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SETTLEMENTS & DEVELOPMENTS
Marathon City Council puts a bow on some legal challenges, weighs new Vaca Cut project
ALEX RICKERT alex@keysweekly.com
The Marathon City Council’s Valentine’s Day meeting was peppered with a series of short conversations that should prove consequential for working families and nonprofits in Marathon.
The longest discussion items for the night included a current and future development, both put forward by Guillermo Torres, discussed at length and recommended for approval in split votes at the Jan. 23 Marathon Planning Commission meeting.
The first concerned the creation of divided lots for Torres’ existing La Palma development, a complex between 101st and 104th streets containing three market-rate singlefamily homes along with three deedrestricted affordable duplexes. The development was put under the microscope in November 2022 when the city council voted 4-1 to award six administrative relief building allocations to allow completion of the duplexes. The homes’ original building rights were revoked in the now-infamous Aug. 3 Third DCA opinion that also retracted nearly 300 other affordable allocations in Marathon.
Though the administrative relief allocations don’t carry an affordable designation on their own, the council voluntarily elected to award them as deed-restricted affordable units. The divided lots, eventually approved in a unanimous vote, will now allow Torres to sell the duplexes individually for up to the maximum allowed amount for affordable homes ($482,400 in 2022).
Torres may rent the units at rates determined by affordable housing guidelines, but stated his intent to sell them to members of the Marathon community. As the units are now deeded affordable, the city will be able to review applicants to verify their qualifications prior to each sale.
The council also approved a conditional use permit and site plan for another upcoming development planned by Torres in the cleared land on Vaca Cut’s southeast edge next to San Pablo Catholic Church. As currently submitted, the site plan includes 11 residential homes and a clubhouse with a gym, meeting room, office space and possible commercial space.
The development, which will feature a new deceleration lane – and possible acceleration lane, pending FDOT approval – after the Vaca Cut Bridge for cars approaching from the west on U.S. 1, was met with many traffic concerns at both the planning commission and council meeting before its eventual approval. As part of the approval, Torres must continue his pursuit of an acceleration lane, a “No U-Turn” sign on the southbound side of U.S. 1 as it passes 117th Street, and additional signs to warn northbound and southbound travelers about the impending turns into the development.
For more details on both approved resolutions, scan the attached QR code: Settlements announced in Boatworks, FOLKs litigation
The council unanimously approved a settlement agreement with environmental group Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs). On Jan. 11, 2022, the group sued Marathon in the Southern District Court for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit challenged the city’s practice of discharging treated wastewater in injection wells 60 to 120 feet underground, a depth FOLKs said was inadequate to prevent polluted water from making its way through porous limestone and into nearshore waters.
The settlement will prevent further legal action until February 2024 if the city agrees to a series of actions on a specific timeline. Most notably, the city is required to hire an outside firm to conduct a feasibility study of changes to Marathon’s wastewater system, including the possible development of water reuse plants.
In a similar vein, with increasing development in Marathon placing additional burdens on the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority for clean water, the council also approved a resolution in support of FKAA’s efforts to develop a reverse osmosis plant in or near Marathon.
The council also unanimously approved a settlement agreement with the state Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) regarding an ongoing appeal of the Boatworks development on 39th Street. The settlement provides for the development of 22 market-rate waterfront homes and 52 affordable homes at the property, but does not allow the upland transfer of eight live-aboard units initially approved by the city.
Though the settlement will allow completion of the development’s market-rate homes, the fate of the continued on page 17
