It was quite a moment in the parking lot, when Citizen Pepe Diaz called Albert Vigil a racist. The moment was in Marathon, after a zoning meeting of the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners on May 20th. A 3-2 majority of the county commission had just voted against something that Pepe Diaz and Calusa Campground's attorney, Tew Cardenas and Santiago Echemendia, really wanted: a zoning change for the condominium association where Pepe owns at least one lot. There are rumors that straw buyers have been buying up lots in Calusa for the past couple of years. In the photo above, Calusa is what you see sticking into Florida Bay. The zoning change would upzone the 367 RV park, filled with hundreds of code violations including trailers converted to immoveable residences, to a Destination Resort classification.
In Miami-Dade County, where Pepe Diaz is a county commissioner, I've seen the race card played time and again by developers who accuse opponents of not sharing whatever Cuban-American values their applications seem to be steeped in. And I've seen county commissioners do it too. (Natacha Seijas) The problem with Albert Vigil is that he is also Cuban American. Oops.
So what does Pepe Diaz have against Albert Vigil? (Please click, read more.)
RV sites. Trailer parks. Mobile homes. Whatever name you call them, they have been an integral feature of low cost housing and temporary destinations in the Florida Keys, for decades. The conversion of these "campgrounds" in the Keys was the last play of the real estate boom. It is still the play, in the case of Calusa Campground.
The problem for Calusa Campground is that the condominium association does not own the road connecting to US 1. That property is owned by Albert Vigil, a Keys' businessman who has been locked in a multi-year fight over the legal question, whether or not there is an easement right for Calusa to US 1. Vigil has been willing to sell the property to Diaz et al., but Diaz et al. have been unwilling to meet his price, originally over $1 million. Last week, a Monroe County judge ruled in favor of Calusa, removing an obstacle to the Monroe County Commission approval of the zoning change sought by Calusa.
When and if the zoning change occurs, the owners of teeny lots will have the right to build a single-family home or trade that right as the case may be. How could a county commission allow 367 homes to be built on a parcel (Calusa) that is scarcely 20 acres? Maybe that is not what Pepe Diaz and his investors want to build. So, what is the end game? I'll write more on this, later.
7 comments:
Permits, no?
But really, this is like HB 360. If anyone thinks Monroe County needs another destination resort in Key Largo they are deluding only themselves.
Its interesting that the article does not mention the extortion tactics that Mr. Vigil (developer) is perpetrating on this community of middle class tax paying owners for the last two years by trying to destroy the easement rights of this community. Its also interesting how they put false information like "Destination Resort" zoning which is totally false. This community is already a resort and will continue to maintain its current zoning of RV District. Its also interesting how the article fails to mention all the positive hurricane mitigation provisions that this redevelopment is going to provide to the state, county, its surrounding neighbors and its owners. Also, please understand that this redevelopment was overwhelming approved by a super-majority of 95 percent of these middle-class tax paying unit owners. This is not a Pepe Diaz iniative, this is a 367 unit owner drivin initiative. This is the will of the community nothing less.
Please stop publishing false information about this community.
Another piece of false information published in the article is the one about the community having scarcely 20 acres. This community has over 28 acres not 20 as it was falsely published.
Pepe Diaz's intern wrote: "This community is already a resort and will continue to maintain its current zoning of RV District. Its also interesting how the article fails to mention all the positive hurricane mitigation provisions that this redevelopment is going to provide to the state, county, its surrounding neighbors and its owners."
Is it just me, or is Pepe claiming both that it will continue to remain an RV camp while also claiming that it will be redeveloped?
Not to mention both comments fail to address the real issue of the article: that our old friend pepe is pulling out the race card because the poor guy didn't get his way.
Ok here we go again, let me clarify further. The unit owners of this community me being one of them not related in any way to Pepe Diaz will have the option of transitioning from RV usage to a permanent structure dwelling on my own lot. Which means that I can place a more sturdy structure that meets the Monroe County hurricane wind loads on my own lot instead of a weak RV that will be carried onto our neighbors with a strong storm surge. This is a major safety threat impacting all rv communities like ours. Our current RV District zoning already allows us this capability thru a development agreement that details how it gets accomplished. All rv parks that are zoned RV Distrcit have these same options as we do. I also attended that BOCC meeting and Pepe did not convey any racial slurs mentioned in this disenguous article.
is anyone running against pepe
this year
Please!
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