THREE CHEERS...

... for our many residents who made the effort to head downtown for last Wednesday's meeting. It was a looooong night but well worth the time spent! Thanks to all of you for making yourselves heard!

... for Evelyn Greer for recognizing that there are, in fact, viable alternatives for HHH1 that don't necessitate constructing huge schools in the middle of established residential communities. And bravo to her for wisely recommending a review of the 5-year capital plan in light of recent trends in enrollment, population, and the construction of charter schools.

... for Ana Rivas-Logan for her commitment to withhold support for any further capital outlays until such a review of the 5-year plan is made. And kudos to her for reminding the Facilities Planning staff that this is not the first time they've heard backlash from a community because of their disregard for the local residents. Its time for the Facilities Planning department to heed her call for better community involvement from the start!

Upcoming School Board Meeting

The Miami-Dade School Board will be hosting their monthly meeting this Wednesday, June 18.

Proposed high school HHH1 does not appear as a formal agenda item to be considered. Nontheless, individuals are welcome to bring any issue before the board during the public comment session beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Anyone wishing to speak before the board, must submit a Board Speaker Form by 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Simply print the form and fax it to the number indicated. Be advised that the board is still grappling with the operations budget, and it is likely that this meeting well extend well into the evening.

The Unexpurgated Version...

Many thanks to editors at the Miami Herald, who saw fit to publish this recent letter with regards to Miami-Dade Schools and the HHH1 project. The letter originally contained two additional paragraphs, which are included in the unabridged version below...

Miami-Dade Schools Needs A Civics Lesson

With a stealth normally reserved for military maneuvers, the Facilities Planning staff of Miami-Dade Public Schools began work on a clandestine operation in February 2006. Dubbed “HHH1”, the project aimed to wedge a potentially controversial 2,000 student high school in the middle of a quiet, rural subdivision.

Under a cloak of darkness, the department quietly labored to find suitable acreage, draft site designs, and invoke the use of eminent domain to condemn the requisite property—all without alerting nearby communities nor seeking public input.

So efficient was this campaign, residents only learned of the project two years later, when bulldozers appeared this past April to begin clearing a nearby forty-acre farm. The former agricultural field is now secured behind a chain link fence with signage that advises would-be trespassers to avoid stepping foot on Miami-Dade School’s newest conquest.

The need for such discretion is certainly understandable. Only last month, the chambers of the Miami-Dade County Commission became a pivotal battleground between builders seeking continued westward development and those advocating sensible growth.

At issue were several proposed exemptions to allow for development west of the Urban Development Boundary (UDB), in violation of policies set forth in the county’s Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP). Such proposals inevitably raise the ire of many, who correctly view such transgressions as blatant kowtows to influential development interests. Because the proposed location for HHH1 also violates the UDB, Miami-Dade Schools certainly had reason to keep their actions to themselves.

The county’s growth plan sets forth policies regarding allowed development both east and west of the line and clearly stipulates that high schools are not to be built within one mile of the UDB. The rationale is simple: improvements in infrastructure and public services in close proximity to the boundary provide incentive and enticement for continued western development.

The boundaries of HHH1, as well as the signalization, roads and lighting that will accompany the project, lie wholly within this designated buffer. Operational transparency and public comment would have certainly exposed such concerns, so strategists in the Facilities Planning Office had little recourse but to avoid the limelight.

Requisite public notification was buried in minuscule classified advertisements in area newspapers or published boldly in obscure local periodicals. Zoning notifications were nonexistent. Community groups and leaders were not contacted.

Though recently propagandized as a “community benefit”, Miami-Dade Schools clearly failed to acknowledge that residents are the ones best equipped to decide what might truly benefit their community.

To the contrary, evidence continues to mount that the Facilities Planning Office breeds little regard for those in the path of their perverse “manifest destiny”. Administrative Director Fernando Albuerne proclaimed proudly at a recent public hearing on the project that his office was under no obligation to notify the public of their activities. Following a meeting of the Miami-Dade School Board in April, Planning Officer Ana Rijo-Conde insisted little interest on the part of the public resulted from the apathy and indifference of the community, not her failure to publicize the project. And a recent letter from Chief Facilities Officer Jaime Torrens underscores the department’s prevailing attitude that the office is free to flout policies set forth by the county in response to Florida statute. Such attitudes smack of a department lacking sufficient oversight and clearly of the opinion that they remain well above the law.

The shadowy practices of this sorely misguided public agency have now left us at a most unfortunate impasse. The Facilities Planning Gestapo has been allowed to wrest private property from owners through the heinous use of eminent domain.

Considerable time and money have been spent designing a project that the local community has vocally opposed. Most importantly, the project would literally pave the way for massive growth to the west through its violation of the UDB, a proposition in no one’s best interest.
Lennar continues to seek an exemption to the CDMP to construct Parkland, a community boasting over 6,000 homes on nearly 1,000 acres just one and a half miles north of the proposed site for HHH1. Last month, County Commissioners approved a similar exemption for the construction of a new Lowes largely on a promise from the home improvement giant that a new high school would be built. At its present location, HHH1 would serve as a shiny new enticement to approve Lennar’s outrageous request.

Facilities Planning has drawn a line in the sand, behind which they’ve entrenched themselves in their commitment to seize whatever property they wish, steamroll whatever projects they see fit, and perform the bare minimum in the name of public engagement.

On the other side of that line, stand those individuals who demand accountability from their publicly funded agencies and call for adherence to sensible growth policies. To that end, HHH1 must be moved from its proposed location to an alternate site in strict consultation with the communities it is meant to serve.

It is incumbent on the Miami-Dade School Board and Superintendent Rudy Crew to reign in this rogue department and impart to its officers a badly-needed lesson in public service.

Larry Perez

"Many questions and many issues..."

Reporter Yudy Piniero continues to cover developments on the HHH1 issue. Here is her latest story from the
Miami Herald.

Since Our Friday Night Gathering...

... I have received numerous e-mails from individuals looking for greater clarification on the project and our stance. To help satisfy these requests, I am posting a representative response to one such inquiry:

Thanks for your interest in this issue. The school is currently proposed to be built on 38 acres of former agricultural land that was seized by the school board last year through eminent domain. The parcel is located at the intersection of 152 avenue and 160 street. Though actual numbers cited vary, the school will accommodate anywhere from 2,000 to 2,800 students. Last March, the school board approved a roughly $260,000 preconstruction contract and the field has been cleared and fenced. The estimated $49 million construction contract has yet to be awarded. For over two years, this project has been in acquisition and development without the benefit of traditional public process.

As you might imagine, everyone would likely give you a different reason for opposing or supporting the school at its current location. For those of us pushing to have the site moved, the ultimate goal is to simply preserve the quality of life we’ve deliberately moved here to enjoy. As you’re aware, a new high school would bring about a bevy of localized impacts including noise, traffic, lighting and crime. This latter point has brought some controversy, primarily by a few who want to believe that teens opt to spend their idle time reading the bible and praying the rosary at home. Those of us who live in the real world recognize that every adolescent makes occasional errors in judgement, and clustering 2,000+ in one area increases that potential exponentially.

In the bigger picture, however, our strongest objection is that the school blatantly violates policies set forth in the county’s Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP), which dictates what sort of activities are permitted both west and east of the Urban Development Boundary (UDB). This imaginary line was purposely established by the county’s planning board to help stymie reckless growth and promote sensible long-term planning for future growth. The CDMP clearly states that high schools should not be constructed within a 1-mile buffer of the line, under the premise that improved facilities and infrastructure so close to the line serve to enable and encourage growth to the west. The entire footprint of the HHH1 project lies wholly within this buffer, which in our area is demarcated by 157 avenue. These concerns would have likely come to light had there been an honest effort to involve the public in the process.

That is where the Lennar development comes into play. They have proposed building Parkland, a 6,000 unit mini-city with approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space on 1,000 acres just west of Country Walk. Those 6,000 units include a mix of single family homes, condos and rental properties. To build the project, they would require passage of an exemption to build west of the UDB. In April, over the objections of residents, community organizations and Mayor Alvarez, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved two such exemption requests. One was approved largely on the promise of a new high school for the area.

If built at its proposed location, HHH1 would serve as a similar justification to allow for rampant westward expansion in our area. This would inevitably detract from the quality of life we all enjoy in ways we can only image. Having lived in a somewhat rural area yourself, you might better understand the importance of open spaces and tranquility to good living. It’s a lesson planners in Miami-Dade County have had a hard time grasping.

Believe me, we all understand the importance of quality educational opportunities to our community. At its current location, however, we believe HHH1 would sacrifice far too much to constitute a benefit. It would do our community little good to build a school that, in short order, would be swarmed by new students from the west.