South Florida municipalities have joined forces to petition the state legislature this month and find remedies for property owners who say their homes are damaged from limestone mining.
Residents saw elected officials from cities, the two counties and state offices discuss their plans at Miami Lakes Town Hall on Feb. 27.
The meeting hosted by the town’s Blasting Advisory Board was to raise support for a bill submitted by Fla. Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, that would allow residents to seek compensation for damages in the administrative court.
It is the fifth bill that Fabricio has filed on the issue. Prior bills sought to regulate blasting levels from mines operating in South Florida.
Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer/Fire Marshal, oversees the industry.
Attendees included Fla. Rep. David Borrero, R-Doral; Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras and representatives from Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sen. René García’s office, the office of Fla. Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston and an aide from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office.
Also there were City of Miramar Engineer Salvador Zuniga and Jaime Gascon, director of the county’s Dept. of Regulatory and Economic Resources Board and Code Administrative Division.
Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Bryan Morera and council members Steven Herzberg, Ray Garcia and Angelo Cuadra Garcia also spoke.
“This is what should be a simple issue,” Morera said. “Our houses [and] our businesses are being damaged almost on a daily basis.”
Morera and Herzberg plan to meet legislators in Tallahassee to lobby for Fabricio’s bill and to also attend the March 12 Doral council meeting to garner more support.
“We’re not here to kill the industry,” said Herzberg who like Morera, Garcia and Cuadra Garcia is a former Blasting Advisory Board member.
“The industry is vital, we need the mines … we want them to be good neighbors.”
Residents can file a complaint by visiting https://bit.ly/41Fc1kI.