RESOLUTION CALLING A COUNTYWIDE SPECIAL ELECTION IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO BE HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH A GENERAL ELECTION ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE ELECTORS OF MIAMI DADE COUNTY THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TO AMEND THE CHARTER TO PERMIT ADDITIONAL USES AND FACILITIES AT PARKS SUBJECT TO ARTICLE VII
Here is what article VII says (it happens to prevent buildings such as schools and libraries from clogging up our limited park space, it also stops advertising in Parks. Why on earth would anyone what to change park protection? (Also remember, they want to fill in the FEC slip our Aquatic preserve). (This is the people's - THE CITIZEN'S - charter guys, don't fuck with it). This makes me very mad. This was Dan Paul's legacy. His gift to our county. Our only hope is that his former law firm will fight on his behalf to preserve it. Call Committee members Javier Souto, Barbara Jordan, Jean Monestime and Xavier Suarez. and call that misguided sponsor: Bovo. And Bovo, this charter amendment doesn't even effect your city (as Hialeah opted out on adoption) so why the hell are you doing this?? Tell the Commissioners hands off and to leave well enough alone. The county will do a mis-information campaign and win this charter change proposal and it will be the death of parks as we know them. Parcel B is subject to Amendment 4. The city of Miami opted out. People are not aware of how strong this charter amendment has been in numerous fights. This is so bad....really. This has been our only park space protection over the years. It kept schools out of Haulover Park. Yes Haulover Park!!! Everyone wants free land and this change would give it to them, especially charter schools. And I can just see the LED signs blinking as you try to picnic. Oh, Nooo!
Article 7
PARKS, AQUATIC PRESERVES, AND PRESERVATION LANDS Note:
This Article does not apply to municipal property
in Coral Gables, Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens, Miami,
Sweetwater and West Miami. See Section 7.04.
SECTION 7.01.
POLICY
Parks, aquatic preserves, and lands acquired by the
County for preservation shall be held in trust for the
education, pleasure, and recreation of the public and they
shall be used and maintained in a manner which will leave
them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations
as a part of the public’s irreplaceable heritage. They shall be
protected from commercial development and exploitation
and their natural landscape, flora and fauna, and scenic
beauties shall be preserved. In lands acquired by the
County for preservation and in parks along the Ocean or
the Bay the public’s access to and view of the water shall not
be obstructed or impaired by buildings or other structures
or concessions which are in excess of 1500 square feet each.
Adequate maintenance shall be provided.
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SECTION 7.02.
RESTRICTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS
In furtherance of this policy parks shall be used for public
park purposes only, and subject to the limited exceptions set
forth in this Article, there shall be no permanent structures
or private commercial advertising erected in a public park
or private commercial use of a public park or renewals,
expansions, or extensions of existing leases, licenses, or
concessions to private parties of public park property, unless
each such structure, lease, license, renewal, expansion,
extension, concession or use shall be approved by a majority
vote of the voters in a County-wide referendum. Nothing
in this Article shall prevent any contract with federally
tax-exempt not-for-profit youth, adult, and senior cultural,
conservation and parks and recreation program providers.
To ensure aquatic preserves, lands acquired by the County
for preservation, and public parks or parts thereof which
are nature preserves, beaches, natural forest areas, historic
or archeological areas, or otherwise possess unique natural
values in their present state, such as Matheson Hammock,
Greynolds Park, Redlands Fruit and Spice Park, Castellow
Hammock, Crandon Park, Trail Glades Park, Deering Estate
Park, Pine Shore Park, Old Cutler Hammock, Chapman
Field, Tamiami Pinelands, Wainright Park, Larry and Penny
Thompson Park, Whispering Pines Hammock, Mangrove
Preserve, Owaissa Bauer Park, Fuchs Hammock, Black Point
Marina, Simpson Park, Sewell Park, Barnes Park, Virginia
Key, mangrove preserves, and all other natural or historical
resource based parks do not lose their natural or historical
values, any structure, lease, license, renewal, extension,
concession or use in any of this class of public parks or in
aquatic preserves and preservation lands must be approved
by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voters in a
County-wide referendum. No park shall be designed to be
used beyond its appropriate carrying capacity and to the
extent required by law all parks and facilities and permitted
special events and concessions operating in the parks shall
be fully accessible to persons with disabilities. Nothing
in this Article shall prevent the maintenance of existing
facilities, the maintenance, operation, and renovation of
existing golf course and marina restaurants at their existing
square footage by government agencies or private operators,
provided such private operators are chosen as a result of
competitive selection and their initial contract terms are
limited to no more than ten years, or the construction,
operation, maintenance, and repair by government agencies
or private operators of or issuance of temporary permits for:
A. Appropriate access roads, bridges, fences, lighting,
flag poles, entrance features, picnic shelters, tables, grills,
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benches, irrigation systems, walls, erosion control devices,
utilities, trash removal, parking and security and fire
facilities for the primary use of the park system;
B. Food and concession facilities each not in
excess of 1500 square feet of enclosed space, with any
complementary outdoor or covered areas needed to
service park patrons;
C. User-participation non-spectator recreation and,
playground facilities, golf courses and golf-course related
facilities, and bandstands and band shells containing less
than 1,000 spectator seats and athletic facilities, sports
fields and arenas containing less than 3,000 spectator seats;
D. Facilities for marinas, sightseeing and fishing
boats, visiting military vessels, and fishing;
E. Park signage and appropriate plaques and
monuments;
F. Rest rooms;
G. Fountains, gardens, and works of art;
H. Park service facilities, senior, day care and
preschool facilities, small nature centers with not more
than one classroom;
I. Film permits, temporary fairs, art exhibits,
performing arts, concerts, cultural and historic exhibitions,
regattas, athletic contests and tournaments, none of which
require the erection of permanent structures;
J. Advertising in connection with sponsorship of
events or facilities in the park, provided however all such
facilities and uses are compatible with the particular park
and are scheduled so that such events do not unreasonably
impair the public use of the park or damage the park;
K. Programming partnerships with qualified
federally tax exempt not-for-profit youth, adult, and senior
cultural, conservation, and parks and recreation program
providers;
L. Agreements with cable, internet, telephone,
electric or similar service providers or utilities, so long
as any installations are underground or do not adversely
impact natural resources, or parks facilities and uses.
No park facilities, golf courses, or County lands acquired
for preservation shall be converted to or used for non-park
offices, purposes, or uses. The County, the municipalities,
and agencies or groups receiving any public funding shall
not expend any public money or provide any publicly
funded services in kind to any project which does not
comply with this Article. No building permit or certificate
of occupancy shall be issued for any structure in violation
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of this Article. The restrictions applying to parks in this
Article shall not apply to the Dade County Youth Fair site,
Metro Zoo, Tamiami Stadium, Haulover Fishing Pier, the
Dade County Auditorium, the Museum of Science, the Gold
Coast Railroad Museum, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens,
Trail Glade Range, the Orange Bowl, the Commodore
Ralph Munroe Marine Stadium, the Seaquarium, Curtis
Park track and stadium, Fairchild Tropical Gardens, and
mini and neighborhood parks except that no mini or
neighborhood park may be leased or disposed of unless a
majority of the residents residing in voting precincts any
part of which is within 1 mile of the park authorize such
sale or lease by majority vote in an election.
SECTION 7.03.
ENFORCEMENT AND
CONSTRUCTION
All elections required by this Article shall be held either
in conjunction with state primary or general elections
or as part of bond issue elections. The provisions of this
Article may be enforced by a citizen alleging a violation
of this Article filed in the Dade County Circuit Court
pursuant to its general equity jurisdiction, the plaintiff,
if successful, shall be entitled to recover costs as fixed by
the Court. The provisions of this Article shall be liberally
construed in favor of the preservation of all park lands,
aquatic preserves, and preservation lands. If any provision
of this Article shall be declared invalid it shall not affect
the validity of the remaining provisions of this Article.
This Article shall not be construed to illegally impair any
previously existing valid written contractual commitments
or bids or bonded indebtedness.
SECTION 7.04.
JURISDICTION
.
Except as otherwise provided herein the provisions
of this Article shall apply to all County and municipal
parks, aquatic preserves, and lands acquired by the
County for preservation now in existence or hereafter
acquired, provided that if this Article was not favorably
voted upon by a majority of the voters voting in any
municipality at the time of the adoption of this Article
the municipal parks of such municipality shall be
excluded from the provisions of this Article.
9 comments:
Yah know? Life is already so full of garbage to deal with... What is wrong with those people in our lives that we hire through elections?
Have you noticed that the phrase "quality of life" is no longer used as a community planning phrase for our elected officials (on any level), but simply as a medical term referring to our last moments when the doctors decide to treat or not treat us?
That sucks. People, (that's you) we deserve better from the community we live in and pay for. I want my "quality of life" now, not when I am heading into a coma.
As the saying goes: I am not dead, yet.
Get on our elected officials royal asses and tell them that you give a damn about living in a clean and lush community with libraries and emergency services.
As a member of this community, we deserve water views and advertisement free zones. The rich folks aren't the only ones who should get the water views. The rest of us shouldn't have to suffer a junked up community to accomandate the needs of political players and paybacks.
Talk to everyone about the state of this county. Tell the person who cuts your hair, bags your groceries, fixes your car and works with you about what is happening to their "quality of life" without them noticing.
Grass roots is not just for political campaigns, it's a way to take back our politicans attention. And it doesn't cost a cent to talk to those around you. It matters.
The public needs to understand that parks are not 'free land' for the connected and powerful to use for their personnel gain. The parks are owned by the residents, to be used by the residents and visitors for family outings, leisure activities, and recreation.
This appears to be a blatant land grab with no public benefit.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!! oh yes too believable - those guys will stop at nothing. Love how this just snuck on the agenda on the Friday before the meeting. I guess they thought we would not notice -- sorry BCC - we are keeping our eyes on this.
Beckham's lobbyists have been busy little beavers.
In city of Miami during the last real estate boom according to the square footage developers built there should have been 120 acres of parks added. Where did all that money go? Where is the missing green space? We are being robbed on a daily basis by our elected officials who are suppose to represent us.
What happened to City of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff? He used to tell anyone who would listen that he loved parks. Now all you hear from him is, "I love billboards".
This legislation looks like a trick to help the army of lobbyists working for Beckham's handlers. They want to demolish Museum Park and build a project, to benefit them. Marlins Repeat? Use public property to make a massive profit for foreign investors.
Besides charter schools in county parks, stadiums in parks, Commissioner Bovo repeated states that libraries should be removed from storefronts in strip shopping malls (lots of foot traffic and very convenient) into park buildings. Jennifer Moon told him that if there is a debt service payment, the library would be on the hook to pay it as "rent" to the Park Dept.
Here's the breakdown on rent. Seems the library does not get a break just because the landlord changes from private to county.
In mostly vague terms, elected officials accuse MDPLS of inefficiencies. One specific irritant repeatedly mentioned are libraries that operate in leased storefronts.
POINT #1 The County Mayor’s $30 million plan has MDPLS libraries reducing opening days and hours at storefronts from 40 hours a week to16 hours a week. The Mayor is not publicizing which libraries will have hours reduced. Basic math. Reducing hours makes the cost of the leases more expensive. Divide the hours into the lease cost and the cost of operations goes up. How is this efficiency in government? Instead of offering the public 1,984 operating hours a year, the libraries will open 784 hours a year (taking into consideration holiday closures.)
Library Leases FY2013-14
1. $75K,Calif Club Cost now: $37.80 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $95.66 a hour
2. $113K, Lakes of the Meadows Cost now: $56.95 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $144.13 a hour
3. $108K Concord Cost now: $54.43 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $137.75 a hour
4. $108K Doral Cost now: $54.43 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $137.75 a hour
5. $93K Fairlawn Cost now: $46.87 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $118.62 a hour
6. $580K West Kendall Regional Cost now: $36.05 an hour Hours not expected to be reduced.
7. $30,5K Hialeah Gardens Cost now: $15.37 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $38.90 a hour
8. $79,5K Palm Springs North Cost now: $40.07 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $101.40 a hour
9. $25K South Shore Cost now: $12.60 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $31.88 a hour
10. $86K Sunset Cost now: $43.34 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $109.69 a hour
11. $17K Country Walk Cost now: $8.56 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $21.68 a hour
12. $30K Tamiami Cost now: $15.12 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $38.26 a hour
POINT #2 Officials solve the lease issue by saying that libraries should move into county buildings. However, Miami-Dade County charges its own county library system rent.
For example:
13. $261K Model City (A COUNTY OWNED FACILITY) Cost now: $131.55 an hour Cost if hours reduced: $332.90 an hour
14. Main (A COUNTY OWNED FACILITY) Hours not expected to be reduced.
FY 2013-2014 $2.4 million rent $1,209.67 an operating hour (after eviction from the basement and third floor to reduce the “rent”)
FY 2012-2013 $5.1 million rent $2,570.56 an operating hour
Point #3 The cost of moving, of retrofitting buildings to be appropriate for the public, of paying off debt service costs will have to be pulled from the MDPLS underfunded budget.
What seems like a good idea, is just a political sound bite and a bogus reason for changing the charter.
Article 7 does not apply to the city of Miami. They opted out when it was adopted as did Hialeah read the first paragraph.
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