Codina's struggle: the approval process for Beacon Lakes took three years, millions of dollars and a tough skin. But Armando Codina is finally breaking ground on his biggest project yet in Airport West - Deal Profile

South Florida CEO, Oct, 2003 by Barbara Perkins

The newspaper's campaign against the project was far from Codina's only problem. Regardless of any environmental impact, the development necessitated extending the UDB (Urban Development Boundary) in Miami-Dade County. Several commissioners were passionately against doing that, fearing a break in the line would open a floodgate of applications for further development to the west. "I originally voted against it," county commissioner Katy Sorenson told SouthFloridaCEO. "I was concerned about setting the wrong precedent with the urban development boundary. I'm sure this project will be beautiful, as all of Codina's projects are. That's just never been the concern. It now opens the door for other developers."

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In the final 11-2 vote for approval by the county in May 2002, only Sorenson and fellow commissioner Dennis Moss opposed the development. To get to that point, however, Codina had to satisfy numerous environmental and developmental concerns, coming before (more than once) the county's Environmental Quality Control Board, DERM, the county's Planning Advisory Board, the state's Department of Community Affairs, the West Dade Community Council Zoning Board, the South Florida Regional Planning Council, the South Florida Water Management District Board, and, of course, the Miami-Dade County Commission.

The entire process, starting in 2000 when the Codina Group put together a team to complete the initial application for development approval, ended up taking almost three years. It officially ended earlier this year, when state and federal permits were issued. Codina feels the process took longer than it should have, and that his stature as a developer with political connections made the process harder, rather then easier.

"We found extraordinary opposition from the county's planning department and environmental departments," says Rafael Rodon, president of Codina Consulting. With 12 years as assistant director of DERM, and a background in wellfield protection, Rodon was given the job of seeing that Beacon Lakes met environmental stipulations. "They created committees like I have never seen ... In spite of that undercurrent, the department positions were favorable recommendations."

"Did we slow the process down?" asks Chip Merriam of the South Florida Water Management District. "No. We certainly don't gain by doing that. We have enough to keep us busy that we don't need things sitting around on our desks." Still, earlier this year, the Office of Environmental Services of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission requested that additional studies be conducted in order to show that the project would not adversely impact the West Indian manatee--even though it's clearly many miles from any freshwater manatee habitats.

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John Renfrow, the director of DERM, agrees with Merriam that the process was not artificially delayed, from political or any other interference. "Like with any project we need to have questions answered," he says. Renfrow agrees that, in the end, Codina met all conditions, including the question of danger to the wellfields. To satisfy that issue, the Codina Group agreed to dig a deep canal to separate his development from any wellfield drainage areas, even though the existing FPL plant is closer to the wells, as are massive residential and industrial developments in Medley. "They convinced us it won't pose a risk," says Renfrow.