Monroe County BOCC Adopts New Comprehensive Plan And Land Development Code

MARATHON – The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and updated Land Development Code, the first comprehensive update to both documents in about 20 years and the culmination of a six-year effort with lots of public input along the way.

“Motion carries. Where’s the champagne?” Mayor Heather Carruthers said after the Comprehensive Plan was adopted at the April 13 BOCC Special Meeting in Marathon.

“These policy documents reflect the community vision that will guide future growth and community development through the year 2030,” said Mayte Santamaria, Director of the Planning and Environmental Resources Department, which led the update process.

The Comprehensive Plan evaluates just about everything that would affect the island chain, including: land uses, housing, conservation of environmentally sensitive land, transportation, ports and aviation.  The plan also includes infrastructure (water, sewer, solid waste disposal, drainage and groundwater aquifer recharge) and deals with recreation and open space, cultural resources, historic preservation and capital improvement planning for all County services.

The update began in 2009 with the gathering of new data and analysis; conducting an evaluation and appraisal of the existing Comprehensive Plan; and drafting new policies which incorporates input from the public and multiple agencies.

Commissioner David Rice pointed out that Wednesday’s adoption meeting was the 16th public hearing of the BOCC on the plan and code. He also recognized the County staff for its efforts, saying: “The amount of staff work that occurred to support the process and create the documents is mind boggling.”

Public speaker Bill Hunter of Sugarloaf told the Commissioners: “Speaking on behalf of all residents of the Florida Keys, I want to recognize the unique environment and how difficult it is to create a comp plan that handles the day-to-day balance of property owners’ rights, the environment and our quality of life. I want to thank you all for doing that.”

Both adopted documents will be sent to the state Department of Economic Opportunity in the next couple of weeks.

For the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, the public has 30 days to challenge it from the date of adoption. DEO has 45 days to decide whether it is in compliance. If all goes smoothly, the plan becomes effective when DEO finds it in compliance.

For the Land Development Code, DEO has 60 days to approve or not approve it and issue a final order. From issue of the final order, the public has 21 days to make a challenge. The code would become effective when the challenge period is over.

There are numerous changes that affect the public. One is the comp plan’s new requirement that community meetings must be held before public hearings on many applications, including major conditional uses, text amendments, development agreements and map amendments. This emphasizes the importance of citizen participation as early as possible.

The adopted 2030 Comprehensive Plan and update Land Development Code, as well as all previous versions, can be found at: www.keyscompplan.com.

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