MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Commissioners are taking on the mayor over the Urban Development Boundary in South Miami-Dade. This has lasted for months, which will mostly likely continue with the possibility of appeals.
In an 8-3 vote, the Miami-Dade Commission overturned Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s veto on a green light to build an industrial park in South Dade, Tuesday morning.
“Moving the UBD now without proven need, threatens all the work we have already done,” Levine Cava said.
The controversial project, known as the South Dade Logistics and Technology District, will be built on lands south of the Turnpike and north of Southwest 268th Street, and with it, the county will expand the Urban Development Boundary, which was created to restrict development to protect wetlands and farmlands.
“It provides personal gain and benefit for a few at the expense of many,” Levine Cava said.
“The commission clearly said that’s not important to us,” said Laura Reynolds of Hold the Line Coalition. “The billions of dollars that we’re investing in Everglades restoration don’t matter.”
Members of the community criticized the project since it was first presented in May. Developers promised thousands of jobs to an area of mostly commuters, but it did not have enough votes.
“Nobody’s been able to prove that we’re going to hurt the environment by doing this. Nobody could prove that,” said Miami-Dade District 12 Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz.
Developers scaled back the blueprints and promised to donate 600 acres of wetlands to the county last month, which eventually gave them the green light.
In a statement, the group said in part, “The result was a smaller but much better application that balanced the need for economic opportunity in South Dade with the need to protect our natural resources.”
“The biggest worry is what will happen with our federal partners, because they’ve come to the table with commitments of millions and millions of dollars for the protection of our bay and our water supply, and it’s very concerning if they will continue to make those investments,” Levine Cava said.
There have been discussions from community groups and environmentalists about a possible appeal, which has to be filed at the end of the month.
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