A homeowner association and more than a dozen residents are appealing a state agency’s reversal on approving a land-use change in the Florida Keys, which would pave the way for a proposed Publix grocery store/affordable housing project in Tavernier.
In addition, another resident, Richard Barreto, sent the state Attorney General’s Office a letter requesting an investigation into how the Florida Department of Commerce, also known as FloridaCommerce, reversed itself on its prior denial of the proposed Monroe County government land-use change that would allow a 49,000-square-foot supermarket and 86 units of workforce housing on a roughly 20-acre lot off U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 92.5.
An attorney for the Tavernier Community Association Inc. and more than a dozen residents has filed an appeal of the Department of Commerce’s decision approving the Tavernier Commercial Overlay District (TKCOD) that sets new county land-use rules for the property and allows for the grocery store and affordable housing.
In February, the Monroe County Commission approved creating the Tavernier Commercial Overlay District (TKCOD) with a 4-1 vote for the project, with Commissioner Craig Cates dissenting.
The Florida Department of Commerce initially denied the county’s approval, but on June 27, the agency put a notice in the Florida Administrative Register stating it reversed its decision and approved the overlay district.
“The Ordinance is consistent with the Principles for Guiding Development as a whole,” the state agency wrote. “Wherefore, it is ordered that the Department finds that Monroe County Ordinance No. 04-2024 is consistent with the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan and the Principles for Guiding Development for the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern and is hereby approved. This Order becomes effective 21 days after publication in the Florida Administrative Register, unless a petition is timely filed as described in the Notice of Administrative Rights below. Done and ordered in Tallahassee, Florida.”
FloridaCommerce initially ruled the ordinance was “inconsistent with the Principles for Guiding Development” and what the Monroe County Commission approved “improperly creates an overlay district to exempt the subject property from the development standards applicable to other properties within Tavernier in a manner that is inconsistent with the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan and fails to maintain the community’s character,” Florida Department of Commerce wrote in its rejection letter.
The appeal questioned the legality of the approvals by the Monroe County Commission and FloridaCommerce.
“If adopted, the ordinance serves as a precedent for other Applicant to skirt the principles, the comprehensive plan and the land development codes and further weakens the County’s ability to manage land use,” attorney Andy Tobin wrote on behalf of the people and group appealing Commerce’s decision.
On July 4, Upper Keys resident Richard Barreto sent a complaint to Inspector General James E. Landsberg, requesting his agency investigation the Department of Commerce’s sudden and unprecedented reversal of the denial.
“I am submitting this complaint because I believe the Florida State Department of Commerce did not follow their own procedures nor Florida Statutes in Amending a final order,” Barreto stated. “This has resulted in hardship for my organization, our members, and others in our community. The actions of the DOC (Department of Commerce) have denied us due process. Multiple calls to the DOC Legal Counsel, James Stansberry, were made to ascertain an explanation. Messages were left; however, the calls have not been returned.”
Barreto has used terms like “influence peddling and corruption” in describing how FloridaCommerce representatives overruled themselves, without the developers filing an appeal. He questioned how “starkly in conflict” the two decisions are and whether a “pay-for-play scheme” was involved, he said.
“I heard back from two investigators (with the Office of the Inspector General) that advised me they received my complaint and that they have been assigned to investigate it,” Barreto told The Keys Citizen.
A representative of FloridaCommerce justified the department’s change position in an email to The Citizen on Monday, July 15.
“FloridaCommerce always recognized that the proposed comprehensive plan change was based on noble purposes: (1) Beautifying what is currently an unattractive commercial property in order to visually match the character of the surrounding community; (2) creating jobs; and (3) simultaneously increasing the availability of workforce housing,” Florida Commerce spokeswoman Emily Hetherington wrote. “The merits of the application were never in doubt; rather, our questions were solely matters of law. After receiving additional input from representatives of the county and the proposed development, upon further legal and historical analysis, it was clear that the proposed comprehensive plan change was legally sufficient and based on historical precedent. Furthermore, this regulation does not appear to create a new commercial district but rather an overlay of existing uses.”
Monroe County Mayor Holly Raschein, who voted in favor of the proposal, did not reach out to FloridaCommerce prior to the agency’s reversal of its decision, she told The Keys Citizen. County Planning Director Emily Schemper did talk with FloridaCommerce representatives, but only reiterated what she put in the county’s staff report, which recommended the Monroe County Commission postpone or deny the new overlay district, she said.
The developers plan to purchase the property from CEMEX/Singletary company and lease the commercial space to Publix. The developers are a mix of the local Toppino family, a commercial development company called the Blackstone Group and the housing development company Vestcor Companies Inc. The developers are under contract to purchase the property from CEMEX. The purchase is contingent on county and state officials approving it.
The developers’ attorney, Barton Smith, called the state’s reversal the “right move by Commerce,” he wrote in a text to The Keys Citizen from Europe late last month.
The proposal had been opposed by the county’s Planning Commission and the Planning Department and several local homeowners associations and environmental groups, including the Key Largo Federation of Homeowners Associations, Last Stand and Tavernier Community Association.
Monroe County planning staff recommended the commission either postpone making a decision or deny the proposal because the plan is not consistent with the county’s land development code and the Livable CommuniKeys Planning Program for Tavernier. The county’s Planning Commission voted to not recommend approval of the project.
Roughly two dozen Tavernier residents spoke against the proposal at the meeting when commissioners approved the overlay district, arguing the store is too big, will create too much traffic and said there is no need for another Publix and a liquor store. The residents spoke in favor of more affordable housing, not another Publix. They argued the developers are putting profits before the safety of residents.
The residents told the commissioners that traffic is already an issue and the Publix proposal would make the situation worse. The residents continually said there is no need for more grocery stores, as there is a Winn-Dixie in Tavernier and Key Largo and a Publix in Islamorada and Key Largo. The residences said this project is being pushed by corporate interests who don’t live in the community.
Mayor Raschein, who lives in Tavernier, voted in favor of it. She believes the project will be a benefit to the community once completed, she said, adding that there are still more approvals from the county government that are needed that will require more public meetings, she told The Citizen.
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