|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
South Florida’s future depends on leaders who are willing to make difficult decisions guided by science, long-term planning, and responsibility to the people they serve. Choices about land use and environmental protection will shape our region for generations, and they must be made with care and foresight.
That is why Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levine Cava’s recent veto of a proposal to move the Urban Development Boundary westward deserves recognition. The veto rejected a land-use change that would have opened environmentally sensitive wetlands to development and reaffirmed a commitment that has protected our region for decades.
The Urban Development Boundary exists to ensure that growth occurs where infrastructure already exists and where environmental impacts can be responsibly managed. It represents a promise to residents that development will not come at the expense of water quality, flood protection, or public safety. Mayor Levine Cava’s decision to uphold that boundary reflects an understanding that short-term pressures should never outweigh long-term consequences.
Wetlands are essential to South Florida’s survival. They store and filter our drinking water, absorb floodwaters, and provide natural protection against increasingly severe storms and sea-level rise. Once destroyed, these ecosystems cannot be replaced. Developing over wetlands does not solve our housing or economic challenges. Instead, it shifts significant environmental and financial costs onto residents and future generations.
As a City Commissioner in Coral Gables, I have seen firsthand how responsible planning and environmental stewardship contribute directly to a community’s resilience and quality of life. Protecting green spaces, respecting natural systems, and planning within our existing urban footprint are not anti-growth policies. They are pro-resident policies that ensure investments strengthen communities rather than strain infrastructure and public resources.
Mayor Levine Cava’s leadership on this issue reflects those same values at a countywide level. Expanding development beyond the Urban Development Boundary would have required substantial taxpayer investment in new roads, utilities, schools, and emergency services, diverting resources from improving existing neighborhoods and addressing pressing needs. By exercising her veto, the mayor made clear that fiscal responsibility and environmental protection must go hand in hand.
Preserving our paradise requires leaders who are willing to stand firm, even when faced with political pressure and competing interests. Mayor Levine Cava’s decision sets an important standard for how land-use decisions should be evaluated, using data, foresight, and a commitment to protecting what makes South Florida unique.
Our environment is not expendable. It is the foundation of our economy, our safety, and our way of life. Leadership that recognizes that truth and acts accordingly deserves acknowledgment.
