Last-ditch effort to dump new cistern building requirement fails

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Despite President Trump’s assertation that climate change does not exist, Key West City Commissioners came down a second time on the side of global warming when they voted to require new construction projects include a cistern providing a secondary water source.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to give a second and final approval to proposed changes to the city’s Building Permit Allocation System, called “BPAS.” But not until Commissioner Margaret Romero made a last-minute effort to remove one of the proposed changes that would require contractors to build a cistern that is a minimum of 1,000 gallons or larger based on the roof size square footage. Romero and Commissioner Billy Wardlow had both argued against the cistern mandate when the BPAS changes came before them for a first reading in April. They lost the argument then but revisited it during the second reading June 5 when Mayor Craig Cates and Commissioner Sam Kaufman – both of whom voted for the cistern requirement on first reading – were absent.

Romero said her objection to cisterns, officially called a rainwater catchment system, was the cost. She wanted the new BPAS requirements to “highly encourage” cisterns but not penalize developers if they did not want to spend what could be tens of thousands of dollars on a cistern. Under the new building regulations, if a project is over 1,000 square feet, the size of the cistern would be based on the square footage of the roof. For example, a 2,000 square foot roof would require a 2,000-gallon cistern.

“I really think it is an undue burden… its cost justification being low,” Romero said.

Wardlow said the cistern requirement would be a cost liability for any type of future construction, including affordable housing where the profit margins for developers are often lower than market rate projects. He worried about the proposed 104-unit affordable housing project the city is planning to build on College Road on Stock Island.

“If we build this place on College Road, say it’s 10,000 square feet, [do] we have to put in a 10,000-gallon cistern there,” he asked Key West Planning Director Patrick Wright, who confirmed Wardlow’s premise.

But the other three commissioners, the majority, said they were looking ahead to the future, when climate change might affect the availability of fresh water available in Key West. Commissioner Jimmy Weekley pointed to current radio ads sponsored by the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority urging residents to capture as much rain water as possible for garden watering and other, non-potable use.

“In the future there is going to be a major water shortage. And we’re at the end of that very water line we’re depending on now,” he said, referring to the pipes that bring fresh water from the mainland to the Florida Keys.

Commissioners Richard Payne and Clayton Lopez also voted to keep the cistern requirement. Lopez said he hates anything that has the word “mandatory” in front of it, however, he couldn’t ignore warnings of future water shortages.

“We have to be able to see down the road and try to have some sort of plan for that eventuality. It may not be us but it will be our children and our children’s children,” he said.

The Key West Planning Board had previously agreed to remove the cistern requirement, as had Wright, who argued it will add “serious up-front costs” to a project at a time when the city is trying to encourage developers to build affordable housing. He pointed to the new Poinciana Gardens Senior Living Community, which had to install a 30,000-gallon cistern tank costing approximately $90,000.

“They’ve got an above-ground pool essentially out there,” he said.

The cistern requirement was part of a change in how the city will now allocate building permits. Previously, the permit application system rewarded projects that included a variety of “green,” or environmentally friendly building practices. But post-Hurricane Irma, city officials now want to encourage more affordable housing and the point system includes several changes to do that.

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