County OKs toned-down rule giving builders more time to pitch projects beyond urban line

County commissioners voted on Wednesday to change growth management rules to allow developers more opportunities to pitch projects beyond the county’s Urban Development Boundary.

Miami-Dade commissioners toned down the ordinance after environmentalists voiced concerns about how the legislation would loosen protections and make it easier for developers to build in land bordering the Everglades and other sensitive habitats.

The UDB is an imaginary line that is designed to prevent unchecked urban sprawl and protect farms and wetlands outside the county’s urban core.

After a unanimous vote, commissioners agreed to allow builders to apply for amendments to the UDB between January and May during odd years — tweaked from an original proposal to allow for applications at any time during odd years. Previously, amendments were possible only during the month of May in odd years.

“Allowing more time for them to apply during odd years makes it easier for the public to know who’s applying, what is being done, to be able to express their opinion and for the department to be able to establish an analysis of the proposal,“ said Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who sponsored the proposed ordinance as a way to reduce red tape.

After the meeting, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signaled she would not veto the legislation. Her administration released a memo Wednesday morning that was critical of the legislation, but the mayor said she didn’t oppose the final product. “It was amended,” she said.

The commission also clarified confusing language about expedited amendments. The original proposal said that developers could apply for so-called expedited amendments at any time during odd years, as long as they paid expediting fees at a multiplier of 2.5.

Commissioner Eileen Higgins said the word “expedited” gave the impression that the county was expediting the applications. She suggested “out-of-cycle amendments” instead.

Environmentalists keep a close eye on any proposed changes to the UDB because the limit helps protect a greenbelt buffer area with farms, open spaces and wetlands that separate the highly developed urban core and Everglades National Park to the west and Biscayne Bay to the east.

The UDB, intended to balance development and conservation, is part of Miami-Dade’s Comprehensive Development Master Plan, which contains several areas known as Urban Expansion Areas — land that the county may choose to develop at some point between 2020 and 2030.

“It is very unfortunate that the Board of County Commissioners approved changes that weaken the CDMP, which is the gold standard when it comes to protecting Miami-Dade County’s agricultural and environmental lands, and has been critical to balancing competing interests and buffering the Everglades from the urban core,” said Paola Ferreira, executive director at the Tropical Audubon Society.

She said it’s important that the county continue to analyze applications “in an orderly and comprehensive way” and that any changes to the UDB should be an exception.

The controversial proposal to build a $1 billion highway extension through wetlands in western Miami-Dade, for instance, involved discussions over whether the UDB should be breached. The project known as the Kendall Parkway would extend State Road 836 past the boundary to create a new commuting option to suburban residents. A judge last year rejected the plan, saying environmental impacts outweighed the small improvement in traffic congestion the new road would provide.

Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.