Many, if not all, Islamorada residents are aware that the Village’s “Constitution” is our Comprehensive Plan.

We have been without one for several years.

Developers, speculators, land use attorneys and their minions are driving trailer trucks through the loopholes that need to be remedied. Is this intentional or incompetence?

Draw your own conclusions but here are the facts:

On April 9, 2024, the Village Council gave direction to the Village Manager to seek the services of a professional consultant to UPDATE our Comprehensive Plan. 

The Council approved the $112,000 contract with Able City East on Oct 10,2024.

They were contracted to Update the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, with a projected completion and implementation date in 12 months?

We are now up to 17 months for this 12-month project. 

Unfortunately, it appears we are still months or maybe even years away from completion/implementation? Again, I question why? Our Village Manager and planner owe us an explanation. It appears that the powers that exist think that nobody cares. 

Perhaps new development benefits from this slow walk.

Updated Comp Plan?Instead of receiving a draft with Updates to the Village Comp Plan, we have received an all-new proposed Comprehensive Plan from Able City.  The difference between amendments that improve our existing Plan and an all new plan are like the difference between night and day.

Updates that must be approved by the Florida Commerce Department must be in legislative format with new text inserted underlined, and words that are to be deleted stricken with hyphens.  (Florida Statute 163.3184 C3)

Even if the draft is considered a “brand-new” Comprehensive Plan, it is clearly intended to update the existing Plan. Just semantics.

Without the legislative format it is extremely time-consuming and confusing to figure out what has been changed, what new text has been added, and what has been deleted.  The legislative format is intended to make that job easier. Without the appropriate formatting the review is next to impossible. 

If the intent was to make the document easier to read and navigate I think the effort failed. Most residents would likely be overwhelmed by the task of figuring out how this new plan and the updates will change life in the Village.

Spell it out? Bottom line…Format the Plan correctly.

Other observations- The future land use map is too small in the draft and not legible. Every single property owner should be entitled to see how their property has been treated in a “new” Comp Plan.  Haven’t we learned that from experience? Will every property owner be specifically informed?

During the creation of the first Islamorada Comprehensive Plan over twenty years ago, 18 public meetings were held, with standing room only.  The public was able to thoroughly consider every Goal, Objective and Policy, every property on the maps.

Local land use attorneys still, after over 20 years with the current plan, find continuing obscure loopholes to help their clients beat the system. Here we go again, new plan, new loopholes!

To complicate things further: Senate Bill 180 that passed the legislature last year, bars local governments from adopting or enforcing any “more restrictive or burdensome” planning rules for three years after the 2024 hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.

That takes us until Oct 1, 2027 even though none of those storms damaged Islamorada or the County. Unnecessary and misguided, but, we were told, there was a legislative fix. Where are our lobbyists and Legislators in Tallahassee on the status of this issue?

Please explain? The legislative session ended without a much-needed fix.

The Village should continue the update process, with public workshops in the coming months. Now we have significant time until the fall of 2027!

Let me quote from the Able City East plan, page 228: “Public participation is at the heart of the Islamorada Comprehensive Plan. The Village recognizes that in order to build a plan that truly reflects community priorities, residents, business owners, civic organizations, and elected officials must be directly engaged throughout the process.”

It has been about a year since there has been any public involvement in the update process. Finally a workshop - April 29, 2026!

Who is in charge of this update? Is it the Village Manager and our Planning staff? Be transparent and embrace your constituents. You can do better. Our fear is that land use attorneys and their accomplices are getting more input than we are.

The draft contains 11 main elements, including areas like Future Land Use, Transportation, Housing, Conservation, Sustainability, Recreation and Open Space, and more. Each element deserves a separate public workshop. 

When we finally adopt this new Comprehensive Plan, will it be in cinque with the prior Land Development regulations and other Village Code? Doesn’t that extend the process even more?

Village Council, management, State Legislatures and lobbyists: We await your responses. There are a ton of unanswered questions.

This important process has been neglected and poorly executed.

Step it up or tell us why you can’t.

Elections have consequences.

Tom Raffanello

for Coral Shores Baseball Field at Founders Park. And the Design Build contract, never approved by the Village.  And so, the battle continues.  Do you have an opinion?

Coral Shores is the only county high school that does not have a school owned baseball facility.  The Village is property owner (bought with Village tax funds) and provided to the school at no cost. The School Board is funding the proposed upgrades just as they do for the other high schools in the Keys that are on school property. (School Tax funds come from Upper Keys taxpayers.)

The Village, as property owner, wants some say as to improvements, use in the off season, and maintenance, including the quality of the artificial turf. The School Board wants control over expenditures of the $5 million plus in costs.  

The kids just want to play ball.

Click here for analysis from Jamie Engel (served on the Village Baseball Task Force)

Click here for analysis from Capt Ed Davidson (Fla Keys Citizens Coalition and former member of the School Board)

If the project is to proceed for completion for the 2027 season, deadline for a decision is apparently April 7 when the Village Council and School Board both meet, separately.

To email the School Board: SchoolBoard@KeysSchools.com

To email the Council: clerk@islamorada.fl.us

For 10 years FKEC has had their Annual Energy-Saving Tree Giveaway, offered in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. FKEC  accounts holders received nearly 3,000 trees across the Upper and Middle Keys — adding shade, beauty, and energy savings throughout the community.

If you reserved a tree this year, pick-up day is Wed, Mar 25 in Tavernier from 4:00-6:00 PM. Beyond helping lower cooling costs, trees provide important benefits for the entire community — improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, beautifying neighborhoods, lowering  heat effect, and supporting a healthier local environment. The Million Trees Project is the Arbor Day Foundation’s 2026 spring campaign, targeting the planting of 1 million new trees across the United States through individual, school, and community participation. A single tree can remove carbon at a rate of 10–40 pounds per year in its first decade and 48–100 pounds per year once mature. Enforcement of tree removals: With the tremendous value of trees to a community, it is no wonder Islamorada has strict regulations intended to protect our trees.  The local concern is enforcement.   How troubling it is to see property owners ignore the tree cutting regulations and sometimes even “clear cut” (remove all vegetation from a lot) without a permit, to facilitate ease of development.  If caught, the mitigation cost is likely inconsequential to a property owner building a multi-million-dollar home or business. The penalty, if caught, just considered another small cost of making a huge real estate profit.

Technology is catching up.LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology enables precise tree measurement at the individual tree level. Cities have conducted LiDAR-based canopy surveys that map every tree in a municipality: location, height, crown spread, and species.

With LiDAR, maybe Islamorada could save more trees through better enforcement and provide stiffer penalties for clearing without a permit.  There could be programs to replace downed trees after a storm… instead of property owners removing even more trees after a storm, thinking they won’t be caught.

The latest draft from Able City East was received on March 11 and is available on the Village website. Click here. If you care about the future of the Village, get involved. No word yet on public workshop.

A Public Workshop is now scheduled for April 29. Be there.

will be the guest speaker at this month’s lecture hosted by the Matecumbe Historical Trust on Tues, Mar 24 at the Islamorada Public Library at 6 pm. Ron’s subject will be “Politics in the Florida Keys over the last 60 years”.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia helped draft two bills that passed the Legislature in 2026 that will increase oversight of local governments.

“As Chief Financial Officer, I have made it my mission to provide real transparency into local governments’ spending, so Floridians know what their tax dollars will go toward.”

Ingoglia traveled the state over the last year, criticizing local governments for “overspending.” He has singled out more than a dozen municipalities, saying he has uncovered nearly $2 billion in excess spending.

The Department of Financial Services is asking anyone with knowledge of fraud or scams to report it at FraudFreeFlorida.com.

A proposal to make the American flamingo the new state bird died in the Legislature due to lack of support in the Senate.

Rep. Jim Mooney said he wanted to make the change to highlight Florida's wildlife diversity and improve conservation efforts. The proposal would have replaced the mockingbird with the American flamingo as Florida’s state bird. It would also have made the Florida scrub-jay the state’s songbird.

The northern mockingbird remains Florida's official state bird, a designation in place since 1927 and shared with four other states: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

Quote of the Week:

This week’s smile:

I guess we are supposed to be thankful that Village Council meetings have been much shorter in duration lately (last Tuesday, 2 hours 3 minutes; Thursday 1 hour and 3 minutes).

Here’s the rub. We have dozens of pending issues that need to be resolved. And we just worry about the length of meetings?

We will give you a taste of efforts not completed :

• Decision on status of a couple properties that cost over 8 million dollars, purchased in the last 5 year, i.e.

1.        The Machado Property-purchased in 2021 for $1.8 million

2.        Island Sugar and Spice, the eye sore in the middle of town, purchased in 2021 for $2.75 million.

3.        And another White Elephant, the old church property, purchased in 2024 for purpose unknown, for $3,995,000.

• What is the status of the Green Turtle Hammock situation, ending management agreement with Florida Bay Forever?

• The decades long search to find a storage place away from Founders Park for Public Works equipment?

• The Contract to maintain 18 miles of FDOT right of way for $65,000 per year ($300/month/mile- both sides of highway)

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU)

• Food truck regulations

• Vessel exclusion zones

• Noise ordinance

• The Wastewater EDU counts and accounting to assure it is self-funded as an enterprise fund

• The Marina enterprise fund – do they pay to utilize Village owned property to create revenue for Village funds

• Ongoing Budget concerns – making Islamorada more affordable to working residents and fixed income retirees

• Parking issues everywhere in the Village, on U.S. One and Village right of way – need overall plan to make the scenic highway scenic again

• Implementation status of recently approved Founders Park master plan

• Status of 2017 - 2023 Village Strategic Plan

Had enough?

What happened to the After Action Status Report – used to remind council and residents what actions are pending!  It would be constant reminder of things needing attention. We thought it was coming back.

Based on recent updates - the Village Planning Department had the initial Comprehensive Plan draft from Able City since Sep 2025.  Five months later, Feb 2026, the staff sent recommendations for changes without any public involvement. 

Couldn’t we have used that 5 months to discuss the draft publicly – a few workshops.  Why did the staff keep it so private?

Now Able City has sent an updated draft received last week. But it will be about 6 weeks before a workshop is held – and that may be the only workshop for public involvement. 

Remember, this contract with Able City was approved October 2024. The Constitution of the United Staes took less time to be drafted - just 116 days!  With no email and internet.

Since the end of January 2026, the Charter Review Committee has already met 5 times so far to discuss extending the Council term of office from 2 years and increasing council compensation.  These changes have been consistently rejected by voters in past elections. Sounds like another Village Council member wish list.

Cheers for the Youth Council!

We heard from the Youth Council at Tuesday’s Village Council meeting. It appears that these teenagers have figured out how to be creative and productive in helping our community be a better place while still attending school 7 hours a day. Their recommendations were the results of their enthusiasm and hard work. 

None of the issues that we mentioned in our aforementioned list are impossible to resolve. It will just take some “enthusiasm and hard work”.

Village Council- step it up!

Elections have consequences.

Tom Raffanello