On a strip of green wedged between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades, a big fight is brewing over a stand of mangroves. Dania Beach residents and conservationists are trying to stop a developer from cutting the trees on a roughly five-acre site to make way for a warehouse. They argue the mangroves are part of a larger wetlands system that helps buffer nearby neighborhoods from storm surge and provides habitat for birds, turtles and wildlife tied to a nearby vervet monkey sanctuary.
Federal records show the applicant, Port 1850 LLC, c/o developer Shlomo Melloul, wants to build on a 5.11-acre vacant parcel immediately east of 1900 NE 7th Avenue. About 4.21 acres of that land are covered in mature red and black mangroves, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps notice describes the project’s purpose as adding warehouse storage and says the applicant has proposed buying mitigation credits and preserving about 1.29 acres of mangroves on the site.
County planning documents label the parcel as part of “Site 97” on Broward’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands map and place it within a larger wetland complex that local officials say helps control flooding. Planning Council staff told the council the site is hydrologically connected to surrounding wetlands and the Dania Cutoff Canal and initially advised against stripping the ESL designation. The Planning Council nevertheless advanced the amendment after hearing the applicant’s pitch, according to the Broward County Planning Council.
Neighbors, wildlife advocates and volunteers say the property is far from “vacant” and is humming with life. The area is linked to the Dania Beach Vervet Project, which cares for a local vervet monkey colony, and residents told local TV crews that the trees and shallow ponds host snapping turtles, water snakes and shorebirds. Many have signed a petition seeking permanent protection for the mangroves, according to a petition on Change.org.
Regulatory Hurdles And Permits
The Corps notice states that the applicant’s Section 404 permit application was transferred to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after the state assumed the federal 404 program, and FDEP has not yet issued a permit to fill the wetlands. Under Florida’s mangrove rules, any mangrove alteration needs state authorization or a delegated local permit. The applicant has proposed purchasing Everglades Mitigation Bank credits to offset environmental impacts, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
What’s Next
A Broward County public hearing notice lists the land-use amendment, PCNRM 24-3, for an adoption hearing on Feb. 3, 2026, officially placing the proposal on the county’s calendar for formal review. Future steps include state permit decisions as well as any county adoption or appeals, and records indicate the issue is expected to return to commission agendas as mitigation plans and hydrology reports are scrutinized, according to Florida Public Notices.
At the Planning Council hearing, the applicant’s team said they would comply with environmental permitting rules and offered a conservation easement along with mitigation credit purchases. Minutes from the meeting show attorney Ed Stacker and consultant Tyler Chappell outlining those commitments. Dania Beach City Manager Ana M. Garcia told local media that the city is coordinating with county and state experts while the review plays out, per WSVN.
Conservationists warn that every acre of mangrove lost chips away at the region’s natural flood defenses and wildlife corridors, and local coverage and county documents describe the broader mangrove complex in this corridor as spanning roughly 160 acres. For now, the project is tangled in permit reviews and public resistance, and residents say they will keep a close eye on hearings and regulatory filings, including a petition drive that has brought in hundreds of signatures, according to CBS News Miami.
