The Miami Herald

Posted December 2, 2005

Boundary is a moving target

Miami-Dade county commissioners narrowly voted to send a measure to the state that could require the panel to regularly move the urban development boundary.

BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ, MATTHEW HAGGMAN AND TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE nschwartz@herald.com

While they debated proposed developments that would expand parts of Miami-Dade's urban development boundary, commissioners kept alive a proposal by powerful builders that opponents say will make it easier to move the line in the future.

The Latin Builders Association and the Builders Association of South Florida asked the commission to amend the county's Comprehensive Development Master Plan by changing the standard used to assess the county's future housing needs. The change could require more developable land closer to the Everglades.

A split commission voted 7-6 Wednesday night to send the proposal to the state for review, which keeps it alive until the commission makes a final decision in April.

In a second vote, commissioners sent it to Tallahasee with a ''recommendation'' for denial -- a reflection of where they currently stand with the proposal.

''It's a half-baked policy,'' said Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who voted against the measure. ``It's like giving judges mandatory minimums.''

But Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, who voted against tagging the measure with a denial, said all he wants is more information about the proposal and a chance to study it into next year.

He also questioned some of the objections of county staff, who say the commission would likely have to regularly move the line under this proposal.

''This is a pride battle between our department and what [builders are] telling them to do,'' he said.

Commissioners also recommended Wednesday to send nine proposed developments to the state for review, postponing a final decision on each project until next year.

Current planning policy requires the county to maintain a 15-year supply of developable land for new housing of any kind within the Urban Development Boundary, which keeps urban sprawl from encroaching on the Everglades and the county's agricultural land.

The builders' proposal would require the county to maintain a 15-year supply of developable land just for single-family homes -- which require more space than condominiums or town homes.

Opponents, including attorney Richard Grosso, say that formula would force county planners to recommend that the boundary be moved again and again in coming years.

''It's a self-fulfilling prophecy clearly intended to move the line,'' Grosso, director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Clinic at Nova Southeastern University, said Thursday. ``It would be impossible not to move the UDB regularly if this goes into effect.''

But developers say the county's population is booming and that housing options inside the boundary are dwindling fast. They also call the county's numbers outdated.

Gus Gil, president of the Latin Builders Association, said the proposal arose from the unprecedented push this year to expand the development boundary, coupled with the building industry's claims that county figures are not based on current numbers.

''Nobody can honestly tell me it's good business to look at old information,'' Gil said.

Subrata Basu, assistant director of planning and zoning, defended the way planners now calculate housing needs. He also called the measure's language unclear.

''Their objective is to keep the single family supply high and that's one of the motivating factors to them,'' Basu said of the developers.