Mayor vetoes commercial project planned for wetlands in Miami-Dade
A commercial complex planned on wetlands just outside the Miami-Dade suburbs will need another vote after a veto by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
County commissioners approved the new headquarters for Kelly Tractor in a 9-to-2 vote on Jan. 22, overruling objections by Levine Cava’s planning staff and environmental groups that the project shouldn’t be allowed on what’s now a tree farm southwest of Sweetwater. The property includes wetlands protected by county regulations and sits just outside Miami-Dade’s Urban Development Boundary, where the Dolphin Expressway ends off of Northwest 137th Avenue.
Kelly Tractor, a heavy machinery company based in Doral, argued the site made sense, given its proximity to existing commercial uses and the fact that a portion of the 246-acre site already sits inside the Urban Development Boundary, often called the “UDB” for shorthand. The company also notes that years before Levine Cava became mayor, the county had plans to build a sewage-treatment plan on the same land before the idea for that massive project fizzled.
Opponents of Kelly’s plans said Miami-Dade should reject the request to allow for the commercial complex outside the UDB. Along with protecting wetlands on the tree farm, rejecting the Kelly request would keep intact development restrictions designed to steer new construction inside the UDB and closer to existing roads, businesses and homes.
“Protecting our environment and championing our wetlands are among my core responsibilities,” Levine Cava said in a video message about the veto. “I believe we can grow responsibly, while also protecting the natural systems that support our water, our environment and our quality of life.”
Kelly Tractor had no immediate comment on the veto.
Overriding a mayor’s veto requires a two-thirds vote of commissioners present for the override vote. If the full board is in place on Feb. 18, the date of the next commission meeting, that would mean nine votes to reject Levine Cava’s veto.
Since nine commissioners previously voted with Kelly, the company already has enough yes votes to override Levine Cava’s veto if those commissioners vote the same way. The two commissioners who voted against the Kelly application were Danielle Cohen Higgins and Micky Steinberg. Commissioners Marleine Bastien and René Garcia were not present for the vote.