Miami-Dade mayor joins advocates in call to ‘hold the line’ on development

MIAMI – Miami-Dade Mayor Danielle Levine Cava and the Hold the Line Coalition held a news conference Tuesday morning regarding the urban development boundary, housing supply and the future of the county and Biscayne Bay.

The urban development boundary, or UDB, lines were drawn four decades ago to limit development to the west and south in order to protect fragile lands.

The news conference was held in the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami.

The controversial South Dade Logistics Center and the single-family housing mandate, legislation that impacts the urban development boundary, returned to the county commission.

With a mission to move the UDB, developers are back again to possibly win a final vote.

County officials and members of the coalition discussed the implications of moving the UDB to sensitive land and why they feel like the bay faces flooding and water quality control issues.

“Because of the risk of flooding, they are situated on high coastal hazard and with all the flooding, we cannot knowingly build in areas that are this sensitive,”

Levine Cava said she stands with the coalition on this controversial issue.

“Thank you for holding the line,” said Levine Cava. “Hopefully this is the day where this ends.”

Many gathered at the press conference in support of the ordinance that was brought forward by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins.

Advocates say it would mean “no unlimited deferrals” for previously-denied agenda items in front of the commission.

”That would end this travesty of over a year and half when our administration has repeatedly said certain areas are not for development,” Sebastiani said.

The ordinance set by Cohen Higgins is up for its first reading on Tuesday and the other two UDB issues are up for a final vote at 2 p.m.


About the Authors:

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

Ryan Mackey is a Digital Journalist at WPLG. He was born in Long Island, New York, and has lived in Sunrise, Florida since 1994.