Monarch Hill Land Use Plan Amendment
View the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzj-mrI72og
WM is seeking a Land Use Plan Amendment for a 24-acre parcel at 2600 Wiles Road in unincorporated Broward County (formerly the Wheelabrator North site) within the 500-acre Monarch Hill Renewal Energy Park. The Land Use change is from Electrical Generation to Commerce.
The Land Use Plan Amendment is the first step to secure ongoing capacity at Monarch Hill Landfill as it serves as a vital regional asset for Broward County. The current permitted footprint for disposal at Monarch Hill Landfill is 382 acres. The 24-acre parcel is bounded on three sides by the Landfill and to the north by heavy industrial uses and represents an increase of 5.6% in the Landfill footprint..
Concurrently, WM is working with Broward County on a proposed code amendment that would allow the landfill to go from 225 feet to 325 feet to maximize the vertical height and airspace of the landfill.
As of July 2024, Monarch Hill Landfill has an estimated six years of capacity remaining at current inbound volumes of 5,000 tons per day. Currently, Monarch Hill is no longer able to accept hurricane and storm debris.
Today, most of the inbound volume at Monarch Hill Landfill (approximately 90%) is construction and demolition (C&D) debris and bulk waste which cannot be incinerated. Most of the material has already been processed for recycling at WM’s state-of-the-art recycling facilities (WM Recycling Deerfield and WM Recycling Oakes Road) before coming to Monarch Hill Landfill.
If the Land Use Plan Amendment and height amendment are approved, WM would agree to stop accepting municipal solid waste or household garbage at Monarch Hill Landfill.
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If Monarch Hill Landfill is not permitted to utilize all its potential horizontal footprint and vertical airspace, the 5,000 tons a day of material would need to be trucked to Okeechobee Landfill almost 100 miles away. That would require nearly 7,500 tractor truck loads a month (90,000 annually) on the Florida Turnpike and I-95 heading up and back to out-of-county landfills generating nearly 40,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and costing Broward County residents and businesses approximately $40 million a year.
Additionally, if the Land Use Plan Amendment and height amendment are not approved, WM would need to take down the onsite landfill-gas-to-energy plant prematurely to provide for additional landfill capacity. Today, the plant uses methane generated from the landfill to generate nearly 11 megawatts of electricity or enough to power 9,000 homes per day.