For Immediate Release:			August 4, 2008
	Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen hears grievances of frustrated property owners
	BY ROB BUSWEILER The Citizen Property owners in the Florida Keys trapped on "the FEMA list" got a chance to sound off to their federal representative Saturday. More than 50 people showed up at the Marathon Government Center Saturday afternoon to meet with U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. The topic was the court case currently preventing thousands of property owners in the Keys from getting federally subsidized flood insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in charge of administering that flood insurance, which is required by many financial lenders prior to loaning money to build or buy a home. Due to a lawsuit filed by the National and Florida wildlife federations, FEMA has been barred by federal courts from issuing that insurance to a list of properties in the Keys that are considered to have suitable habitat for endangered species. The lawsuit has been bouncing around federal courthouses for years, and many in the Keys are growing increasingly frustrated. Further complicating matters is the fact that the only parties privy to filing claims directly related to the lawsuit are FEMA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the plaintiffs. "No one who has any direct stake in this issue is allowed to petition the court," said Peter Rosasco. An affordable housing project Rosasco has been attempting to finish in Key Largo has been held up by the court ruling. "I've been held hostage." Environmental groups first started the case in the '90s, after they successfully argued to the court that FEMA and the Fish and Wildlife Service were not doing enough to ensure the properties for which they were issuing flood insurance were not habitats for endangered species. "The injunction does not reduce the overall amount of development, but merely shifts development away from flood plains that contain endangered species habitat," said Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, in a statement issued on Saturday. Part of the problem property owners have run into is getting off the list if they feel their property is listed by mistake. Because local property owners cannot directly petition the court, they must file an objection through the environmental group's law firm. The cost is $100. "I won't spend one more dime," said Marathon resident Colleen Repetto. She said she has four properties on the list, all of which were cleared by a city of Marathon biologist and U.S. Fish and Wildlife prior to the injunction. "It is my sincere belief that litigation is not the way to deal with what we have before us," said Paul Souza, a field supervisor for Fish and Wildlife. Souza said his agency has worked to narrow down the list — which at its height had about 50,000 properties — and hopes to have the matter settled. For those still on the list, however, there are few options beyond filing the request with the law firm to be taken off. "All of this is tied to the court's decision," Ros-Lehtinen said. A rundown of the properties on the FEMA list can be found online at www.monroecounty-fl.gov <http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/> , under the hot topics section. There currently is no timeline for when the case may be settled. ### Home | Press Releases