Don’t allow Miami-Dade’s urban development line to be moved at developers’ will. It protects fragile lands | Opinion

Miami Dade County’s Urban Development Boundary (UDB) is crucial for the preservation of the “greenbelt,” a buffer of farms, wetlands and open spaces that separates the dense urban corridor of Miami-Dade County from Everglades National Park to the west and Biscayne National Park to the east.

The majority of changes to the UDB since its implementation in the 1980s have not come as a result of assessed need on the part of the county staff, but rather through the persistent efforts of developers who speculated on land values, betting that they can influence county commissioners to help increase the value of their land by changing the boundaries.

Unfortunately, the UDB and the fragile environment it is in place to protect are under threat again.

The UDB serves two purposes: to focus public tax dollars on the existing urban landscape and to protect environmentally sensitive lands and aquifer-recharge areas to the west.

The Everglades Coalition and the Hold the Line Campaign long have maintained that the Urban Development Boundary should not be moved to allow continued sprawl. Doing so would undermine the accomplishments of the objectives of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP). Development in these areas would exacerbate the job of our restoration partners, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, requiring us to provide flood protection in areas planned for restoration.

Given the county’s new focus on the health of Biscayne Bay, I hope there is a realization that these wetlands will provide the water and recharge needed to help revive high salinities in Biscayne Bay. Planning for this work has just kicked off in 2021, specifically focused on finding more clean freshwater to deliver to Biscayne Bay.

In addition, without the UDB, our tax dollars would be spread thinner, toward more sprawl west and south, plus all the infrastructure that would be required, such as police and fire protection, flood protection and schools.

Today’s UDB applications are subject to a two-year cycle, providing the public, government, and private interests a reasonable period of time to balance the needs of more development against farmland, wetlands and aquifer-recharge areas. The county code is strict on these points. However, a proposal by County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa to be considered on Jan. 20 would blow straight through decades of experience and allow developers to apply to break the UDB at will.

In 2017, The Everglades Coalition urged the county to lengthen the interval from two years to 10 years to demonstrate the county’s intent to maintain the UDB and encourage density and the needed investments in infrastructure that will make us more resilient.

What is of concern to the Hold the Line Coalition is repealing the systematic approach to UDB amendments that existed for years. Allowing anyone at any time to request an expedited UDB amendment will create a field day for land speculators, lobbyists and land-use attorneys.

Sosa’s resolution, if passed, will cast a long shadow over the public’s legitimate right to have a say about our tax dollars, our natural environment, sustainability and the legacy of past decision-makers and activists who tried their best to work within the planning process.

We support the efforts of the Miami-Dade County Planning Department to channel development away from flood-prone and resource-critical areas outside the UDB and steer investment toward robust public-transit infrastructure and transit-oriented infill development. Sadly, many county commissioners have been in favor of sprawl throughout their political careers and see nothing wrong with breaching the UDB because that’s what their campaign contributors value.

We hope to see county commissioners reject this proposal and, instead, uphold the existing policies within the County Code, created to protect our finite natural resources and the wildlife they sustain. In the future, they should review further and strengthen the policies ,not weaken them as proposed..

Laura Reynolds is an organizer for the Hold the Line Coalition, an alliance of residents and organizations committed to protecting the Urban Development Boundary and preventing costly urban sprawl in Miami-Dade County. Tropical Audubon Society and Friends of the Everglades co-founded Hold the Line in 2004.