A July 30 village workshop gave members of the public an opportunity to weigh in on how Islamorada could potentially navigate through the residential development conundrum, handle possibly more building permits for homes and heed a mandated 24-hour hurricane evacuation.
Organized by the Islamorada Planning Department and Director Jennifer DeBoisbriand, the conversation revolved around allocations for residential housing in the village and whether it should request more permits from the state to accommodate property owner’s rights and requests to develop their lands. At the same time, Florida statute requires Monroe County residents be able to evacuate the Keys within 24 hours before a storm.
Last November, FloridaCommerce gave Monroe County a list of options for hurricane evacuation plans, all tied to the possibility of adding perhaps 3,550, or more, ROGO allocations to the Keys. The BOCC and other local officials asked for a year to work on a response.
DeBoisbriand said the village has plenty of allocations for nonresidential development. In addition, the village chose to reserve 165 of the 300 early evacuation affordable housing units the state gave out following Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Permits for residential development, however, are lacking. Fifty-four applications to the village are requesting a market rate building permit with not enough allocations to dole out. An initial review by the planning department found between 178 and 212 properties in the village which haven’t come for a building permit but could potentially ask for an allocation in the years to come.
The village council approved a moratorium on new applications seeking a permit. That moratorium is set to expire in February, meaning the village could accept new applications again.
“The village council decided they wanted to take a pause on accepting new applications so we could have these conversations so we could study where we’re at and figure out the best course forward,” DeBoisbriand said.
Following a presentation, attendees at the workshop broke into groups to develop ideas as to how the village should proceed. Ty Harris, a local land use attorney, said his group agreed the village should take as many allocations as it can.
‘It doesn’t mean you have to use them. Not having the flexibility 20 to 30 years down the road limits your options,” he said. “The folks on the BPAS (building permit allocation system) list should be able to get a permit in a reasonable amount of time.”
Van Cadenhead said the village shouldn’t request any more allocations for market rate from the state.
“What we’re doing tonight is an exercise of futility, in my opinion, because we don’t have the space,” he said.
Alina Davis said some in the group preferred no more building permit allocations while some would like to see the village offer one market rate permit a year. Davis also asked if the state had any liability should a property owner in the village file a takings claim. DeBoisbriand said that hasn’t been determined.
Elizabeth Jolin said her group discussed the need for more public participation and a simpler explanation of BPAS for those in the community who may not have a grasp of the situation. In terms of answering the question of what the village wants, Jolin said everyone needs to be talking about the same consequences and impacts.
“To get a universal answer, we were hoping to have information about a realistic hurricane evacuation, the consequences of buildout on infrastructure, what would the environmental impact be if we built everything out,” Jolin said.
With the first workshop concluded, DeBoisbriand said the village will be sending out surveys — one goes out Thursday, Aug. 1 — to gather more feedback from the public. DeBoisbriand said the village will hold another workshop before the council decides to request more permits or none.
