UDB ruling wrong
I testified as an intervener on behalf of the state of Florida in the administrative hearing against Miami-Dade County regarding the Lowe's and Brown requests to build beyond the Urban Development Boundary. I disagree with administrative law Judge Bram D.E. Cantor's decision in favor of Brown. The law should be enforced as it is now, not as it might be in 2014.
What if the UDB is not moved; will he vacate his decision? This was not a zoning matter. The judge did not see the wider significance and implications of permitting any building beyond the UDB in relation to future building requests.
The county's Building and Zoning staff and the mayor recommended not approving Brown. Do their opinions count for nothing? How can you live hundreds of miles away, drop out of the sky for a few days, hear limited arguments and render a decision in a complex case with an informed understanding of the subtleties of the issues?
Administrative law judges should live close enough to the jurisdictions where they are rendering decisions so as to be familiar with the context of the matters before them.
BARRY J. WHITE, Miami
