MIAMI \u2014 At commission chambers across cities and counties, residents with a view on high profile development projects will often show up to be heard.<\/p>\n
But what if the state of Florida decided to erode local control over development?<\/p>\n
Lawmakers in Tallahassee are debating House Bill 399<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond toggling a vote on a community\u2019s comprehensive development plan from a super to a simple majority, it would require<\/a> a study identifying the effects of removing Miami-Dade\u2019s Urban Development Boundary, or UDB, which aims to prevent sprawl encroaching on the Everglades.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have any more land so people can\u2019t afford to live there (in Miami-Dade),\u201d the bill\u2019s sponsor, State Rep. David Borrero, R-Miami-Dade, said. \u201cLet people do what they want to do with their own property, you open supply, when you allow developers to build and provide homes to people who need it the cost of housing will go down. We need to let the free market work.\u201d<\/p>\n That was in response to State Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, who was critical of the legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continuously preempt our local counterparts,\u201d Gantt said. \u201cWhen did local governments become the enemy of the house of Tallahassee? There are so many people in here who served at the local level so I get to ask, were you incompetent when you were local and then competent when you came to Tallahassee, or does that incompetence remain?\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Beach City Commissioner Alex Fernandez said that the state legislature is \u201ctrying to become the Miami Beach Zoning Board as it does every legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n Environmental advocates say the UDB protects our drinking water and wetlands to mitigate against flood risks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about Miami\u2019s future and we need to make smart growth decisions and we can solve our housing crisis without developing over wetlands and pushing into areas that are supposed to be left open,\u201d Rachel Silverstein, the CEO of conservation group Miami Waterkeeper said.<\/p>\n Miami-Dade County commissioners passed a resolution opposing the legislation. But commissioners Raquel Regalado and JC Bermudez say they\u2019re open to reviewing the UDB.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery legislative session, they (the legislators) remind us that we are the only county that has a UDB, so we have been expected a preemption for some time,\u201d Regalado said. \u201cI think we should start owning our wetlands. We need to look at it from an environmental perspective, not from a location perspective, and everything outside the UDB, what is valuable to us?\u201d<\/p>\n Bermudez said he wants to get all voices at the table.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s look at the UDB, see if it needs to be moved here or there. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be moved much, but if it is, we haven\u2019t looked at it in 52 years. Let\u2019s look at it,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s bring everybody to the table. Everybody that is impacted, including the environmental community and the development community, so we can agree on something and then say, \u2018We\u2019re not going to talk about it again, and this is where you can build. This is where you can\u2019t, and this is what you can build, and this is what you can\u2019t.\u2019 And we\u2019ll leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n Regalado said, \u201cWe have been having conversations over the past few years about the UDB because we would rather take action than (have) the state take action.\u201d<\/p>\n There are also concerns over provisions of the bill that would allow for variances for large destination resorts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has what we are calling the \u2018Fontainebleau exception\u2019 allows you to put a water park in any area,\u201d Regalado said. <\/p>\n Miami-Dade Commissioner Vicki Lopez called it a \u201cvery unfortunate provision.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cNo municipality can stop it,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI don\u2019t know about you all, whether you want Six Flags in the middle of your residential neighborhood and with the amount of traffic that these large destination resorts can bring.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, the State Senate will debate and likely vote on Senate Bill 208<\/a>.<\/p>\n