88 Acres Of Rare FL Remnant Forest To Be Bulldozed, Become Wal-Mart, Chili's, Chik-Fil-A

[hatrack]

A plot of Miami-Dade forest home to rare plants and endangered species is to be torn down to make way for a Wal-Mart, a move that's causing alarm among some environmentalists. The University of Miami (UM) sold 88 acres of pine rockland to Ram, a Palm Beach County-based developer planning a 185,000-square-foot Wal-Mart, along with an LA Fitness, Chik-fil-A, Chili's and 900 apartments.

Though the company agreed to set aside 40 acres for a preserve, it's not nearly big enough to hold the vast number of species inhabiting the area. "You wonder how things end up being endangered? This is how. This is bad policy and bad enforcement. And shame on UM," attorney Dennis Olle, a board member of Tropical Audubon and the North American Butterfly Association, told the Miami Herald.

The site was chosen because it provides a "unique chance to create ... a place where people can easily walk from the neighborhood to shops and elsewhere," explained Ram CEO Casey Cummings. Originally part of the 2,100-acre Richmond Naval Air Station, the land houses rare animal species, including the bald eagle, indigo snake and Florida bonneted bat, which was given federal protection last year.

In addition, about 40 plant species grow only in pine rocklands, which once ran from Homestead north to the Miami River. The largest remaining stretch of rockland, about 19,000 acres, is in Everglades National Park.

EDIT

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8047/20140714/rare-florida-forest-to-be-bulldozed-and-turned-into-wal-mart.htm

[Turbineguy]

1. Obviously those trees and plants

should be made to pay rent. What do they think, that they can just squat?

[FBaggins]

2. Seems like a stretch.

This is a block away from a Home Depot/Pet Supermarket/Winn Dixie/Chevy Dealership/Office Max/multiple apartment complexes/etc. and it looks like there are existing structures on the site. It's hardly untouched wilderness in need of protection.

This has all the markings of an effort by people who just don't want any more development in the area using whatever they can find to slow it down. That's entirely understandable... but after looking at the site I'm having a tough time buying it.

[Ilsa]

3. Don't it always seem to go, that you don't

know what you have got 'til it's gone? Pave paradise, put up a parking lot.

[randr]

4. And the good lord knows Florida needs another box store or two

On a recent trip to Florida the only way I knew I was in the next town was that the box stores repeated themselves.
Florida needs to change its motto from the "Sunshine State" to the "Buy More" state.

[Divernan]

5. Stupid decision in so many ways.

It's being touted as "a place where people can easily walk from the neighborhood to shops and elsewhere." Shall we just think about that a leeeeeetle bit? Consider the weather - absolutely debilitating heat and humidity, along with regular afternoon rain storms best described as deluges. I know because I lived in central Florida for years, and saw that South Florida was even worse. You would be absolutely drenched in sweat after walking from an air-conditioned building to your air-conditioned car. You would have 3 or 4 showers and changes of clothes per day. I was in my 20's at the time. It was not pleasant.

Fast forward. A great number of residents in Miami-Dade are senior citizens. They will NOT be walking anywhere in that heat. Does the developer plan on replacing sidewalks with enclosed, air-conditioned walkways?

Next consider all the recent stories on ocean level rise and flooded Miami streets and parking garages. Do these businesses plan to operate in the not so distant future with no flood insurance? Maybe all those senior citizen customers could wade home.

But,hey, I could be completely wrong. As long as so many deluded, ill-informed, uneducated people continue to live in that area, everything must be OK, right? What could possibly go wrong? I do suggest the new mall contain a walk-in funeral parlor for all the heatstroke victims.

[Enthusiast]

6. Kicked and recommended! This is sickening. Reminds me of a Carl Hiaasen novel.