Fresh from a loss, Miami Wilds scores a win against push to kill its lease at zoo

As Miami-Dade County’s mayor fights to kill the Zoo Miami lease for the proposed Miami Wilds waterpark, she won’t have the formal backing of the County Commission.

A commission committee on Tuesday blocked legislation to endorse Mayor DanielLa Levine Cava’s legal effort against a lease allowing construction of the proposed $47 million waterpark on parking lots outside the county zoo. Critics of the legislation by Commissioner Raquel Regalado called it a step too far because Levine Cava was already taking the steps called for in the item.

“I’m voting no because nothing prevents the mayor and the administration from carrying out exactly what you’re asking them to do,” said Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who represents the Zoo Miami area and last year sponsored legislation sought by the proposed waterpark. “This is redundant.”

The committee defeat on a 3-2 vote was a turnaround from December, when the project saw a proposal die to amend its original 2022 lease and keep the project in compliance with county requirements. McGhee withdrew the legislation after an opposition campaign by conservation groups andZoo Miami’s own communications director, Ron Magill.

Miami Wilds needed the changes to avoid missed deadlines and milestones required under the original county deal approved four years ago. Levine Cava, a former supporter of the project, is now pushing to rescind the county lease through a legal process that could end up in court.

READ MORE: Battered by conservation groups, Miami Wilds water park ‘dead’ after county vote

While Miami Wilds is already fighting the Levine Cava administration’s effort to kill the lease, legislation from Regalado sought to go farther. Her item would formally instruct Levine Cava to rescind the lease — a largely symbolic step that the committee Regalado chairs declined to take.

The Levine Cava administration in October sent letters to Miami WildS warning it was on track to be in default of its county lease and that Miami-Dade was preparing to rescind it. When McGhee on Dec. 12 withdrew legislation needed to modify the Miami Wilds lease and eliminate year-end construction milestones, Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert declared: “This horse is dead”

READ MORE: At Zoo Miami, Ron Magill draws a crowd. This time, to fight a zoo project: Miami Wilds

On Tuesday, two other commissioners on the board’s Infrastructure committee, Keon Hardemon and Anthony Rodriguez, joined McGhee in voting against the Regalado legislation. Commissioner Micky Steinberg and Regalado voted for it. Having failed to advance through committee, the legislation died.

Regalado described her resolution as putting commissioners on record for supporting a process that Levine Cava has already launched to end the Miami Wilds lease. “I think what we’re doing is making it very clear that from a policy and procedural perspective, we support rescinding this agreement,” she said before the vote.

A county lawyer told the committee that Levine Cava doesn’t need a commission vote to end the Miami Wilds lease, but that court action may be needed. Prior county commissions first voted for the Miami Wilds deal in 2020 and then formally approved the lease in 2022.

The agreement hinged on federal approval of construction on zoo acreage once owned by the federal government. That became a problem for Miami Wilds when the National Parks Service conceded in court it failed to conduct the needed environmental review before approving a for-profit project on the land. Conservation groups, including the Tropical Audubon Society, had sued the federal agency over its approval of the Miami Wilds project.

Last month, the U.S. Interior Department delivered another blow to Miami Wilds when it stated the property is critical feeding grounds for endangered bats, after rescinding its original green light for the project.

Levine Cava and county lawyers are using the Park Service’s reversal as grounds to end the 2022 lease. At Tuesday’s meeting, Melanie Spencer, a county lawyer specializing in parks matters, said Levine Cava didn’t need commission action to rescind the lease after the loss of the federal approval that was a key requirement for the original deal.

“The administration can seek to rescind the lease,” Spencer said.

Before the vote, Paul Lambert, a Miami Wilds partner, urged the committee to reject the legislation while expressing amazement that the county now was fighting the project after backing it for years. He said it made sense to allow a federal environmental review to begin and see what the experts report on potential habitat risks.

“What is everyone afraid of for this?” Lambert asked. “It is absurd and bizarre that Miami-Dade County [would] throw away 27 years of planning.”