Miami developer Sergio Pino’s Century Homebuilders paid a $460,000 settlement to conclude a six-year, federal wetlands protection case, Daily Business Review reported.
The federal government gave Century, where Pino is president and chief executive, a permit for the Islands of Doral development in West Miami-Dade County in 2003, with one caveat.
To compensate for destroying 415 acres of wetlands, the company signed a consent decree, agreeing to create a 47-acre wetlands preserve, clear invasive species and plant more than 100,000 native plants, according to a 2010 report in the Miami Herald.
Century Homebuilders never built the preserve. A federal civil case was filed in December 2009 by the Justice Department on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A U.S. district court judge ordered Century to pay a $400,000 fine and $60,000 in regulatory fees, with some of the money to go to Everglades National Park, the Business Review said.
The settlement mentions evidence from the developer about “the limits of their ability to pay,” according to the Herald.
Century Homebuilders affiliate companies have surrendered properties to release debt, the South Florida Business Review reported. [Daily Business Review] –Emily Schmall