Coconut Creek approves settlement that caps Monarch Hill landfill expansion, requires environmental controls and payments to cities

Coconut Creek commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve Resolution 2025‑129, a settlement agreement among the City of Coconut Creek, the City of Deerfield Beach, Broward County and Waste Management Inc. of Florida that limits a county‑approved expansion of the Monarch Hill Landfill and establishes monitoring, mitigation and financial commitments the cities can enforce.

The settlement caps the landfill expansion to the footprint and height authorized in Broward County’s 2025 approvals — a 100‑foot vertical increase and about 24.2 acres of horizontal expansion — and prevents future horizontal or vertical expansions beyond those 2025 approvals. The agreement also requires Waste Management to record restrictive covenants in the public records; the cities must dismiss pending lawsuits with prejudice if they execute the settlement.

Terrell Piper, Coconut Creek city attorney, summarized the key terms for the commission and public, noting the enlargement approved by the county in February 2025 and the cities’ subsequent legal challenges. Ralph DeMeo, special counsel for the cities with Gilday Law, described the package as “unprecedented,” citing limits on future expansions, enhanced environmental controls and financial measures that did not exist in prior negotiations.

Why it matters: the agreement defines operational and post‑closure expectations for a landfill that, under the settlement’s estimates, would accept roughly 25,000,000 cubic yards of material — which parties said equates to about 25 years of capacity under current projections — and then close. The settlement also creates mechanisms the cities can use to hold Waste Management accountable, rather than continuing costly, uncertain litigation that a De­partment of Ad­ministrative Hearings trial would have resolved next week…