With the state’s growth management agency dismantled last year by lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott, agriculture and development interests are seizing the opportunity, he said.
He pointed to the appointment of Peña to the panel recommending changes in wetlands laws as particularly troubling. She’s president of the Las Palmas community association — several hundred small nurseries, ranches and farms west of Krome Avenue long known as the 8.5 Square Mile Area. Residents in the area have repeatedly ran afoul of DERM, racking up some 90 code and wetlands violations in the last decade, according to county records.
“It’s such a grim scenario that when it comes to participating in these county task forces and working groups, I don’t see any point to it,” he said.
The county’s environmental agency, charged with monitoring and enforcing a wide range of county, state and federal laws, has long been a lightning rod for criticism. But the tone has grown more strident.
During last month’s commission meeting, Peña ticked off a long list of complaints: inspectors jumping fences, DERM dragging people to court over unpaid fines and forbidding residents from using portions of their lands.
“Is this America, or are we now going to legitimize Gestapo tactics in this country?” she said.
Several commissioners were quick to share in the disdain, branding regulators as overzealous and out to bolster the agency’s budget by assessing fines. Despite “the best intentions,” Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said, “a great idea has morphed into something that’s basically a monster.”
Complaints grew so heated at early wetlands advisory meetings that the county ordered police protection, said Deputy Mayor Jack Osterholt, who oversees the planning, zoning and environmental agencies.
But Osterholt insisted the administration was looking to overhaul outdated and inconsistent environmental regulations and permitting requirements that cost businesses time and money — not to loosen regulations.
“The focus is unchanged,’’ Osterholt said. “The mission is unchanged.”
Bell, in an interview, insisted her goal in pushing for the wetlands laws wasn’t intended to open the door to more development but to “balance the needs of the average worker and the average small business.”
“I’m not trying to gut anything,” Bell said. “We are perceived as a county that’s unfriendly toward business. We have to change that.”
Environmentalists are skeptical. They contend the verbal attacks combined with shuffling leadership and staff cuts have undermined morale and created a “bunker mentality.” Since 2000, the DERM staff has dropped from 556 to 482, with another 56 cuts proposed for next year.
“There is a lot of pressure on them,” said Laura Reynolds, executive director of the Tropical Audubon Society. “The climate is so bad, they’re afraid to say anything.”
Sara Fain, an attorney for the Everglades Law Center, said the complaints have come largely from landowners who have repeatedly flouted county laws and refused to pay court-ordered fines.
“It would be the same things as if I decided to install new windows in my house and didn’t apply for a permit,” she said. “This idea that DERM is trying to stop them from using their land is a fallacy.”