We continue to work diligently to educate the public regarding local issues that impact quality of life, our fragile environment and our limited infrastructure.

The Crooked Palm code change fiasco last Thursday is the poster boy for our Village making decisions based on influence and business relationships rather than the merits of the case.  Have you forgotten playing by the rules and equal treatment for all?

Personally, I do not doubt that the petitioners are good people and “good neighbors.” This is not about that and should have had no bearing here. It is about everyone playing by the rules, and what is best for the future of the Village, not the profitability of one.  

Planning and Council members, what were you thinking?

We are not stupid. There are so many rules ignored and bent that I will just give you my “low lights.” A more comprehensive list will be published in our next newsletter.

(1) The applicant applied for a minor deviation to a conditional use. The deviations requested were not minor. The changes requested were recognized by the planning department as not being minor, but the request was nevertheless processed as an amendment to a major conditional use.

This was not what the applicant requested.  Who did?  the Planning Department, Village manager?

It never should have been on the agenda.

(2) The site plan in the agenda was not the same site plan the applicant submitted and was approved by council in 2022. The site plan in the agenda is from 2024 and was  not approved by council.

Planning Department, Village manager?

(3) Code clearly states that: “Before any conditional use is amended, extended, varied or altered, the applicant SHALL demonstrate that change of circumstances or conditions has occurred which MAKES IT NECESSARY to amend, extend, vary or alter the conditional use.”

Ensuring a business owner’s profitability is not a factor or “change in circumstance” for our planning department, Village Manager or our Village Council. While being a “good neighbor” is commendable, it is not a circumstance or condition qualifying for code changes.

The Village code does not require being a good neighbor and the entity being unprofitable. What circumstances or conditions were stated by the applicant?  All of the circumstances cited, complained of their inability to “operate.” Click here.

Circumstance cannot justify the lifting of the restrictions which were implemented to ensure the property and entity — whoever owns it and regardless of whether it’s sold would remain a “good neighbor”.

What happens if the next owner is not a “good neighbor”? I will tell you — intractable problems and a series of “woulda, coulda, shoulda” excuses from those responsible for this mess.

(4) The Council and staff missed the very reason in our code as to why this was a “conditional use” and not treated like every other similar business: the necessity of individual review of location, design, intensity and density of the use to ensure appropriateness and compatibility of the use at a particular location.

This specific location is like no other in the Village - near churches, schools and is part of a neighborhood with more children than any other neighborhood in Islamorada.

Council: To do this to the residents, who put you in office, with such a brutally overt perversion of our codes based on your friendships and business relationships, should disqualify those responsible for and who supported this from serving our Village in any capacity.

Insulting!

Reply to: ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com

The 2025 IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's, was held on Sep 6, 2025, at Johnny Morris’  National Museum in Springfield, Missouri. The IGFA Board of Trustees  elected this year's five inductees unanimously. The 2025 class represents a diverse array of talent and dedication, with each inductee shaping the sport of fishing through their skill, innovation, and passion. Congratulations to Islamorada’s Captain Richard Stanczyk on his selection. His impact at Bud N’ Mary’s and his pioneering swordfishing techniques will leave a lasting legacy.

The Islamorada Community Alliance has joined nearly 2 dozen organizations throughout the Keys, objecting to this possible 4-laning in Unincorporated Monroe County.  Click here to read the details as to the concerns.

The County Commission will be considering a change to their Comprehensive Plan to allow the Florida Department of Transportation to decide issues related to road widening in the county, including the 18-mile stretch.  It is believed that Islamorada would not agree to widening through the Village.  Especially not through Upper Matecumbe’s business district.

It is surprising that this “fight” has not been discussed at a public meeting in Islamorada.

2025 US 1 Level of Service Study Approval: also on the Commission agenda.  

When the study has a failing grade, below C, for the entire U.S. One, the County Commission has consistently rejected the study. Otherwise certain types of development throughout the Keys would be curtailed or traffic impacts mitigated.  When there is a passing grade of C or above the Commission approves the study.  

The 2023 study had a failing grade of “D” and was not approved. The 2025 has a passing grade and is expected to be approved by the County Commission.  

The studies are done during the peak season - before the end of March.  The 2025 study was delayed and completed later than “peak season” as required.

What! No Deadline? 779 pages in the Council Meeting agenda packages for this week, and no agendas available for public review until almost noon Sunday, little more than 2 days to speed read the 25 TABs. If a member of the public misses a deadline - tough luck. If it is the Village - they don’t even have a deadline?

On Thursday there are 5 Quasi Judicial Hearings.  There is significant concern that with this many critical hearings, there will be less time spent on each just to avoid an all night meeting. Crooked Palms Distillery: While all quasi-judicial hearings are significant, the last one is especially concerning.  The Crook Palms building was originally a bank building, backing up to a residential neighborhood, near both Coral Shores High School and Plantation Key School; an area known for a high population of children.   When the application for the major conditional use as a distillery was applied for, 17 months of workshops, meetings, negotiations and hearings followed until the use was approved with 19 conditions and numerous variances that were accepted by both the Crooked Palms and the neighbors.   A year after the grand opening, Crooked Palms owners are not happy, blaming some conditions agreed to previously (including restricted hours of operation and limited outdoor live music hours) for business problems.  All while they are not even opened as many hours as allowed. On Thursday, there will be a quasi judicial hearing to change the conditions previously negotiated.  The Village staff has sided with Crooked Palms and has recommended removing six conditions previously negotiated. According to Village code Sec 30-216 (j): Before any conditional use is amended, extended, varied or altered, the applicant shall demonstrate that a change of circumstances or conditions has occurred which make it necessary to amend, extend, vary or alter the conditional use.

$65 million in Islamorada annual expenses approved at a record breaking 32-minute budget hearing! On Sep 4, a millage rate of 2.65 (same as last year) was approved by the Village Council along with a budget that itemizes over $23M for costs for the General Fund and over $65M in costs across all Village funds.

Value of Islamorada Properties up $593,613,080 (over $1/2 Billion) this year.

Although the millage rate remained the same, property taxes are projected to increase  for a majority of property owners, as most properties had the taxable value increased.

Staff Costs: Major costs in the approved budget were for the Village staff at over $16M.  Of that total - Fire Rescue employees accounted for costs of over $7.5M.

To ease the costs, four staff positions were eliminated and health insurance for employees’ families was changed from 97% paid by the Village to 80%.  Family health insurance coverage has been a controversial and costly part of the budget since it was added as an employee benefit several years ago without prior council approval.

The Fills is no longer leased by the Village from FDOT/FDEP and the overtime cost of weekend Public Works employees monitoring for illegal parking has been eliminated.

Increases: No across the board cost of living increase for employees this year, but as a result of a salary study done for the Village Human Resources Director, 57 employees will have salary increases. The study indicated those employees had salaries below an acceptable level. The increases ranged from $1,249 to $2,744.  As a result of their contract, all 38 salaried firefighters got raises ranging from $5,695 to $13,517, with total salary increases for Fire Rescue near $286,000.  Total salary increases for all employees: $442,868.

Projected staff overtime for the year - $678,000 - but now all overtime must be approved by the Village Manager.

The Annual Swim for Alligator Light  is an 8 mile open-water race through some of the clearest water in the Keys, but it is challenging. You can go solo with a support kayaker or split the distance with a relay team of 2 to 4 swimmers. For most, watching from the shoreline is enough excitement!

When World Renowned Artist, Lighthouse Larry decided to swim, to Alligator Lighthouse and back, alone, his friends thought he was crazy. But when he declared “every open water swimmer should experience this,” Larry became the anchor to the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse. The Fighting Manatee Swim Club, a Founders Park  Masters swim club, took on the challenge.  And since 2013 they have put on a world class open water swim.

Sue Miller Tom Raffanello From the Editorial Staff: We continue to work diligently to educate the public regarding local issues that impact quality of life, our fragile environment and our limited infrastructure. Setting the Record Straight… about “Peter and Paul”     After Sue spoke at Budget Hearing #1 last week, Vice Mayor Horton said he needed to “set the record straight.”  Horton believed Sue inferred the village “borrowed from Peter to pay Paul” by using Stewardship funding for wastewater instead of canal restoration. He believed using Stewardship Funding for wastewater was proper. So we did more homework. We went back to when the Florida legislature passed the Stewardship Act:  $20 million per year for the Keys, and of that, Islamorada was allocated 17.5% or $3.5 million per year.

In order to actually receive Stewardship funds each year, the Village must apply to DEP to have the specific Village projects approved as part of a grant application.  It is up to Islamorada to decide what projects are priority. Our concern remains this.  Wastewater is an Enterprise Fund.  Enterprise Funds by definition are self-supporting funds. User fees are established to pay expenses.   For years the wastewater fund has not been self-supporting. Instead of addressing the problem by reviewing user fee revenues and cost efficiencies, the village chose to transfer significant money from other funds and to apply for state and federal grants.  So “Peter has been paying Paul.”  Why have there been wastewater deficits? One major reason: raw sewage leaks at MM92 in Tavernier – starting in 2019. An apparent design flaw in the system.  For at least the last 4 years the village budgeted $2 million each year to fix the problem.  The money was spent but the problem wasn’t fixed.  The same story repeated each year– engineers from Key Largo and Islamorada couldn’t agree on how to fix the problem.  Have they reached an agreement yet? This year the fix is in the budget again, but now up to a $4 million cost, using Stewardship Funding to bail out an enterprise fund.     Sue commented that the budget approved last year had $3.5 million Stewardship funding for canal restoration, an acceptable use. This year Stewardship funding of $4 million is in the wastewater fund to fix the MM92 leaks, a request from the Village. They did in fact decide to “borrow from Peter to pay Paul.”  Otherwise Peter Frezza’s canal projects could have gotten the $4 million.  And Paul isn’t likely to pay back Peter. The Council certainly knows that there is a serious problem with wastewater.  We’ve been talking about it for years.  We need to stop talking and fix it: fix user fees and cost efficiencies so that the Wastewater Fund is a legitimate Enterprise Fund that is self-sufficient without borrowing from Peter, literally and figuratively.      To Council: Mr. Horton fussed at Sue at last week’s hearing about her public comment. But she is not the one that deserves criticism about the monumental wastewater problems. The problems are costing taxpayers in Islamorada millions of dollars annually, year after year.   She is just reminding you to finally do something. Having a reliable wastewater system is crucial to all of us and our environment. We wish you all much luck.  Hopefully this year wastewater concerns will be addressed and fixed.  And Peter can get back to his efforts with adequate funding.   And so can Paul - with his own enterprise funds. And Sue can smile during wastewater discussions. One more lesson from the Vice Mayor.  Mr. Horton did some homework last week too. He noted Sue was complaining about increases in Village spending.  He had gone to the trouble of checking her tax bill and found that the Islamorada taxes on her home were actually less in 2024 than in 2021. Mr. Horton, Sue was not voicing concern about her personal situation, and you shouldn’t either. She was speaking about Islamorada taxpayers in general. Her home is homesteaded.  But think about non-homesteaded properties. They are seeing significant tax increases.  We checked a rental home in Islamorada that has actually been rented long term several times since 2021 to Village employees. That rental property saw Islamorada taxes up 18% in three years. That’s what we all need to worry about. Because of Florida Homestead laws, the taxes (and insurance) are making it more and more difficult to own long term rental housing, business properties, and second homes.  All critical to the Village’s economy.  So we say to Horton and the rest of the council: always look at the broad picture – not your personal picture. That’s what public servants do. Reply to: ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com

The Islamorada Library’s refresh begins September 15. All materials must be removed while the work is taking place. All patrons are invited to stop before the last open day, Saturday, Sep 13 and check out as many books and DVDs as you want. They will extend the loan period – and no longer charge overdue fines. The closure is anticipated to take about five weeks. To stay updated  go to keyslibraries.org.

Traffic Study: The draft 2025 study will be discussed by the Commission Sep 10.  There is concern that the travel times were measured by the County’s consultant after the “peak season” was over, which violates the County’s Comprehensive Plan and the approved guidelines.   The problem areas in the potentially flawed study remain traffic segments in Islamorada. Click here to see the list of traffic segments.  Rankings below “C” means no additional trips in that segment can be added without disrupting acceptable traffic speeds.

The rating for Lower Matecumbe, Upper Matecumbe, and Windley Key are all ranked a “D.”  Plantation Key has improved to a “C” in 2025, primarily because the construction related to the pipeline installation lowered the speed limit to 35 MPH.     In Monroe County, once a segment falls below a “C” no more construction can occur unless there is appropriate mitigation to reduce the deficiencies in that segment.  Unlike the County, Islamorada does not stop construction when a segment is deficient.   If the overall Level of Service (LOS) for the entire 114 miles of US 1 falls below the LOS C Standard, then no additional land development will be allowed in the Florida Keys, unless mitigation measures are proposed to address the LOS deficiencies. In 2019 and 2023 the overall LOS fell below the LOS C but the County simply did not approve the study so continued development was allowed.   4-Laning U.S. One, also on the Sep 10 County agenda The Islamorada Community Alliance has joined nearly 2 dozen organizations throughout the Keys, objecting to this possible 4-laning.  Click here to read the details as to the concerns. Can you imagine converting Islamorada’s “Main Street” into a major 4-lane highway aimed at getting more folks through our community to points south.

The proposal to allow 4-laning the highway and to accept the 2025 US 1 Level of Service Study are to be heard back to back by the County Commission in Key Largo, Murray Nelson Government Center, beginning at 1:30 pm Sep 10.

Workshop: Discussion about Village properties, all purchased without a planned use.One of the properties… a church. The workshop was scheduled to see if members of the community had any ideas about possible uses for the prior Islamorada Community Church and several other costly properties owned by the Village, sitting unused.  

Village Manager, Ron Saunders, suggested that in an effort to keep property taxes down and preserve critical fund balances that perhaps the church should be sold. Some in attendance, preferred improving efficiency and reducing Village operating costs as a more appropriate way to control property tax levels instead of the sale of valued real estate. “What will we sell next year?”

   

Purchased a year ago for $3.995,000, the church property was leased back to the church for the past year ($0 rent). The Village took official possession August 11.   

The church property at MM82.8. is 110’ x 330’ on U.S. One, just south of Publix, 8/10 of an acre.  The building is almost 16,000 sq ft with a sanctuary that can seat over 300.  Originally built in 1972 as a movie theater, it was acquired by the church more than 20 years ago. In addition to the sanctuary, the building has classrooms and offices, previously part of a school operated by the church.  Click here for photos from the appraisal done a year ago.

Another property discussed was the former Island Silver and Spice property that has been sitting vacant in the heart of Islamorada since being purchased by Islamorada December of 2021 for $2.75 million.

It was concluded that the third property, purchased in May, 2021, for $1.8M and referred to as the “Machado Property” should be used for affordable housing.  

If you have ideas, the Village Manager is anxious to listen.

Why is this important? All three properties were purchased when there was the possibility the properties would be developed into high intensity uses unacceptable to the desires of the community.  If we now sell the properties, to get top dollar, the future use, by a developer wanting lucrative profits, may well be unacceptable.