DANIA BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Broward County commissioners voted unanimously against a proposed warehouse construction project near a sanctuary for wild monkeys following impassioned pleas from residents and environmentalists.
“Let the record show, eight to nothing voting against this,” said Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen.
During a Broward commission meeting on Tuesday, a fight to preserve what environmentalists describe as a piece of wild Florida took a step forward as commissioners denied a Dania Beach-based company’s request to remove a section of land east of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from the environmentally sensitive list to make way for a warehouse project.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. This is fantastic,” said Dr. Missy Williams, who runs the Dania Beach Vervet Monkey Project.
The land, comprising 21 acres of untouched nature, is located near Williams’ monkey sanctuary.
In a video shared with 7News in October 2025, Williams showed the area that commissioners decided to preserve.
“When you walk into the mangroves, you will see lots of crop roots, which are part of the mangrove trees. You’ll see some wetlands, and you’ll see also the animals that occupy the trees, the land and also the water that is back there, it’s beautiful,” said Williams.
In May 2025, county staff wrote that “the site has a predominance of native, mature red and black mangroves, provides nursery, roosting, foraging and refuge habitat for many species.”
The company’s proposed project would require three acres of that land to construct a 62,000-square-foot warehouse.
The developer also pledged to set aside just over one acre to maintain the mangroves and waterways, promising “the wetlands preserved onsite will also be enhanced through the removal of invasive/non-native species.”
The developer asked commissioners to remove the land from the list to speed up the project’s approval, arguing it would enhance environmental protection efforts in the area while also bringing economic benefits.
“We want to encourage you to move forward with additional development, and you balance the economic interests. We are actually preserving and enhancing the wetlands on the property,” said Edwin Stacker, an attorney for the developer.
Several residents attending Tuesday’s meeting didn’t buy that reasoning.
“Mangroves, as a lot of people pointed out, act as natural flood barriers,” said a concerned resident.
“We are not fighting for a single acre. This vote is about whether public protections mean anything when confronted by private capital,” said another resident.
“The [Florida] Fish and Wildlife Commission estimates that more than 10 acres of Florida’s wild land is cleared every hour for development,” said a third resident.
“Economic development does not need to come at the expense of what little habitat we have left,” said a resident.
Early into the meeting, commissioners had signaled they were already inclined to deny the developer’s request and ultimately made the decision unanimously.
Both sides warned that the fight over this section of land is not over.
“This will set a precedent. If you chip away at five mangroves, then the next developer will come in and say, ‘Well, how about three? Well, I’m gonna take two,” said Williams.
“If people truly want to stop it from being developed, then I think the government needs to find the money to acquire it,” said Stacker.
Attorneys for the developer said they plan to seek approval from the City of Dania Beach.
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