Difficult Florida Keys Day
for Monroe County leaders
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
April 2, designated as “Florida Keys Day”, has come and gone, leaving uncertainty and anxiety in its wake for local politicians and government officials concerned with land issues that aren’t exactly a priority for state lawmakers.
In particular, both County Administrator Roman Gastesi and Florida Keys State Rep. Holly Raschein R-Key Largo – as well as a small army of other local officials and lobbyists – face an uphill battle to win Tallahassee over to the realities of land conservation and affordable housing, in a crowded county trying to buck the state’s pro-growth policies.
Throw in the county’s designation as a state Area of State Critical Concern, which greatly limits development, and Monroe is indeed an odd duck when it comes to making its case before regional bureaucracies.
“Because we’re an Area of Critical Concern, we’ve had a partnership with the state for nearly 40 years now that has defined the amount of growth and carrying capacity we can handle,” Gastesi said Monday. “We’re constrained by hurricane evacuation, and of the 11,000 lots in private hands in this county, we have only 3,000 ROGO building permits for the next 10 years. So, we’re trying to explain that it’s a ‘pay me now or pay me later’ proposition, where buying people out is a lot cheaper now than it will be a decade down the road. We got together with the leaders of the various committees to try to make them aware of that. At this point, explaining how we’re different is about all we can do.”
Despite the heavy-lifting involved, area pols are still doing their best to bring home millions is water and land conservation bacon through Amendment 1, which Mayor Pro Tem Heather Carruthers cited as “the will of the people,” following its passage last November by referendum. The amendment promises up to $700 million per year in funds to be used for those purposes.
The county is also after Tallahassee for an additional $50 million in wastewaer project cash, which Gov. Rick Scott has included in his budget, but the state House has proposed just $25 million, and the state Senate, none at all.
Back in 2007 the Legislature approved $200 for stormwater and sewer projects in the Keys, however, just $100 million of that money has trickled through, over the past two years.
Affordable housing issue
The other side of the conservation coin is, of course, the construction of affordable housing in the urbanized parts of the Keys which badly need it.
On this issue, Raschein says she’s doing her best to find a bill that could be used as a suitable vehicle to introduce legislation allowing Land Authority money to be spent on the development of affordable housing, and not just the purchase of the land itself.
In particular, the city of Key West wants to change state law to be able to fund preservation and redevelopment of existing affordable stock, which it has in spades, rather than just buying land, which is growing scarcer all the time in the Southernmost City.
Though Key West Mayor Craig Cates is onside with Raschein’s efforts, others, such as developer Ed Swift aren’t in favor. Swift recently wrote a letter to Raschein a letter opposing changing the law as it would “Completely [change] the purpose of the authority and with it the responsibility of those who now participate in the process as board members and staff, from acquisition to construction.”
Swift also asserted that “While the pool of land is shrinking there have been and are still parcels that the Land Authority could buy in Key West, Stock Island and Big Coppitt,”
We have a Republican State Representative in a Republican controlled State Government. What is the problem? Maybe the next time we choose our State Representative, we should choose someone that is respected in Tallahassee.