Marathon Residents Facing Delays in Permitting Due to New State Ordinance

Residents of Marathon homes are currently facing long wait times for anything permit-related due to a rift between the city and the state via the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The state is currently requiring all permit and development requests to be brought before the state for review and approval. The previous agreement between the state and the city of Marathon stated that the majority of permitting issues and requests could be handled at the local-level. Only large-scale permits were required to be handed to Tallahassee for final approval, and were the exception to the rule. Included among those permits that were previously the only ones rendered by the state were things like permits for the building of a new hotel, development in critical wildlife or natural habitats, mining or dredging operations, construction of a non-residential development over 2,500 square feet in size, and other large projects. The majority of other, more everyday, permitting decisions were free to be rendered by the city of Marathon. As of this month, and until the issues between the state and local governments are resolved, every permit request needs to be sent to Tallahassee for approval. To illustrate the magnitude of this issue for those seeking permits, in the five months between August and December of 2021, approximately 9 permitting requests were sent from Marathon to the Department of Economic Opportunity. By contrast, since the new ordinance, in one week between March 9 to March 16, 171 permit requests were sent. This is creating a huge backlog and is resulting in long delays for those awaiting permits, even for small issues like adding a fence around one’s home or adding pavers to one’s property.

What caused the abrupt change in policy? The issue stems from a violation that Marathon received from the state regarding permits allowed in the new development called Boatworks, located on 39th Street in Marathon. The state contends that the city violated the ordinance when it issued building permits during a state-led appeal’s process on issues with the development. As a result of the violation, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity rescinded the Memorandum of Understanding that allowed the city to regulate much of its permitting previously, thus requiring that all requests now be handled by Tallahassee.

What does this mean for Marathon residents? If you are in the process of acquiring a building permit or are planning any activity on your property that requires a permit, expect your project to take much longer than in the past. In fact, your permit may be delayed by up to three months, as the typical turnaround has been taking approximately 75 days to complete. If you are planning on purchasing a home for sale in Marathon, you may want to get ahead of this and apply early as well!

The City of Marathon is working hard to get the issue with the state resolved as quickly as possible so that permitting operations can hopefully revert to the way they have been done for the last 17 years.