Water slides won't be coming to the parking lots surrounding Zoo Miami in southwest Miami-Dade County.
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The office of county Mayor Daniella Levine Cava sent official notice to the developers of the planned Miami Wilds water park that the county was rescinding the lease agreement to build the park on county-owned land. The letter provides a coda to a years-long battle over the project that saw county support for the project eroded by public outcry from conservationists.
In a letter to Paul Lambert, the managing principal of developer Miami Wilds LLC, the mayor’s office said the initial development agreement that was signed in June 2022 was mistakenly issued and couldn't be enforced.
The letter, dated Jan. 18 but first reported Tuesday, followed a December court case in which the National Parks Service conceded that it failed to conduct a required environmental review before approving a for-profit project on the land, which had been federally owned, the Miami Herald reported.
As the case unfolded, the Interior Department also reversed its initial approval for the project after finding that the site is a critical feeding ground for endangered bats.
In the court case, brought by a consortium of conservation groups, the District Court for the Southern District of Florida found that the National Parks Service violated the law when it released land use restrictions on the 27.5-acre site. Miami-Dade County said in court that the decision would effectively nullify the development agreement, but the project’s future remained uncertain.
The letter this month from Jimmy Morales, the county’s chief operations officer, cited the decision and said, “The approval, effectiveness and execution of the Lease is non-existent.”
“It is impossible for the parties to perform their rights and obligations under the Lease and the purpose of the Lease is now frustrated as Miami Wilds cannot take possession of the Property and commercial development is impossible,” he wrote.
A representative for Miami Wilds LLC declined to comment about the letter.
The Miami Wilds project was slated to include a water park, hotel and retail space. A group of developers led by Miami-based Lambert Advisory first proposed it as part of a 2012 solicitation for proposals. The county commission voted on the project in 2020 and formally approved the lease in 2022, the Herald reported.
Levine Cava initially supported the development after taking office in November 2020 but reversed course amid public opposition to its construction. Ron Magill, the spokesperson for Zoo Miami, became one of the project’s most outspoken critics when he came out against its construction last fall.
The decision to rescind the lease was “a classic example of when the people lead, the leaders will follow,” Magill told local Fox affiliate WSVN Tuesday.
Members of the public for months showed up at county commission meetings to object to the proposal, and commissioners voted 9-1 on Dec. 12 to deny a lease modification that would have given the developers more time to break ground on the project, which had to occur by the end of last year under the original lease, the Herald reported.
That vote effectively blocked the planned development, but Miami Wilds LLC vowed to continue its efforts to build the park, and county officials signaled that they expected the developer would file a lawsuit to allow it to move ahead.
“Not probably. This is going to be litigated,” said Oliver Gilbert, the chairman of the county commission and representative for District 1, according to the Herald.
In an olive branch to the developer, Morales acknowledged in the letter this month that Miami Wilds LLC had spent money on pre-construction efforts and offered to refund the developer $257K.
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