the Florida Keys will not lose 20 percent of its building allocations this year, despite not making "substantial progress" on certain issues the state requires before lifting Monroe County's designation as an Area of State Critical Concern.

The state said it will give the county another year to meet its criteria on upgrading wastewater systems, increasing affordable housing, reducing hurricane evacuation times and protecting endangered species habitat. During that time, the state, county and Keys municipalities will establish goals toward lifting the designation, a plan the governor and Cabinet are expected to vote on at an Oct. 28 meeting.

Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a stern warning that Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet will withhold the county's building allocations -- known as ROGOs for Rate of Growth Ordinance -- if the county does not step up efforts.

"It's important that we lay down a mark and are not disappointed with the plans," McCollum said.

Everglades Law Center General Counsel Richard Grosso, who represents Keys environmental groups Last Stand and Florida Keys Citizens Coalition, on Tuesday changed his earlier position and supported the county keeping its allocations, as long as it created a framework for meeting state requirements. It was during the Cabinet aides' meeting last week that he requested that the state withhold the allocations.

Monroe has been an Area of State Critical Concern since the 1970s, when the state said county officials were not doing enough to protect the environment from developers. Since then, state approval is required for most decisions about the county's growth and development, and the county is limited to 197 ROGO units a year.

The Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the state agency that oversees development in the county, said it likely will be several years before it lifts the designation, because the Keys have a considerable amount of work remaining to install central sewer systems for all properties by a state-mandated July 2010 deadline. Only 12 percent of the work has been completed. The remaining work will cost at least $350 million, an amount that could increase with time, DCA planner Charles Gautier said.

The county also plans to supplement its tier map system, which divides property into three categories ranging from most environmentally sensitive to least, with a plan to make all or portions of the Keys national parks.

County officials last week discussed the national parks idea with Cabinet aides and had planned to discuss it further on Tuesday, but there was little talk of it. County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro referenced it in his speech, but the governor and Cabinet did not address it.

County Administrator Roman Gastesi and Growth Management Director Andrew Trivette said the national-park plan is the best way to preserve sensitive wetlands and other wildlife habitat without exposing county taxpayers to costly property-rights lawsuits.

With national park status, the federal government would help fund the purchase of property whose importance as native habitat prohibits development, and would defray the cost of property-rights litigation.

tohara@keysnews.com