Reject Gonzolo Sanabria, Coral Gables City Commission candidate gives voters a chance to hold architects of housing crash to account ... by gimleteye

As the economic crisis deepens, an unanswered question emerges: will voters reject the local architects of the housing market crash? In some cases we do know exactly who they are: the champions of growth-at-any cost who emerged in Miami Dade in the 1990's; like Gonzolo Sanabria who is running for city commission in Coral Gables in an April 14th election.

Behind Sanabria's green signs is a dark history as an operator for the building industry on appointed zoning councils where the public interest was steamrollered in the run up to the biggest collapse in housing market values in Miami history.

Sanabria's website glides past this era where it says, "... he served as Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Planning Advisory Board for five consecutive years." That's not all Sanabria did. There are some good reasons Sanabria would dumb down his record in this way.

Almost fifteen years ago, there were two litmus test issues on growth; one formed the community council process. The other was a measure fiercely opposed by the builders: the 2/3rds zoning ordinance. If a district commissioner had a significant concern about a specific zoning decision in his or her district, the ordinance provided that commissioner the opportunity to require a 2/3rd majority vote rather than a simple majority.

The building industry hated the measure and fiercely lobbied against it. So did Gonzolo Sanabria.

In 1995, the development lobby pulled out all the guns to stop the measure from passing. They called it a de facto moratorium on growth. The designator hitter for the industry? Gonzolo Sanabria.

"You are messing with economic chaos," said land consultant Gonzalo Sanabria, the chairman of the Metro-Dade Planning Advisory Board and a director of the Latin Builders Association," to The Miami Herald at the time. Read it again: according to Sanabria, the 2/3rds zoning ordinance should be rejected because it would harm builders and cause "economic chaos".

Look at the results of the unfettered building boom, that gave Wall Street the fuel to builds its own fires: that's the result of the architects of the housing asset bubble; Sanabria, included.

What the 2/3rds zoning ordinance represented was a higher bar for developers and a better than even chance for citizens who were advocating against the kind of unsustainable growth and its remnants, that now mar the county. Today's massive rate of foreclosures, the additional burdens on taxpayers, the economic crisis: these phenomenon did not spring from thin air. They can be traced back exactly to the development interests who wanted to pave over everything in sight. During the building boom, advocates like Sanabria got exactly what they wanted.

"The change in climate at County Hall already has been felt, (Sanabria) said. "It has had a chilling effect... It is pushing some builders to reconsider doing anything in Dade. Dade is looked on as an unfriendly atmosphere. And Broward is the winner." Sanabria and others say builders will drive their bulldozers north to Broward County if Metro-Dade places roadblocks in the path of development. Many builders -- including Lennar Homes, Weitzer Homes and Adrian Homes -- already straddle the county line." (Miami Herald, April 24, 1995)

The title of the Herald article: "The Death of Development in Dade? Builders Fear Metro's Moves to Slow Pace of New Projects". The fear-mongering that development would halt in Miami-Dade was lead by Sanabria, on behalf of his clients and associates in the sprawl industry.(The other designated hitter for the builders: MIguel De Grandy.)

The notion that the 2/3rds ordinance would kill development was just a plain, simple lie. Finally the measure passed.

The false arguments waged by the building industry in 1995, supported by Sanabria and others, were the prelude to the disasters of suburban sprawl that have resulted in today's tidal wave of financial misery.

Despite measures like the 2/3rds majority requirement and the formation of community councils, the influence peddling of the building industry steamrollered all civic opposition. During this time, mistakes by elected officials were being pursued with gusto: the private no-bid deal to redevelop the Homestead Air Force Base by a consortium of builders assembled from the board of directors of the Latin Builders Association at the time. Sanabria, on the Planning Advisory Board and various civic councils, was the HABDI guy. The 2/3rd zoning represented was a threat to development outside the UDB.

The same builders' lobby, who Sanabria represented during his time on the Planning Advisory Board, is STILL trying to move the Urban Development Boundary, despite more than 60,000 foreclosures scarring the built landscape. They will never stop.

There is no telling the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on HABDI, because Miami Dade County holds that information as a closely guarded state secret. It was, in the end, a fruitless effort that collapsed amidst litigation and violations of state law and intrusion on federal protections for our national parks. But Sanabria, when he had a chance to stand up for the public interest, was on the other side.

Although the public interest defeated the use of the former military base as a commercial airport benefiting Sanabria's supporters, the leap frog sprawl throughout the late 1990's and 2000's prevailed. We are living with the results and paying the price in spades. Again, this didn't happen by spontaneous generation.

On April 14th, Coral Gables voters have a chance to say to architects of the housing market collapse what they think.


Miami Herald, The (FL)
April 24, 1995
Section: BUSINESS
Edition: FINAL
Page: 24BM
Memo:COVER STORY; see box at end of text


THE DEATH OF DEVELOPMENT IN DADE? BUILDERS FEAR METRO'S MOVES TO SLOW PACE OF NEW PROJECTS
DON FINEFROCK Herald Business Writer

Has the welcome mat at County Hall been yanked away?

Dade County developers think so.

After years of allowing robust growth on the county's western fringes, Metro-Dade commissioners have taken steps to slow the pace of home construction in Dade.

Developers suddenly find themselves on the defensive.

In the last several months, the industry has suffered a stunning series of setbacks.

In January, for instance, commissioners unanimously rejected a proposed 320-home development in West Kendall because of school crowding.

The decision shocked builders, in part because it represented such an about-face by the Metro-Dade Commission. Last week, the builder whose project was spurned went to court, seeking to overturn the decision.

The real battle, however, is being waged over a change in the county zoning law adopted by commissioners earlier this month.

Developers say the change, if it stands, could halt development in unincorporated portions of the county. They call it a moratorium.

Nonsense, supporters say.

"Moratorium is one of those inflammatory words," said Commissioner Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. "Members of the building industry are throwing it around as a scare tactic."

At a news conference last week, Diaz de la Portilla said plenty of land is available for development. Statistics compiled by the Metro Planning Department and Price Waterhouse in Miami appear to bear that out.

Dade builders now hold a two-year supply of single-family lots, according to a market survey by Price Waterhouse in Miami.

Diaz de la Portilla said the point of the new law is to manage growth, not stop it, while giving residents a bigger voice in the process.

For too long, developers have had the upper hand, the commissioner said.

"The County Commission was like one big Burger King -- have it your way," Diaz de la Portilla said. "The fact is we have had a lot of problems that have been the result of unfettered, uncontrolled growth."

The law, adopted April 4 by a vote of 6-5, gives commissioners more control over development. A single commissioner can insist that zoning changes in his or her district be approved by a two-thirds vote instead of a simple majority, under certain circumstances.

To do that, a commissioner must present "substantial competent evidence" that the change would place an unreasonable burden on schools, roads or parks.

"Certainly a step in the right direction," said lawyer Jose Rojas, a former president of the Kendall Federation of Homeowners.

But builders fear the ordinance will be abused, and they have waged a fierce campaign -- on Spanish-language radio and at County Hall -- against it.

At stake, they say, are thousands of jobs.

An estimated 34,400 people are employed directly by the construction industry in Dade, and builders say thousands more -- bankers, real estate brokers, suppliers -- depend on construction for their livelihood.

"You are messing with economic chaos," said land consultant Gonzalo Sanabria, the chairman of the Metro-Dade Planning Advisory Board and a director of the Latin Builders

Association.

The change in climate at County Hall already has been felt, he said.

"It has had a chilling effect," Sanabria said. "It is pushing some builders to reconsider doing anything in Dade. Dade is looked on as an unfriendly atmosphere. And Broward is the winner."

Sanabria and others say builders will drive their bulldozers north to Broward County if Metro-Dade places roadblocks in the path of development. Many builders -- including Lennar Homes, Weitzer Homes and Adrian Homes -- already straddle the county line.

But proponents of change at County Hall, including Diaz de la Portilla and Commissioner Katy Sorenson, say builders are overstating their case.

"There is more supply there than the industry could possibly build for a number of years. That is why the issue of a moratorium is such a false issue," Diaz de la Portilla said. "It is a scare tactic, and it's not supported by fact."

A Planning Department survey of land available for development found space last year for about 119,000 more single- family homes -- or enough room to accommodate growth through the year 2010. Zoning is in place for about 70 percent of those units, planners found.

But builders and their representatives say those numbers don't accurately reflect supply. Some of the land may not be available for development, they say, while other parcels may lack all the required county approvals.

"Those are not adequate numbers to show what can be done," said lawyer Miguel De Grandy, a director of the Latin Builders Association. "What you have to look at is how many are ready to build."

According to Price Waterhouse, builders had an inventory of 8,336 vacant single-family lots at the end of 1994 -- roughly a two-year supply at the current pace of construction. The total rises to 9,822 if townhomes are included. About 4,079 of those lots are in West Kendall.

Builders broke ground on about 4,000 single-family homes in Dade last year, and they delivered 4,535 homes to buyers, Price Waterhouse reported.

Builders concede that the impact of the new law might not be felt immediately. But they say the dislocation will be severe and difficult to undo.

"If you shut off the pipeline, it takes another year to put it back in place," Sanabria said.

In recent months, much of the debate over new development has focused on the county's overburdened school system.

"What we are sick of is kids being put in classrooms where there are two classes in the same classroom, or kids being taught in closets or under stairwells," Rojas said. "That's what really aggravates the community."

When commissioners voted Jan. 12 to reject an application by Lucky Start to build 320 homes in West Kendall, they cited school overcrowding.

The project would have added an estimated 160 students to Oliver Hoover Elementary, Hammocks Middle and Sunset Senior High schools. Hammocks Middle and Sunset Senior are operating at 150 percent of their intended capacity.

Sorenson, one of seven commissioners who voted against the application, said the decision represented a watershed event in county politics.

"That's when I think things turned around for the better in Dade County," she said. "I think it was a signal to the whole community that we take the needs of children very seriously."

Lucky Start, the eighth most active home builder in Dade, contends that Metro acted improperly, despite the overcrowding. The builder sued in Dade Circuit Court last week to overturn the decision.

"Lucky Start's application could only be denied if there was competent and substantial evidence that the project would unduly burden government services," the lawsuit states. "There was no such evidence."

Lawyers for the builder argue that the project was improperly singled out as a test case, the first casualty of an "unannounced and extra-legal schools moratorium."

On a broader front, builders say they are being punished for a problem they didn't create and can't control: population growth. They fault the Dade School Board for failing to keep pace with that growth.

"If you want to keep people out, you don't shut the construction industry down," said Carlos Martinez of Caribe Construction, a director of the Latin Builders Association.

"It seems like that's the solution to everything now. Oh, we've got overcrowded schools. Let's shut construction down," he said. "Has it become crowded? Yes, the whole nation is growing. You can't stop growth."

But builders fear that neighborhood residents, armed with the new zoning ordinance, will try.

The result, they say, could be a "not-in-my-backyard" backlash against new projects and a de facto moratorium.

"Even if it's good housing that brings a lot of jobs and adds to the economic base, people will say, fine, do it somewhere else," said David Adler, president of the Builders Association of South Florida.

The new zoning law is likely to draw a legal challenge for just that reason. One possible argument: the two-thirds requirement for zoning changes violates due process.

"This is precisely the area where the merits are to be looked at the most, and the public sentiments are to impact the least," De Grandy said. "That is why the system works well when you have a majority requirement."

A lawsuit could be avoided if the two sides can compromise.

The Metro Commission opened the door to compromise last week when it took a first step toward defining what constitutes an "undue burden" under the law.

That change, proposed by Diaz de la Portilla, could placate builders, depending on what definition is ultimately approved.

A final vote on the change could come May 2.

Builders say the law needs to be changed in other ways, too, but as of last week, some believed compromise was still possible.

"There is room to address the legitimate concerns of both sides," De Grandy said. "The question is whether both sides will sit down and recognize that, beyond the political posturing, both sides have meritorious points of view."

FOR BIZ MON, page 26

Dade's top home-building companies for 1994, as ranked by
dollar volume:

1993 Dollar Average

Rank/Company rank Sales volume price

1. Lennar Corp. 1 664 $98,101,933 $147,744

2. Weitzer Organization 2 292 $33,331,500 $114,149

3. Heftler Organization 3 222 $30,739,356 $138,466

4. Shoma Development 7 143 $18,651,100 $130,427

5. Adrian Investment 4 143 $18,616,900 $125,992

6. Brighton Homes 8 145 $17,218,984 $118,752

7. Kendall Country Est. -- 81 $15,993,200 $197,447

8. Lucky Start -- 55 $14,319,700 $260,358

9. Caribe Construction -- 162 $14,307,500 $88,318

10. Landstar Homes 5 106 $14,115,900 $133,169

SOURCE: Appraisal and Real Estate Economics Associates.

cutlines

Herald file photo

FOR CHANGE IN ZONING LAW: Commissioner Miguel Diaz de la Portilla says the point is to manage growth, not stop it.


Illustration:color photo: Commissioner Miguel Diaz de la Portilla
(n); photo: David Adler (BUSINESS-A), Katy Sorenson (a);
chart: Top Dade Builders, Employment, single-family starts,
single family house closing, vacant platted lot inventory; map:
managing growth

Copyright (c) 1995 The Miami Herald

RSS| My Yahoo| Newsletters| Widgets| Mobile| Alerts| Twitter
About The Miami Herald| About the McClatchy Company| Terms of Use & Privacy Statement| Contact Us| Advertise
Partners: El Nuevo Herald| Newspaper in Education| WLRN | Miami Herald News| CBS4 WFOR-TV| More

Copyright Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved