Florida
Miami-Dade: Hold The Line Update
Miami Dade County Commissioners must hold the line during the final vote on April 24, 2008! The message is clear: Deny all three applications to move the Urban Development Boundary (UDB) and pave more of Florida's Everglades. The last thing Miami-Dade needs is more traffic and less water!
In December, Mayor Alvarez supported the Hold the Line campaign with his veto to stop these applications in their tracks. When his veto was overruled, the state of Florida filed its February report advising Miami-Dade officials to hold the line by denying the remaining three applications.
The Department of Community Affairs, or DCA, reported that there is no need to expand the UDB, identified a lack of water, and chastised the County for violating its own policies. Miami-Dade's county budget cannot handle the increased infrastructure costs needed to prevent school overcrowding, increased traffic congestion and other services associated with building outside the UDB.
In spite of all these realities, Lennar, a development corporation, has filed a new application seeking to add nearly 7,000 new homes outside the UDB in Miami's Redlands, west of Kendall.
Clean Water Action members have been diligent. More than 500 letters have been delivered to Miami-Dade Commissioners and the DCA so far, but we need you to keep the heat on! The County Commission's final decision will be April 24, 2008. We need you to come down to the Stephen Clark Government Center and tell your Commissioners to Hold the Line!
Take Action: Personalize a letter for hand delivery by Clean Water Action to your County Commissioner.
Miami-Dade County Commissioners will make a final decision on April 24, 2008 whether to approve three applications which seek to move the County's Urban Development Boundary (UDB) or whether to deny them to protect the public interest.
Please contact your County Commissioners and tell them to deny all applications in order to protect our economy, our water supply and our quality of life.
Clean Water Action is an active member of the Hold the Line Campaign, an alliance that includes over 100 municipalities, homeowner groups, businesses, and non-profit organizations working to "hold" Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UDB) from development pressures. Clean Water Action has helped to expand the support of Hold the Line, while holding elected officials accountable through letter-writing and public pressure campaigns.
Help Clean Water Action save the UDB!
What is the Urban Development Boundary?
Created in 1975, the Urban Development Boundary (UDB) separates urban development from rural and open lands, by creating a vital buffer of land between metro Miami and the Everglades. It is an invisible line, mostly running north/south along the western edge, and east/west along the southern regions of Miami-Dade County. Beyond the UDB land is zoned for only low-density development and open lands, which protects large tracts of wetlands and agricultural areas. Miami-Dade is the only county in South Florida that created a UDB.
Why is the "UDB" so important?
The UDB helps to recharge our drinking water supply by keeping lands unpaved, it preserves our agricultural lands, and protects Everglades and Biscayne National Parks from being encroached on. The UDB also helps control flooding and prevents overcrowding of roads, especially in areas crucial for hurricane evacuation. Moving the UDB spreads finite resources (tax dollars) away from communities of need, and further burdens over-crowded schools in outlying areas.
In late January of 2006, Florida water and environmental officials came to Miami and told local leaders that no additional water will be removed from underground sources or the Everglades and the County must come up with alternate sources to supply residents. Along with traffic gridlock, overcrowded schools and disappearing farm land, moving the Urban Development Boundary (UDB) risks an irreplaceable resource: our water supply!
Visit Hold the Line online to be a part of this exciting effort! Or call (305) 485-5949
Miami Dade Watershed Study Complete
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The long anticipated South Miami-Dade Watershed Study and Plan has been released and accepted by the Miami-Dade County Commission. "The Plan" recommends 68 individual strategies for guiding development to protect Biscayne Bay and creates a smart planning roadmap for environmental, economic and social sustainability in Miami-Dade County.
The proposed Plan components include upholding the Urban Development Boundary through 2025, an effort that will protect our communities, existing neighborhood character, and water supply. Additional priorities are aimed at retaining agricultural lands, the protection of environmentally sensitive property and increasing density throughout transit corridors to minimize the traffic congestion caused by Florida's population growth.
Clean Water Action supports many of the recommendations highlighted in the Watershed Plan's report. There is still a long way to go to turn this $4 million dollar, five-year in the making report into an action plan. If you want to be kept informed on this topic or to see how you can help, contact Dawn Shirreffs, in Clean Water's Miami office at (305)653-9101 or e-mail dshirreffs@cleanwater.org
