Miami-Dade County is handing residents a say in how the county grows, kicking off the seven-year review of its Comprehensive Development Master Plan and asking the public to weigh in on where housing, transit and development should go through 2050. A round of public workshops and an online survey will feed into the official Evaluation and Appraisal Report that guides those decisions.
Public Workshops And The EAR Process
The Evaluation and Appraisal Report, or EAR, is the state-required review that happens every seven years, testing whether the Comprehensive Development Master Plan, or CDMP, is meeting its goals and what should be updated. The Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources plans to hold regional workshops and run an online survey so residents can flag priorities, from infill development to climate resilience. The county has posted the full workshop schedule and survey on its EAR page, listing dates and locations from January through March, according to Miami-Dade County.
Planners Want Community Priorities Front And Center
“The comprehensive development master plan really is the plan of the county, so it needs to be reflective of the community’s priorities,” Kim Brown, Miami-Dade’s long-range and neighborhood planning chief, told WLRN. Planners say the EAR will measure progress against existing CDMP monitoring benchmarks and help shape both policy and maps through 2050. County staff say public feedback will steer everything from the big-picture goals to the more technical tweaks.
Planners' Priorities And The UDB
Jerry Bell, assistant director for planning, told WLRN that the county’s top focuses are affordable housing, stronger public transit and climate resilience. He said Miami-Dade is “very land-challenged” and pointed to the Urban Development Boundary as the main tool for protecting wetlands, agricultural land and the Everglades. Those limits are built into the CDMP and help dictate where planners say density and new infrastructure should go.
State Bill And A Recent Veto
The Urban Development Boundary could also feel pressure from state lawmakers. Florida House Bill 399, filed by Rep. David Borrero, would require an analysis of whether a development boundary is needed and could make it easier for local governments to adjust those lines, according to the bill text. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has pushed back, vetoing a county application that would have allowed a heavy-equipment dealer to build on roughly 160 acres outside the UDB and saying she planned to travel to Tallahassee to oppose HB 399, as reported by Local 10.
Why This Matters For Housing
Affordable-housing advocates argue that the CDMP review is landing at a critical moment, since Miami-Dade is facing a severe shortage of homes residents can actually afford. Research from the nonprofit Miami Homes For All estimates the county is short about 90,000 affordable rental homes for households earning up to roughly $75,000 a year, according to Miami Homes For All. Planners say that gap, combined with limited land and growing climate risks, is what they want residents to respond to during this EAR process.
How To Make Your Voice Heard
Residents can fill out the EAR survey online and attend one of the regional workshops to speak directly with planning staff about what should change and what should be protected. The county lists the full schedule, survey and a contact line, 305-375-4724, along with the email address [email protected], on its EAR page, according to Miami-Dade County.
