Port of Virginia Key?

Map of North Point of Virginia Key under review. In the past, the land was used as a deposit site for bay bottom materials produced by channel dredging operations of the Port of Miami.  

The North Point of Virginia Key, where bicyclists want to create a mountain bike trail, and which has been closed to the public for years, was once slated to be a new airport or port facility.  

The City of Miami purchased the land from the State of Florida in 1942. The deed states that “the lands are to be used by the City of Miami for the purposes of harbors and airport constructions and development.” 

It also had this proviso: should the area be used for any purpose other than harbor or airport construction, the state would automatically get the land back. 


Of course, the City is no longer in the business of running airports or ports. In 1945, the City of Miami transferred to Miami Dade County the ownership and operation of the airport; the operation of the seaport was conveyed in 1960. 


Today the North Point is considered an environmental gem, though parts of it must still undergo significant ecological restoration.  Most of the North Point, which is next to the state-designated Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area, is  zoned conservation under Miami 21, the City's new zoning code. 


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Not so fast with the bulldozers on North Point of Virginia Key

The North Point of Virginia is not the despoiled wasteland a Sept. 12 Miami Herald story ("Bike Trail Project A lot Tougher Than Expected) would have you believe.

A biological evaluation of the area by Miami Dade County’s Environmental Endangered Lands division completed earlier this year indicates the area contains acres of mangroves, tropical hammock and dune communities, all essential wildlife habitat, replete with endangered species.

Perhaps we shouldn't be so fast with those trail-blazing bulldozers after all...or so cavalier about allowing more dredge material dumping on the island from future Port of Miami projects.


In the northern and eastern portion, beach dune communities include Sea Oats, inkberry, railroad vine and burrowing four o’ clock, the latter of which is a State endangered listed species. The beach areas are essential sea turtle nesting areas.

The surrounding shallow waters along the shoreline are densely lined with seagrass beds, including turtle grass, manatee grass and shoal grass. The healthy and diverse communities support various species of sponges, invertebrates, and algae.

A high quality coastal mangrove community thrives along the west portion of North Point and is part of the state-designated Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area, a 700-acre wildlife preserve created to protect the extraordinary habitat values of the area.

At the northern end of North Point is a mangrove community of red, white, and black mangroves, and green buttonwood created under supervision of the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management as part of a mitigation project.

The EEL report states the restoration project was performed “to resolve a violation that occurred in 1992, when Port of Miami dredging contractors damaged seagrasses, beach dunes and mangrove wetlands without authorization while Government Cut was being deepened.”

The mitigation project created five acres of coastal hammock, four acres of dune, 12 acres of new mangrove forest and new tidal habitat through the creation of new channels that run from Norris Cut to the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area.


Resources: Miami Herald, "Bike Trail Project A Lot Tougher Than Expected," Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/12/1820390/bike-trail-project-a-lot-tougher.html

Photo: North Point beach.