A newly-sworn Islamorada Council is mulling a request for possibly more residential market rate building permits from the state — bucking a previous council’s decision a month before.
Discussion during a Nov. 19 meeting at the Founders Park Community Center lasted more than an hour with no definitive number agreed to by the council. Councilman Buddy Pinder moved to continue the matter to an upcoming meeting; that motion was supported by three other members.
Last month, the council voted 4-1 on a request for 104.75 additional market rate building permits for the village (They would combine with a 0.25 allocation the village has to make 105 total.) The council, with three outgoing members, wanted those new allocations doled out over a 12-½ years. They believed the figure, which was less than the planning department’s recommendation of 250, would accommodate applicants whose vacant parcels could be developed, 178, as well the 54 applicants waiting for a permit but haven’t received one due to the limited supply. The decision came as municipalities and communities across the Keys have engaged in public conversations while answering surveys to determine whether more ROGO/BPAS allocations should be requested from the state.
A request to reconsider the previous council’s resolution came from newly-elected councilman Don Horton. He acknowledged his support for the staff’s recommendation of 250 during previous council meetings before his victory on Election Day.
Village Attorney John Quick said that if the council wanted to repeal and change the allocation ask, they would need a majority vote approving a waiver of council procedure. Currently, councils are prohibited from considering the same matter within a six-month period. Councilwoman Deb Gillis moved, seconded by Horton, to waive the procedure. Mayor Sharon Mahoney and Pinder supported the move. Citing the due diligence the previous council put into their request, councilman Steve Friedman opposed the waiving procedure.
“I would prefer to not risk any movement on it because the previous council spent a lot of effort and time on getting to this number,” Friedman said.
Horton said he feels the council could risk burdening the taxpayers if they don’t ask for a number to cover future potential takings claims. Horton said he’s seen two major takings claims in the village that were successful, one being the Sojourn property.
“I think it’s irresponsible to say it’s not going to happen and we don’t have some type of buffer,” he said, adding the community needs to weigh in to determine the number of allocated building permits.
Several representatives of community organizations relayed their opposition to the council’s potential request for more allocations. Dottie Moses spoke on behalf of the Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowner Associations, one of 19 groups uniting as part of the Florida Keys ROGO Coalition. She said the coalition stands for data-driven, objective analysis on the effects of ROGOs prior to any issuance of building permits to Keys municipalities.
“Islamorada is currently grappling with significant unresolved infrastructure challenges. For example, the level of service on U.S. 1 is failing due to severe traffic congestion,” she said. “Moreover, the Islamorada sewer system has experienced eight major pipe breaks, an issue that remains unresolved. These breaks occur during high-occupancy weekends, raising the question: is the problem an engineering failure or simply a matter of inadequate capacity?”
Ann Olsen, Last Stand president, urged the council to weigh the cost to the economy, infrastructure and environment.
“This shouldn’t be a race to get to the most (allocations). It should be a focus on the very least, and the latest county survey reflects just that: 84% percent of our citizens say either ‘no’ ROGOs or just 220 requested by the BOCC,” she said.
Mahoney, who voted in favor of 104.25 allocations with the previous council, said she wasn’t in favor of taking all 250 as recommended by the planning department.
“I sat with Mark (Gregg) and Elizabeth (Jolin) that night. It sounded to me that 105 covered everything,” she said.
Jennifer DeBoisbriand, the village’s planning director, said there’s no magic number as to the market rate residential building permits for the village. DeBoisbriand and her staff conducted an analysis of vacant parcels in the village. She said there are 178 vacant parcels in the village which meet the criteria for a residential building permit. Specifically, the lots are residentially-zoned, meet the minimum square footage size for lot development and are considered vacant by the property appraiser as of 2022.
“There is still additional analysis we could do,” she said. “We didn’t look at each property when they were purchased; that factors into takings claims. There are other things we didn’t look at. The number I gave you was a cushion number to cover all our bases.
“Am I married to the number? No. I gave an analysis so you could make a decision you felt was in the best interest of the village,” she said.
Last month, county commissioners supported a request to the state for 220 more allocations for the Keys, which includes 40 for Islamorada. The figure wouldn’t prompt any legislative changes to hurricane evacuation times. DeBoisbriand said the 220 is more in Monroe County’s grasp; anything more than that would require approval from state legislators.
“Obviously, anything that comes from the state is their decision. We’re not just going to get anything. They’re going to tell us what we’re going to get,” DeBoisbriand said.
Gillis, who returned to the council for the first time since terming out in 2020, suggested the council ask for 150.75 allocations. Discussion ultimately ended with no agreed figure. Pinder’s motion to continue discussion to the Dec. 10 meeting was approved 4-1. Gillis was the lone “no” vote.
