State Emergency Management director says Safe Harbor is a development issue Developers at Safe Harbor on Stock Island should not be allowed to use public safety as an excuse to circumvent growth regulations, according to the state’s top Emergency Management official. New Stock Island Properties hopes to build a 300-room luxury resort hotel and marina, offering the hotel as a temporary hurricane shelter for emergency workers if the state and county will waive rules limiting new development.

State Emergency Management Division Director Craig Fugate said he understands the need for shelters and recovery centers, especially in lowlying areas such as the Florida Keys. But the Stock Island proposal sounds more like development than public safety, he said. “It’s not about building a public safety building. It’s about building a hotel,” Fugate said. “Figure out what you are going to build and then come to us. I’m not going to be the justification for a hotel in the Keys.” No new hotel units are currently allowed in Monroe County, and without a waiver the developer would have to purchase existing allocations, which can cost between $100,000 and $150,000 apiece.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Fugate said the Monroe County Commission and state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees growth in the Keys, should decide whether hotels should be allowed in areas zoned Marine Industrial — and public safety should not be a factor in that decision. The county has twice approved comprehensive plan amendments that, among other things, would allow the new hotel on Safe Harbor. The DCA has rejected the amendments. Monroe County Emergency Management Director Irene Toner agrees with Fugate’s assessment, and has her own concerns about building a “shelter” in a flood zone. She said she is not comfortable placing people, “pre-storm,” in an area that could be under as much as 18 feet of storm surge in a major hurricane. County Commissioner George Neugent said he sent Fugate a letter last week questioning the need for a hotel/shelter, and asked for his opinion. Neugent told The Citizen that placing a hotel on Safe Harbor — without going through the growth-control procedures — runs contrary to state emergency policies.

Ty Symroski, a consultant hired by New Stock Island Properties, contends the hotel, built to Category 5 hurricane standards, could be useful to the county following a large hurricane even if officials questioned allowing staff to stay there during the storm. “We need to stress this can be a recovery center,” Symroski said. “This is a deep-water harbor that could be used as a staging area. We in no way want to encourage people to stay, but there are first responders who are not able to leave. ... This would be more of a recovery center than a refuge.”

Monroe County Mayor Sonny McCoy said Tuesday that, working with county Growth Management and legal staff, he has drafted a new proposal he believes the state will accept. McCoy said he opted not to put his plan on today’s County Commission meeting agenda because he is still reviewing it with county staff and the developers. “We will have to discuss this soon, but it needs to be done in an orderly manner,” McCoy said. Several groups of investors are proposing to redevelop Stock Island, with Safe Harbor being the epicenter. New Stock Island Properties estimates its project will cost more than $300 million. That project includes a hotel, marina, employee housing, a boardwalk and rows of shops and restaurants. Symroski said the hotel is a “critical component” to the redevelopment of Stock Island.