Sounds of heavy machinery and photos showing vegetation clearing on Tavernier property — now owned by a development group planning to construct a grocery store and workforce housing — led Monroe County recently to institute a stop-work order.
On Jan. 21, residents who live next to the commercial property on Orange Blossom Road say they heard the sounds of chainsaws, bulldozers and excavators. Drone footage showed vast vegetation clearing was underway at the back of the property at MM 92.5, oceanside.
Not only were invasive exotics cleared, but footage also showed mangroves were among the vegetation uprooted from the property. A lawyer for the development group said the “inadvertent” clearing of disturbed wetlands was done by a contractor replacing water main in Islamorada for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.
A complaint was filed with Monroe County’s code enforcement and planning and environmental resources departments, which led to the posting of a stop-work order. A referral was made to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection regarding the clearing.
“Code Compliance staff and Planning & Environmental Resources staff are working with the property owners to address the issue and find a resolution,” Emily Schemper, senior director of planning and environmental resources, told Keys Weekly on Jan. 24.
The property, formerly owned by Singletary Concrete Products Inc. and CEMEX Construction Materials Florida LLC, was purchased last December by Blackstone Group-Tavernier 925 LLC for $5.7 million. The 19.33 acres on the property consists of 14.5 upland acres and 4.82 acres of mangroves. The development group is seeking to construct a 47,240-square-foot Publix grocery store, 2,100 square-foot liquor store and 86 workforce housing units.
Bart Smith, attorney representing the development group, told Keys Weekly by email on Jan. 24 that the property owners leased the front portion of the property to the contractor Michels Pipeline, which is currently installing new transmission main for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. Having successfully installed new lines on Upper Matecumbe and Windley Keys, the contractors are preparing to replace several miles of aged line on Plantation Key as soon as next month.
“The FKAA contractor will be storing aggregate to place for bedding of the pipe, fill from excavation and pipe materials,” Smith told Keys Weekly in an email. “The contractors entered the site and removed invasive exotics as part of clearing the area to be utilized.
“Inadvertently, a small portion of disturbed wetlands adjacent to the invasive exotics were impacted,” Smith continued. “We have contacted FDEP and are meeting with them this week. We will make this right as we have been upfront about maintaining the wetlands from the beginning of this project. This was an error and while it was not caused by the property owners it will be corrected.”
Monroe County Environmental Resources staff previously verified the location of existing wetlands on site and is confirming the accuracy of the wetland location shown on the owners’ proposed site plan. No final site plan for the property has been approved or issued. The owners’ applications for a conditional use permit and a development agreement are under review.
“This is a very complicated project, and the issue of the illegal clearing was dealt with swiftly by Monroe County’s Code Compliance and Environmental Resources departments,” said Monroe County Commissioner Holly Merrill Raschein, who represents the Tavernier area, in a prepared statement on Jan. 28. “We take illegal clearing very seriously in Monroe County.”
A letter by Andrew Toppino, who’s part of the Blackstone Group, to Monroe County commissioners on Jan. 27, said they were approached by Giannetti Contracting Corporation, a subcontractor to Michaels Pipeline Inc., who was awarded the waterline replacement project. To ensure Giannetti could complete the project efficiently, Toppino said it was essential to secure a location for material laydown and staging.
“This staging area is critical to completing this vital infrastructure project for the Upper Keys in a timely manner,” he said. “We made an agreement with the contractor to utilize the property for construction laydown (temporarily) until we begin construction. The use of this property as a laydown site was formally approved by the FKAA via an approved submittal.”
Toppino added Blackstone Group-Tavernier 925 LLC has consistently maintained its commitment to preserving the disturbed wetlands on-site.
“To clarify, our site plan has always clearly delineated the disturbed wetlands, and we have never suggested developing any portion of the property within that area,” Toppino wrote.
Toppino said they’re working with Monroe County and Giannetti to ensure that this mistake is corrected through the proper channels.
Last February, county commissioners approved an ordinance for a Tavernier Key Commercial Overlay District (TKCOD) on property located at MM 92.5, oceanside. The vote was 4-1 with County Commissioner Craig Cates expressing opposition after hearing concerns from community residents. The approval gave developers clearance to construct a nonresidential structure beyond a 10,000-square-foot limit on the property.
The ordinance was referred to FloridaCommerce and originally shot down on May 16 due to issues between the developer’s proposal and the TKCOD. In its order, FloridaCommerce stated the ordinance improperly created an overlay district to exempt the subject property from development standards.
But just a month later, on June 26, FloridaCommerce announced a reversal of its decision to deny the county-approved ordinance. The new order stated the TKCOD was indeed consistent with comprehensive plan and development guidelines. Emily Hetherington, FloridaCommerce spokeswoman, said the merits of the application were never in doubt; rather, their questions were solely matters of law.
In December, the county commission approved a measure to let the developers reserve 86 early evacuation workforce housing units for the project. They also approved a resolution to apply the TKCOD to the property at MM 92.5 in Tavernier. Cates was the lone “no” vote on the application of the TKCOD.
Developers must obtain a major conditional use approval to proceed with the project. That matter is taken up by the Monroe County Planning Commission. A development agreement, which would authorize development of 86 workforce housing dwelling units and a 49,900 square-foot nonresidential structure, must also be approved by the county.
