COMMISSIONERS MULL TAVERNIER DEVELOPMENT

Developers Slightly Revised Proposal For Grocery Store

prohibits communication between firms and village officials during the process until a contract is approved.

Greg Sullivan, local manager with Waste Management, took issue with the evaluation committee’s scores. He said his company received the lowest marks due to the fact he received zeroes for price. Sullivan said there was too much attention on pricing sheets for a 10-year contract, which detailed a yearly cost of $1,483 for a single-family home, as opposed to a five-year contract, which showed a yearly cost of $778 for a singlefamily home.

“We’re very leery about a 10-year plan. No one can tell you what price is going to be in 10 years or where trash will go,” Sullivan said, adding that garbage prices hinge on costs such as shipment from county transfer stations to landfill sites outside the county.

Sullivan added that only Wheatley and Miller had prior garbage hauling experience. Waste Management took over garbage service for the village in 2020 after buying out Advanced Disposal. Before the acquisition, Advanced Disposal missed pickups due to truck breakdowns. Waste Management hauls trash from south of the 7 Mile Bridge. The company also oversees four transfer stations in the Keys.

Jonathon Lindback, Brian’s son, told the council that he wants to keep the contract in the community for many years to come. He said tax dollars spent for garbage service through Island Disposal Company will be put back into the community.

“This is a generational thing where we can service our friends, family and community,” he said.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Jolin was the lone “no” vote. She acknowledged concern in going with a new company, despite her love for the Lindback family. Mayor Buddy Pinder said village taxpayers don’t want a 67% increase in costs for trash pickup.

“People gotta start somewhere. I didn’t have an underground utility company, and I started it and it became successful,” Pinder said.

JIM McCARTHY jim@keysweekly.com

Monroe County commissioners will decide at their meeting on Wednesday, June 21 whether developers can construct up to 58,500 square feet of nonresidential development for a grocery and liquor store on Tavernier property that once housed a concrete plant.

A previous request by developers sought the ability to build up to 70,000 square feet of nonresidential floor area.

A change to the county’s land development code, which currently allows for up to 10,000 square feet per nonresidential structure, will ultimately determine the proposed construction of what’s now a 58,454-square-foot Publix and liquor store. The previous proposal detailed a 64,000-square-foot store. A May 25 letter by the developers’ agent, Bart Smith, states that the proposed Publix would fit the architectural design and community and character of Tavernier.

The Toppino family, which is developing the site, is also looking to construct some 86 workforce units.

In April, the county planning commission voted 3-2 to recommend the BOCC deny the request by developers to increase the nonresidential floor area per structure. The decision came following two-and-half hours of discussion among the concerned public, Smith and the planning commission.

Smith stated that the property’s suburban commercial zoning already allows for such uses as commercial retail, offices and restaurants.

Devin Tolpin, county planner, noted that the proposal is inconsistent with the Tavernier Liveable CommuniKeys Plan, which spans from Tavernier Creek to MM 97. The plan prohibits designation of new commercial land use districts beyond that contained in the master plan in order to protect the existing availability of the U.S. 1 corridor area and community center. A county staff report on the proposal states that no amendment shall be approved “which will result in an adverse community change to the planning area in which the proposed development is located.”

Al Aldridge, Tavernier Community Association board president, said approval of an overlay would “set a precedent other developers will surely follow and preserving the small-town environment of Tavernier will become a memory of the past.”

The BOCC meets on Wednesday, June 21 at 9 a.m. at the Murray Nelson Government Center. It’s unknown when exactly the BOCC will take up the matter, as time approximations for agenda items are no longer provided by county officials.