Florida Cabinet should quash 836 Extension. It could damage Everglades-restoration benefits | Opinion
This fall, Gov. DeSantis and the Cabinet will review Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk’s recommendation regarding changes to Miami-Dade County’s Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP). The proposed changes to the CDMP would allow a major highway to be constructed in western Miami-Dade outside of the Urban Development Boundary and into protected Everglades wetlands and farmland.
The judge’s order correctly rejected the proposed changes to accommodate the highway.
The county’s CDMP has been and remains a vital tool for the county to balance development needs with the protection of the county’s most important environmental resources. The master plan has served to protect Miami Dade’s water supply, Biscayne Bay, key environmentally endangered lands and Everglades restoration while allowing responsible growth. Miami-Dade’s unique natural resources provide world-class recreational opportunities for boating, fishing and birding and remain a shining example for Florida and the world. The key to the CDMP is balance — allowing responsible growth, while controlling it when it threatens our environmental treasures.
In recommending against the proposed amendments to the CDMP, Van Wyk cited four important factors:
First, Various independent analyses show that the proposed highway could seriously compromise Everglades-restoration benefits in the Southern Everglades. The road would preclude much of the restoration contributions from the Bird Drive Basin recharge project and would seriously damage prospective benefits of Everglades restoration in South Miami-Dade. Without the Bird Drive Basin components, the entire set of Everglades restoration benefits for Southeast Florida will be compromised.
Second, the road would cut across and impact key wetlands in the Bird Drive Basin and Pennsuco Environmental Protection Area. These wetlands provide vital recharge for the West Dade wellfield — a major source of drinking water for the county. By impacting the Bird Drive Basin Recharge component, the road removes a critical buffer zone for providing flood damage reduction and wellfield recharge for the county. These recharge benefits are a necessary part delivering the environmental, water-supply and flood-control benefits of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) while ensuring that the public and farmers can rely on their existing water supply.
Third, the Bird Drive Basin and Pennsuco wetlands provide critically important habitat for wood storks, ibises, herons and other wading birds; fish; and the endangered Florida panther, snail kite and bonneted bat. Preserving these habitats and the animals they support is a key purpose of Everglades restoration.
Finally, and as important, the road will not fix the congestion in West Kendall. The judge correctly concluded that the highway’s traffic benefits are “meager.” The county’s own data demonstrates that the greatest time savings for any county residents would be only six minutes per daily commute, and the highway would worsen congestion outside the study area because of induced traffic. Other solutions are available with far less-damaging affects.
The residents of Miami-Dade are part of a culture that respects and enjoys our unique natural resources — a culture that also supports sensible growth. Miami-Dade County’s CDMP serves to ensure that we reach a reasonable balance between the many needs of our county. It should not be changed here.
Judge Van Wyk reviewed the facts in the dispute and her recommended order is the correct response. DeSantis and the Cabinet have long supported Florida’s investment for Everglades restoration. They need to step up again and protect this investment by approving the recommended order and putting an end to this ill-conceived highway project.
Paola Ferreira is executive director at Tropical Audubon. Rock Salt is a Tropical Audubon board member. He is the former deputy assistant secretary for Army Corps of Engineers.
