09/02/2026
After a 14 month struggle, Kelly Tractor’s application was approved by a 9-3 vote at yesterday’s BCC hearing. Our environment, our allies, and our communities deserved a different outcome.
Thank you Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins Vicki Lynn Lopez, Micky Steinberg for voting to adhere to regular procedure and defend our wetlands.
Commissioner Cohen Higgins’ analysis was pitch perfect “This was an example of attrition.” That attrition will pave dozens of acres of wetlands and the unprecedented approval of a text amendment to allow a private business to develop outside the UDB could provide a template for more sprawl.
We can’t rewind the clock, but our collective advocacy won concessions that will strengthen development review and oversight and better delineate valuable wetlands in the future. In July, a resolution to prohibit the use of text amendments to permit urban uses outside the UDB passed the Commission. Final language is pending, but a strong prohibition would close the “text amendment loophole” employed by Kelly and restore standard reviews for future applications.
Yesterday, Commissioner Micky Steinberg secured approval for a wetlands study that will comprehensively catalog the condition of Miami-Dade’s remaining wetlands to guide future land use decisions.
Yesterday’s result was a setback, but our Coalition is bigger and stronger as a result of the process. Thank you to every person who took action, we will need your passion and continued vigilance to Hold The Line.
