Item M11
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date:: Aul!ll5l 21. 2007
Division: Mavor DiGennaro
Bulk Item: Yes No xxx
Staff Contact:
AGENDA I'll'EM WORDING: Discussion of proposal to start Planning the Balance which involves
(phase I) requesting that the Federal Government create a new National park which would encompass
all property designated in Tiers 1& 2 and (Phase2) begin the creation of sustainable build out horizon
for Tier 3 areas with direction to staff to explore the potential.
ITEM BACKGROUND: See attached.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
TOTAL COST:
BUDGETED: Yes
No
COST TO COUNTY:
SOURCE OF FUNDS:
REVENUE IPRODUCING: Yes
No
AMOUNT PER MONTH_ Year
APPROVEU BY: County Atty _ OMBlPurchasing _ Rislc Managemenl_
DOCUMENTATION:
Included
Not Required_
DISPOSITION:
AGENDA ITEM /I (Y) / /
Revised 11/06
O.y.~rv~2~~E
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Planning the Balance:
A Sustainable Florida Keys
County of Monroe. Proposition Paper. Version 1
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A White Paper Proposal
Draft Date: August 12, 2007
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
Introduction:
In the not ~ distant futLlTe Monroe COlin I)' ~nd its taxpayen are facmg 8 monetary habLlity
which is cu.rl'l?ntly estimated to e"c~d 1 billion doUnrs. It is difficult to argue that. J\'lonroe
Count..... io.: not a leader in environnwntaJ planning initiati\'es in' the State of Florida, or for
that mater, in thl:' country. However we ha\'f~ ;l.trullIled witb thE halance between develQP~
ment and congervation, Since the designahnn or Monroe CouDty as aD Area of Critical State
Concern thi.s C{)unty and It!;; tax payers h'li\'~ s.pent mil.lions of dollars to defend 8gAm...t takmgs.
related claimll. This County Bnd State have l'penl nearly $200 million in property .acquisitioo
and yet nearly 7000 pilrcel!i or 7,,,190 acres remnin idenh[10d for purchase in the Land AcqUlS1"
tion and Mnnagement Plan. It i" time tn rot.art pJannina: the balance bel~'een the ecoooD'lic~ of
dc,'elopment and the Iinbility of conservfltion to creAte f'l su;;;tRinable Florjda Keys.
Background:
MOl\n~ County flnd the Florida KeYi!l realized tremendoui' growth in the nud to tale 1980's
with a peAk ne'" re!loidentll~.l permit rate ()f over 1600 per year in 1986. This Was foHowed by 8.
downturn in the market which culminated in 1992 with the implementation oft-he Rate of
Growth Ordinance (ROGO). Intended at:. ft tool to gu~nantee hurricane e,'acllation c1eanlnce
times of le"'fl than 24 hours, the focu$ of
ROnD ~came mucb greater over iUl
lifespan in Monroe County. ROGa not
only has the burden of limiting g!"(,\wth
but slgo dec)ding which applicants will
recei,'e 80 allocation and when, Thi& iEl
dODe through It. competition bat\ed on
the scoring of the appliCAtion which in
turn l!l ha~ 01\ 18 $l!parate !!-Coring
criteria. Many ofthege lire en\'iron.
ffiE'ntel in nature and help to pro,'jde
incentive" for 8ustainnble or ~reen
development.
11 h~graphdt>mc'fW(T:atlfllllht~''''~' of
ROGG Il6 I groonh IMI:IIl,.,mc-nl t.<nl
ROGO has be-en s\lcCt'P:<.<;ful at slo",'ing growth U"l 8eemingly manageable rates However, wlth
IS ~par8te scoring erik-ria. and an 8"e-rage time fb:lme fo1' permit l:>.~uance of over 2 years It
caD be viewed il.~ too complex for thl." averRge property owner to undentand, lH alone navi.
gate. Complexity however i~ not the biitilest fHilure of ROGO,
The 18 site specific criteria whlt'h make the bfl,~ ofthe competiti\'e syslem had an unmiended
consequence OfR.lIoWlOg the fragmentation llfhAbitat, ScoTing bued on correnl lSlte condl-
lion.!l of a 50 x 100 lot allowed for a not08lie!l. in hflbitat pattern to remain nnotnJ'llies_ Recently
di!<turbed e.ites becnme permnnt'ntly di"'!\Irbed il-ites. In an effort tl:I address thiS e,enolls Sold..
dfecl tbe Mtlnr'Oe County Planning Department took another brase I)~W step and dev~loped
t.he Tier SysteDl.
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
Background Continuf\d:
The Tier System is designed to he II. ~upplement 10 the currenl ROGO 1(0). It has been care.
fully craCwd t(j address the two major 01lW1'O ofROGO. eomp!uity aDd SIte specmc re\lie'(\'_ It 161
ma.de up of 6 heN; O. l. 2. 3. 31l-Special Protechon Area (SPA), And 4, Tiers I through 3a
being de\'elopment tWI1!i, 0 being submerged l11nd$ and righli of "o'l\Y and 4 beIng mlht.!lI'Y
land". Propertie.s were grouped by the planning department b,,~d on specific criteria for
each Tier. Thi14 had the effect of il"Ouping p~rtieil by their potential score In ROGO with
the caveat, ofcoune. being the community conditionl! not tlH~ 9itc conditions. Thls@'nJuping
eliminated the need for 1\ complicated "'-COring S:Ylitem base-d on 18 criteria and replJlced It with
11 more simple score bosed on Tier approach, The development tiers 1.3& ere broken down 11\00
level$ of environmental ilenaiti\'ity. Tier 1 being the mOIlt. environmenttl.lly senSltlve 8nd3
being the least \\'ith 38; being a $pecial !'5ub!lection to protect small upland nat.ive nabitat area:!,
LIke ROGO tbe Tier s,y~tenl di~courage8 development in envlronment.aUy gensit\ve area!!!
through the award of lei's points to a Tier I property than 11 Tier 3 properf)-' as well a~ th.rou~h
a limitation on chI' numbf'r of pt>tmit::t \\'hich can bi> i$sue-d in Tier l_
The following chArt repre!ient!l t~e acreage distribut.ioD amongst the Tiers:
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\\:htJe the Tier Sy@..t-em i!! an new flnd innO\'allve approach to iTOWlh management controls. It
does come with a price tag. With a morc dear 8e'paJ1l.tl0D between Ihose propertle9 which a~
vlewed H3 appropriate for continued development (Tier :3) Hnd tnose which are not (Tier I)
comes a !l.igniiicantly increllJ;lE'd liability for takings claims.
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
Background CODtinued: In\'ene Cundemnation
One of thE' grestest concernl:l arising from tht- imposition or the Area of Cntical State Concern
deeignatlon Bnd the creation ofthe Tier SYll-t.t.'m is (h(' looming acquis.ltioD costs fOT properties
that. arE' tlubject to re~tricti\'e building regulaBoM. Parcels that are not acquired through
negotiated purchuei' "'ill likely 1~ the suhj~ct of invt!f8e condemnation actions brought by
property owners ~eking what the)" behe\'c tel be lu~t compenfl.At.ioo for their property 88 is
lheir right under the U.S. find Florida Constitutions. Alternat.I\,(!Iy, property owners wnlJ
believe tbeir propertiei.4 to have Men '"iMrdinatc}y burdened" by go\'ernm('nt regulation, bnve
a slatuwry cau~ of action for damageil and other relil'{under Florid,<j:'", Bert J. Harrill Prl\'ate
Pr{)pe.rty Right/! PrOleetion Act,
Monroe Counl~' ii; c\lr1'ently defeoiling eight (8ll!eparll.ti" inverse condemnAtion Ul$e8 ranging
Ln scope from single owner/single 101 cases to one ca~ ......hich $leeks class action sta.tU$ for m"er
1700 paTc~l>il of land mllted in Tier One on Big Pine and No Name K('~',~, When the rest of the
Tier System become~ efTeet;..-e in tbe oominj,): monthl'l, legal etllft' expecta tbe County will be
~I'\'ed \\'itb dozens. ifnot hundred~, of;.:imilar actions. While gi?nerall)' successful in defend.
ing t4king.(l. casel! in the pa~t. the County bae. not .lll\\ia~'s been able to e/-leape lJability, In one
"temporary takings" CftlW' which ';HIled in 2003, the County was forced to pAy close to 6 m,llioIl
dollars to ft property owner whose property right-8 were foul1d t() hAve beers "taken" by the en-
\'ironmenlAl prote<'tion regulatif)n~ ndopted by the County At the btohes.t orthe SUIte of Flonda
and the Federal government.
A/-l the County continues to adopt regulations designed to implement the environmental policy
gUlll,. of the State /lnd Federal governmenu, it will be faced with a growing number ofcase&
brought by property owners. Damage award E'iltlmflte~ by ORe iM)un:e famililir ",ith K~p; envi.
ronmental regulations placeslhe ultimate COtolts in 1he billions of dollars. With the mo~l re-
cent cen~us eli.timateB Ild,'ising fhat the Count)"s population has (alien belo", 75,000. it is eD-
tirely unreasonahle to expect the leer'lI dwindling number of teiOidents to shoulder the hurdim
for Requiring lfuch prnpertie8 which are of 8ucb enviroomental siguiflcancc to the entire na.
tion,
The US Supreme Court
Bu\lding in
Washingtoo DC
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
The Proposal: Plannin.. the Balance
Tbit. initiath'e is. It two (2) phase approach to planning the balance bel9.een the eCOfH)mic~ of
de\Oelopmenl and the Iiablliiy ofconservfttlon, Pha~ one (I) requires that Monroe COUl\ly
firmly efltablish its continued role lItl1 a leader In conseJ"\lflLion Initiat.ives In the St.ate of Florida
by 8eeking National Park tiltatus for all Tier I&.2 designated properties, Tnt> second ph8g~
pro,,'ides for a sustainable development plan for all of TIer 3 \\"lth th(: State of Florida rdeumg
the. required aBOCAtionH to Monroe County for rational dlstribucon_
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Phase 1: National Park SI.atu&
The Nationi'll Park Sen'ice (NPS) was CSlUlblighed in 1916 and current}y protect.!! over 84.4
miUioo acrel!\ in 391 designated areas (58 of which RTf' parks) Bpread across every .,late In the
union with lbt! exception of Delaware, The last addition to the NPS as a NaLlonal Park was In
2000 \\'ith th~ acceptance of Cuyahoga \'aUey National Park in Ohio
The burden of purchasing all the land8 which are designated as envLronment.ally sen$ltlVE' and
set for pun.'_hl\8e lS far too great for any local governmeDt to begr, Monroe ('ouaty hHs spent
millions of dollars in defending t:.akin~ Tela-led ca~e. and pAyOUt$. for ,;neh cases sioee bein@:
de~iKnllt{'d an Area oferirical State Conc!!rn, Monroe County he.s spenl to dat.e $32 millIOn m
conservation relsted land acqui~ition and t-he SUllIe ofFloridll. has .;pent on~T SWB mHl.ion to
date on con,;;er\'tttlon rt>lau-d llcqui~ition, ~ lolhown above 58% of all prJV.Ilte-lf owned vacant
lands are designllted Tier I and identifif'd for purchase. Thi~ Amounts (.0.6 total remautmg
liability for purcha~ of which could he lR exCt'8t> of$! billion the burden o(whlch ","'Ill faU to
the tax: payeri> of this county.
Partnering u'lth the federal gO\'ernment llond the NPS will aUo",. Monroe County 10 ta.p a pro.
je<:t tOpecific flcqll1Si.ilion budg.et .....hich typically -ilUrplUlsell the bllhon dollar mark and which 1$
allocated specifically for the purchase and conl'!erv81ion of em'ironmeDtally se.osltive lands.
Thig new partnerHhip will create ne"" purchAse avenues for property OWDer.9 I.() recoup invest-
ment costs and property \'"lue~,
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
Phase 1: National Park St.atus Continued
This. Ns(ions parklO havt' been called the ~oul of our country and Monroe COIIJlty'g eonserva.
tion land cO\lld be the next addition, Th{lo firet i't.ep is. tl. ~lud,r of the re$Oun:e conducted by the
NPS and its many profefl,siona!lj. Thest:' prOff'llilionnl... Ilre evaluatIng the propo"ed addItion
based 6n criteria ~ct by the US congreSl$. Below ii:llln excerpt from the NPS webslw detailu1g
selection criteria'
To l"e'oeeive a favorable recommendation from the &omCE'. a propo~d addition to the
national park !iYiltem mu",t (1) poe.!M:>llS nationally significant nalural or cultural
re80unlea: (2) he .8 /Ouitable addition ILl tbe syatem: (3) be a feasible addition to the
B}'stem: and (4) require direct NPS management.. in.....tt-ad ofalternat.lVe protect.10n by
other public lIogencie.!l OJ' the pri\'liIte 8oe{:tar, Theoo cntena are deSIgned to ensure
tbat the national park $lYl'ltem include'"- only the mOil nut.lltandinK examples of Lhe
nflli(ln'~ natural and cultural reeourcefl. Tht')' al/lt) recognize that lhere a~ Olller
Olanaiemenl alternauW!1l (01' pregen'ing the natioll'. ouUstAnding re80U~~$
An expanded ver",ion Df the~ critA:'ria fOol' incluA;(ln may be found Ell.;
hltp:1lw.....w .np8.go\'llegacy/criteria.ht m 1
FoUowing the receipt a(a favorable 1'f;'port from the NPS on our proposed additIon to t.he sys.
um, Monroe County wil1 need to achieve the one hurdle yet to be attempted by our leadcnilhip.
:\n official Act ofCongre8R iil: required to solidify the addition ora ney; IIrea lOW the NAllonfll
Park SYliIte-m. Hawever, \.\..hen enlluntlng the.1 criteria for 8electiDn above, few C.tlO argue
flgsinllt the nati{)nHll:lignmcilnce of our threatened and endangered ilpeeies hablUlt aTellS
Sandwiched between three- ui8ung natian,,1 }lArk nrea!\, Everglades National Park, Biscllyne
National Park and Dry TartugM National PRrk, it Itl easy to El(>e that Monroe County would he
a feMible addition t(J the Slyatem_ The burden of the hahility associated wit.h prE'sel'Vlng these
areS$ of Monroe C{)unt~. designated as bRbitnt far thre8tened and endangered species by l.be
United St.6teil Fi!:h And Wildlife Scr\'kt> ~ simply too great fOol' the 75,000 tax payers ofMon-
roe County to bear. To protect thib;. nHl10nal treasure \\'ill require federal USISUlnce only 00(.
fered through the NJltiontlJ Park Service,
Prior 1<1 .!leeking formal nominuion for T€\.'iew b)' the NPS, we should unite the Olunlcrpalihes
with Ollr County initiative and 8/0" region $('ell ~tltte support begmnin~ with the Secrei.Blj' of
thO' Departmt'llt of Community Affain ltnd the Sccretar~' of the D~partmt'nl.o{ }<~nvironmental
Protect.ion. We iOhaU then approach Go\'ernor Ch.o!"lie Crist. Repl'f'sentatlVe Ron Saunders,
State Senator Larcenia BullArd. C{}ngresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehl1nen and US Senators Bill
NeltWn and Me] Martioe'l. to garner their lmpporlllt the BUlle and oatlOnBlleveb.
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
Phue 2: Planned Development
The balance of the loud con~er...alion strategy orTter 1 comes from a plannM de.....elopment of
the remaining Tier 3 properties. Monroe County Rhollld lOeek, through its p;jrtner~hlp with the
State ofJ<'lorida. Rppro\'al for plnnne-d de\'elopment offill remaining T\er 3 properties. ThlE.
will involve the release t.o Monroe Count).' allocat.ions Nquired and the freedom to dl"!l.ft and
adopt Land Development Regulations free from ovef"il.ight. Currently there arc approximately
5,489 privBtel)' owned vacant "ier 3 properties. 3,551 of these are currently zoned Impro\'ed
Subdivision which has re!l.idential denBity of one {I) dweUing unit per lot. The reT1l!lmder of
the Tier 3 propeny will require dt'-tailed an.alYl.l.is to calculate the build out pot.enlial based on
open space requiremenli. and habitat re~trictioQs, Our current projections for build 01..11 are
apprOXil1l8te1r 4,000 new re1!oidential permit/l;. This number will likely be reduced as we are
able to confirm site !l.pecific conditions and complete 1'1 mQre tborough nnlilysis orTler 3 Ilreos
Monroe Count)' would tltill be requin.>d 10 allow development 9t controUed rates. However, the
uncertainty that. currently exi$t$ would be removed. The rate of perro it relea&e would be
baAed on three coni rolling facto~. tbtl market. hurricane e\'l'lcuation. and mfraslmctul'(>,
With the tremendoul! financial burden ofti....bility removed and legal costa reduced. the County
would be free to invest in infrnsO'ucture renelllial and un,JlrO\'ement projec~. Hurricane
c\'ocuation timeg al:l a limiting facwr will likely always he fl growth control in tbis- Counry.
Howe\'er. the limit l\.hould be hued on th~ best available data and scientific anal~'ili8. The
State of Florida and Monroe Couoty >lhould further partner to complete fl dE'mo~apbic analy-
8is of the Monroe County population expectmg to see trends toward seasonal occupancy in-
creasing, decre9.&ed o\'erall population. Both are facwl'eI. thnt ...ill contribute to thE reductloo
of evacuation times.
The following chart details. the hreAkdown of parcels venus acres 1Jl each Tier fOT private \'8-
ellnt land!>. in Monroe County.
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Planning the Balance A Sustainable Florida Keys
ConclusioDs:
The time hasoorne for Monroe ('ount~ to Utke the finn] step toward eSUlblishmg a btlL.lnce
between con9€l'\'ation and development. Monroe County should ~t.8 horizon for build oul
project.s aud create ultimsre protection!l for rhr€Atened and endanllered llpe~~lt'S hflbital (ound
only within onT tropIcal parndil;.e. This can he achieved by completing the PlannlOg the Bal.
ance initlA.ti\'l' cNtllblishing the 59th Nationlll Park here in Monroe Count)" And providing for a
sustainable controlJed de\'c1opmf'nt plan
This plan haa e-omething in it for every intere...ted stakeholder. The environmentalJy con.
cerned wHl be excited about the ultimate protection of(hroatened and endangered species
habitat by the federal government. The development community ,,'ill be excitE>d about 8 faeter
proce~8 and Il guaranteed outcome. The lon.g time key~ refoldents wlll be excited about lhe
protlpecr of maintAining community character and curtailing ever expanding development
boundarielO, The emnomii<t.fl .....iIl be- excited about expanding t.he newly blossomIng ecolouri&lD
treads that will be bol~tered by thi.. newellt national treuure. The tax payers wiD be exwed
about having cwoided 8 potentially cripplin@'burden in mom.tary liability while stiU m8mtsi.n.
log Quality of life.
Monroe County prov1des nere8!Uu'y leadership in environmental plaamng And con&E'rn.llHln
efforts and it has no ch()Jce but to continue lD do,.o by Planning the BRlance and creAting a
SU8tawable Florida l\eYf:i.
Plllnning the Balance means protecting our par8di~e and buildine our
futur-e.
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