Parking on Village Right of Way in front of Anglers Reef POA progress

Anglers Reef Parking; more missing transparency? Another “License and Use” Contract, quietly slips through! Unlike the baseball field agreement that has created widespread concern, this Village license and use agreement has gotten virtually no attention.

This agreement allows Anglers Reef Property Owners Association (POA) to place angled parking on Village owned right of way along the Old Highway, adjoining their complex.  

The Village has applied for site plan approval and Anglers Reef is the applicant for the building permit to develop non-exclusive PUBLIC parking. Thus a “License and Use” agreement is needed for the POA to provide parking on Village owned property.

If this parking is truly “public” and critical to the Village, why isn’t the Village the applicant?

The Village Manager has already signed the license and use agreement.  We could find no evidence this agreement was approved by Village Council at a public meeting, as should be required. The agreement confirms it will be PUBLIC parking and limits the POA cost to $25,000. Unlike the baseball field, Anglers Reef will pay $1000/month for the use of the public parking until parking meters are installed by the Village. Who pays if the cost of the parking spaces exceeds $25,000?

While we could find no evidence the Council discussed or approved this license and use agreement, the agreement does state that any amendments must be approved by council.  

The Village has applied for site plan approval and Anglers Reef is the applicant for the building permit to develop non-exclusive PUBLIC parking. Thus a “License and Use” agreement is needed for the POA to provide parking on Village owned property.

Click here for license and use agreement.

Miss Coral Shores Scholarship Contest, sponsored by the Chi Sigma Sorority, is a pageant for students at Coral Shores High School. The competition showcases participants through interview, stage presence, and scholarship. The winner: Natalie Goodwin Tom Raffanello - proud dad of contestant, Gabriella

Congratulations Susan! Last week,Gov Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Susan Raffanello to the College of the Florida Keys District Board of Trustees. Raffanello works at Coffey Burlington, P.L.  Active in Islamorada, she is President of the Voices for Florida Keys Children, Inc. and has served on the Islamorada Land Planning Agency and Charter Review Committee. Raffanello earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and her juris doctor from the University of Michigan.

Boaters need to familiarize themselves with the updated regulations for the Wheel Ditch on the bay side of Lower Matecumbe Key. The narrow waterway has been the site of numerous highspeed boating accidents. Be aware -  it is now a minimum wake area with new markers.

We received an interesting suggestion last week: Instead of idle speed ..make the ditch non -combustible only. Any boat over 25 feet cannot idle through there at low tide so they’re going to be forced to go out to the outside anyway. It just makes sense to turn the wheel ditch into a tranquil water nature trail. And it would become a great fishery for kayakers not having to worry about getting run over.

I think we can all agree that our Village has a unique environment that is an integral part of our lives and worth protecting.

When developments don’t or can’t follow the restrictions in place, the Village allows them to “mitigate.”

 I want to explain the concept of mitigation. Dictionary definition: “making something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, extensive, or damaging.”

Using mitigation as a land use tool is one of the most critical elements of our Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations. Its purpose is to ensure development activity minimizes the negative impact on community character, the environment, traffic, and affordable housing in our Village.

So mitigation is intended to make development “less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, extensive, or damaging.”

I believe mitigation regulations are outdated, insufficient and often have been ignored.  Too often mitigation in place is not achieving its intended purpose.

 

If required restrictions are not feasible, the developmental activity must include a mitigation plan to ensure a minimal impact to the community.

Examples:

Many owners/builders cut trees in a hammock property without a permit:

You can see numerous examples of this driving through town. Many hammocks are bulldozed, ignoring the habitat protection intended.

Some owners/builders do not get caught. Some do and get penalized…but is the penalty effective? What is the current penalty?

The penalty is often inconsequential to the wealthy property owner. It does not discourage the cutting down of hammocks thick with native trees when the property owner plans to build an estate home from setback line to setback line. The resulting fee may be a minuscule portion of the cost of the $10 million mansion being built.

inappropriate clearing is a regular occurrence in the Village.

Nuisance impacts on surrounding residential properties:

Restaurants and bars with outdoor seating are a perfect example.  Is limiting the seating, parking and hours of operation sufficient as a requirement to mitigate the harm to the neighbors?

Ask residents who live near a local brewery/restaurants. Mitigation is not reducing the noise.

Traffic: Islamorada is the ONLY government jurisdiction in Monroe County, that does not require the Level of Service (LOS) on U.S. 1 to be maintained at an acceptable level for each traffic segment within the jurisdiction.

WHY IS THIS?

In every other area of Monroe County when development adds more trips to any individual traffic segment within their jurisdiction and the County LOS Traffic Study shows the segment below the acceptable level of service, mitigation is required for new development. But not in the Village.

Currently the only County traffic segments that are not at an acceptable level are the traffic segments through Islamorada.  Yet Islamorada code allows our municipality to ignore the problem unless the entire county is below the accepted standard.

Affordable Housing:

When a development generates a need for additional workers, the developer must mitigate the demand for housing for the workforce created by the proposed development.

A majority of the developments approved by the Village pay an in-lieu fee intended to be used to help mitigate the workforce housing shortfall… instead of providing  housing for the new employees.  

 

The in-lieu fee for a new tourist business is $25/sq ft of the new business property.   

A 5000 sq ft business would therefore pay $125,000 to the Village to support housing projects to accommodate additional employees being adding to the workforce.

What would the $125,000 from a new 5000 sq ft business buy in Islamorada? Maybe a used mobile home.

 

“Mitigation” criteria is extremely critical. And perhaps totally out of date.

Comprehensive Plan Workshop  

There will be a presentation Wednesday April 29 at 5:30 PM at the Islamorada Community Center. The draft of the new Comprehensive Plan will be presented following 18 months of efforts by Able City East. 

Go over every issue. Do not let someone tell you that we are in a hurry because we should not be. It is better to get it right! Be thorough. We have waited 18 months for this document, and it must not be flawed when it becomes the new law.

Mitigation is just one issue, of hundreds, outlined in the proposed Comp Plan. Each issue will be critical in Islamorada’s future. 

Be a part of the process and ensure a bright future for our friends and families. Attend the workshop and participate!

This is our Constitution!

Residents! Pay attention!

 Yours,

Tom

Special Sessions are just beginning.  This week, Legislators are in Tallahassee  for the Special Session on redistricting, AI restrictions and “medical freedom.”

Lawmakers will convene on May 12 for a Budget Special Session since they were unable to finalize a state budget during the regular session. Recently the House and Senate have reached a deal on budget allocations. Of particular interest, during the regular session, neither chamber's draft budget honored the Legislature's 2023 commitment of at least $100 million a year for Florida Forever. The funds that were considered were for leases of conservation lands not purchases. A Homestead Property Tax Special Session is being considered. Governor DeSantis promises there will be a Special Session to consider a constitutional amendment to get rid of some or all homestead property taxes.

Didn’t the Council vote to have a monthly Council Meeting on the second Thursday of every month devoted to land use issues? Yes, it was approved and added as the very first sentence of the Village Meeting Procedures approved most recently via Resolution 24-11-133. The Council calendar in the website lists this Land Use meeting for 5:30 May 14.

But the May 14 Land Use meeting has been canceled. Five Land Use Public hearings will be on the May 12 regular Council meeting: A Major Conditional Use hearing (86550 Overseas Hwy), Two Administrative Relief hearings (113 Venetian Way and 148 Tequesta), A TDR Comp Plan change and an LDR change to TDR processing.   Land Use hearings are often squeezed into the Tuesday agenda.  The Council seems anxious to keep public hearings short with minimal discussion, often eliminating Thursday meetings. Land use issues are critical to the community and should not be rushed. See May 12 public notices

The latest draft from Able City East was received on March 11 and is available on the Village website. Click here. If you care about the future of the Village, get involved.

Coming Wednesday - Public Workshop April 29, 5:30 PM.

Be there. Bring your ideas for a great tomorrow for our Village.

Around the Keys The County Commission will be discussing changes to the Traffic Level of Service  methodology on May 14. This countywide study is used by the Village, including  traffic segments on U.S. One through Islamorada.

A winter 2026 Grand Jury Report was released last Thursday citing continuing Key West staffing, code and oversight failures. The report calls for citizen oversight committees, tighter planning controls, and stricter enforcement to address inefficiencies and breakdowns in accountability. Click here for a media story. Last week in Key Largo, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park — billed as America’s first undersea park — broke ground on a new “Discovery Center & Aquarium” set to open in 2028. Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority will hold its first budget workshop May 5 to discuss the 2027 budget. Charlie Gray, the co-founder of Islamorada’s lobbying firm, GrayRobinson,  died last Wednesday at age 94.

A Special Islamorada Park: Anne’s Beach

The Plaque at the entrance to the Anne’s Beach Boardwalk tells just a bit of the story: “To Commemorate our Recognition of Anne Eaton who lived on this island for many years and dedicated herself to maintaining the beauty and serenity of these Keys. Anne helped bring this park to life”.  1995

Anne Eaton’s impact on our area and the entire Florida Keys made a huge difference as she worked endlessly, from her wheelchair, to ensure our environment was protected. She died in 1992 but many still remember Anne and try diligently to continue her mission. Read more about this remarkable lady: Click Here