To view population growth in the Keys in its entirety, the designation of the Florida Keys as an Area of Critical State Concern must be considered. The Florida Keys received this designation from the State of Florida in 1975 due to environmental sensitivity of the area and the extraordinary development pressures looming on its horizon. The comprehensive planning process that Monroe County has undertaken since being designated a critical area has resulted in the Rate-of-Growth Ordinance and other efforts to manage the constant growth pressures affecting this area.

In Monroe County, each quarter approximately twelve properties are awarded a ROGO building allocation; ten market rate allocations and two affordable housing allocations.

The period of time a specific property spends in ROGO review depends on how many properties are already on the list to be reviewed. Properties can move up the list/accumulate ROGO points by making "lot dedications", purchasing buildable property and donating it to Monroe County.

ROGO is Monroe County's way of controlling growth/development/building. Vacant lots are reviewed by Monroe County for ROGO purposes. Big Pine Key and No Name Key have several federally protected species. Because of this, Monroe County created the "tier system" for these two islands. The tier system classifies land based on it's environmental impact/importance to native/endangered species, and assigns a point value to each type of land. There are 3 tiers, or classifications for land;

Tier I is extremely sensitive land, difficult to develop and receives no ROGO points.
Tier II is a little easier to build on and receives 10 ROGO points.
Tier III is generally not environmentally sensitive land and, after Monroe County review, is buildable with 20 ROGO points.

For Big Pine Key and No Name Key, each quarter three properties are awarded a ROGO building allocation; two market rate allocations and one affordable housing allocation.

The period of time a specific property spends in ROGO review depends on how many properties are already on the list to be reviewed. Properties can move up the list/accumulate ROGO points by making "lot dedications", purchasing buildable property and donating it to Monroe County.

Another aspect of ROGO affecting development on Big Pine Key and No Name Key is called H-value, or harvest value. The federal government (Fish & Wildlife) issued an "incidental take" permit to Monroe County allowing development (or taking) of environmentally sensitive lands. Until recently, Monroe County was pulling from a pool of land to cover the h-value for each building permit application received. This pool of land has been exhausted, so it has become the responsibility of property owner's to cover the h-value of their properties. Every piece of vacant land is assigned a number, or harvest value based on it's environmental impact/importance to native/endangered species and traffic flow/impact. In order to complete the ROGO review process, property owners are required to make a lot dedication 3x the harvest value of their lot. H-value land dedications do not have to be buildable land, they can be Tier I, II, or III, swamp land, non-buildable out in the middle of nowhere with no roads or access. The donated land does have to be on Big Pine Key or No Name Key. Note, harvest value does not affect developed properties.

Currently, no properties have been purchased and donated, so a market value for mitigation lots has yet to be determined.

In lieu of donating property to the County, property owners can chose to pay a mitigation fee. There has been lengthy discussions between County Commissioners, Fish & Wildlife and the Monroe County Planning Department on the amount of the mitigation fee. The Planning Department is trying to minimize this cost to property owners.

At the February 5, 2008 Planning Commission meeting Monroe County Planning Department was granted a continuance until March 4th to make their final report to the planning commission. The Planning Department was in the process of reviewing all transactions (acquisitions, lot dedications, etc.) since 1995 to determine the amount of "h-value" they have/owe.

At the March 4, 2008 Planning Commission meeting Monroe County Planning Department proposed a formula for calculating harvest value for each Big Pine Key and No Name Key property. The dollar value of land acquired by Monroe County (2004 - 2007) was $2,772,751. Remember, property owners are required to mitigate three times their property's h-value.

Formula: H-Value x 3 x Cost of Land Acquired by Monroe County

Example: A property with an h-value of 0.0007.

                0.0007 x 3 x $2,772,751 = $5,822.78

The mitigation fee will change year-to-year as the amount the county spends on land changes.

Again, this is a proposed formula, the Planning Commission has not accepted this yet. Once the Planning Commission approves the mitigation amount, it is presented to State of Florida, Department of Community Affairs for approval.

There is a public meeting planned for March 17th at the Big Pine Charter School at 6:30 pm.

At the April 9, 2008 Planning Commission meeting Monroe County Planning Department voted to continue this issue until the next meeting.