Joel EngelhardtSouth Florida Water Management District accepts ruling, denies West Palm Beach’s challenges to long-anticipated roadway.
The South Florida Water Management District is all-in on the environmental permit needed to extend State Road 7 to Northlake Boulevard.
Catch up quick: In a 79-page order last week, the district’s top attorney, Maricruz Fincher, rejected all but one small part of 29 challenges put forth by West Palm Beach to the May 1 decision of Florida Administrative Law Judge Francine Ffolkes.
Why it matters: Ffolkes’ recommended order is now final, clearing a critical hurdle to the long-awaited construction of a four-lane extension of State Road 7 from Okeechobee Boulevard to Northlake.
- The failure to build the extension after decades of wrangling plays a role in the lack of options for thousands of drivers preparing for the closure of the CSX Railway tracks at Northlake. Officials now say the eight-day closure will not begin before Aug. 1.
Zoom in: The city had to show that Ffolkes’ decisions after a seven-week trial “were not based upon competent substantial evidence” or the proceedings “did not comply with essential requirements of law.”
The city’s challenges spanned the essential to the arcane, taking exception to Ffolkes’ findings, such as these:
- The project would not impact water supply sources or water quality standards.
- The state properly considered a two-lane alternative.
- Conservation land would not be redesignated as developable.
- The city did not meet its burden of proof.
- The project’s preservation of 261 acres of wetlands and uplands plus mitigation of wetland impacts is more than required and “constitutes greater long-term ecological value” than the areas damaged.
Among arcane points:
- The “areal loading rate” would be protective of the receiving waters, causing no water quality or ecological changes, thus complying with “Florida’s antidegradation policy.”
- The state failed to process environmental resource and water use permits simultaneously.
Fincher found fault with Ffolkes in just one instance: The recommended order cited testimony from a state witness who did not testify but whose findings were mentioned by another state witness. Fincher ordered that the finding be reworded, concluding: “Unlike the city, however, the district finds this error to be immaterial to the (administrative law judge’s) ultimate findings and conclusions.”
Zoom out: West Palm Beach officials have long argued against the extension on environmental grounds, saying the four-lane road would harm Grassy Waters Preserve. The roadway also is the third-rail of city politics, with elected officials fearing the loss of a key voting bloc at the 1,870-home Ibis community if they allow the road to be built.
Yes, but: The roadway is considered a critical alternative for daily traffic flowing from The Acreage, a community west of Ibis with 15,000 single-family homes between Okeechobee and Northlake boulevards. Without the connector, traffic will be forced on a 20-mile plus detour to get around the closed railway crossing.
Of note: The legal challenges forced the Florida Department of Transportation to push back construction from 2023 to 2028 at the earliest. The permit approved last week was requested in 2021.
What’s next: West Palm Beach, led by Tampa attorney Edward de la Parte, has 30 days to challenge the order to the 4th District Court of Appeal.
