Approval for South Florida Waterpark Nixed by Federal Judge

Developers must toss their plans to build a waterpark, hotel, and retail center in South Florida, after a federal judge found that the National Park Service skipped environmental review of the project.

“NPS put the cart before the horse,” Judge Patricia A. Seitz of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida said on Tuesday.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups claimed that NPS approved an agreement with Miami-Dade County to transfer land use restrictions from the project area so that it could proceed without completing an environmental analysis.

Seitz vacated the agreement Monday, holding ...