COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — An extended fight over expanding the controversial Monarch Hill Landfill may soon finally be over.
The city of Coconut Creek, that went to the courts to try and stop Waste Management’s landfill from getting any larger, is now settling with the company.
City leaders said Monday that in the end, realistically, it was the best outcome possible.
Dubbed ‘Mount Trashmore’ by critics, many who live by the Monarch Hill landfill view it as an eyesore with a bad smell that’s big enough already.
That’s why they were outraged by Waste Management’s plan to expand it, making the landfill 10 stories higher and 24 acres wider.
When the Broward County Commission signed off on the plan earlier this year, Coconut Creek and Deerfield Beach city leaders took to the courts to stop it.
“It’s not a satisfying moment, but at least we can say to the future residents that we did whatever we could,” said Coconut Creek Mayor Jacqueline Railey.
In a unanimous vote Monday night, the Coconut Creek City Commission chose to settle with Waste Management.
“A groundbreaking settlement that I think is a very big win for the residents of Coconut Creek,” said Coconut Creek Commissioner Joshua Rydell. “We can look at our residents and say, the landfill is eventually going to close.”
City leaders are calling it a win because the company is promising that it won’t make the landfill any bigger, or open any new ones nearby. Waste Management also said it plans to start closing the landfill in 25 years.
The city says that’s unprecedented.
“At the end of the day, we were able to get an agreement with Waste Management to guarantee the closure of a landfill,” said Rydell. “That doesn’t normally happen.”
As part of the settlement, Waste Management will also pay both cities $15,000 every year for picking up littler on the landfill’s surrounding roads.
But some who live there, who have long wanted to take out the trash mountain, are frustrated at how the situation turned out.
The deal is not complete, though. Both Deerfield Beach and Broward County need to sign off on it first.
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