At the September BOCC meeting last week the County Commissioners voted on whether or not to change the language of the established Comprehensive Plan to give the developers of the proposed Publix in Tavernier, along with 86 affordable housing units, the ability to accept the 86 early evacuation ROGOs without having to do the required 1-1 exchange for regular ROGOs.

Last Week the Monroe County Board of Commissioners held a special ROGO workshop where they brought in utility and school department heads to discuss whether our current infrastructure can handle additional development.

The topic of how many ROGOs the Monroe County BOCC are going to ask for from the State at the end of the year has become an all important subject of interest for everyone in the Florida Keys.

At this month’s BOCC meeting, Sr. Director of Strategic Planning & Libraries, Kimberly Matthews, presented the County staff’s current progress and plan for public participation in determining the number of ROGO permits Monroe County will ask to be awarded by the State of Florida at the end of this year. Community feedback on this decision is essential in determining how many ROGO permits to request.

The most recent ROGO workshop and BOCC meeting this past Wednesday left me feeling anxious for the future sustainability of the Florida Keys. It is essential that we are informed of the important decisions being made, so I wanted to recap the meeting for you.