MONROE COUNTY MAKES DECISION ON RATE OF GROWTH ORDINANCE (ROGO) REQUEST TO THE STATE

FLORIDA KEYS, FL – The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution at a special meeting on Thursday to request that the state legislature adopt amendments to increase the hurricane evacuation clearance time for permanent residents for the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern from 24 to up to 26 hours to allow a maximum of 3,550 new residential permit allocations countywide.

Of the additional new residential permit allocations within the unincorporated Monroe County, 1,350 would be reserved for issuance of only one allocation per vacant buildable parcel, regardless of maximum development potential. In addition, 70 percent of those 1,350 allocations will be designated as 99-year deed-restricted workforce market-rate housing where at least 70 percent of the occupant’s income is derived from employment within the Florida Keys. Any allocations above the 1,350 that may be approved by the State (up to 26 hours) for unincorporated Monroe County could be used for affordable, workforce, or market-rate housing. The Monroe County allocations would be distributed evenly over a 40-year period, excluding workforce market rate and affordable housing allocations, which may be borrowed forward.

Monroe County’s legislative delegation, which includes State Rep. Jim Mooney and Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez, will utilize this input to form a bill they would be willing to support to be approved by the legislature for this to go into effect. The legislative session starts on March 4, 2025.

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