Moving forward with Master Plan 

A Fills Wish List of 14 features was created to develop the Master Plan of possible amenities that could be built on the Fill to turn it in to a public park – primarily paid for by Islamorada taxpayers to be enjoyed by the very people who have created havoc on the Fills. The Council has acknowledged that many of the features will never be implemented. But, that having a plan is the only way to satisfy the terms of the lease.

When asked by council at its April 8, 2021 meeting when the staff expected the critical parts of the Master Plan could be implemented, following the creation of the plan and approval by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Maria Bassett, Acting Village Manager, indicated she thought it would be a year.

That would mean another summer of weekend traffic and trash. Surely, there is a way that we could do better.

The lease with FDOT does not specifically require a Master Plan. The lease says that any improvements must be approved in writing by the District Six Secretary.

Perhaps a simple letter to FDOT requesting the right to post "No Parking" signs to officially eliminate parking on the existing swales would work. With an additional request for permission to have paid parking at the designated parking areas at existing driveway aprons, we could potentially solve the majority of the issues at the Fills. 

Having already increased the penalty for parking illegally in the Village to $200, there may be no need to install a barrier.

Using an online parking app, as previously discussed, would generate revenue at the Fills and at Anne's Beach to reduce cleanup costs to local taxpayers.

The idea of the parking on the driveway aprons and the "No Parking" signs on the swales was already presented by FDOT in the presentation to the Village in 2016, so it is likely that they would agree to permit these ideas. Click here to see complete 2016 FDOT Presentation.