Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem S6 COUNTY of MONROE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Mayor Michelle Lincoln,District 2 The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern David Rice,District 4 y Craig Cates,District 1 James K. Scholl,District 3 � « Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5 Regular Meeting January 28, 2026 Agenda Item Number: S6 26-0243 BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: Planning and Environmental Resources TIME APPROXIMATE: No STAFF CONTACT: Brittany Burtner AGENDA ITEM WORDING: A Public Hearing to Consider Approval of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 26 of the Monroe County Code of Ordinances to Establish a Slow Speed/Minimum Wake Boating Restricted Area for Tavernier Creek at the Request of the Village of Islamorada Due to Safety Concerns. ITEM BACKGROUND: Monroe County currently holds a Slow Speed Minium Wake ("SSMW") boating restricted area in Tavernier Creek, established by Ordinance No. 019-1995. The Village of Islamorada, in the area where this water body is situated, approached the Monroe County Marine Resources Office with request to extend the existing SSMW boating restricted area or add a new, adjacent SSMW boating restricted area. The new SSMW area specifically targets a narrow portion of the creek encompassing two blind bends. The proposed SSMW area aims to enhance safety, particularly around the blind bends that pose navigational challenges. At the January 31, 2024, regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners ("Monroe County", "Board", "BOCC", or the "County"), the BOCC directed Marine Resources Office professional staff to apply for the requested SSMW area. Marine Resources Office professional staff compiled required documentation, including a draft ordinance as required by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ("FWC") to undergo Florida Administrative Code restricted area rulemaking in order to establish a new SSMW boating restricted area in Tavernier Creek. The application has undergone review by the FWC Boating and Waterways Section. On December 10, 2025 the Board approved advertising a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance establishing a boating restricted area (i.e., "Slow Speed/Minimum Wake" zone) for Tavernier Creek. PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: December 1994: Ordinance No. 029-1994 creating a boating restricted area(idle speed/no wake zone) in Tavernier Creek. June 1995: Ordinance No. 019-1995 amending ordinance 029-1994 from an idle speed/no wake zone to a slow speed/minimum wake zone. January 2024: Direction to Marine Resources Office professional staff to work with FWC and other permitting agencies extend the existing S SMW boating restricted area or add a new, adjacent S SMW boating restricted area. December 2025: Approval to advertise a public hearing to consider adoption of ordinance establishing a S SMW boating restricted area for Tavernier Creek. INSURANCE REQUIRED: No CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES: No STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval. DOCUMENTATION: FINANCIAL IMPACT: Effective Date: N/A Expiration Date: N/A Total Dollar Value of Contract: N/A Total Cost to County: N/A Current Year Portion: N/A Budgeted: N/A Source of Funds: CPI: N/A Indirect Costs: N/A Estimated Ongoing Costs Not Included in above dollar amounts: N/A Revenue Producing: N/A If yes, amount: N/A Grant: N/A County Match: N/A Insurance Required: N/A Additional Details: Installation of 3 new pilings (2 signs per piling), 2 signs mounted on existing County-owned channel marker piling, and 2 new buoys will be funded by Boating Improvement Funds. PubliciConsider v i ce Amending Chapter 26 oft e Monroe County Code of Ordinances to Establisha Slow Speed/MinimumWake Boating Restricted for Tavernier CreekRequest of the VillageIslamorada Due to Safetyc . 2 u�� = rt 3 .. 4 6 7 MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA 8 MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 9 10 ORDINANCE NO. -2026 11 12 AN ORDINANCE BY THE MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY 13 COMMISSIONERS AMENDING CHAPTER 26, MONROE COUNTY 14 CODE OF ORDINANCES, TO ESTABLISH A BOATING RESTRICTED 15 AREA (SLOW SPEED/MINIMUM WAKE ZONE) WITHIN A PORTION 16 OF TAVERNIER CREEK; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; 17 PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF INCONSISTENT PROVISIONS; 18 PROVIDING FOR FILING AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND 19 PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION. 20 21 22 WHEREAS,pursuant to Article VIII. of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 125,Florida 23 Statutes, Monroe County ("Board of County Commissioners", "Board", "BOCC", "Monroe 24 County", or the "County")possesses the police power(s)to enact ordinances to protect the health, 25 safety, and welfare of the public at-large; and 26 27 WHEREAS, Section 327.46(1)(c), Florida Statutes, provides authority for local 28 governments to establish by ordinance certain boating-restricted areas. Such ordinances must be 29 permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ("FWC"), and meet the 30 requirements of R. 68D-21.001, Fla. Admin. Code; and 31 32 WHEREAS, at the Board of County Commissioners' January 31, 2024, regular public 33 meeting, the BOCC approved Monroe County Marine Resources Office professional staff to 34 proceed with preparing and/or processing an item to create a Slow Speed/Minimum Wake boating 35 restricted area for the portion of Tavernier Creek encompassing two (2) blind bends and two (2) 36 blind intersections; and 37 38 WHEREAS, Monroe County Marine Resources Office professional staff has prepared a 39 draft Slow Speed/Minimum Wake Ordinance for that certain above-referenced portion of 40 Tavernier Creek, and submitted said Ordinance (and additional necessary documentation pursuant 41 to R. 68D-21.001) to FWC for preliminary review prior to the Monroe County Board of County 42 Commissioners holding a public hearing on such an ordinance; and 43 44 WHEREAS, FWC has determined that such a Slow Speed/Minimum Wake ordinance 45 meets the criteria of R. 68D-21.001, Fla. Admin. Code; and 46 47 WHEREAS, FWC has determined said Slow Speed/Minimum Wake ordinance does not 48 meet the criteria of R. 68D-21.004(3), Fla. Admin. Code; and 1 of 4 1 WHEREAS, amending Chapter 26 of the Monroe County Code of Ordinances to 2 effectuate the establishment of this regulation requiring Slow Speed/Minimum Wake in that 3 certain above-referenced portion of Tavernier Creek encompassing two (2) blind bends and two 4 (2)blind intersections is in the best interest of the health and safety of the public at-large; 5 6 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY 7 COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA: 8 9 Section 1. Title and Recitals. The foregoing title and recitals are true and correct and are 10 hereby incorporated as if fully stated herein. 11 12 Section 2. Chapter 26 of the Monroe County Code of Ordinances is hereby amended as 13 follows: 14 15 Chapter 26—WATERWAYS 16 17 ARTICLE III.—VESSEL RESTRICTED AREAS 18 19 Sec. 26-71 —Boating restricted zones established. 20 21 (b) Slow speed/minimum wake zones. No person shall operate a vessel in the following areas 22 spatially defined as "slow speed/minimum wake zones" at a speed in excess of slow 23 speed/minimum wake as defined in this chapter: 24 25 (9) Tavernier Creek North: To include all waters within Tavernier Creek including the 26 contiguous creeks that allow entry to Tavernier Creek from Florida Bay starting 27 approximately 1,800 feet from the intersection of Tavernier Creek and the northern man 28 made canal ending approximately 300 feet north of the mangrove shoreline at the north 29 end of Tavernier Creek as shown in Exhibit A. 30 31 Section 3. Attached Exhibit A. is hereby incorporated as if fully stated herein. 32 33 Section 4. To the extent of any internal or external conflicts, inconsistencies, and/or 34 ambiguities, within this Ordinance or between this Ordinance and any other 35 ordinance, resolution, approval, decision, or interpretation of Monroe County, the 36 more restrictive law, regulation, provision, text, and interpretation shall always 37 apply. 38 39 Section 5. Inconsistency, Partial Invalidity, Severability, and Survival of Provisions. If 40 any portion of this Ordinance, or any part or portion thereof, is held to be invalid 41 or unenforceable by any administrative hearing officer or court of competent 42 jurisdiction, the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision, or any part or 43 portion thereof, shall neither limit nor impair the operation, enforceability, or 44 validity of any other provision of this Ordinance, or any remaining part(s) or 45 portion(s)thereof. All other provisions of this Ordinance, and remaining part(s) or 46 portion(s) thereof, shall continue unimpaired in full force and effect. 47 2 of 4 1 Section 6. Repeal of Inconsistent Provisions. All ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance 2 are hereby repealed to the extent of said conflict. The repeal of an ordinance herein 3 shall not repeal the repealing clause of such ordinance or revive any ordinance 4 which has been repealed thereby. 5 6 Section 7. Filing and Effectiveness. This Ordinance shall be filed in the Office of the 7 Secretary of State of the State of Florida and shall become effective as provided by 8 law. 9 10 Section 8. Inclusion in the Monroe County Code of Ordinances. The provisions of this 11 Ordinance shall be included and incorporated into the Monroe County Code of 12 Ordinances, and shall be numbered to conform with the uniform numbering system 13 of the Code of Ordinances. 14 15 PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, 16 Florida, at a regular public meeting held on the 28th day of January, 2026. 17 18 Mayor Michelle Lincoln, District 2 19 Mayor Pro Tern David Rice, District 4 20 Commissioner Craig Cates, District 1 21 Commissioner James K. Scholl, District 3 22 Commissioner Holly Merrill Raschein, District 5 23 24 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 25 OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA 26 27 By: 28 Mayor Michelle Lincoln 29 (SEAL) MONROE,CO,, ATTORNEY 30 APP, mTO,F0RM 31 ATTEST: KEVIN MADOK, CLERKPETER MORRIS 32 33 34 AS DEPUTY CLERK 3 of 4 112 Exhibit A 113 114 Tavernier Creek North SSMW Zone 115 J o� r fJ Jf r J r, y r i r r� a� ie F, 116 117 iuoo Oj w� eve rp J u� �✓ � r J ' 118 „ 119 120 Slow Speed Minimum Wake Zone ICI III Zone Marker 4 MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE OF CHANGE TO THE MONROE COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES JANUARY 28, 2026 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing, beginning at 9:00 AM. The BOCC meeting will be held in hybrid format, allowing the public to attend either via Zoom Webinar or in person. The in-person meeting will be held at the Marathon Government Center, located at 2798 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL. The following item will be considered at the PUBLIC HEARING: PUBLIC HEARINGS: 9:00 AM (or as soon thereafter as may be heard): AN ORDINANCE BY THE MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AMENDING CHAPTER 26 OF THE MONROE COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES; ESTABLISHING A BOATING RESTRICTED AREA (SLOW SPEED/MINIMUM WAKE ZONE) WITHIN A PORTION OF TAVERNIER CREEK; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF INCONSISTENT PROVISIONS; PROVIDING FOR FILING AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE; PROVIDNG FOR CODIFICATION. Please visit the Monroe County Website at www.monroecounty-fl.gov for meeting agenda updates and information regarding the various options available to the public to view the live meeting and/or to make public comments on certain agenda items. Pursuant to Section 286.0105 Florida Statutes, if a person decides to appeal any decision of the Board of County Commissioners, with respect to any matter considered at the meeting or hearing, he or she will need a record of the proceedings, and that, for such purpose, he or she may need to ensure a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony&evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. ADA ASSISTANCE:If you are a person with a disability who needs special accommodations in order to participate in this proceeding,please contact the County Administrator's Office,by phoning(305) 292-4441, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. -5:00 p.m., no later than five(5) calendar days prior to the scheduled meeting;if you are hearing or voice impaired, call"711."