Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fort Lauderdale looks at halting building boom
Leaders struggle to contain series of sewer pipe breaks
The building boom in full swing in Fort Lauderdale might just hit a wall as city leaders struggle to contain a never-ending series of sewer pipe breaks.
Critics of the city’s ongoing development spurt have been calling for a moratorium for years. Developers have been just as outspoken in opposing what they call a drastic measure that would have dire effects on the city’s tax base.
But the chatter from critics has grown to a crescendo since a string of street-sliming pipe failures hit in December. This week’s trio of pipe breaks — two sewer and one water — have only upped the ante.
Mayor Dean Trantalis said he wants to know if the city’s pipes can handle all the development that’s coming.
On Tuesday, he proposed keeping the city’s Infrastructure Task Force around for two more years to figure it out once and for all.
Since 2012, Fort Lauderdale has added or approved nearly 22,000 hotel and residential units downtown, according to an October update from the city’s Urban Design and Planning Division. On the beach, the city has added or approved more than 4,800 residential and hotel units since 1998.
“There’s all this talk about taking a pause on development,” Trantalis said.
“I would love to charge the [task force] with doing an analysis. What would be the outcome [of a moratorium]? The community is asking that question again and again. Let us investigate.”
The task force, created in 2017 after a series of sewage spills the year before, was set to disband in March. Trantalis said he wants to give it “new life” for another two years.
Marilyn Mammano, a retired city planner who heads the task force, says the board had urged the commission to “keep their focus on infrastructure and extend our term.”
Mammano added: “If they do, we are ready to continue our work and take on any additional investigation that the commission asks us to.”
Mammano declined to comment on how long such a task might take, saying she needed to see the details.
Task force board members meet once a month to review the city’s infrastructure, including its crumbling water and sewer pipes.
Commissioners are expected to approve the extension of the task force later this month.
Biggest fear for developers
Developer Charlie Ladd loathes the idea of a moratorium.
“There’s demand for housing in South Florida,” he said. “If you stop building, you turn into California. The prices go up where nobody can live there.”
Developer Alan Hooper also ridiculed the idea.
“We’re talking about having a moratorium because our pipes are old,” he said. “People depend on construction [for jobs]. You have to think about who you’re impacting when you’re talking about a moratorium citywide. It’s super easy to point to the buildings with the cranes. And the average person will look at the cranes and say, ‘Oh that’s the problem.’”
Resident Kevin Cochrane wants to see the city put a halt to development, even projects that are approved but not yet built, until the city can upgrade its water and sewer system.
Since December, Cochrane has collected more than 12,000 signatures on a change.org petition calling for a moratorium.
On Tuesday, he praised city leaders for at last giving some attention to the thought of a moratorium.
“Private investment above the ground in condos,
hotels, retail and office space has outpaced public investment below the ground in roads, water mains, sewer mains and stormwater drains,” Cochrane said Tuesday. “We’ve hit a tipping point. The [task force] needs to investigate the beneficial impact a moratorium could have to help our city catch its breathe and catch up. The latest proposal is what we’ve been seeking in our petition. And it’s a sign of progress.”
City Attorney Alain Boileau says he would “never advise” a moratorium on projects that have already been approved.
But should commissioners ever approve a moratorium, its scope would depend on them.
“A governmental entity could abate all development, including already approved and non-constructed development — although not advisable for a slew of reasons — if deemed appropriate and if the circumstances warranted that drastic a cessation,” Boileau said. “Clearly much harder to justify and accomplish. Ultimately, it is up to the governmental entity to establish the parameters of what is or is not included in the moratorium.”