The Florida Keys is known for its limited growth in terms of land for reasons which should be obvious. While the location can offer a real sense of paradise, that comes with not a lot of wide-open land areas.
Christine Hurley, the Executive Director with the Monroe County Land Authority joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.7FM to give listeners an idea of what the organization tackles.
The land authority is a partner to Monroe County. Because of the limited growth in the Keys, the state of Florida created the land authority to purchase vacant property all around the Keys to conserve the environment and make sure that development rights are retired.
Hurley explained, “People have property rights and they have expectations about what their land that they own can be used for and we are kind of the people that come in to the way I view it is kind of save the day between the conflict of limited growth and property rights.”
What happens to the land after the authority purchases it?
Hurley said, “We have a lot of different programs that we’re running, but primarily we hold conservation land. We don’t do things with that, although you can do limited types of recreation with that. Board walks, sometimes public access to water. Things that are very community oriented. We also buy properties that are not environmentally sensitive to retire density. In that case sometimes we strip development off the land and then just resell it to the next door neighbor so they can use it for accessory structures.”
The land authority also purchases hurricane damaged properties. After Irma, a $15 million grant was received from the state for that purpose. The damaged houses are then demolished and the land is returned to green space that could be used for pump stations or storage of water.
One program the land authority is working to launch would help elevate homes.
The land authority also purchases land for affordable housing. They partner with a number of organizations to complete housing units throughout the Keys.
Just yesterday there was a groundbreaking ceremony with Habitat for Humanity in the middle Keys in the city of Marathon. Nine affordable housing units will be created.
Is it difficult for the land authority to acquire land given the amount of competitive bidding in the market right now?
Hurley said, “We estimate about 6,000 vacant, privately owned lots in unincorporated Monroe, so that doesn’t even include what is in the city. Of those 6,000, we want to buy all of them to retire their potential to ask for a building permit. That’s one of our goals. We are often behind the market in our ability to pay for the lots. We often get appraisals and recently there has been some very good land sales that have helped us be able to offer more, but you’ve got to know that these lots are in a little bit precarious situation because most of the owners that own the vacant lots now know how permitting works and they know if they tried to apply for a permit it would take a very long time to get one and therefor are sometimes willing to sell to us probably not for what they perceive the market rate to be. We base our offers, though, on actual appraisals. So people’s perception is often different from actual hard numbers.”