The 8 1/2 square mile area is rearing it's ugly head once again in Miami Dade County. As if we didn't spend enough dough (tens of Millions if my memory serves me) on a compromise buyout in this area. Very troubling. The compromise left some property ownership there now they want to form a neighborhood called Las Palmas. Talk about a camels nose under the tent! There was an October 2010 PAB meeting about this subject.
This application is being heard by the Miami Dade County PAB on Monday at 10 a.m. in the Commission Chambers. It is being put forward by staff. Duress? Why would staff put this out there on their own?
People who own land in the area want to increase its usage and are hitting hard on a compliant County Commissioner Lynda Bell (Katy Sorenson's less than environmental minded replacement) who held a town hall meeting a few weeks ago for them to put the screws on DERM. Here is what is being heard:
LAND USE ELEMENT
Modify the text of Open Land Subarea 4 (East Everglades Residential Areas)
in the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP),
to allow agriculture production including nurseries and tree farms and
limited raising of livestock.
Some background:
News story on the buyout which cost taxpayers multi-millions:
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35 Homes Targeted In 8 1/2 Square Mile Deal
June 16, 2000|By NEIL SANTANIELLO Staff Writer
Members of a western Miami-Dade community won't be forced to sell their homes to water managers after all.
After agreeing 18 months ago to buy out the entire 8 Square Mile Area, a regional water board voted Thursday on a compromise that preserves most residents' property rights while delivering more water to the east side of Everglades National Park.
"Is this perfect? No," said South Florida Water Management District board Chairman Michael Collins. "Does this give us the ability to move forward? I believe in my heart of hearts it does."
Voting 8-1, with member Vera Carter from Orlando dissenting, the water board agreed to ask the Army Corps of Engineers to acquire about one-quarter of the 6,000-plus acre community.
The area to be bought, 1,613 acres on the community's western edge, contains 35 homes, as well as wetlands where water tables could rise to improve water flows to the national park.
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More from the application:
Description of Open Land Subarea 4 and Existing Land Uses
Open Land Subarea 4 (East Everglades Residential Areas) is generally west of
the Kendall Tamiami Executive Airport, and bounded on the north, west and
southwest by Everglades National Park, on the east by the L-31N Canal, and
on the south by SW 168 Street. The boundaries of the Subarea are depicted,
along with other information, on the map entitled, “Application No. 5”,
located at the end of this report. The Subarea is approximately 5,635 acres
in size, or 8.8 square miles (thus the common name for this area, “the 8 and
1⁄2 Square Mile”).
1 Existing land uses in Subarea 4 include various types of agriculture,
undeveloped land, residential use, and transportation, communication, and
utility uses. Agriculture types include tropical fruit crops, tree farms,
and vegetable crops such as okra. Some agricultural activities are
year-round uses and are not consistent with the adopted CDMP and do not have
required County permits. Animals observed in the area include horses,
goats, fowl, and some hogs; the maintenance and raising of animals for
commercial purposes is not permitted in the Subarea. The Subarea also
includes residential structures, and some structures that support
agricultural uses. According to Department of Environmental Resources
Management staff, some of these structures, or building densities, have not
been permitted by the County.
Approximately 41% of Subarea 4 is owned by government agencies; including
the SFWMD, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Everglades National
Park, and a 306 acre parcel of land that belongs to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). This FAA-owned property is a radar and antenna site
that supports aviation activities throughout South Florida.
Open Land Subarea 4 is generally a low-lying area with elevations between
5.5 and 8.5 feet above mean sea level (msl) and contains prairie wetlands.
According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) records,
approximately the eastern half (diagonal line from the northeast to the
southwest) of Subarea 4 is in FEMA flood zone X (moderate to low flood risk
area, usually the area between the limits of the 100-year and 500-year
floods) and the western portion of the Subarea is the higher risk flood zone
AH (Areas with a 1% annual chance of shallow flooding, usually in the form
of a pond, with an average depth ranging from 1 to 3 feet).2
Numerous properties within Subarea 4 have jurisdictional wetlands and must
have a Class IV Wetlands Permit from the Miami-Dade County Department of
Environmental Protection (DERM) for development activity; this permit
addresses allowed land uses, and any proposed grading or filling. The Class
IV permit also requires onsite retention of stormwater because “cut and fill
criteria” are applicable to this hydrologic basin.
6 comments:
"you people" how nice. You were erased.
I'm still baffled as to how "staff" decided one day to change the CDMP to accomodate people who were and still are violating our local zoning laws.
Where's Moss on this issue? It's in his district.
I hope the BCC does not reward people like this on the most basic level. Can I go ahead and change the CDMP because I have a friend inside the planning department and I can't be bothered with those pesky zoning LAWS?
It really makes you wonder.
The environmental issue is a little more complex, but I think the letter writer put it in very understandable terms.
JUST SAY NO TO THIS. It's bad policy and planning. Not even mentioning how much money has already been spent there, and my best guess would be some of these people are land speculators buying land really cheap in hopes of selling it back for a profit.
When Bell had her anti DERM meeting with the people from 8 1/2 sq mile, the moderator was someone who owns land out there. How hypocritical. And, where was Moss?
JUST SAY NO!
This application has been a long time coming.
It is a compromise between Planning and DERM and the Agriculture community in the 8.5 SMA.
They can call it whatever they want, that doesn't change the rules of the game. What this application would do is allow the area to continue to be used for AGRICULTURE.
I'm a HUGE environmentalist and frankly wished Congress would have seen fit to authorize the 100% buy-out of the lands west of the L31 levee, but they didn't.
That leaves us with two options - allow agriculture there, or allow something else. The only other "something else" is housing which these text changes WILL NOT allow. Instead it gives property owners out there - who bought those lands in order to FARM - a way to make their land productive.
The County has no mechanism to purchase the remaining land (nor the desire) since the endangered lands program is for, well, endangered lands and the purchase of development rights program is specifically designed to eliminate residential development while allowing farming to continue.
I appreciate Karen's comments - always have - but I think the RCA damages their credibility when they fight against ways to enhance farming that DOESN'T lead to exurban sprawl.
Last anon, Livestock is not part of Ag Practices. Do you want your tax dollars going to bail them out every time it floods? There is no flood protection there. FEMA had to come in last time to bail them out - that's your money.
If they wish to plant trees, nursery's, etc, row croping, there's not a huge problem, but, the illegal structres are, and need to be torn down.
Again, why didn't Moss step in if this was so long and coming?
They want FPL to supply power. That is their objective. They need power for irrigation, then they put up a shack and soon it is a house and then we are bailing them out all over again.
It always amazes me how outsiders are always looking to stick their noses in everyone else's business. If they owned property in this area their arrogance and ignorance would quickly turn toward a different point of view !!! Put yourself in the position of these residents , you purchased land with the idea to farm or build your home away from those crazy and nosy types and now you are neither able to build or farm but instead have to live under the constant torment and pressure of these same crazies that you were escaping from. You lunatics !!!!! Leave these people alone !!! So that the local price of produce remains low and available for the rest of us in Miami. You Knuckleheads , bud out !!!
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