Live Blogging from EPA hearing on Urban Development Boundary ... by gimleteye

2:11 PM. We're at the Miami Public Library public auditorium for the long-awaited UDB workshop hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The question of the moment, on our live blog from the library auditorium: why do we need this "workshop" in the first place? I don't know the answer. Looks like some people from out of town. I've come down to find out. There's the usual character list of developer lobbyists and members of the engineering cartel. Agency staff. Terry Murphy, for Natacha Seijas. A smattering of public interest people. Everyone is here. But why? We'll keep you posted, just click "read more".

2:20 PM Kevin Nelson, EPA Smart Growth Office -- Smart Growth Implementation Office-- key man for EPA. Purpose of today's meeting: an open session for the public to provide some input for this project. 3 day workshop Dr. Tim Chapin, Summer Goowin, Bill Fulton: part of team for all Smart Growth projects in EPA. A year and a half ago, the county asked EPA to look at the policies that governed the UDB and mechanisms for how it was managed. Not to provide recommendations on where should the boundary move to, what should be in or not: those are local decisions. Does the policy meet the needs of county and commissioners? Seconary purpose: to think about infill strategies and incentives for infill. By mid-January, EPA will have a final report to the county. Now opening floor to questions.

2:22 PM Audience member questions the assertion/comment by Mr. Nelson in his referring to an earlier "public meeting". There was no earlier public meeting. "This is the time to provide that input."

Stanley Price/ developer lobbyist, land use lawyer: question about severable use rights/ property rights of land owners.
Dawn Sherrifs/ Clean Water Action: have you reviewed the Agriculture Study and South Miami Dade Watershed Study. (Answer, yes)

2:36 PM Barry White/ Vice President of Citizens Against Non-Concurrency Task Force. Expansion in outer suburbs and outside USB is subsidized by taxpayers. Impact fees never cover cost. No one is building in Miami Dade: those who seek to move UDB are only land banking so their firms can flip when the economy recovers. Sufficient land underutilized and existing to accomodate future population. Need for urban renewal is enormous, as opposed to developers who do easy building and only exploit land. CANT is not against building, only against exploitative development. In favor of rational growth. Save agriculture. The practice of commissioners deferring to other commissioners in UDB zoning hearings; timing of hearings and denying sufficient time for public input; all circumvent good planning. Deep distrust in this community of the process and those engaged in the process of government in this county. We must adjust our growth rate to the change in economic reality. We have no obligation to house the rest of the world; freeze the UDB for at least 50 years, don't let them pave over paradise in the meantime.

2:40 PM Javier Bettancourt/ Miami Downtown Development Authority: A benefit of UDB is to promote infill development and transit. The UDB is a lid on the pressure of growth; pressuring growth to occur where we want it most. UDB extraordinarily important: urge you to Hold the Line for as long possible. UDB expansion is nowhere near. To expand it early, will not be helpful to urban infill and goals of better community.

Dawn Sherrifs/ Clean Water Action: don't need to deliver lecture on how urban sprawl undermines the economy. From 1974-1984: Florida's developed land expanded by 80 percent. Policies governing growth only as good as enforcement: unfortunately Miami-Dade has not done a good job. Miami Dade routinely approves outside UDB despite no demonstrable need. Public hearings are routinely mis-managed to developers' benefit. People are leaving South Florida because of sprawling development and low wage jobs, no viable public transit, communities cut off from each other; all you need to is take a ride through Liberty City and Overtown, neglected because we continue to send money to pay for infrastructure in suburbs.

2:58 PM Truly Burton/ Builders Association of South Florida: Wants to give her five minutes to Jeff Bercow for Powerpoint presentation.
Jeff Bercow/ Builders Association of South Florida: We are in middle of preparing a written summation. The UDB put in land use plan in 1983. It was never intended to be a fixed line. UDB must contain 15 years of residential demand. UDB is not next to the Everglades. Outside of UDB, we have ex-urban residential on 1 house per 5 acre lot, Redland 20,000 residence, and rock mining. Average lot in this area of Redland, 1.5 acres in size. County has acknowledged that existing supply will not last until crrent deadline of 2018. By the end of 2010, the County will have to locate sufficient supply to accommodate growth through 2025. Quite frankly, we don't have that land. There are issues about how county calculates residential supply. Counting "under construction" units gives false sense of supply. No explanation for how county planners measure available units. County lacks jurisdiction for development in cities. The county has not programmed adequate infrastructure. Many developments would experience transportation currency "gridlock". Cost for land assembly are overwhelming and exorbitant, and very difficult to assemble land to provide elements of infrastructure. "Urban Centers" transit commutes often exceed an hour. Bercow; whether land excluded from expansion is based on sound planning. Issues hampering infill development; municipal jurisdiction, methodology, ultimately there ought to be an "ultimate development boundary" and Master Plan Area for the Long-Term. We need to figure out where that is going to occur.

3:03 PM Andrew Georgiadis: The previous speaker talked about lack of large parcels; that means we have to return to a smaller increment of development. Gone are the days we developed by large tracts. We have reached our natural limits. Yes, we have moved into era of more thoughtful incremental planning. The available land supply is actually much greater than we think; giant parking lots, lots we leap frog over, CDMP doesn't count those but we need to start counting them. Change the rules by which the CDMP calculates available land supply. Urban centers are far from jobs: that is the reason to keep urban development more compact. How does it make sense to sprawl more? Does any intelligent person buy that argument? Agriculture: we are entering a period when we will need to grow more food closer to home. In the coming decades we have to figure out how does an urban community feed itself? We are right at a precipice as a community and we are only an inch away from falling off of it: I ask you to please do nothing to "loosen the belt" to expand our waistlines to Everglades. Everglades is all the watersheds and subterranean waters that feed and nourish the park. Make our UDB as strong as it can be.

3:10 PM Nancy Lee/ community activist: Attended watershed study for about a year, going to these crappy meetings. I live in a densely populated area, and I believe that we shouldn't sprawl. Right outside the UDB, there are developers who have big DRI's who are just waiting hungrily to move the line, all that land is bought up by developers outside the UDB, southwest of Kendall. The DRI's are huge development; three small cities of over 20,000 people; do you really want to put more people in flood prone areas; it really doesn't make sense.

Javier Bettancourt/ DDA: The CDMP says that 15 year land supply is "should" not must. Employment centers are in eastern section of communities and that's where growth should be. There is a ton of property primed for redevelopment; expensive to do, all more the reason to force developers inside the UDB.

My comments: I'll try to summarize later.

3:35 PM Kevin Nelson: EPA Office of Smart Growth, this smart growth implementation program is one of three communities that we selected in 2008 to be a community we would be working with. We are a non-regulatory part of the agency. There is no connection between other areas of EPA.
Tim Chapin: Urban Planning/FSU, EPA panelist. Miami-Dade is much better with growth management than almost anywhere in the state. We are not here to draw a line: we are not here to direct the commissioners. We are being asked to "helicopter in" and report on what we see is going on in M-D. Our job as outsiders is to see how the process works here nad provide some outside guidance and bring some other best practices that are going on in the country: we are still in data gathering stage. We didn't come in with preconceived notions. There is no magic bullet. There is not a single easy answer that will make everyone happy. Planning is about dispute resolution. Planning is about getting everyone into some version of the middle. Affirm the idea there isn't an answer: you will be disappointed if you expect us to deliver an answer.
Bill Fulton: Urban Planner/Southern California, metropolitan region most similar to South Florida. My first question: what is the goal you are trying to accomplish with UDB? Does the line accomplish what various interest groups want? How realistic is infill development? Is agriculture viable and what kind? Do land uses protect the watershed? One of the questions that always come up is capacity methodology: we will try to highlight some things you might want to consider.

(I'm logging off... there's probably another hour to go.)