Keys Threatened By Legislative Measure

The Florida State Legislature is mulling proposal to remove the special “Area of Critical State Concern” designation for the Florida Keys — an idea the Tallahassee Democrat decries as devastating to the state’s most imperiled and environmentally fragile region. The newspaper’s editorial criticizes the move and says the consequences of turning the real estate market loose on the Keys would result in catastrophe.

The Critical Area designation was first applied 30 years ago to allow the state to ensure that the development rules and their enforcement protected the statewide interest and investment in the Keys. Its purpose was to have the state partner with the Keys’ local governments to remedy many critical problems related to infrastructure, water quality, habitat preservation, threats of extinction, evacuation capabilities and more.

Many feel that the program is more important now than ever.

While Florida has, for the most part, held up its end of the bargain over the years, county government has consistently dragged its feet. The risk is great because local governments have been largely unwilling to fund land acquisition and infrastructure needs, or to enforce — against local real estate interests — development standards based around the unique ecological needs of the Keys (much like Everglades National Park).

Current efforts to protect and restore the Keys include an annual limit on new development, extra-stringent wastewater and habitat protection rules, and an annual program designed to improve infrastructure and management of the scarce remaining land. These regulations exist because Florida insisted on them despite local objections. Scarily, these measures are absolutely necessary — and may not even be enough if the Keys are to be saved.

State studies show the three critical issues in the Keys have reached dangerous levels:

1. Water quality
2. Habitat loss & degradation
3. Evacuation capabilities

If action is not taken, non-reversible damage to the Keys’ ecology and economy are the likely results. Yet the implementation of the improvements, regulation changes and funding sources needed to address the situations lag years behind. Some Florida Keys real estate owners, developers and politicians in the Keys have sought removal of the Critical Area designation so that the state could not longer insist on higher levels of protection or challenge permits issued in violation of adopted rules.

This year, despite the fact that the state recommended that the Critical Area designation be maintained, a bill has been filed to legislatively remove the designation. The results of this passing would be devastating to the Keys, and to the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment that all Florida taxpayers have made in the area over the years in the form of sensitive land acquisition, water quality improvements, planning, etc.

The Florida environmental conservation movement would certainly take a huge hit if this measure were passed. It is just one of many instances of the state’s sensitive ecology and burgeoning real estate industry colliding, and the fallout is never pretty. What we need are more Florida real estate developers who make conservation a priority, and realize that preserving the environment is central to maintaining our heritage.