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| THE
MIAMI HERALD |
Posted
on Sun, Apr. 17, 2005
KENDALL COMMUNITY
COUNCIL
Group fights development
on Everglades' edge
BY JONNELLE MARTE
jmarte@herald.com
The Kendall Community Council joined the Hold the Line
Campaign, a group working to keep the Urban Development
Boundary from moving further west.
Wednesday night, the Kendall Community Council joined
the fight to keep high-density development out of the
land that borders the Everglades.
Council members voted unanimously to join the Hold the
Line Campaign, a group of community activists looking
to stop movement of the Urban Development Boundary --
a line that provides a transitional strip of land between
the urban areas of South Florida and the swampy areas
of the Everglades.
''Companies bought the land in hopes of developing it,''
said Gilberto Osorio, program director of the Urban
League of Greater Miami. The boundary ``protects the
sensitive and agricultural land.''
The campaign, started in early March, has been joined
by seven municipalities and 49 organizations, ranging
from homeowners associations to environmental groups.
According to Osorio, it ``promotes in-fill and redevelopment.''
Council members said they feel moving the line will
only cause more problems.
''The weather here is either hot, or rainy and hot,
and we need open space,'' said council member Peggy
Brodeur. ``We would be destroying the very reason that
tourists come here.''
Vice Chairwoman Millie Herrera said she feels the new
development would bring additional traffic that the
already congested streets of Kendall wouldn't be able
to handle.
''It would spread our money thinner because we would
have to create the infrastructure [for the new homes],''
Herrera said. ``It's going to hit us.''
In other news, the council talked at length about possible
future improvements for Indian Hammocks Park. They discussed
things like increasing the lighting, extending the hours,
and adding pools and sprinklers for kids and families.
They also talked about their plans to build a community
center, a senior center and a possible cultural arts
center.
Council members said they will continue the discussion at their next
meeting May 19, where they have invited experts from the parks department
and that they encourage Kendall residents to attend. |
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