Laura Reynolds told a room of Key Biscayne residents Oct. 30 that three Virginia Key development projects are advancing at the same time, and no one in government is measuring their combined toll on Biscayne Bay.

Reynolds, program coordinator for Florida International University's Institute of Environment and special advisor to Friends of Biscayne Bay, spoke at the Rotary Club of Key Biscayne's weekly breakfast, as first reported by the Islander News. She laid out what she called overlapping threats from the Seaquarium marina, a proposed mooring field in the Marine Stadium Basin and the Rickenbacker Marina expansion.

"Biscayne Bay is at a tipping point," Reynolds said, showing maps of how seagrass has declined since 1983. "We can reverse that with smart, forward-thinking planning and preservation."

The Seaquarium marina

The biggest flashpoint is the proposed $100 million Fisherman's Village entertainment complex and marina at the former Seaquarium site. Developer David Martin of Terra Group plans to build hundreds of boat slips on county-owned land under a proposed 99-year lease.

In revised plans presented at a recent webinar hosted by Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, Martin's design calls for 841 total slips: 295 wet and 546 dry, according to the Islander News. Reynolds told the Rotary audience that the reduction in wet slips was offset by more dry docks. "So, he reduced the number of wet slips but increased the dry docks, so there are more boats than before," she said.

Reynolds alleged that Terra Group plans to use "maintenance dredging" to get around a stated promise of no dredging. "In the plan, they're dredging the entire area," she said. Martin has said no dredging would take place, according to the Islander News account of the Regalado webinar.

Reynolds also disputed Martin's claim that the project site falls outside a protected Manatee Zone, showing a 1995 map she said proves otherwise.

Miami-Dade commissioners unanimously advanced the Seaquarium plan on Oct. 20, with a final vote expected in November, as the Miami Herald reported. A lawsuit filed Oct. 28 argues the county charter requires a countywide referendum before the bay-bottom land can be leased for private commercial use, according to the Islander News.

Marine Stadium Basin mooring field

The city’s permit application calls for 195 anchors in the basin, according to the Miami Herald; the city said the anchors would support up to 75 active moorings at a time. Environmental groups have proposed a smaller field of 42 buoys, Reynolds told the Rotary audience.

"Advocacy works!" she told the audience. "The original plan (would have been) a parking lot (of boats)."

Miami voters were set to weigh in on a related question Nov. 3 through Referendum 3, which covers a proposed lease of about 27.62 acres on Virginia Key to Virginia Key LLC for an approximately $80 million redevelopment of the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, according to the Islander News.

Rickenbacker Marina expansion

The Rickenbacker Marina proposal calls for 750 dry slips and 202 wet slips, for 952 boats total, plus 19,000 square feet of commercial buildings, two boat launches and 630 parking spaces, Reynolds said, citing a 440-page report she and Friends of Biscayne Bay reviewed.

The basin averages about four feet deep, but the proposal's "maintenance dredging" would allow depths of eight to nine feet, Reynolds said. Local 10 reported that the developers' own proposal acknowledges a phase two that may require maintenance dredging.

What residents can do

Reynolds listed cumulative impacts she said the three projects would bring: more boat traffic, harm to wetlands and seagrass, dredging, increased pollution and heavier road traffic on a single access corridor.

Residents who want to weigh in have several upcoming chances. A Community Council meeting is set for Nov. 12. A Planning Advisory Board (PAB) hearing follows Nov. 16. The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to consider the amended Seaquarium lease Nov. 17, with a Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP) hearing tentatively set for Nov. 19.