"Curiouser and curiouser" - it appears that the new council will get its wish - no community center in a commercial area, recovery of the money spent on that land, and the delivery of a charter school they alleged was never going to happen.

This was quite an unexpected letter. One might say "curiouser and curiouser." I am looking forward to the response from the Mayor and remainder of the Village Council.  Ho Ho Ho - for Christmas, the current Mayor and Village Council may bring us - a charter school!

We have continuously been told (assured?) by the current mayor and vice mayor as well as their supporters that a Charter School was never going to go there.  If true, than this letter can be described as the $2,950,00 bluff or the $2,950,00 double down.

My fear is that the Charter School is close to happening. Why? I 'm counting past votes.  Here is what I am considering - and you should as well:

• 2 current members of this village council - Vice Mayor DuBois and returning council member Patrick Fiore voted IN FAVOR of the charter school back in 2014 - see zoning resolution, 2014-30, approved March 17, 2014 as discussed in background provided far below.  
• 2 current members of the council - current Mayor Karyn Cunningham and Vice Mayor DuBois voted against purchasing the land away from the charter school. 
• Candidate and now council member Marsha Matson was publicly opposed to the purchase of this land away from the charter school.

CLICK HERE to download and review the entire December 20, 2018 correspondence from the developer of the Shores of Palmetto Bay LLC to the Mayor and Council. Please pay particular attention to the second paragraph of this letter: 

Shores of Palmetto Bay LLC ("Buyer") would be willing to acquire the School Site from the Seller (Palmetto Bay) for case for the same price ($2,950,000) that the Seller purchased the School Site in 2018.

Note further that this is a conditional offer - make no mistake about it - the specifics are clearly defined:

"The closing would occur upon issuance of site plan and building permits for the charter school on the School Site."

This intent to put a charter school on this property is clear: 

"We (meaning the "Buyer") have a high performing charter school organization that is ready to commence development and construction permitting of the 1,400 student charter school."

The campaigns are over and now it is time for delivery. Its time to put up or (be quiet).

I will note that, in my opinion, this is/was the last piece of property available to keep the promise of the Community Center - part of the strategic parks master plan of 2007. I doubt that the community wants a Community Center to be placed deep into a residential neighborhood.   This property would also serve our community well as a multi-modal transportation center, but there appears to be no vision, no will, for anything to happen that would serve our community.

Well, we're waiting!

BACKGROUND RELATING TO THE CHARTER SCHOOL - I am providing some background on the long and winding history of the Charter School. CLICK HERE to review some prior blog posts, but for those who don't like to research I offer the following: 

The facts are undisputed that David Singer, Larissa Seigel Lara and I removed the Charter School through the only legal means possible: we purchased the property out from under them and negotiated a private (and enforceable) covenant with the owner of the remaining property that no school would go on the remaining property.

So what are the facts about the Charter School? I put out the facts during the campaign as as part of my rumor control. I posted the zoning resolution, 2014-30, approved March 17, 2014, that cleared the way for a 1,400 seat Charter School to be located at the "third parcel from the NE corner of SW 97th Avenue and SW 180th Street, Palmetto Bay" - that's legalese for identifying the Shores property.  (CLICK HERE and review in detail). The Zoning resolution was signed by then Mayor Shelley Stanczyk based upon the unanimous 5-0 vote of that Village Council - Voting yes were then mayor Shelley Stanczyk, Vice Mayor John DuBois and the council members serving on that council: Patrick Fiore, Tim Schaffer & Joan Lindsay. The Village attorney at that time was John R Herin, Jr., Esquire.

Note the findings made by Mayor Stanczyk and the Council regarding the Charter School:

"That the Mayor and Village Council find, based on substantial competent evidence in the record, that the application for the charter School is consistent with the Village of Palmetto Bay's Comprehensive Plan and the applicable Land Development Regulations."

Page 1, lines 20 - 22 & 34 - 35. 

'b. The rules that govern the conditions upon which a charter school is permitted to be configured and operated are found at Section 30-120 of the LDC "Public Charter School Facilities." After hearing the applicant and the applicant's experts, the Village Council finds the charter school request consistent with those standards.'  

Page 1, lines 37 - 40. 

 "c. The Applicant’s traffic study indicates that the number of trips generated by the proposed use does not cause the adjacent roadway to exceed the maximum capacity thresholds establish by Miami-Dade County. The Village's traffic engineering consultant and the Traffic Engineering Division of Miami-Dade County accept this finding with conditions as noted in the staff report."  

Page 1, lines 42 - 46. 

Again, all this information is available online throughout the official village archives, my past blog posts and official Miami-Dade County Court records.