Florida Keys leaders want a year to respond to the state’s offers to change hurricane evacuation plans, which could trigger thousands of new building permits for the island chain.
The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 13 voted unanimously to ask state lawmakers to hold off on the issue until leaders throughout the Keys can sort through all the numbers, data and desire of the voters.
The BOCC met in Key Largo, with the Florida legislative session set to start within a month.
“We’re not under the gun to make a decision right away,” said County Mayor Holly Raschein, who spoke with state officials at FloridaCommerce before the BOCC’s meeting. “I didn’t get any indication that they were going to try to hurry us up. It was actually the opposite.”
County Administrator Roman Gastesi said they could get at least a year to work on the evacuation decision, likely until the start of the 2025 legislative session.
Before tinkering with the Keys’ hurricane evacuation plan, the BOCC wants to study the possible impacts on environmental protection, public safety and quality of life.
“How much can we handle? How many vacant lots truly are there available? Where are they located?” said Commissioner Michelle Lincoln of Marathon, ticking off a few of the questions at hand.
The Keys have vacant lots that are technically online for development, but some are in flood-prone areas and don’t even have roads or utility hookups.
“Until we have all the answers that all of us have asked, it’s impossible for anyone to give an educated decision on this,” Lincoln said. “What we would like this year is to keep Key West in the 24-hour evacuation plan as well as mobile homes to be included in phase one.”
Commissioner Craig Cates, of Key West, said, “I’ll be pushing to take this to referendum for the citizens to have input.”
In November, the FloridaCommerce, or the Department of Commerce, gave Monroe County a list of options for hurricane evacuation plans, all tied to the possibility of adding perhaps 3,550, or up to nearly 8,000, rate-of-growth-ordinance (ROGO) allocations to the Keys.
‘Consequences’ of development
Monroe County and Key West are each designated as an “area of critical state concern,” with policies to control growth that are based on the quickest time to safely evacuate residents and visitors in the case of a hurricane.
In 2012, Florida officials approved a 10-year plan to distribute 3,550 building permits throughout the Keys, from 2013-2023. That was meant to maintain a 24-hour evacuation for permanent residents.
Keys residents are already living with harsh consequences of development, said Dottie Moses, of the Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowner Associations.
“Over the past 11 years, our traffic has become a nightmare,” Moses said, ticking off a list of problems. “Our water pipe failed. Our reef is all but dead, our marine life is fading away, our neighborhoods flood with regularity.”
The 120-mile long Florida Keys island chain isn’t just about the county. It also includes cities with geographical and political differences.
Steve Williams, the city attorney for Marathon, said the Middle Keys city has about 1,000 vacant lots left – but realistically several hundred may be unbuildable.
Marathon needs to take every legal route to prevent the devastating costs of lawsuits from people who are turned down for permits to build on the lots they already own, he said.
The city is asking for new building permits to pocket, if only to protect themselves from being sued.
“We run out in 2024,” Williams said. “We’re a little touchy when it comes to potential takings cases.”
Williams said Marathon needs to preserve a legal defense.
“I would much rather years from now be arguing against the state that we asked for all we could get, you told us no, so, hey, why don’t you defend these takings cases instead of the city,” he said. “We would rather have Tallahassee pay for those rather than the city or the county pay for those.”
Moses, a constant observer of Keys government, added a couple of words to her prepared statement after hearing the BOCC’s plans to take more time to decide on evacuation.
“Please restore our confidence that you will stick to the plan – and it sounds like you’re going to go in that direction,” Moses said.
Commissioner David Rice of Marathon said he would love to say “no more” to development in the Keys.
“We’ve got three or four choices,” Rice said, stopping himself from going into further detail. “Absolutely none of those choices are without consequences. That’s where we are, guys. We slowed growth for 20, 30 years. The bills are coming due and it’s either fish or cut bait.”
Moses, of Key Largo, recalled one of Rice’s former quotes.
“Commissioner Rice, I remember you saying once, ‘We could agree to build on every available lot, but then no one would ever want to live here,’” Moses said. “We agree with that.”
Raschein, formerly the District 120 state representative in Tallahassee from 2012-2020, who now represents Tavernier through Ocean Reef on the BOCC, said she’s confident the state will take Monroe County’s lead on this issue.
“This is an opportunity for us to pick their brains and help control our destiny,” Raschein said. “This is the future of the Keys. We knew it was coming, and I do feel very encouraged that we do have time.”
The BOCC’s next meeting is set for Jan. 24, 2024 at the Marathon Government Center.
