Over the past week and a half, the Citizens of Greater Stonewood have been doing exactly what Miami-Dade Schools should have been doing from the beginning-- talking to people. By hosting yard sales, casting e-mails and pounding the pavement, considerable interest has been cultivated in HHH1. And it seems regardless of the sample size, the consensus remains the same-- this is the WRONG location for a 2,000 student high school!
Over the past two days, residents have begun proudly displaying signs of opposition like the one pictured above. We will continue to call attention to this ill-advised project and look forward to hearing from residents who feel the same.
19 comments:
please put a sign on my property 15041 SW 166th Street as I too do not want this school built on the planned location
This project had NO public notice, NO public hearings, NO boundary meetings, NO posted notice on the property, and probably NO zoning hearing. If you think it will be only 2000 students, think again! Every school built in the last 20 years has been over capacity within 3 years of opening. We're looking at the very real possiblity of 3,500 students or more, plus another 200 faculty & staff. Where are they going to put the portables in year 3 -- on the roof? What about parking? What about the people on SW 152 Ave. and SW 160 St. who will lose half their front yards to street widening? This project belongs on SW 157 Ave. and SW 152 St. So what if it's outside the UDB? That hasn't stopped huge projects already begun just north of Mas Canosa Middle, on streets that haven't even been built yet. But the developers and leasing agents are sure as hell selling houses and storefronts. There are other properties far better suited to this project, and I'm sure the School Board can find a way to apply eminent domain if those property owners won't cooperate. Enough is enough!
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the feedback, and keep checking the site for more about what's being done to stop the project...
I found out about the meeting tonight by accident. I was appalled when I got there to find out it was all a set up, an ambush.
A friend and fellow mom got up to speak her voice, she was nearly assaulted by the “vodka bottle” lady who would not get out of her face! I was ready to jump in. I could tell she was visibly upset. And how terribly unfair that those of opposing opinions were treated in the way we were. And, we were not notified of the meeting so it was biased. The school board members had nobody to back them up. Some people were downright rude. I was appalled.
I am a King's Grant resident. And, I am FOR the building of this High School. My husband has been a resident here since 1986 when his house was one of the first built in this neighborhood. They have been asking for a high school since he moved here. At the time, he was a senior at Sunset High school, which he had to drive to everyday 20+ years ago. I started dating my husband in 1987, so his home was my second home for many years. Now, we are raising our family in this very same house.
There was a need for that school here LONG before all these residents were here...LONG before 90% of the homes were even built here. So HOW DARE YOU!! Where were you when developers gobbled up the land and sold it off into tracts with house on top of house on it? And they are still not finished yet! What about the advertised development that will chop down a beautiful mango grove at the corner of 157th Ave and 160th St.? Are you protesting that? How about all those homes they just built right across from the park? Were you at a zoning meeting protesting that? How about this new Walmart? Where is your blog for that? Egad people, let's get real! We build anthills of homes out here and where do we expect to educate our children? A school is inevitable; it is part of infrastructure, as are roads, fire, police and hospitals. You can’t just haphazard build thousands of homes without provision for these vital services. That is what our tax dollars are for! That is what our elected officials have an obligation to provide! Have you ever played “SimCity”? I would rather have a school than a Walmart! We are building a school, not a prison, so enough of this "NOT IN MY BACK YARD" crap!
Besides, YOU ALL MISS THE POINT as you jump on you self-important bandwagons with half the facts!! We want to bring OUR children BACK HOME to our beautiful neighborhood. We are not bringing the ghetto to us. You SLANDERED our children tonight. You called them drunks, drug addicts, and criminals. These are your kids and mine, and they LIVE here in this neighborhood already. They knock down mailboxes and race down the streets already. They were the ones who left behind their vodka bottles and drug paraphernalia. These kids are already here; we are not bringing them in here. They are kids of self –important selfish parents like yourselves who would rather ship them off to learn their evil doings elsewhere (and practice here in our neighborhood during the weekends and school breaks). What about teaching them a sense of community responsibility, a sense of pride? No, we bus them off to someone else's neighborhood instead. Someone else's CRIME RIDDEN, DRUG INFESTED, POVERTY STRICTENED neighborhood, surrounded by drugs, violence, struggle not learning. How dare we expect those other neighborhoods to take on our kids when they cannot even take care of their own? A student in THAT SCHOOL assaulted my sister, a teacher, a few weeks ago. She tells me that for many students the only motivation to come to school is to eat because they get a free meal, or they simply want to get away from an abusive addicted parent at home. She tells me that many have nothing. I refuse to send my children there. Our school must be built. How dare you be so selfish to short change my children, to short change their future when they have the potential to be so much more than drunks, drug addicts, vandals and criminals. I am so glad that YOU PEOPLE OF GREATER STONEWOOD (like you are your own self-important city? HA!) have the financial where with-all to send your kids to private school, or your children are grown and gone, or maybe it's your kids who are the drunks, addicts, vandals and racecar drivers. But, I cannot afford to send three children to private school, and still pay the property tax that is supposed to pay for a school. Get over yourselves. Besides, if this building site gets scrapped, I am sure some developer would in an instant snap up those 40 acres to build ROWS AND ROWS AND ROWS UPON ROWS OF TOWNHOUSES AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE! Did I mention ROWS AND ROWS OF THEM? The Kendall Breeze South, or the Calzadores VIII. Did I mention ROWS and ROWS of tract housing full of low-income people (and all their idle kids) who cannot afford to plop down $500K+++ for a single-family home in your neighborhood? Then let's look at your precious property value then!
Emily, your points are well taken! We DO need a high school in this area. I wish there was one when my daughter went to high school as with the choices, I was forced to put her in private school. I do not live in Stonewood but am opposed to the location of the high school, not of putting one in. There needs to be more investigation as to a more appropriate site for this size school and its congestion. It is already difficult enough getting out of this area with the two-lane streets, growing number of residents, and new elementary and middle schools.
BUILD IT! BUILD IT! BUILD IT!
HOORAY FOR HHH1.
FOLKS IT'S TIME THAT MAJORITY OF THE COMMUNITY GET'S HEARD. PLEASE VISIT WWW.SAYYES2HHH1.BLOGSPOT.COM AND LET THE SCHOOL BOARD HEAR YOUR APPROVAL!!!
I'm a Stonewood resident in favor a high school but not at the site where it's been designated. (Emily my kids are in college so let’s not assume things please). The road infrastructure is not in place and can't support 2,000 kids and all the vehicles that will be going through the various neighbors between 6-7am before school starts. Since it seems no real democratic process has been followed concerning this site selection so it's bound to raise major concerns and some passionate people who may go a bit overboard.
Traffic volume though all the neighborhoods, inside and outside of Stonewood are going to suffer. I've witness three vehicle accidents in Stonewood and seen the end result of eight in the years up to and before hurricane Andrew. Of the accidents I witnessed one car was driven by a 16 year old and the other two were adults who had a bit too much too drink. Whether it's a young adult or not, we are all going to be experiencing a hit on our quality of life. I've asked Miami-Dade County about the feasibility of traffic circles which can help. But so far I've had no feedback. With all that I see going on in Dade County these days between what gets built where and how the URB is now getting pushed back and how people disrespect people at all levels, it's no wonder why we often perceived with a "Third-World" mentality. It's really a shame because I love Miami.
Mr. Perez,
So you think it's a good idea to build it outside of the UDL as stated by Ms. Driscoll? Wouldn't that go against your own writings? I mean you are a park ranger and an author of a couplel books concerning the environment. I guess it's ok to go against everything you believe when it personally concerns you. Practice what you preach! It's nice to have gone to private school. 1992 graduate of Christopher Columbus Catholic School.
sayyes2hhh1,
I find it very rude and uncalled for you personally attacking Mr. Perez and his beliefs. If you would take a moment and read, you will see that at no point in time on this blog has Mr. Perez suggested where the school should be built. He has applauded people for expressing their opinions on the subject and given you an opportunity to express your own. If you would like to be taken seriously in what you say, you should at least take the time to educate yourself on the subject.
Yes, I was being a bit facetious and I have the tendency to play the “devil’s advocate” in order to address all points. I was playing on your fears like you are trying to play on ours by telling us THOSE children (OUR CHILDREN) are criminals awaiting to descend upon our quaint neighborhood. But, I am sure as “exclusive” as you all are acting, the fear of “low-income” townhomes cluttering the neighborhood instead could become a reality.
Yes, it is uncivil to personally attack. I am for this high school because our property taxes already paid for it and we have been asking for and they have been promising for at least 20 years. That is longer than most of you have been in this neighborhood, and before most of your homes were built.
We are putting a strain on other communities who are already struggling. I apologize if I came off too harshly on schools like Southridge, and their surrounding community. I know there are successful people who graduated from there. And, I know that not all of those students are criminals either. The neighborhood around them is economically depressed. And, those families struggle, many barely get by, some of those children only get to eat at school, some have nothing. But the reality is we are consuming that community's resources and that makes the situation dire there. If our children (probably the 38% over the limit ones) were not attending their school, then maybe they would have a chance to really concentrate on their own success. When you pile in too many teens in one place, there is automatically going to be a need to establish a hierarchy. As you are aware, it is "pack animal" mentality. It is sad to demean humans in that way, because we are capable of rising above that.
I fear over-development without a plan for infrastructure. Infrastructure is what our tax money pays for. Infrastructure is support services of a civilized society (roads, schools, police, fire, hospitals). Where has our tax money been? Why do we not have roads, schools, police and fire? Why do they continue to issue building permits without regard to city planning? I hear that Walmart is coming out here. As much as I love to shop there, I know that so too, everyone else. You will have traffic for miles on Coral Reef that will make it another Kendall Dr. or US1. Then as I hear the police, fire and paramedics struggling to get down this street everyday numerous times a day now, imagine when Walmart gets here and we add precious minutes of travel time for the first responders to get to us. Where is our police station? We are still under the Hammocks station, and there is no direct route there! If we had a police station here, we would not have a problem with teen crime. We would add jobs to our community. With Walmart, undoubtedly will come a mall, and the trucks that bring crap in for us to consume. NOISE, TRAFFIC, SPRAWL!!!! But, we cannot have a school?
Like you, I am all for preserving our environment, Mr. Perez. I grew up in the back-country of Mobile County, Alabama. I grew up miles down a red dirt road, playing barefoot in my backyard of 300 acres of woodlands, meandering creeks, and forest critters my playmates. Neighbor friends I could count on one hand. I have hiked, I have climbed up 12 foot red clay creek banks using only root and vines, bare hands and feet, crossed tree bridges over 20ft deep ravines. I spent untold hours in the “WILD” trekking through creeks and marsh. We did not have chemically sanitized swimming pools, we had the creek, and I am not lying, it was an expedition to get to the really great swimming holes. We did not carry backpacks, no climbing gear, no supplies, no cell phones, no parents. The only thing we left behind were our bare footprints because we were taught RESPECT for all living flora and fauna. We snacked on wild plums, pecans, blackberries, hickory nuts and wild blueberries gathered on the creek banks. My adversaries were Pope Berries, Poison Ivy, Oak, Sumac, territorial Cotton Mouths, Eastern Diamond Back Rattlers, Pygmy Rattlers, Copperheads, Coral Snakes and deer ticks (which given my health state was probably my undoing). My daughter thinks I am a 39 yr old Bindi the Jungle girl. I miss it so much that we watch the Discovery channels, National Geographic, etc all the time. My sister hires Otter John for her kid’s birthday parties, so he can teach the “city” kids about nature. And, again this year when I get the extra money (tax rebate) I will be renewing our zoo membership. I am trying to teach my children what I learned in my backyard. Have respect for all life, for it all has a purpose. Hopefully, it will be well instilled in them when they attend our high school. I am sure you are doing the same with your kids. Do you see them as the wanton criminals you portray?
I too, am a stressing student at FIU. I have chapters to read in a textbook. I cannot continue to write without pay. And, my kids need to go outside and play before they tear my house apart. This hopefully is my final word on the situation. I implore you to rethink you position. The environmental impact of bussing and individually chauffering our children alone should be your motivation to build this high school as a legacy for your own two beautiful children, just as I wish it for my three beautiful children, just as another neighbor wishes it for her great-grand children that she is raising now in our neighborhood. We all came here for the same purpose. And the quality of life would be better for those of us who did not have to sit in traffic taking our children to school. Hence the traffic light that was finally installed at SW 157th Ave and Coral Reef. I did that. I was tired of seeing our children endangered trying to cross that intersection every morning. I was tired of being nearly run over by street bullies and their “me first” attitudes. That light was not supposed to go up until 2010. But, my children know it was I, their mom who put that light there. The call it “mommy’s light.” I challenged my government, and I won for all of us, single-handedly. One person CAN make a difference, and my children know that.
Now, I am going to concentrate on my studies to get certified to become a teacher at our new high school. I have been leaning towards teaching Earth Sciences because of my love of the “wild” I grew up in, and the kids today have no clue about the impact they make on our environment and their future if they do not take care of it. But, after all this fighting with city hall I have done this year, maybe I will have to teach Social Studies.
Thank you for your forum to allow differing opinions.
I am a Kings Grant resident.
I do not want to see a major high school plopped right in the middle of all these people do you? I mean come on think about all the land thats just right outside our perimeter, do not you think it makes more sense to put it out there instead. These boundary lines where put into place 20 years or more ago, the population was not the same nor was our way of thinking. All our surrounding streets are already narrow and the access to a major high school is just ridiculous
i do not want to see sw 152 ave turn into 4 lanes....do you?
I do not want to see more congestion around here, it already takes half an hour sometimes just to reach the turnpike......does that ever happen to you or is just me? Imagine how many parents who are late for school are going to be zipping down the ave to get to school before, during and after school hours. Just the noise of buses,truckers, and even the nearby airport has slowly sucked away the quality of life we used to have out here, i do not look forward to this getting worse....do you?
We are not against supporting the need for a high school, we are against the location for it. What pisses me off more is that I have found out that the term "EMINENT DOMAIN" is just flat out communism or even stealing. That means they can just come in and take your property you have been working for all your life.....just think it could have been you. Could not the power of EMINENT DOMAIN played a role outside our immediate AREA to aquire the proper land?
That's being REAL!
Please put a sign my property on 153 st and 152 ave
Maybe, our solution would be to "Eminent Domain" Walmart and prevent them from building across from Publix. I have wanted another Walmart that was convenient to get to, but please, "Not in My Back Yard". THEY OWE OUR CHILDREN A SCHOOL, NOT A WALMART! Do you think this UDB really mean anything to anyone in the county when it comes with enough $$$$?
Again, does common sense prevail in city planning? I grew up in the backwoods of Alabama on a dirt road with a volunteer fire dept, a "shot-gun posse" and well water. Even I know they do things "BASSACKWARDS" here! Then again, they should Eminent Domain the field on the west side of Norma Bossard, and compound the traffic that that neighborhood has had to burden for "my" children.
Why are we complaining now after nobody protested half of the homes built around here that brought families with kids and their cars, noise, and traffic? Why did you guys not protest at those zoning hearings then before all those $500K homes went up across from the park? And they are still building them. Why are we going to let them destroy that beautiful mango grove on 160th and build there? More houses mean more families with kids! You build 4 & 5 bedroom homes, and they will come. We have to own up to our mistakes in misplanning, and make do with what we have. Why should our children suffer for it?
And, why did they build that huge 40-acre park down 157th Ave and 164 St? It is a wonderfully tiny covered playground that you have to walk a mile to get to. Would that not have been a better place? Maybe they should Eminent Domain themselves and take it for the school.
My issue with all of this is, the school board and the city planning do not compare notes. Just like the light at 157th Ave was not "planned" until 2010. They acted as if they never knew there were two schools blocks away, and children were nearly getting killed every morning. As far as parking, most high school parents do not park and walk their child in like they do for elementary. If anything, they get let off down the street “it’s not cool to be seen in mom’s minivan”. I do not see kids hanging around at JMC. I remember when I went to school at Sunset (brand new then), and lived down the street in Winston Park. I walked home many times, and past Winston Park Elem. We did not act like a bunch of animals. What kind of excuse is "times changed kids act like that"? Then stop buying them video games like "Grand Theft Auto" that teach there is no value to human life or respect for property, no virtue, no valor, no honor. It was a pride issue for us, and the seniors who were the first in the school made it known that errant behavior was not to be tolerated.
And, when we hung out at the school yard, it was for band practice, football practice, baseball and soccer practice - all positive influences on our teens. And, believe you me, after band practice, we were too tired to run amok in the neighborhood, we just wanted to go home to eat and sleep. By the way, you will most likely still be at work while band practice takes place, so don't worry about the noise. It is alot more pleasant sounding than racing ATV's not street legal or insured, loud party music, and obnoxiously loud revving dodge truck hemi engine that comes in and out at all hours & his motorcycle ("givemeabreak", you KNOW who I talking about).
And, don't you think I am not already working on the loud airplane flying below authorized ceilings and maintenance runs on jets at all hours of the night issue too!!
And, yes, it takes me 30 mins to get to the turnpike too, and has for a while. But, the point we are making is that the kids attending this school for most part live in the neighborhood already. Their parents drive past your house everyday already, I know I do, you are on a main through street in the neighborhood. Those outside the neighborhood will come and go on school bus. When the school is opened, 157th Ave will already be widened from 184th to 152nd, and possibly through to 120th. If they position the school drop off areas where the traffic flow will come in and out 160th street and 157th Ave, it would take most of the traffic off of 152nd Av. Also, people dropping their kids off will undoubtedly be going to work, and 120th would be a good route to get to the turnpike rather than 152ST. Therefore, they will want to bypass 152nd St, and go for a straight shot through 157th Ave to 120th St. It is do-able, I think.
Besides, if these parents were not driving thier kids to "other" schools, they would not be in front of you in traffic when you are trying to get to the turnpike. Maybe, it would ease that situation to.
I was one of the ones who opted for the construction to continue, and I even went to the meeting held at Jorge Mascanosa. Now, i bow my head to those who oppose the HHH1 project. They have a legitimate argument. The site is too small, and it is just not the appropiate location for a highschool. However, most opponets have to keep in mind that their anger is misleading their argument. Words are sounding harsh and disrespectful. They sound like they have a teenage-phobia like some of the residents of stonewood are expressing themselves. Traffic congestion, overcrowding, parking issues and sporting events are more valuable arguments. I myself, changed my mind. so i will be one more supporter to the cause and vote to stop the construction. But please remember to make valuable arguments. Most stonewood residents are just worried about their own little grievances and teenage issues rather than making a fair point.
Please put a sign at 15141 SW 166 St. on receipt of donation.
Thanks!
Please put a sign opposing the site at 15141 SW 166 St. on receipt of donation.
Thanks!
This is first and foremost a traffic issue, and it concerns everyone, not just those adjacent to the proposed school. If you drive your child to school and/or pick them up after school, this affects you. Be prepared to sit in traffic for 45 minutes EACH TIME, because that's how clogged the roads will be. If you have any reason to travel SW 160 St., or SW 152 Ave., or SW 147 Ave., this affects YOU. Those streets will be choked between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., and from 1:45 p.m. until about 3:30 p.m. If you pick up your high schooler and then your elementary school child, this affects YOU. You will be late getting your child from Jack Gordon or Norma B. because you'll be sitting in traffic waiting to get back to SW 157 Ave. or to SW 152 St. If you're not home during those hours, but you're home after 7 p.m. and on Saturdays, this affects YOU, because there will be evening activities, including adult education classes, that go on until 11 p.m. and frequently events on Saturdays. If you live a few blocks away and have a nice big front yard, this affects YOU, because parents attending events at the school will park in your yards when they can't find parking at the school. This is a reality -- take a drive along the proposed roads. You'll be unpleasantly surprised what you find.
There are only 2 roads out of the Stonewood neighborhood -- SW 152 Ave. and SW 147 Ave. All Stonewood roads lead to one of these two. And despite the county's definition of these roads as "proprietary," they're anything but. SW 152 Ave. dead-ends into Stonewood, and even if the wall comes down, it extends only a few blocks before it dead-ends into the old Lovell Farms property (where the schools SHOULD be built -- more land, better access, roads that can be widened and extended as needed). SW 152 Ave. northbound dead-ends into Tamiami Airport. SW 160 St. extends to SW 157 to the west, and to 137 Ave. to the east, but it's a narrow 2-lane road that can't be widened beyond a center turn lane. A school crossing guard was killed on SW 152 Street (a 4-lane road with turning lanes) a few years ago by someone illegally using a turning lane to cut in because he/she didn't want to wait. The next one could be your child, or yourself.
So you tell yourself, it's only 2000 kids, how bad can it be? Here's the honest truth -- it won't be 2,000 kids, and it will NEVER be a 2 mile radius for the attendance boundary. The ABC committee is staffed by school system employees, not parents or community members. You're welcome to show up and voice your opinion, but they're really only interested in how many students need to be moved from the schools HHH1 will be relieving. This will include students from at least a 4 mile, perhaps 5 or 6- mile radius, and the numbers jump exponentially from 2,000 to 3K or 4K. Since this is not a magnet school, they MUST accept anyone living within the boundaries. This will include the small city currently proposed by Lennar to be west of SW162 Ave. and SW 152 Street. Their proposal includes "land" for schools. Just who will build them, pay for them, and decide who attends there? What about students who opt not to attend the charter schools Lennar would like to see? They'll be at HHH1, of course.
Stonewood residents will be unable to get out of their neighborhoods after 6:30 a.m., and won't be able to get back in until after 3:00 p.m. For those of you who think we're a bunch of rich snobs, I probably paid hundreds of thousands of dollars LESS for my home than you did for yours. I've been out here a long time, before speculation drove up the price of homes. I don't carry designer handbags, my car is 8 years old and has 121,000 miles on it, and I don't pay interest on credit cards because if I can't pay the bill when it comes, I don't buy it. My means aren't extravagent. I'm a MDCPS teacher whose salary has never kept pace with inflation in the 20 years I've taught in Miami. As a matter of fact, I'm not even getting the raise that's in my contract because the district has overspent on pork barrel projects and favored administrators who never set foot in a classroom, and declared an "emergency." So I work an extra job, because my contract is only for 10 months, not 12. I'm not paid in the summer, and I'm not paid for the nights and weekends I spend on school work, including calling you because your kid is unprepared for class, not doing his/her work, and disrupting the learning environment. I teach near my home, and yes, these are your kids. So don't tell me your children are all angels, and don't you dare lecture me about choices I made long before the tomato fields were paved over to build YOUR house. All politics are local, and, like it or not, this affects your quality of life as well as mine.
If the access streets could handle the traffic, none of us would be posting blogs and writing our representatives. We'd agree to disagree and that would be that.
HHH1 needs to be put in a location that can accomodate the school's need to grow and serve our children's needs. The current location cannot. We need to band together to put this multi-million dollar project in a better location to serve those whose interests we all represent -- those of our children.
You know I stll do not see how a high school of 2 thousand students, staff, parking etc. is going to able to fit on such a small lot. That does seem to me like it is in someone's backyard not yours, which is easy to see why some one may be in favor of. The location just seems so inappropriate and what an eyesore it will be. We can rant and rave all we want, it's the bad decisions that our elected powers at be will make. I do not look forward to increased traffic, increased garbage thrown on our streets and the wideneing of our streets, I also see another traffic light in our near future, don't know where yet but just wait a while
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