The Marathon City Council’s first post-budget meeting on Oct. 10 saw little of the fireworks from its September counterparts, but nonetheless saw important steps toward resolution of several thorns in the side of residents and city staff alike.
20th Street Encampment Steps Into Spotlight
Up first was discussion of the plan moving forward for 20th Street Ocean, the site of a growing encampment for Marathon’s homeless population in recent months. Citing safety, cleanliness and aesthetic concerns from residents and nearby businesses, city officials organized a “cleanup” of the street and adjacent woods the morning of the council meeting, delivering notice to “transients” to remove their personal property from the area in the weeks prior.
As mentioned previously during discussions of the city’s heavily scrutinized K-Mart plaza bus stop, however, Marathon lacks any form of homeless shelter, and questions remain about where the population may relocate, or whether the city will take further action to discourage or contain habitation of 20th Street, including the installation of fencing along the sides of the road and a security camera.
Councilman Kenny Matlock, with the support of councilman Jeff Smith, asked for the addition of 20th Street’s future as a discussion item for an upcoming workshop meeting to allow input from residents and businesses in the area.
Sombrero Boulevard Flooding Woes Continue
Public Works Director Carlos Solis addressed flooding on Sombrero Boulevard as a combination of high tides and heavy rainfall, a subject of increasing complaints from Marathon residents as water remains on the road for several days at a time, occasionally lasting more than a week. He said the city is weighing options of an active well pump system – the area is currently drained through gravity-powered injection wells – against the cost of raising the entire section of road.
Smith asked Solis about the possibility of backflow preventers to combat salt water rising through the city-installed injection wells in the flooded area during king tide events, a possibility Solis called a “catch 22” as the preventers would slow drainage after freshwater rains.
Solis said he anticipates hiring a consultant for assessment of the area by the council’s December meeting, and will have public works teams on standby in the meantime with portable pumps to tackle significant rain events by pumping water into other nearby injection wells.
Repairing the Rocky DEO Road
A strained relationship between Marathon and the Florida Department of Commerce (Florida Commerce), formerly known as the Department of Economic Opportunity, catalyzed by the highly-publicized Boatworks live-aboard case, appears to be further on the mend, as evidenced by approval of Resolution 2023-100.
The resolution authorizes a potential settlement with Florida Commerce regarding 14 appeals associated with 13 Transferable Building Rights (TBRs) formerly assigned to a 52-unit affordable housing complex behind the scrutinized waterfront homes known as Boatworks on 39th Street. Constructed using market rate building units, the affordable complex’s original units were eventually transferred off the property when they were replaced by 52 affordable housing allocations – the subject of another legal controversy and temporary revocation before they were reinstated by the Florida legislature.
Marathon already reached a settlement with Florida Commerce earlier this year regarding Boatworks’ market-rate waterfront homes, as discussed at the council’s February meeting. But multiple Marathon residents looking to use the appealed TBRs from the affordable complex have since been caught in the crossfire between Florida Commerce and the city, stuck with vacant lots but no valid right to obtain permits and construct a home.
Work by City Manager George Garrett, City Attorney Steve Williams and Planning Director Brian Shea to arrive at the potential second settlement includes adoption of several ordinances. One of these, Ordinance 2023-08, protects live-aboard vessels established when Marathon incorporated, but clarifies the crucial point in the Boatworks case – namely, that these existing live-aboard dwelling units may not be transferred upland and used as rights to construct land-based structures.
Other related ordinances in the matter include 2023-06 and 2023-22, discussed in depth at the council’s May meeting. The ordinances amend guidelines governing the transfer of building rights within the city, including addressing the allowed density and environmental sensitivity of both the sending and receiving sites. The ordinances also clarifies that a TBR may be “banked” with the city for no more than two years, with additional time requiring written authorization from the city’s planning director.
All three ordinances were unanimously approved at their second hearing.
In Other News
- At the direction of the council, city staff will work to create licensing and leasing agreements for newly-created trolley company Island Trolley Tours. Easing the burden of multiple cars on U.S. 1, the trolley will stop at several Marathon businesses, hotels and attractions, some of which – like Sombrero Beach, the Seven Mile Marina and Marathon Community Park – are on city property.
- Eagle Scout candidate Giovanni Senmartin presented his completed Eagle Scout project to the council: a painted, mobile wooden flag box, dedicated for use by the city in collecting used American flags for respectful retirement.
- Florida Keys Contractors Association president Armand Messina told the council he was “very pleased” with recent weekly meetings with city staff to streamline the permitting process and eliminate holdups for local contractors. The city and contractors’ association will hold a contractors’ workshop on Thursday, Oct. 26 to continue addressing existing issues. The meeting is open to the public, and all local contractors are encouraged to attend.
- An amendment to the city’s first-time homebuyer program in Ordinance 2023-21 was also approved. The change allows Marathon residents in Habitat for Humanity multifamily homes to apply for funding as first-time homebuyers in the program. The council also discussed the possibility of approving applicants currently in single-family Habitat homes on a case-by-case basis.
- Following extensive discussions of bike path and parking concerns at the east end of Aviation Boulevard, Ordinance 2023-20 was approved in a 4-1 vote – with Mayor Luis Gonzalez voting against – to modify the city’s tow-away zones. The ordinance’s major addition includes a tow-away zone along the 25th Street right-of-way, a bone of contention among the area’s residents and businesses. The ordinance allows for parking along Aviation only in areas directly in front of residential homes. Language included in the original draft ordinance to provide “designated parking spaces on the south side of the road between Shark Street and 107th Street” was removed before approval.
