Miami-Dade commission blocks UDB expansion. Developers get third chance to try again

A coalition of Miami-Dade County commissioners narrowly blocked an expansion of the Urban Development Boundary on Thursday, but the board plans to take up the proposal again next month.

It was the third time a majority of commissioners granted a reprieve to developers of the proposed industrial complex on farmland off of Florida’s Turnpike in South Miami-Dade, this time allowing another vote on Oct. 18.

Miami-Dade’s charter requires a two-thirds vote to expand the Urban Development Boundary, but commission rules allow a majority to approve a repeat vote on a UDB application. While developers of the 379-acre South Dade Logistics and Technology couldn’t muster the eight votes needed to move the UDB, there was enough support to try again next month.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, whose district includes the 380-acre project site and led the charge to deny the proposal. “The fact that something dies but subsequently survives makes no sense.”

READ MORE: Vote delayed on expanding Urban Development Boundary for industrial building complex

The Urban Development Boundary separates farmland and wetlands near the Everglades from most residential and commercial construction in Miami-Dade. Building the project requires Miami-Dade commissioners to expand the UDB for the first time since 2013.

Covering 380 acres, the project forecast 7,300 full-time permanent positions on a site south of Florida’s Turnpike and north of Moody Drive (Southwest 268th Street), north of the Homestead Air Reserve Base and about three miles west of Biscayne Bay.

Developers pitched the project as an employment center for South Miami-Dade’s commuting residents. Environmental groups insist it will create more urban sprawl at the expense of Biscayne Bay and the Everglades.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava joined environmental groups in opposing the project, and they seemed to secure a victory Thursday afternoon when the legislation needed to move the UDB for the South Dade project failed on a 7 to 5 vote.

But Commissioner Kionne McGhee asked the board to vote again on a project with about 85 acres removed from the plan. The board agreed to consider that item next month.

“Miami-Dade County preaches resiliency, yet today we witnessed hypocrisy,” said Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation. “This application has been smoke and mirrors from the start.”

The delay means developers would need to peel away one no vote from the five commissioners who opposed the UDB expansion: Cohen Higgins, René Garcia, Sally Heyman, Eileen Higgins and Raquel Regalado. Jean Monestime, a commissioner who voted against the project in May, switched sides and voted yes for the UDB move Thursday.

In an interview, Monestime said he entered the chambers planning to vote against the project.

But he said he wasn’t convinced by the Levine Cava administration’s conclusion that there’s enough space inside the existing Urban Development area to build the same amount of warehouse and industrial space proposed by developers Aligned Real Estate Holdings and Coral Rock Development.

“What if they’re right, and it’s an opportunity for providing hundreds of jobs to people in the area?” Monestime said outside the chambers.

A representative for the developers said the project will shrink before the Oct. 18 vote by removing an 84-acre parcel owned by Florida Power and Light. While the land accounts for about 1,800 jobs in the developers’ economic forecasts, FPL isn’t part of the planned industrial development and has not filed the zoning application needed for construction.

Developers already had shrunk the project from 800 acres in an effort to win Thursday’s vote. The project came before the board in May and June as well, but the board agreed to delay final votes both times.

Another UDB expansion application

Also Thursday, commissioners advanced an application to expand the UDB in an area farther north for a 41-acre complex aimed at freight trucks, with parking, maintenance and washing facilities.

A final vote would likely come sometime next year, after a review by state agencies of the application for the area south of the 836 Expressway, north of Southwest 2nd Street and west of Southwest 137th Avenue. The vote to advance the application passed 11 to 1, with Higgins voting no.

The 13-seat board was missing a member after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended District 11 Commissioner Joe Martinez on Tuesday.

DeSantis can appoint a temporary replacement for Martinez, who is awaiting trial on felony charges alleging corruption. Martinez supported the Aligned project, and his temporary replacement would be able to vote on the proposal if the appointment comes before Oct. 18.

This story was updated to correct the date of the next vote on the change to the UDB for the South Miami-Dade project. The vote is scheduled for Oct. 18.

This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 6:03 PM.