SoBay

2004-08-22T22:31:00.000-04:00

Live, from beautiful Palmetto Bay, Florida. If you have pictures you want posted, email us at this address

Palmetto Bay Election Candidates' Forum

2004-08-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

We have a chance to communicate with the 2 candidates for the district 2 seat- the incumbent Paul Neidhart and the challenger, Gabe Bifano. The South Dade News Leader is hosting the forum on Tuesday, August 24, at 6:45 PM, in building C of the Palmetto Bay Village Center (NOT CITY HALL, this is the old Burger King property), at 17777 Old Cutler Road. This should be (for our village, anyway) a lively event.

Meeting with Mayor

2004-08-16T22:48:00.000-04:00

Mayor Flinn will meet with us and anyone else who is interested, on Wednesday the 18th of August, 7 PM, at 16425 SW 89 Avenue. He will discuss the Charrette and answer questions on that and any other subject.

SOAPBOX LETTERS PRO-CHARRETTE, LAST 2 SUNDAYS

2004-08-15T21:04:00.000-04:00

In the last 2 Miami Herald Neighbors Sunday Soapboxes, these letters have appeared in favor of the current charrette process. The 2 letters this week are from board members of PCRC who are also Charrette committee members (Tom David is the Chair).
One or more responses have been sent in to Neighbors, but have not yet appeared. We will try to record any published document on this issue.

You can view the presentation of the charrette (to date) at this link (if you don't have acrobat reader-to see this document- you can get it here.

PALMETTO BAY

CHARRETTE'S GOAL:

'CLEAR PLAN' FOR AREA

As chair of the Southwest Palmetto Bay Charrette, I have read with interest letters from citizens concerned about the planning process and some of its proposals.

The charrette committee was selected by the Village Council. The purpose of the charrette is to provide for controlled, predictable development in the commercial areas. If we as a village do not lay down a clear plan for this area, we will be victimized by haphazard development in the future. Miami-Dade County is a vibrant, growing metropolis where available land is developed in a manner that maximizes value. Logic and experience tell us that southwest Palmetto Bay will be no exception and the question is not whether the development pressure will come, but when.

Our job as committee members has been to convene charrette meetings and to oversee the village staff as they consolidate the various proposals for this area. The committee has worked hard to ensure that any person who wishes to provide input can do so. We held public meetings and the staff met with property owners and residents to solicit their input.

You can see a presentation on the charrette on the village website at www.palmettobay-fl.gov.

The committee will hold a final meeting in September to present the plan to the community. The meeting will be advertised and any member of the public can offer suggestions or modifications to the charrette plan. At this point, nothing about the plan is final. After a vote, the committee will forward the plan to the Village Council, which will use the charrette plan as a basis for drafting the Village's first comprehensive development plan.

There is a misconception in the public that the charrette plan will somehow increase density or development activity in the southwest Palmetto Bay area. The fact is that current zoning and land use already allows for intense development along U.S. 1 and somewhat less along Franjo Road. For example, the area we locals refer to as the U.S. 1 island is already zoned for high density, multi-use buildings. Theoretically, under current zoning, one island property could build up to 27 stories and another could build up to 20 stories.

The charrette proposes to limit building heights in this area to between four and six stories. The vision is for a vibrant commercial district that will draw residents and visitors.

Our choice as a village is clear: plan ahead of the development or be run over by it when it comes. The decisions we make will affect all residents of our village because the southwest area will play a critical role in the growth of our tax base.

Put simply, the village needs part of our tax base to be derived from fast appreciating commercial areas to balance the slow appreciating residential areas. Without this growth, residential tax rates will be vulnerable to increases in order to pay for village services. This balancing concept is a basic structure underpinning municipal finances for all local governments.

As a final point, we as village residents and taxpayers are all in this together. Each part of the village affects the other parts. It is unfortunate that so early in our history some people resort to divisive rhetoric. While it is true that specific development activity has a greater impact on those living nearby, the entire village benefits by wise planning and that should be our common goal.

If you have thoughts or concerns that you wish to share with the committee, please contact the Palmetto Bay Community Development department at 305-259-1234, or join us at our September meeting.

TOM DAVID

PALMETTO BAY

CHARRETTE PLAN

A WORK IN PROGRESS

I am writing in response to the article that appeared in Soapbox Aug. 1, written by Marsha Matson and entitled Get Southwest input in Southwest Charrette. I am sorry she is concerned about the makeup of the charrette advisory committee, appointed by the mayor. The committee consists of 14 members, six of which are ''stakeholders,'' by definition people with an interest, be it property or a business.

I am pleased and qualified to serve on the Southwest Charrette Advisory Committee. I have lived in Palmetto Bay for the past 46 years, was first president of the Coral Reef PTA, president of the Cutler Ridge Junior High School PTA, president of the former South Dade Chamber of Commerce, worked at Coral Reef Elementary school for nine years, involved in Saint Richard Church since its beginning and I own a building and business in the Southwest charrette study area.

I am concerned about and have been involved in this community for many years. I believe everyone throughout Palmetto Bay is concerned with what is going on in the entire village and not just their particular area.

As Matson states, the charrette is to be accomplished with and for the citizens of Palmetto Bay, as was evidenced by the turnout on the design day. According to the sign-in sheet, more than 30 of the 75 of those in attendance were stakeholders in or within the 600 foot ''impact'' area, and the rest were from other parts of the village.

Everyone within 600 feet was notified by mail. Ads appeared in the newspaper and visible signs, banners and fliers were placed around the village. The lack of attendance from the southwest residents was not due to lack of notice but because they were not interested enough to come and participate in the planning for the future of their community.

I was a member of the Dade County Zoning Appeals Board for seven years and was responsible and interested in zoning throughout the whole county. I traveled all over Miami-Dade checking out parcels of property, requesting zoning and variance changes. I was not just interested in what was happening around my residence or business.

I happened to be the facilitator at the table that suggested a new road run alongside the park. It was proposed by persons that live where the road would be. They insisted on this particular item, along with several other people at the table. I myself was not in favor of it, but it was not my decision to make. All ideas from the various tables were compiled and presented that morning to everyone.

I was not in attendance to make the decisions but to facilitate, meaning write down things suggested by those at the table and present them to those in attendance.

I heard no comments of concern about the charrette; not the day of the design meeting nor on the Friday evening the proposed charrette plan was presented by the urban design center.

Although I am not a resident of the charrette area, I am a stakeholder. I have owned a building and business in the area since 1972.

The plan we have today is only a first draft charrette plan, a work in progress. Many more public meetings will be held and all input encouraged and considered before a final draft is produced. Involvement by the entire village is pertinent and welcome.

JOYCE R. MASSO

PALMETTO BAY

PALMETTO BAY
NO ONE WANTS A RETURN TO THE OLD DAYS

What kind of business community do the residents of Palmetto Bay want in their future? Everyone agrees we want an upscale business district that matches the quality of our residential areas, a place where we will enjoy dining and shopping and even working. But what shape will that take?
That is the grand issue before the poorly named "Southwest Palmetto Bay Charrette. Really, it should be named the "Business Zone Charrette" or something like that, because the current name suggests it's about one small neighborhood in our village.
But the area under study is really almost all of Palmetto Bay's business district, including the U.S. 1 Island, the triangle formed by U.S.1 and Franjo Road, and the area along U.S.1 just north of that.
In almost all communities, businesses contribute the majority of dollars in terms of taxes and fees yet are least likely to use the services provided by the community. Areas not having a successful business district have higher property tax rates.
The Franjo Triangle has for many years been an area in transition, with small homes next to small businesses. It is clear the future of the area is commercial, even though some residents may not like that thought. It has been moving in that direction for a long time. Property owners need to understand that when it comes time to sell, their lot will have much more value when it is zoned for commercial use.
The Village Council seems in agreement that we should draw a line at Franjo Road, allowing commercial development west of the street,but no more commercial development east of Franjo. Village residents will agree that makes sense, even though some residents of the area may be unhappy.
A few people are getting so excited about this charrette, even though all of it is pipedream at present. Most of the area does not have adequate water and sewer. That's why we see used car dealers instead of hotels and restaurants. But money for the infrastructure is in the General Obligation Bond Issue on the ballot this year, so there is a chance that over the next decade we will see the groundwork laid for future development.
Two things are certain. First, most residents of Palmetto Bay want a better business district. Second, nothing will be happening in the area for a long time. Nobody is going to get evicted as a result of this. Out of this charrette will come only a description of what the future use of a property will be.
In her Soapbox letter last week, Marsha Matson misses the point [Palmetto Bay: Get Southwest Input on Southwest Charrette, Aug. 1]. She criticizes the charrette process because the residents of the southwest area of the village don't have adequate representation on the committee, only four of 14 members. But that's a pretty good representation, considering it's a village-wide committee.
More important is that 12 of the 14 are residents of the village, and the other two are the largest property owners in the charrette area. These decisions are not up to the residents of the southwest area. They are about what's best for the entire village.
Matson complains that the consultant has offered a proposal the area residents don't like. But she misses the point. This is just the first step in a long process where there will be plenty of opportunity for public input.
By the time this comes before the mayor and Council for final approval, hopefully all interested residents will have spoken and some consensus will be reached. She says area residents have not been attending the meetings and better notice needs to be given. But there has been plenty of public notice. Maybe they aren't coming because they really don't care.
Let's put an end to the pitting of one area versus the other and embrace the fact that we are one community, one village. We are all impacted by the decisions made by our Village Council and the community's appearance. Does anyone really want to go back to the old days?

PAUL BLAKE

Meeting rescheduled due to impending Hurricane.

2004-08-12T12:23:00.000-04:00

The meeting with the Mayor for tonight was rescheduled due to the possible hurricane strike. Yesterday morning, we had to make a quick decision, in order to get emails, etc out there. The projected path at that time put it possibly over us on friday morning. It was decided that the Mayor should be able to pay attention to the Village, and we should be able to prepare our homes, rather than sit around and talk. The meeting is being rescheduled for (we hope) next week. -Henry

Letters About SW Charrette

2004-08-06T21:20:00.000-04:00

These two letters were posted to the Miami Herald and were published in the last 2 weeks' Sunday Speakout. They are abridgements of letters to a Village official.

Palmetto Bay Charrette Questions
Over the last few months, a charrette has proceeded in southwest Palmetto Bay, to allow citizen input into the future of the business area and the adjoining neighborhoods, including Perrine Park. The preliminary output from the County agency paid to administer the process differed very significantly from the citizens’ input. To understand how the citizens’ wishes became a different ‘vision’, several questions need to be addressed. For example:
New SW 96 Ave: Only one person at the charrette called for a new SW 96 Ave. immediately next to the park. How did it get into the proposed plan? How many individuals or tables did it take for this, or any other idea to make it to the proposed plan?
Was there bias for any particular individual’s ideas versus those ideas from the citizens’ tables at the charrette?
High density development on Franjo: The two 5-acre tracts on Franjo Road, now empty lots with fill, were drawn on the charrette plan as high-density developments. The citizens’ tables asked for multi-use buildings accessory to the park and an included government center. Is this proposal for park and government use only?
If not, who recommended such other development? Was there a bias for this high-density land use simply because the tracts are privately-owned?
Building height and density: A mystery of the plan is the height of buildings on the U.S.1 ‘island’ and the Franjo triangle. Southwest neighbors are worried about the impact on their lives of too many people occupying a small area. Others have tried unsuccessfully to obtain a definite figure for height from the county consultants, the charrette advisory committee, and village administrators. Surely a plan should have enough detail in height of buildings and density of occupancy to describe what is going to happen to the area. It should detail the changes needed in infrastructure, municipal services, and costs and it should predict changes in traffic and noise. How many people will the plan put in the charrette area at any one time?
Since the density and costs have not been described, what criteria will the village administrators and council use to determine whether the plan is an improvement for the area and the village? Is there any area in South Florida that approximates the charrette plan so that citizens and council members can visualize the proposed result? Which table, private interviewee, administrator, advisory committee person, or village council member recommended the six-stories-plus buildings drawn on the plan views?
Encroachment east of Franjo Road. Mayor Flinn said that there should be a line at Franjo beyond which, to the east, no commercial development can be allowed. Who decided to draw commercial development to the east of Franjo? If it was decided to include the wishes of the current property holder over those of the community, what forum is the proper venue for the Village citizens to ask their government to change the use of the property, perhaps through imminent domain, to conform to the citizens’ vision for the Village?
This, and any other actions sponsored by a government, should be easy to understand and beyond reproach.

Henry Clifford

To: The Editor
From: Marsha Matson
Re: Southwest Palmetto Bay Charrette

I am concerned about the Southwest Palmetto Bay Charrette because the charrette is unrepresentative of southwest residents. I understand a charrette to be an intensive public workshop whose purpose is to solve a design-related problem facing the community. Participants are “stakeholders,” individuals or groups that are affected by a decision and have an interest in its outcome. Typically, stakeholders include people who will be significantly impacted by the design. According to the county consultants’ literature, our charrette is supposed to be accomplished “With and for the Citizens of Palmetto Bay” to form a “vision” for the U.S.1-Franjo Road Triangle area.
First, the Southwest Palmetto Bay Charrette Advisory Committee is grossly unrepresentative of the southwest Palmetto Bay neighbors who will be most directly affected by the charrette design. Ten of the 14 members of this official village committee in charge of the charrette do not even live in the southwest area.
Second, not only do most advisory committee members live outside the area, but the village planning staff held private meetings with business owners and property owners, mostly non-residents, who were listed on a handout at the advisory committee as "stakeholders." No one on this list of the “stakeholders” invited for private meetings whose home addresses I can locate resides in the southwest area. Only a few southwest residents whose names were not on the “stakeholders” list were given private interviews.
Third, in addition to the scarcity of southwest residents on the advisory committee and in private stakeholder interviews, only 30% of people signing in at the Saturday charrette design workshop gave residential addresses in the southwest area.
Thus, in every phase of the charrette process, inadequate representation means that southwest residents have little say on projects that will disproportionately affect their quality of life. The proposed charrette plan reflects this. It shows new streets, which will promote heavy traffic as automobiles and trucks cut through neighborhoods. It allows high density developments which will overwhelm the surrounding residential areas. It permits development east of Franjo Road where none exists. It provides for intense commercialization in the U.S. 1-Franjo triangle with multi-story buildings and little parking. In short, the charrette plan is a disaster for southwest residents.

2004-08-05T12:13:00.000-04:00

To: SoBay members and friends
From: Marsha Matson, VP, SoBay Association
Re: SoBay e-news
Date: Aug. 5, 2004

We are working on creating a SoBay e-mail newsletter, but until we have a website, we will send you updates, news, and alerts via my personal e-mail.

SoBay exists to give the residents of SW Palmetto Bay the opportunity to discuss and work on quality of life issues that may affect us. We have and will be involved in a wide range of issues. One of our top priorities is the SW Palmetto Bay charrette. As most of you know, SoBay was formed in part because of concerns over the possible impact of the charrette plan on density, traffic, cost, and quality of life issues for the southwest neighborhoods. At our Aug. 2 meeting, Gabe Bifano, vice-chair of the village's Charrette Advisory Committee, discussed the charrette and shared his concerns about it.

NEXT SOBAY MEETING: At our upcoming meeting on Thursday Aug. 12, Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn will continue the in-depth discussion of the charrette. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at the home of SoBay secretary, Kemberlie Horowitz, 16425 SW 89 Ave. This is a great opportunity to express yourself and have your questions answered without the restrictions of a village council meeting. We will also hear about progress with the "Speedway," reports by SoBay members attending various village meetings, and updates on other important matters affecting southwest residents.

VILLAGE COUNCIL SEAT 2 CANDIDATE FORUM: Village council candidates, Gabe Bifano and Paul Neidhart, will square off from 7 - 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at Building C of the Palmetto Bay Village Center (formerly Burger King headquarters) off Old Cutler Road and SW 184 St. Please arrive at 6:45 to fill out questions.The village council election is Aug. 31, along with elections for U.S. Senator, county mayor, and school board. This forum will be your best chance to hear Mr. Bifano's and Mr. Neidhart's views, ask them questions, and make an informed decision that will affect our village for the next four years. Thanks to Yolanda Ulrich of the South Dade News Leader for arranging and sponsoring the forum, and to Scott Silver, owner of the Palmetto Bay Village Center for offering his facility without charge.

CONTACT VILLAGE COUNCIL ABOUT CHARRETTE: At the Aug. 2 village council meeting, Mayor Flinn called for a delay of council consideration of the SW Palmetto Bay Charrette until residents can share their concerns with individual council members. SoBay members have been e-mailing, calling, and meeting personally with the council members (Their contact information is on the Palmetto Bay website at www.palmettobay-fl.gov). You can also view the charrette presentation on the village website.
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V.P.'s editorial: Please do not be deterred by the argument that the charrette is only a vision, a plan for the future which can be changed. While the proposed plan is a pretty drawing today, it will be a blank slate upon which problematic things, such as higher density zoning changes, may later be drawn. The plan is also worrisome because of details that do appear on the plan, such as new roads drawn where none exist, high density mixed-used developments, and commercial encroachment east of Franjo. We need to know how much village taxpayers will be paying for the new water and sewer infrastructure needed to support the plan. Estimates range to $14 million dollars plus in a study presented at the village's charrette advisory committee. Few dispute that the U.S./Franjo Triangle area needs upgrading (as do other areas of the Village). The issues here are knowing the facts before the charrette is approved and making sure that this, or any other upgrade is acceptable to residents and taxpayers.

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Finally, SoBay Association is growing rapidly. Our members continue to walk door-to-door to tell neighbors about SoBay and to distribute membership applications. If you need applications to give to friends, please contact me at this e-mail, j7xcu7@bellsouth.net

Our only membership requirements are:
(1) residence (homeowners and renters) in the SoBay area (C100C canal on the north, SW 84 Ave. on the east, SW 184 St. to the south, and U.S. 1 to the west).
(2) adult 18 years or older
(3) payment of $15 annual dues.

Everyone who resides in our area is welcome to attend our meetings. Those who also join assist Sobay in its efforts, and will have a vote in decisions we make.

*Dues or other contributions are not tax-deductible, as we are organized as a civic association that may attempt to affect legislation, under section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code.