Cynthia Guerra, the executive director of Monroe County Land Authority joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the county.
Guerra was in the planning department from 2017 until last year.
She said, “When Christine transitioned to become our County Administrator, for most of that time, I had some other responsibilities. But for most of that time, I was supporting the land authorities work. So while not being a direct employee, I was always involved in their initiatives and programs.”
What does the land authority do?
Guerra said, “The land authority was created in 1986 and since that time, the mission and the main objectives of the of the land authority’s work has been the same, and our primary responsibilities are to acquire land for environmental protection or conservation. We also acquire land for affordable housing. In the past, the land authority was buying land for recreational facilities, although that hasn’t happened for quite a while. Also, as an intermediary between landowners and government entities, we buy land to protect private property rights. So if it doesn’t quite fit into that conservation or affordable housing envelope, we can still potentially purchase lands to retire development rights primarily.”
Could it help with the ROGO issue?
Guerra said, “For a long time, the land authority, in partnership with Monroe County, had several programs that were specifically targeted to retire density. Again, this would be on parcels that were, just think of maybe a vacant, mowed lot in a developed neighborhood, if it had the potential to be developed, not necessarily a ROGO allocation, but the potential be developed, the land authority could buy it outright through the Density Reduction Program, or it could buy just the development right of the property. Those programs were really robust in in the years after Irma, prior to COVID, and then through some fiscal challenges, they’ve sort of wound down. But we’re hoping to get back to a place where the county can help us fund those programs and we can get them going again, because they do take a lot of pressure off of the ROGO program and give people an alternative.”
Where does the funding come from to make these acquisitions?
Guerra said, “For the density reduction programs, they come from the county commission. They’re the ones that would make the appropriation for those programs. As , funding has been tight the last couple of years, so that’s why the programs are not as active as they’ve been in the past. But the other land acquisition that the land authority does is actually funded with two principal sources. One is a park surcharge on admissions at state parks, and the other is a tourist impact tax, so we are not general fund supported.”
Was the land authority involved with the Lofts in Key West?
Guerra confirmed, “The land authority did provide some funding for the ownership portion of the lofts. As a matter of fact, I just went to their grand opening last week in Key West. It’s a beautiful property. I think they said they have 98 rental units and 28 home ownership units, and those were the units that land authority was able to help with.”
Are there construction projects going on in conjunction with the land authority?
Guerra said, “We have a bunch of projects that were funded in Christine’s last year and also funded in my first year. They haven’t actually broken down yet, but these are all large scale affordable housing projects. One of them, for example, is the Landings at Sugarloaf Key. And I think that one is scheduled to break ground in early part of 2026 and is going to provide about 45 or so units for affordable and workforce housing. We can provide some assistance in a host of ways. We don’t fully fund pretty much any project, but we can always help people bring these projects over the finish line, so to speak. It can be either through the provision of acquired land or in the case of our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, for example, we’ll purchase a parcel and then give it to the county who provides a long term lease to Habitat to develop single family units. Or in the case of maybe some of the items that you see on the budget, those are larger scale, multi family developments, and in those cases, we provide construction funding..”
Are there still opportunities for landowners to consult with and contact the land authority and possibly become a seller?
Guerra said, “The voluntary home buyout program was actually a program that I was administering for the county, but under the purview of the land authority. That was a two year federal grant that ended up being a five year program. It was a very successful program. We were able to purchase over 20 properties of people that were directly impacted, significantly impacted by Hurricane Irma, folks that had not found solutions, either on the open market or through insurance or those kinds of things. That program did wrap up in June. But we’re always available to talk to homeowners if they’re interested in selling a piece of property, or if they have a realtor, their realtors can contact us. I’ll give our phone number. It’s 305-295-5180. We have a lot of programs. It’s very unusual that a parcel doesn’t fit into one of them pretty well. I’ve been with the land authority now for years, so I’ve just finished out my first year as executive director. It’s been a lot of fun. I do come from a conservation land acquisition background, so it’s really nice to be fully engaged again in that. We’re just looking to partner with the community and help everybody ensure that we have a livable, peaceful, protected environment, and protect their property rights and achieve, hopefully, some more affordable and workforce housing in the future.”