Friends of Biscayne Bay<\/a> board member.<\/p>\nMunroe is a descendant of Biscayne Bay conservation pioneer Ralph Munroe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy great grandfather came down here in the 1870s,\u201d Munroe said.<\/p>\n
Munroe is now among a growing chorus of environmental voices worried about what\u2019s next for this beloved stretch of the watershed, home to the Miami Rowing Club, the Save Our Sisters breast cancer survivor dragon boat team and countless others who come to passively recreate here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to protect our natural resources, especially Biscayne Bay. It\u2019s a treasure and part of what makes Miami so special,\u201d Munroe said.<\/p>\n
This November, City of Miami voters will decide the fate of nearly 28 acres on Virginia Key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a family that\u2019s here since 1983 running this marina. Why would we change operators?\u201d said Laura Reynolds, policy adviser for Friends of Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n
At issue is Referendum 3 \u2014 whether to approve a new long-term lease allowing developers RCI Group and Dallas-based Suntex Marinas to take over the space and move forward with an ambitious $80 million redevelopment of the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, adding restaurants, retail and public parking with increased dry storage and 202 wet slips.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scope of this marina is going to expand the physical footprint of the marina significantly to accommodate really, really, really large yachts, mega yachts,\u201d said Dave Doebler, an environmental activist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to actually end up extending this almost out to that sign,\u201d Doebler said.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not that deep.<\/p>\n
Biscayne Bay is a naturally shallow estuary. Accommodating larger yachts here would require dredging \u2014 a lot of dredging.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so you\u2019re talking about, you know, manatees. You\u2019re talking about seagrass. You\u2019re talking about silting over areas, and if you combine that with all of the other things that are proposed, it\u2019s over the top for Virginia Key,\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n
Virginia Key is already facing significant change \u2014 from the restoration and reactivation of Miami Marine Stadium, to a proposed mooring field that would place 195 concrete anchors in the basin, plus plans to redevelop the former Miami Seaquarium site, including a massive new marina.<\/p>\n
Environmentalists say the concern isn\u2019t just about expanding and redeveloping this marina; it\u2019s about the cumulative impact of all the development being proposed across Virginia Key, and whether an already fragile Biscayne Bay can possibly withstand the added pressure of what could be coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming. It\u2019s very overwhelming. They came all together at the same time,\u201d said Maria Eugenia Rodriguez, a Key Biscayne resident.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraffic, construction, the bay, the nature, the cumulative impact on all our resources. What makes Virginia Key unique,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Biscayne Bay can only take so much, so if we keep throwing things at it, Mother Nature at some point is gonna, she\u2019s gonna give up. We don\u2019t want that to happen because the people that want those boats, they want this,\u201d said Capt. Chris Adams, a fishing guide.<\/p>\n
The developers declined an on-camera interview but say the project would bring environmental improvements, including living seawalls, new green space and a Florida Clean Marina designation.<\/p>\n
But Reynolds calls it greenwashing. She also takes issue with the ballot language and says the developers\u2019 \u201cSave Virginia Key\u201d campaign adds to voter confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSave Virginia Key. I mean, that\u2019s just misleading to voters. Voters really need to understand that we don\u2019t need a new marina to save Virginia Key,\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n
And with mail-in ballots going out next week, voters will soon have their say on a decision that could reshape this part of Virginia Key for generations. For longtime Miami families like the Mathesons, the stakes are deeply personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe voters have to be real conscious of what they\u2019re giving up if they allow all of this stuff to go through,\u201d said Bruce Matheson, president of Friends of Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that any development that happens on Virginia Key, the benefit to the average citizen should be the primary goal,\u201d Matheson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVirginia Key\u2019s City-owned marina should be a place where the public experiences Biscayne Bay. Instead, the property\u2019s shoreline is inaccessible to the community. This fall, Miami voters have a chance to transform a marina for some into a waterfront for all by voting \u2018yes\u2019 on referendum #3.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team will invest more than $80 million in a new baywalk spanning more than 1,200 feet, public kayak and paddleboard launches, family-friendly dining options, and more. We\u2019ll also bring long-overdue environmental improvements, including living seawalls, new green space, native shade trees, and a Florida Clean Marina designation, which is now an industry standard but has not been achieved by the existing operator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Virginia Key LLC<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. \u2014 The fate of a major piece of Virginia Key will soon be in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-403218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}