Projects

The Everglades Law Center is acknowledged as a state-wide leader on growth management and environmental legal and policy issues. Our work focuses on many of the most critical issues currently affecting the environment and quality of life in South Florida and throughout the state. We are directly involved in state-wide policy issues and on the ground issues in South Florida - from Martin to Monroe Counties. Our current projects are summarized below. 

FLORIDA KEYS

In the Keys, we have been the leading legal voice for the environment on land use issues at the local and state level for many years, regularly appearing before the local governing bodies and Florida’s Department of Community Affairs and Governor and Cabinet.  We have played a major role in the adoption and amendment of the comprehensive plans in Monroe County and its various cities. We won a ruling that the amount of new development proposed by the County and the State cannot exceed the capacity of the marine system to accommodate more pollution.   We have successfully stopped several developments that threatened special places in the Keys. Our  victory in the Ambrose case, alongside the Keys’ local governments, prevented the granting of potentially thousands of exemptions from the local land use plans which would have rendered the plans a virtual nullity. We continue to lead the legal effort to ensure that the amount of development in the Keys is based upon an ecological “carrying capacity” study and that the amount of development in the Keys does not exceed hurricane evacuation capabilities or the ability of the marine and land-based ecosystems to sustain themselves. 

The Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study was mandated by the State to determine the ability of the Florida Keys ecosystems to accommodate additional development. This pioneering study is to be implemented by the development of plan amendments to establish a rate of growth and a set of development standards to ensure that new development does not exceed the capacity of the environment and marine system to accommodate additional impacts. The legal, political and practical challenges will determine the future of the Florida Keys. Currently, this effort is the focus of an appeal to the Third District Court of Appeals in Miami

EVERGLADES

In the Everglades, we use our legal and technical expertise on the cutting edge legal and policy issues of Everglades restoration implementation, representing environmental interests in state and federal court, and before local, regional, state and federal agencies. We have provided extensive legal advocacy to the environmental community in support of the Everglades Restoration projects that are designed to bring about the most important ecological, and resulting economical, benefits. We have brought numerous legal challenges to development proposals that have threatened the protection or restoration of the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. Our recent federal court victory in the Scripps Biotech Institute case resulted in the relocation of that critical project from the edge of the Everglades in western Palm Beach County, where it was more likely to fail, to an eastern location, where its potential for economic success is greatest.  We also represent public interest clients in litigation over Palm beach County’s West-Central Region Sector Plan, which we believe fails to protect the rural and environmental values in the region, and are regularly involved in numerous development issues in western Palm Beach County, with a focus on protecting the lands needed to restore the northern Everglades.

In Miami-Dade County, our legal advocacy on behalf of the Hold the Line campaign is focusing on the combined fiscal, social and environmental reasons why the County should maintain its Urban Development Boundary, which is facing its most serious set of pressures in well over a decade.  In previous years, we won an appeals court ruling overturning the State's approval of a plan to redevelop the former Homestead Air Force Base as a commercial airport complex.

The restoration of the Everglades is the largest and most ambitious environmental restoration project ever attempted. In addition to its obvious engineering and scientific challenges, it raises complex and cutting edge policy, legal and administrative issues on a national scale

SCRIPPS

Palm Beach County and the State of Florida sought to site a branch of the Scripps Research Institute in northwestern Palm Beach County.  The original 2000 acre site selected for the Scripps project, Mecca Farms, is located in an extremely remote, rural area in the Loxahatchee River’s headwaters, surrounded by environmentally sensitive lands.  The site contains habitat for endangered species like the snail kite and wood stork. It is in an area of the County that was never planned for intense growth, and accordingly lacks virtually all infrastructure necessary for its support.   From an environmental and growth management perspective, it appeared to be the worst possible location for intense development, and it threatened to seriously compromise restoration of the Loxahatchee River.  

The ELC litigated in state, federal and administrative court in four separate legal actions on behalf of local grassroot organizations, local chapters of national non-profit organizations and residents, challenging the siting of the Scripps Research Institute on such sensitive lands.  We are thrilled that after intense advocacy and litigation in State and Federal Courts, we were victorious!  In October of last year, a United States District Court Judge found the Army Corp’s permit for the Research Park was illegally issued in violation of the National Environmental Protection Act and the Clean Water Act.     As a result of this ruling, all construction was stopped at Mecca Farms which forced the selection of a more appropriate eastern site along the I-95 corridor.  Not coincidentally, this is the site that our organization recommended in November of 2003 as outlined in our briefing paper. 

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY URBAN DEVELOPMENT BOUNDARY

Miami - Dade County’s Comprehensive Plan employs an “Urban Development Boundary” as its key mechanism to protect the Everglades, rural and farmlands, the County’s fiscal resources, encourage infill and redevelopment and achieve other planning goals.  Recently, several current and pending proposals to move the “UDB” have become a front- burner issue, in which the ELC has been directly involved.

SOUTH DADE WATERSHED PROJECT

As part of its strategy to meet its planning goals, Miami-Dade County has undertaken a major study of the “South Miami-Dade Watershed” to develop recommendations for how best to meet the environmental, economic and other needs in this critical region that impacts two national parks.  We have been an active participant in the study.

MARTIN COUNTY PROJECTS

We have been very involved over the years in advocacy and legal challenges concerning changes to the Martin County Comprehensive Plan, representing clients seeking to maintain the strengths of that plan related to protecting the high quality of life that makes Martin County so special and attractive. 

Currently, the Everglades Law Center is closely following the County’s Rural Land Patterns Study, which is reviewing alternatives for land use policies in the County’s western, rural and agricultural lands.  We seek to utilize our expertise in land use law, property rights law and Everglades restoration to advocate a strict approach for maintaining these areas in their current land uses and against moving the County’s urban boundaries.  This study has important implications to the County’s quality of life and for the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon area.

The Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project has been a major focus of our work.  We assisted local residents in opposing a major urban development on the Harmony / Foxchase lands, and successfully advocated for the denial of a federal wetlands permit that would have allowed the destruction of wetlands that are important to this restoration project.   We continue to work with local groups and organizations in Washington, D.C. to obtain funding from Congress for this restoration project. 

In 2005, we had filed a Complaint challenging the Federal Highway Administration’s failure to comply with environmental laws before authorizing and funding a $29.4 million road “armoring” project along thirteen miles of Indian River Drive in St. Lucie County. FHWA violated NEPA by not first preparing an environmental impact statement, or at a minimum an environmental assessment (“EA”), to assess the environmental impacts of this project.  Moreover, FHWA violated the APA when it acted arbitrarily and not in accordance with the law in determining that the road project was “categorically excluded” from NEPA documentation. A limited number of repairs are “emergency repairs” eligible for a categorical exclusion and the project has significant impacts on the ecological, recreational, and economic values of the Indian River Lagoon System and Estuary. 

Much of our work in Martin County has focused on protecting the South Fork of the St. Lucie River.  In 2002, we settled lawsuits we had filed to oppose the “Lost River” project by agreeing with the County and developer to modifications to the project that will reduce impacts from the development, by improving drainage and buffers and reducing the number of houses and boat docks by more than 20%. As part of the deal, the County also adopted good, formal procedures for handling "property rights" lawsuits by landowners and developers.  The challenged approval had resulted from such a settlement.  We also brought and settled a legal challenge to the “Kanner Crossing” project, under which modifications were made to this commercial project to protect the adjacent residential neighborhood.

Our legal challenge to the “Mixed Use” comprehensive plan amendments in 2003 resulted in a settlement agreement. This amendment would have allowed, with very few exceptions, every Industrial, Commercial or Residential use in almost any land use category in the County. Most dramatically, it would have allowed such development outside of the Urban Services District and in the very areas of western Martin County that government agencies and the environmental community are attempting to preserve and purchase - such as the Indian River Lagoon project lands and areas near Lake Okeechobee. In response to the litigation and the significant publicity generated thereby, the County Commission agreed to all but repeal the amendment, allowing "mixed use" only in clearly designated "zoning overlay" portions of Community Redevelopment Areas, and under improved standards for buffers, compatibility, and uplands preservation. The result of tough, knowledgeable substantive negotiating within the litigation framework was better than any we could have achieved as a result of the litigation alone and was worth the significant expenditure of lawyer time and resources.

One of our more noteworthy cases, Pinecrest Lakes v. Shidel , set a state-wide precedent and garnered much attention around the state, after an appeals court upheld the trial court’s ruling that apartment buildings built in violation of the county’s comprehensive plan must be demolished. Subsequent to the final court rulings, the buildings were demolished.  A previous ruling in the case – styled Poulos v. Martin County, set the state-wide precedent which guaranteed citizens a full trial before a judge when they challenged development orders as being inconsistent with comprehensive plans.

Native Vegetation Re-planting Project