Deer Building Fees Still Causing Stir: Planning Board Gives Mitigation Another Look

By Alyson Crean, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon

Mar. 19–Residents of Big Pine and No Name keys sent a message to the Monroe County Planning Commission Monday evening: They’re not happy bearing the cost of protecting endangered Key deer.

“There was a uniform sense of despair and frustration” with the islands’ Habitat Conservation Plan, Planning Commissioner John Marston said.

“The folks that were there seemed to overwhelmingly express the feeling they had been betrayed,” Chairman Randy Wall said.

About 60 people attended a workshop at the Big Pine Academy to give input on a proposed ordinance to mitigate the effects of development on the deer and their habitat.

Because of the deer, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Monroe County have imposed a conservation plan to protect the animals. Under the so-called HCP, new development and redevelopment must be offset by setting aside a certain amount of land to preserve deer habitat

Over the past several years, the county has been using land it has acquired for individuals’ mitigation. The mitigation bank, though, is getting low, according to Growth Management Director Drew Trivette.

In November, the Planning Commission threw out a proposed ordinance that would have those building new homes pay $98,000 for land conservation before they could build. Though the commission agreed the cost was unrealistic for the average home builder, the commission still needs to come up with some sort of mitigation plan.

At Monday’s workshop, several Big Pine residents pointed out that the formulas in the HCP are based upon traffic flow.

“This is all about Key deer being killed primarily by automobiles,” Wall said. “There was a lot of talk about thousands of people driving through Big Pine. Say someone wants to build a store and the [HCP formula] says it will generate seven trips a day. That store owner could be asked to pay around $100,000 in impact fees, and they’re looking out the window at the highway seeing thousands of cars passing through to Key West.”

“Residents are saying thousands of cars pass through and we just live here and go to the store and back,” Marston said. “Why are we shouldering all of the burden and crippling our ability to use our property?”

Residents will get another chance to voice their displeasure April 9 when the Planning Commission will consider a new mitigation ordinance. Wall says it’s more realistic, with fees around $7,000 for a new home. County staff is still finalizing it, so the details are not yet available to the public.

The Planning Commission meeting begins at 10 a.m. April 9 at the Marathon Government Center.

—–

To see more of the Keynoter, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.keynoter.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.