During the spring and fall of 2000 the residents and property owners of Big Pine and No Name Keys worked with Monroe County planning staff to develop the Master Plan for Future Development on Big Pine No Name Keys (Master Plan). However, in order for any new development to occur, including road widening improvements to US 1, an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) permit from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was required. Consequently, Monroe County, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Florida Department of Community Affairs applied for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP). The ITP was issued to the County, DCA, and FDOT in June of 2006.

To comply with the issuance criteria of the ITP, Monroe County and the co-applicants were required to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to mitigate the incidental take of the Key deer resulting from development activities. The mitigation measure proposed by the co-applicants was land acquisition. The applicants proposed to acquire and conserve habitat lands totaling three (3) times the harvest value (H value) impacted by development. This proposal was incorporated into the Master Plan as Action Item 9.2.4, which proposes the creation of an environmental mitigation fee for land acquisition.

The purpose of the mitigation fee is to establish a funding source for land acquisition and conservation, in order to ensure that development bears its fair share of mitigation. A special revenue fund will be established into which mitigation fees will be deposited. Fees deposited into the fund will be used for acquisition of land for public resource protection and conservation of Key deer habitat on Big Pine and No Name Keys. The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners may review and revise the amount of the mitigation fee on a yearly basis.

Pursuant to Action Item 9.2.4 of the Master Plan, at least 50% of the mitigation fee should represent the cost the County will have to bear for purchasing land, such that the total harvest value (H) of the parcels purchased sum to a value equal to three times the H value of the parcels permitted for development, in order to maintain the 3H:1H mitigation-to-impact ratio required by the ITP. According to Table 6.1 of the HCP, the total estimated cost of mitigation is $11, 685,000, 52% of which ($6,185,000) represents the estimated cost of actual land acquisition. The remainder of mitigation fee funds ($5,500,000) will be used for land management including fire management, invasive species control, restoration and monitoring. Over the 20 year term of the ITP the combined H values of lands acquired for mitigation shall total to a value equal to or greater than 3.3 H, and the combined H values of lands permitted for development activities shall not exceed 1.1H.

The mitigation fee will be assessed for new residential and non-residential development, expansion of non-residential floor area, certain accessory uses, road improvements, and institutional uses, for example. The mitigation fee will be assessed on a per permit basis, except that permits for affordable housing will not be subject to the mitigation fee.

Similar to the methodology of determining impact fees, the methodology for determining the proportionate fair share mitigation fees was based on the proportionate amount of development budgeted in Table 2.3 of the master Plan and the estimated cost of acquiring and managing land as provided in Table 6.1 of the Habitat Conservation Plan (Exhibits A and B, respectively). The methodology for determining the proportionate fair share of the cost per development unit is provided in Exhibit C. The Formula for calculating the mitigation fee amount in based on data in Exhibit C and is expressed in Subsection 9.5-346.1(e)(2) of the proposed Ordinance.

Article XI of Chapter 9.5 sets forth the requirements for amending the text of the land development regulations. Specifically, Sec. 9.5-511(d)(5)b sets forth six (6) criteria for amending the land development regulations, at least one of which must be met. Three (3) of the six (6) criteria support the proposed amendment; (iv) New Issues and (v) Recognition of a need for additional detail and comprehensiveness, and (vi) Data update.

(iv) New Issues:

Ecologist (Lopez 2001) from Texas A&M University conducted a Population Viability Analysis (PVA) to evaluate the impacts of various development activities on the Key deer population. Their research indicates certain development activities contribute to direct habitat loss and indirect human-related effects on Key deer, resulting in the incidental take of the species.

(vi) Data update:

Impacts from various development activities to Key deer were quantified by ecologists using the PVA model. The unit of measure which quantifies impacts to Key deer is the "H" (harvest value). Data from the PVA model indicates the combined effect of certain development activities proposed by the applicants of the ITP will result in a total harvest (H) of 1.1

(v) Recognition of a need for additional detail and comprehensiveness:

The Applicants of the Incidental Take Permit (ITP) propose to mitigate for the incidental take of Key deer mainly by acquiring and managing native habitat areas within the HCP project area. This HCP proposes a quantifiable and measuarable objective for a level of incidental take that results in a total impact of 1.1H. The Applicants will mitigate the incidental take of Key deer by acquiring habitat areas at a 3:1 ratio, using H as the unit of measurement. Therefore, over 20 years, lands for a maximum H = 3.3 will be acquired and managed. Land acquisition will occur in advance of, or simultaneously with, development activities.

The Master Plan for Big Pine and No Name Keys, adopted by the BOCC as an addendum to the 2010 Comprehensive Plan, includes an Action Item for land acquisition. Action Item 9.2.4 of the Master Plan for Future Development of Big Pine and No Name Keys recommends a land acquisition strategy for mitigating impacts to Key deer and their habitat, which establishes an environmental mitigation fee to use for acquiring and conserving habitat lands to ensure that development bears its fair share of the required mitigation under the conditions of the ITP. The ordinance establishing the mitigation fee will provide for implementation and enforcement of this Action Item.

Policy 101.20.1 of the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan states that Monroe County shall develop a series of Community Master Plans through the Livable CommuniKeys Program, which will be developed in accordance with, among other principles, the following principles:

1. Each Community Master Plan will contain a framework for future development and redevelopment including the designation of growth boundaries and future acquisition areas for public spaces and environmental conservation;

2. Each Community Master Plan will include an Implementation Strategy composed of action items, an implementation schedule, and a monitoring mechanism to provide accountability to communities; and

7. Each Community Master Plan will contain an environmental protection element to maintain existing high levels of environmental protection as required in the 2010 Comprehensive Plan.

Policy 103.1.3 of the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan states that Monroe County shall identify Key deer habitat areas as priority acquisition sites for conservation purposes. Emphasis shall be placed upon acquisition of movement corridors, sources of fresh water, and undisturbed native vegetation areas which are located within Improved Subdivisions and which are outside of the acquisition areas identified by the FWS (for the National Key Deer Refuge), DEP (for the Coupon Bight CARL Project), and SFWMD (for the Big Pine Key Save Our Rivers project).

The ordinance implementing the mitigation fee for habitat conservation on big Pine and No Name Keys fulfills the mandates and criteria of Policy 101.20.1 and Policy 103.1.3 stated above.

Whereas Key deer habitat is a unique public resource of local, state, and national interest, Monroe County has adopted Goals, Strategies, and Action Items in the Big Pine Master Plan to promote health, safety, and general welfare with respect to environmental protection. Action Item 9.2.4 of the Master Plan provides for the establishment of the mitigation fee to use for land acquisition for public resource protection, which is consistent with the Principles for Guiding Development in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern as a whole and is not inconsistent with any principle. Specifically, the establishment of the mitigation for public resource protection is consistent with:

Principle (l) To protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Florida Keys and maintain the Florida Keys as a unique Florida resource.

The community-driven planning effort involved in the development of the Master Plan for Future Development of Big Pine and No Name Key sought to define through continuous debate the public’s interest in protecting the environment. In conjunction with the recommendations for habitat conservation in the HCP, the implementation of a mitigation fee for land acquisition, along with the growth management plan provided by the Master Plan, will allow for additional permitting of development activities to satisfy the residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional needs of individual property owners and the community as a whole, and at the same time protects and conserves Key deer habitat.

A text amendment to the Monroe County code to create a new Section 9.5-346.1 Mitigation Fee for Habitat Conservation on Big Pine and No Name Keys.

Approval.