Wednesday, December 17, 2008

NEWS FLASH: Parkland Requests Deferral for Tomorrow. By Geniusofdespair

I heard that Parkland, the Lennar mega-development has been deferred and will not be heard at the Miami Dade County Commission Meeting tomorrow. I called Bruno Barreiro's office to confirm, they said they were waiting for a briefing. But I have just been told by others in the know that the Planning Department received a request in writing for a deferral from the applicant. I was told the letter sights the County Manager's memo where Burgess refers to significant fiscal impact on UMSA (uincorporated municipal service area) from the project.

The applicants likely believe the numbers are wrong and needs time to fudge them up, I mean refute them. Look for this DRI again in January unless Lennar and others did the math and saw they didn't have the votes.

Audubon is more optimistic, although expecting a deferral they are open to a possibility of a better outcome, they said: The applicants for Parkland have requested a continuance of the CDMP hearing for tomorrow. As of now, the Board of County Commissioners have not yet ruled on this question, which means it may still move forward tomorrow. If the applicants are not granted their continuance, the project could be denied tomorrow.

No hope for that Audubon, if Lennar wants the deferral, they will get it. The Commissioners will not beat them down.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me, they will approve the deferral. Frankly, most times, deferrals requested by any applicant (Lennar or no Lennar), including the County staff itself, are usually granted sans any specific concern as to why it should not be deferred. Not a big deal.

Anonymous said...

It IS a big deal anonymous. This is exactly the type of stunts pulled to discourage public participation. We CANNOT let them win. The timing of this request is disrespectful of the community and especially the Commissioners.

Anonymous said...

It is already deferred.County staff was busted by the Parkland team for trying to get away with bad information in their denial.Go Parkland go.I am tired of having to drive four miles to go to the movies,Check out this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi22ynLjzf4

Anonymous said...

Wow - you'd sell your soul for a movie theatre? Go you. No, seriuosly, GO.

Geniusofdespair said...

Boo Hoo....4 miles for a movie. Well, how far do you have to drive for a GOOD farmstand? I have to drive 25 miles at least to get local farm produce. You get something, you give something. You are the type of person who should get foreclosed on then you wouldn't have to drive 4 crummy miles...you could just move your car from one Walmart parking lot to another.

Anonymous said...

If they know they don't have the votes has Sunshine been violated? WTF is going on here?

Anonymous said...

I am tired of having to drive four miles to go to the movies

Join Netflix.

Geniusofdespair said...

No I believe sunshine has not been violated. If Lennar's Lobbyists go see 13 Commissioners, you would hope they can count how many votes they have at the end of the grueling task. This is not a cone of silence issue they can talk to Commssioners all they want.

Anonymous said...

Commissioners can't talk to eachother but they can talk to everyone else - thats the sunshine law. Easiest way around it? Ask a lobbyist what they know.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, the people in the city of redundancy, Florida City, Florida had to drive 25 miles to a movie for about 13 years... they managed.

I think anon was tweaking you guys over the 4 miles.

Anonymous said...

I still marvel that the Lowes sight is refered to as Everglades or Wetlands. I'm pretty sure that if a tsumani hit Miami that area would be bone dry.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and Audubon is right. Maybe this thing could end today. Not likely... but maybe and worth a shot for a change.

Anonymous said...

Nice potty mouth on some of you. Shame on you. Darlings, I am not an urban anything.

But, I will tell you my oldest child lives over by Omni. She has the most amazing view of the Bay, WALKS to the doctor, dentist, hair dresser, numerous restaurants, to the Performing Arts Center and can hop the train to Downtown. She drives to the grocery (about 4 miles) and to work about (10 miles). There is a wonderful park with tennis courts and a walking path across the street. It is a lovely lifestyle for her and the mortgage is lower than Kendall.

PS: Wetlands are the buffer to keep the tidal surge out of your backyard when it comes from the other direction. They are kinda the drainage for your flooded yards and streets, as South Floridan's pave over all the absorbent ground that acts as a sponge.

Florida is an island and the water has got to go somewhere. Ask Sweetwater residents. Ask the Avocado growers. If you don't keep wetlands on BOTH sides of the island, pretty soon, we all will be under water when the Tsumani hits.

Anonymous said...

Is Juan Mayol paying folks to comment now too?

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe you'll change your tone once you get salmonella from a Mexican tomato. That can't happen or did it?

El Alcalde said...

All you hippies have such a double standard; you kill trees to make stickers, you drink starbucks which kills trees to make cups, bags, etc. and they don't pay fair wages to the coffee pickers. Common now, if you wanted to save the environment and make a case you would at least clean up well, shower and look professional so that you can be taken seriuosly. Wearing pants that fit you would be a good start and not letting you butt hang-out while your pants are down by your ankle and your underwear is showing. You really think someone is going to take you seriously. If we continue down the track you hippies set then we won't have trees which lennar wants to plant in Parkland. I really like this project and it helps the county as a whole. We need to support this and stop the hippies from interfering with this project. GO LENNAR

Anonymous said...

Great parody post, El Alcalde.

Anonymous said...

Here is El Alcalde's blog:

Politica North of 36 Street

Informing the voters North of 36 Street of the serious candidates running for office.

He actually has the Hialeah logo for his photo.

So my advice: Consider the source.

Anonymous said...

Hippies? How old are you El Alcalde? I guess you can call me a hippie... with a Mercedes, a House and a boat. Doesn't quite fit though.

Anonymous said...

El Alcalde, would it help to know most of the people you are angry with on this blog, the Hippies (translation: Democrats) supported your hero: Raul Martinez.

Anonymous said...

I like to consider myself as a young professional, not necessarily a "hippie" which I think refers more to people who lived in the 60's (which would now make them more like 50-60 year olds... (I was born in the early 80's). I lived in the Redlands (lived there for 1.5 years), I own a house in Kendall off Coral Reef Drive (lived there for over 15 years), I now live and work and Coral Gables (I walk less than a mile to my office), a financial advisor with an MBA... not really the typical hippie, but I guess if that suits your fancy. Alcalde: I must say you do sound disturbed and bitter. Did hippies hurt you in some way a very long time ago?

Anyway, there are plenty of reasons why this Parkland Project is detrimental to our economy, real estate and environment. Foreclosures at a record high - this will affect the value of my home in Kendall and the Redlands, but common sense asks, why add inventory to an already saturated market? I am in no way against real estate or developing, in fact my boyfriend builds homes, is a landlord and invests in real estate. The area this project will be built on is currently agricultural use. We have a food problem in this country, and if we slowly build on our agriculture land (which we have been the past 10 years) and begin outsourcing our dependence on food just like we do with oil, we are just digging a large hole for ourselves but more for our children. The proximity to the Everglades - why yes, is an environmental problem (referring to Alcalde's treehugger and hippie comments) but more over it is a water supply (a natural water replenishment system), and flood zone situation. We are slowly dehydrating ourselves and selling our natural resource of water to big business. The Everglades restoration project is the largest investment in ecosystem restoration authorized by the United States Congress to date. What kind of a message are we sending to Washington and Tallahassee when we approve projects such as Parkland that will only contribute to shrinking and altering of the wetlands ecosystem. (I don't mind being called a treehugger - Alcalde - I know what I am talking about, not just ranting).
In order to accomodate this project, Krome will need to be widened, as well as Coral Reef Drive (which doesn't even exist that far out yet), forcing the county to spend money on this project at a time when our county is in a worse recession than the national average. Schools, Fire Stations, Police Stations, Commercial areas, will need to be built... etc etc. Traffic will increase, public transportation will be strained, etc etc... I can continue, but I think you all get the point.
Besides, there have been prominent leaders in our community that have rejected this project, such as Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Miami Dade County's Department of Planning and Zoning, Armando Codina, Jorge Perez and many others.
I appreciate you reading this far.

Anonymous said...

Great comment!

Geniusofdespair said...

Young Professional: Your comment was thoughtful, it took from your own experience and was very informative. You are a born blogger! Are you sure you don't want to give up that position the MBA earned you and come write for free for this blog? We could give you free tickets to county commission meetings...for life. What do you say?

Seriously, Your comment post was much appreciated. I am glad that mad guy from Hialeah motivated others to write their story.

Anonymous said...

Loved your comments Young Professional but you live in Redland. Not Redlands (that's in California), not The Redlands or The Redland, just plain Redland. Lots of history available to call it Redland. Read some George Grunwell or the Villages of South Dade. Just don't call it Redlands or put a "the" in front.