Each day, more than 300 million gallons of water are drawn from the Biscayne Aquifer — more water than from any similar underground body of water in the world — and Biscayne Bay provides drinking water for more than 3 million South Floridians.
Laura Reynolds is a former board member and longtime policy advisor to the Friends of Biscayne Bay, a non-profit volunteer group of caring environmentalists created 50 years ago to preserve the quality of water in the “Blue Heart” of Miami-Dade County.
Tuesday morning at the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting, Reynolds (currently with the Institute of Environment at Florida International University) was monitoring a controversial proposal that could allow the Kelly Tractor company to build a 2.2-million-square-foot industrial headquarters in the wetlands area near Sweetwater.
Reynolds’ recent focus has been with at least three proposals that would expand fleets of boats — some mega-yachts — coming into Biscayne Bay, particularly David Martin’s project at the site of the former Miami Seaquarium, where 325 boats could be docked and some 500 others that could be dry-dock stored.
An aerial diagram showing the different parts of the proposed marina.
Friends of Biscayne Bay, the citizens’ support group for the aquatic preserve (once known as the Biscayne Bay Foundation), already has had six meetings on the subject (another virtual meeting is set for 11 a.m., on Friday, July 24).
“We’ve analyzed the (David Martin) application and found some quick, major concerns,” Reynolds told Islander News on Monday. “The only way (to further evaluate) is to stop the time clock, so we’re asking for the withdrawal of the DEP application, without public input, and (instead) have community conversations and get that public input from all the stakeholders before reapplying.”
Almost like a “perfect storm,” there are three marinas now being proposed for Biscayne Bay, including the expansion of 195 mooring balls (by the City of Miami, with a grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District) at the Miami Marine Stadium basin.
“Way over the top,” Reynolds said, “in terms of (blocking the area of) the Dragonboat races, in the way of all the rowers … the (August) referendum with Miami Marine Stadium … is that consistent with plans for the concerts they had planned? Marine Stadium is considered a historic site and remember, the basin is historic, too.”
A public referendum is set for November for a proposed redevelopment of the Virginia Key LLC marina, although a legal challenge has been filed by the longtime lease holders, arguing, in part, that the ballot wording differs from the proposal selected through the city’s competitive bidding process nearly a decade ago.
A diagram showing the landscape elements of the marina.
The Seaquarium plans that have gotten the most attention recently, once Friends of Biscayne Bay obtained the permit rendering of what the “Fisherman’s Wharf” could look like.
“We only have the information he put in the application — 325 wet slips — most of these boats are large, mega-yachts with their deep drafts and there’s a lot of seagrass, reef, and on the other side an area of bonefish flats … Biscayne Bay is a shallow estuary, so you’d have to dredge (for) wet slips and dry slips,” Reynolds said. “It’s just too much for Virginia Key.”
Friends of Biscayne Bay is sending a letter to Martin this week asking him to hold off on his application. Reynolds said Monday evening that Martin has reached out to her, possibly after hearing about the proposed letter from Islander News.
Hopefully, she said, “he’ll do the right thing.”
In conclusion, Reynolds said, “Three large marina extensions and the cumulative number of new vessels on the water, and the dredging that would have to accommodate the drafts (depth of the boats) would be a major environmental impact to the health of Biscayne Bay.”
(Note: Interested in attending the next community meeting on Friday, July 24 at 11 a.m.? Simply email friendsofbiscaynebay@gmail.com to receive the link to the Friday meeting invitation.)