The Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, April. 20, 2006

URBAN DEVELOPMENT BOUNDARY

Hialeah wins, others fail in bid to move development line

BY TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE AND MATTHEW HAGGMAN
tfigueras@MiamiHerald.com

Only the city of Hialeah was successful in getting the Miami Dade Commission to move the boundary line for new development in the county. Four other projects were rejected.

Months of contentious debate over the largest set of land-use decisions to come before the Miami-Dade County Commission in many years ended Wednesday as commissioners opened the door for new development -- but just a crack.

The commission rejected four of five applications to move Miami-Dade's Urban Development Boundary, or UDB, the line designed to limit large-scale development along the county's western and southern borders.

The votes, which came after four other developers withdrew applications to build hundreds of acres, meant that eight of the original nine bids to move the development boundary were turned away in the biggest fight over moving the development boundary in many years.

The one applicant to prevail: the city of Hialeah.

Hialeah leaders, including former Mayor Raul Martinez, persuaded 12 of the 13 commissioners to open some 1,100 acres for industrial parks and offices. Developer Armando Codina, who owns a significant portion of that land, sat in the commission chambers as the county approved Hialeah's application.

The vote marked a second UDB victory for Codina, who successfully got the development boundary moved in 2002 for his Beacon Lakes industrial park project west of Doral.

Those opposed to moving the line -- a hodgepodge of environmentalists and activists that eventually garnered support from Gov. Jeb Bush and state regulators -- hailed Wednesday's votes, which capped off more than a year of fighting a well-funded and politically powerful building industry.

''I think we're all kind of feeling like we're in a dream,'' said activist Jamie Furgang of Audubon of Florida. She said that while the activists and community groups loosely assembled under the Hold the Line campaign had also fought the Hialeah application, she considered it ``one of the less egregious ones.''

LONE HOLDOUT

Only one commissioner -- Katy Sorenson -- voted against Hialeah's application for land east of Florida's Turnpike that includes the Peerless landfill.

Other commissioners were swayed by a variety of factors in the proposal's favor -- including a pledge to build a new water treatment plant aimed at easing water supply fears. Proponents also cited its potential for economic growth and environmental remediation.

''This is not about moving the line. It's about jobs and cleaning up a landfill,'' said current Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. He added after the meeting that the vote might help the city in negotiations with the Florida Marlins, who are considering a move.

Robaina, who has been discussing a possible stadium inside his city, said the commission's vote "gives us one more thing to bring to the Marlins. You can't have a stadium without being inside the UDB.''

Codina said he is not in discussions with the Marlins, and his current plans for the property do not include a sale to the baseball team or a donation to the city. ''I love the Marlins, and I wish they would stay,'' he said after the meeting. "But I will let the mayor take the lead on that.''

Martinez, the former Hialeah mayor who was a principal architect of the plan to annex the land and expand the development boundary to include it, bashed the media and political rivals of the commissioners in an impassioned monologue.

Furgang of Hold the Line gave high praise to the five commissioners who rejected the other four applications as a decisive voting bloc: Sorenson, Carlos Gimenez, Sally Heyman, Rebeca Sosa and Dennis Moss. Nine of the 13 commissioners' votes are required for a UDB change to pass.

''I am very surprised and pleased with the leadership they showed,'' she said.

CLOSE VOTE

In a razor-thin decision, the five commissioners voted against moving the line to allow a Lowe's Home Center on 51.7 acres near Southwest Eighth Street and 137th Avenue.

The Lowe's bid failed despite appeals by the retailer's representatives, who promised a new roadway and bridge to the property. Also, attorney Juan Mayol said a portion of the property would be sold to the Miami-Dade School Board for a much-needed high school -- or perhaps a charter school or a private school if the School Board declined. He also offered land for a park.

Lowe's had collected several hundred signatures from residents in the area and rallied more than two dozen people to appear in the chambers in support of the store -- which neighbors said would allow for greater access to emergency supplies in hurricane season, among other benefits.

Commission Chairman Joe Martinez said he supported the project based on the add-ons by the developer.

''You're missing a good opportunity,'' he told his fellow commissioners.

OFFICE PARK

A 2.5-acre industrial and office park called Doral West Commerce was shot down an a 13-0 vote.

''This is the right project at the right place,'' argued lawyer Felix Lasarte, who said the office park was on a site surrounded by land inside the urban boundary -- most notably Codina's Beacon Lakes project. The site is west of the Turnpike and east of Northwest 122nd Avenue at about Northwest 22nd Street.

Commissioners also turned away an office and business project proposed for 42 acres south of Kendall Drive and west of Southwest 167th Avenue and rejected offices proposed for 14.7 acres southeast of Southwest 142nd Avenue and 312th Street. The applicants were Pedro Talamas, Juan J. Valdes and Nadia A. Valdes.