The Miami Herald

Posted on Tue, Jan. 14, 2006

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Sorenson yanked from planning council

Commissioner Katy Sorenson, an ardent environmentalist, was removed from a development advisory board just days after she voted to oppose new development beyond the urban line.

BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ AND CURTIS MORGAN
nschwartz@MiamiHerald.com

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Joe Martinez has yanked a fellow commissioner off an influential regional planning board, just days after she voted against building more homes and offices closer to the Everglades.

Katy Sorenson, the ousted commissioner, called it ''retribution'' for her votes on the South Florida Regional Planning Council, which Monday roundly rebuffed efforts to move the county's urban development boundary.

The council voted against seven of nine proposals outside the line and against a proposal by the Latin Builders Association and the Builders Association of South Florida that critics say would make it easier to move it in the future.

Sorenson, who was just named council treasurer and was in line to chair the council in a year or two, voted against all nine proposals.

''It wouldn't surprise me if the developers gave the chair a hard time on the Regional Planning Council, and I'm sure they don't want my voice there,'' said Sorenson, who heard she would be replaced on Wednesday.

The 19-member council serves as an advisory panel to the Florida Department of Community Affairs in reviewing land-use changes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. The group is composed of elected officials from three counties and private individuals appointed by the governor.

Martinez's order left environmentalists bewildered.

''You're kidding me,'' said Cynthia Guerra, executive director of Tropical Aububon, which is part of a grass-roots ''Hold The Line'' campaign by environmentalists and other activists. It smacked of ''retaliation,'' Guerra said, but ``I am trying to conceive of some other remarkable circumstance to force him to do that.''

In a Thursday letter to Sorenson, Martinez denied the accusations, saying he was not even aware that the council had met this week. He said he removed Sorenson because she had served since 1994 and it was time to give others an opportunity.

''I am sorry you reacted so quickly in responding to my appointments as I am sure that if you had thought it through, you would not have even suggested that I took punitive action for a vote,'' he wrote.

Citing poor attendance records, Martinez told commissioners in October he would be making changes to committee assignments. Sorenson, however, missed only one council meeting this year -- to attend her father's funeral.

Martinez left Commissioner Sally Heyman, who missed three meetings last year, on the board and appointed two others: Commissioners Carlos Gimenez and Dennis Moss. While Heyman and Gimenez have largely opposed moving the development boundary westward, all three supported sending the controversial development applications to the state for further review. The commission is expected to take a final vote on the issue in April.

The Urban Development Boundary, established in 1975, restricts any development outside the line to one dwelling per five acres. The line, which runs mainly along the southern and western edges of the county, is considered by many to be a crucial defense against urban sprawl.

There are currently nine applications to allow warehouses, homes and offices on more than 1,000 acres of land currently off-limits to development.

Sorenson has been the commission's most vocal opponent of moving the boundary. She was also the only commissioner to uphold a veto by County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who tried to torpedo the applications.

Alvarez questioned the decision to remove a commissioner so passionate about the environment from the council.

''To remove her doesn't make any sense whatsoever, and it makes you wonder if her position on the UDB had something to do with her removal, which would be very troubling,'' he said.

Developers and lobbyists pushing to move the boundary would not speculate on the possible political motivation behind Sorenson's removal.

''I would guess the chairman has determined she has served her time,'' said attorney Jeffrey Bercow, who has three clients applying for zoning changes within the boundary. "He probably wants to see new blood in there.''

Ilene Lieberman, a Broward commissioner who chaired this week's Planning Council meeting, called Martinez's decision "incredibly shortsighted.''

As chair, Lieberman said, Sorenson would have had the opportunity to focus work on matters critical to Miami-Dade's future, not just the development boundary, but issues such as mass transit and affordable housing.

''I hope he will rethink his position,'' Lieberman said. "Whatever their difference on the issues, you don't remove someone from the executive committee.''