Pine rockland is a rare type of forest found only in South Florida and the Caribbean. In Miami-Dade County, a swath of pineland once stretched from Florida City to the Miami River. Over several decades, it's been fragmented because of construction. But the rockland that remains is home to federally designated endangered and threatened animals and plants, including the Florida bonneted bat and the Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterfly.
That’s why there’s continued concern over plans for a development near Zoo Miami, in the Richmond Pine Rockland.
The project, called the Coral Reef Commons, would include retail space, 900 apartments, a school and parking on 138 acres near Southwest 152nd Street and 124th Avenue -- in the midst of the environmentally sensitive pine rockland.
Ram Realty Services has filed a Habitat Conservation Plan to protect animals and plants in the area. The plan sets aside about 55 acres within the development plus 51 acres outside of it.
But critics say that’s not enough, especially since the rocklands are already fragmented. Outside of Everglades National Park, only about 2 percent of the original pine rockland forest remains in Miami-Dade County. The area under consideration for development is the biggest privately owned parcel left.
A meeting of concerned citizens is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Tropical Audubon’s Doc Thomas House, 5530 Sunset Dr., Miami. A public comment period on the developer’s conservation plan ends Monday.
