Emily Schemper, Senior Director of Planning and Environmental Resources for Monroe County, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about issues facing the county.
The project at the former cement location in Tavernier had some activity.
Schemper said, “The week of January 20, the county was notified by neighbors that there was some clearing going on on that site. So that’s the old CEMEX concrete plant, which has development proposal for a public grocery store and affordable workforce housing. They are still working through the approval process for the final site plan approval for that site. There are no permits actually issued yet for the development or construction, but we did receive reports that there was some clearing going on, and particularly of mangrove wetlands. The owner eventually gave us access once we contacted them directly, the county biologists went out there, code compliance went out there. We did open a code case and issue a stop work order so that there’s no clearing or grading allowed on that site until it’s all figured out. You may have seen the developer and owner actually issued a statement back to the county after that, explaining that they were leasing part of the site to a contractor who’s working on the Plantation Key water main project, and they had not authorized any clearing, but somehow this had happened. We don’t know the details, who said who told them to do what? But we do know the clearing happened, so we’re working on it. The developer and owner says that they are fully willing to cooperate. They’re working with DEP, as is the county. They have jurisdiction over wetlands. South Florida Water Management also has jurisdiction over mangroves and wetlands, so we’re working with all agencies to come up with a restoration plan. They cannot get any building permits issued until that restoration is planted and inspected and complete, but they still are working through the preliminary approval steps for their site planning which are not actual building permits yet. People will see some action in terms of the Development Review Committee and the Planning Commission, but those are not the actual building permit. So as long as the owner remains cooperative in the restoration those are not held up by this planting requirement, but any final building permits would be held up by that.”
What would a restoration plan entail?
Schemper said, “So the county code, if there is illegal clearing of native habitat and vegetation, the county code requires it to be restored to the previous habitat type that was there. So obviously if you if something gets cleared and it has 30 foot tall trees, you can’t replant a 30 foot tall tree, necessarily, but the county biologist works with the owner and usually an environmental consultant. They do have one in this case as well, and they try to come up with a plan for the plantings that would approximate the type of species, the number of species, how dense the vegetation was. They look at the surrounding area and also previous reports. So in this case, the county biologist, the assistant director for environmental resources, he has personal knowledge of the site prior to all of this. They have an environmental consultant who did their existing conditions report before all of their development proposals came in. We have a lot of information about the site from beforehand, so they’re working together to make sure the correct area would be restored and the correct planting. So in this case, mangrove wetlands, it’s mangrove replanting, which is a little more complicated than some, but it is doable. So we don’t have that final plan yet, but they are working on it.”
It’s a pretty massive project, especially with everything that needs to be done in compliance.
Schemper said, “The site is so large that they’re not actually even proposing to build it to its maximum development potential according to our code. They’re actually pulling back on the amount of square footage they could build, etc. The big thing was that they wanted to build a larger footprint building, the individual building, than what was allowed by our code. So they did get amendments to our land development code and our zoning code to allow that larger footprint building. The board already approved that and that they got a comprehensive plan amendment to allow them to utilize some of the early evacuation ROGO units that we had received from the state. Those were not available in the way they wanted to use them, but the board approved for them to use those for the 86 units of workforce housing, which will be really great for the Keys to have that housing built. But yes, it’s a big, big project, lots of steps and approval. They have a development agreement they’re working on right now that will go back to the Board of County Commissioners for approval as well.”
What is the next step in the process?
Schemper said, “Next week, February 19, on the board meeting, there is an agenda item, and that’s actually a temporary special permit request for the Aqueduct Authority to use the site for the staging of these construction materials, and they’ve moved to the proposed location, to the front of the site, the part that’s already cleared and was previously the industrial use, so that will be on the board agenda next week. That’s not held up by the restoration planting requirement, because it’s not actually a building permit. It’s a temporary staging area. We don’t want to hold up the water main replacement, of course. So luckily, that can still be used, but they’re moving it away from the wetland, setting it back. That’s next week on the 19th, and then the following week, Monday the 24th, the site plan for the housing and the grocery store, the actual site plan approval items, the development agreement and conditional use permit, are being reviewed by the development review committee. So that’s a staff committee that looks at it from all different disciplines. So that’s the next step for the big project is Monday the 24th.”
How long will it be until it’s completely finished and built?
Schemper said, “That’s hard for me to say, because I don’t know how quickly they’ll build. I’m guessing once they get permits, they’ll be fairly quick, but maybe a year or two. When you talk to developers, they’re very optimistic about when they’re going to get their permits and how long it will take to build, but it’s not my area of expertise, and how long something like this actually will take.”