access channel at Southwest 184th ) CASE NO. 75-450 Street and Biscayne Bay )
Pursuant to notice the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated hearing officer, K. N. Ayers, held a public hearing in the above styled cause at Miami, Florida on June 30, 1975.
For Applicant: Nabil A. Hassan
By this application Beaumont Morgan, as trustee, seeks a permit so as to authorize the building of a marina and access channel thereto in the waters of Biscayne Bay in the vicinity of Southwest 184th Street. This is an amendment to an original application which reduces the scope of the application, the size of the channel, and the amount of dredging to be accomplished. The original application was to dredge a 7,000 foot channel to an 8 foot depth. As a result of objections from state agencies, and a determination that such a project would be a development of regional impact, the application was amended. As amended, it now proposes an access channel of only 700 feet with a maximum depth of 5 feet. This would result in a 1 1/2 feet dredging below existing contour. By reducing the size of the project, the number of boats that could be accommodated at the project has been reduced to 95.
The proposed basin would be dredged on what is now an upland area. The access channel from the present mean high water line to the basin would go through, or follow, what is presently a mosquito control ditch. This would result in a minimum amount of dredging in the land area of the project for the channel. The other part of the basin would require excavation of some 3,000 cubic yards of material.
Six witnesses testified in opposition to the grant of this application.
The Tropical Audubon Society contends that public facilities for a marina are required and should be approved; however, private channels such as here proposed, would not be in the public interest. Inasmuch as the area abounds in wildlife, and there is little evidence that marine growth will regenerate following dredging, is a second reason for their opposition to the project.
Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission also opposes the project. They have conducted biologic surveys in the area to determine the effect the project would have on wildlife. As a result of their investigation they have concluded that the project would have an adverse impact on environmental resources. The proposed channel would cut through areas heavily vegetated with bottom grasses. The upland marina would remove canals and tidal drainage ditches which contain a number of fish and other wildlife that birds feed on. They consider that biologically the land is valuable to several types of wildlife. A dredged channel would eliminate the turtle grasses that are now growing. Over a very long period of time the 50 foot channel could revegetate itself, but the continual passage of boats through the area would inhibit revegetation.
The superintendent of the Biscayne National Park testified that the approval of the application for marinas on an individual basis would have an adverse effect on the master plan for the area.
Dade County Park and Recreation Department opposed the grant of the application. They have two marinas which are proposed for construction in the not-too-distant future in their master plan. Both of these marinas would be 500 slip marinas and combined, they would provide the service requirements for South Dade County. One of the facilities they propose to install is within 2 miles of the application site.
The Department of Pollution Control also opposes the grant of the application. After reviewing the application and revised plans, having surveyed the upland areas and made an onsite inspection of submerged grasses, they have concluded that the project would result in some water quality degradation. Furthermore they would prefer to have individual projects be held in abeyance pending completion and implementation of a master plan. The proposed channel would denude the bottom of Biscayne Bay where the dredging occurred, and those grasses contribute nutrients and oxygen to Biscayne Bay. The upland portion would serve as a trap for debris, which would settle to the bottom and decay, thus putting an oxygen demand on the basin water, and when this water is flushed out into Biscayne Bay, this flushed out water would have a detrimental effect on the water quality of Biscayne Bay.
The Department of Resources Management of Dade County investigated the site as agent for the State Department of Pollution Control. In so doing they included an off-shore inspection of the bottom. Some of the changes that they recommended have been incorporated into the amended project; however, the dredging of the access channel, in their opinion, would have an adverse effect upon the marine ecology of the area. They further object to proliferation of private access channels in Biscayne Bay.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This project comes under the provision of 258.165(3)(b) 3 which states:
"No further dredging or filling of submerged lands of the preserve shall be approved or tolerated by the Board of Trustees except:
3. Such minimum dredging and filling as may be authorized for the creation and maintenance of marinas, piers, and docks and their
attendant navigation channels and access roads. Such projects may only be authorized upon a specific finding by the Board of Trustees that there is assurance that the project will be constructed and operated in a manner that will not adversely affect the water quality of the preserve. This paragraph shall not approve
the connection of upland canals to the waters of the preserve."
While the applicant proposes to preclude storm water run-off into the marina so as to allow no effluent to get into the marina, and to provide waste treatment facilities for all wastes at the marina, this will neither preclude nor prevent flotsam from entering the basin on the tides and create the problem testified to by one Department of Pollution Control Furthermore, the dredging of the access channel would destroy the bottom grasses and other marine life in that channel.
From the foregoing it is concluded that the dredging of the access channel and the construction of the marina as proposed by the application, would have an adverse effect upon the water quality of Biscayne Bay. It is therefore,
RECOMMENDED that the application be DENIED.
ENTERED this 13th day of August, 1975, in Tallahassee, Florida.
K. N. AYERS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304
