"Twenty-two acres of preserved pine rockland, protected from future development, is extremely significant for endangered animals that are being pushed out of their primary habitat." - Al Sunshine, President of the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition, Inc.

What is important? Read the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition information: http://savethepinerocklands.org/

Florida’s pine rocklands are some of the most imperiled lands in the world. They are characterized by limestone rock outcroppings with a low understory of tropical and temperate shrubs, palms, vines, grasses and herbaceous wildflowers — as well as a single species of overstory tree, the slash pine. With very little soil substrate and a dependence on fire, these ecosystems are among the world’s rarest forests, occurring only in South Florida and the Bahamas. They once spanned 185,000 acres of Miami-Dade County, but now — thanks to rampant development — just 2 percent of those lands remain outside Everglades National Park. Florida’s pine rocklands are now regarded as critically imperiled globally, and the plants and animals that rely on them are extremely rare. 

A slim majority, 3 out of 5 members, of the Palmetto Bay Village Council are working to protect the valued pinelands located within our municipality and reduce traffic.  Council Member David Singer issued a press released on Wednesday, 4/25/2018, further clarifying council action taken to date (See below):

A Clarifying Ordinance that Reduces Density & Traffic while preserving 22+/- acres of endangered pine rockland in Palmetto Bay secures majority vote

Councilmember David Singer’s proposed revision to the 2016 zoning of Palmetto Bay Village Center from 485 to 389 units secured the first of three votes to become law

April 25, 2018 – Palmetto Bay, FL – A majority of The Village of Palmetto Bay’s Councilmembers voted to revise a 2016 amendment that reduced density, traffic and saved 22+/- acres of endangered pine rockland from future development. This vote, supported by Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn, and Council Members David Singer, Seat 2, and Larissa Siegel Lara, Seat 3, marks the first of three necessary to have this revision to become law; the remaining two votes will take place in the coming months. 

In 2008, the land was zoned for the development of 100 condos, 300 senior housing units, and a hotel, but didn’t protect the 22 acres of pine Rockland. In 2016, Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor John Dubois submitted a repeal to the ordinance that would have reverted the land back to the 2008 ordinance. This repeal would have allowed 485 units, the rights to building a hotel and would have expo­­­­­sed the pine rocklands to development.

At a March 19, 2018, Palmetto Bay Council Meeting, Singer sponsored a clarifying revision to the 2016 ordinance that protected the pine rocklands and capped traffic on Old Cutler Road based on a traffic study to 2,116 trips per day, limiting the development to 389 units. If the repeal had occurred, the daily trips would have exceeded 2,550 trips per day. Additionally, the clarifying revision included a reduction of density in the Village Mixed Use (VMU) area by 96 units (485 to 389) and the creation of a park within the span of 22+/- acres of endangered pine Rockland bordering Old Cutler Road.

“I’m glad that the majority of the Council agreed with me and voted to reduce density and traffic on Old Cutler Road and preserve vitally sensitive pine Rockland,” said Singer.

Pine rockland is a rare type of forest found only in South Florida and the Caribbean, and the latest U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cites that Miami’s remaining pine rockland is down to 1.3+/- percent of its original 186,000-acre forest. “We are very happy that lawmakers in Palmetto Bay have taken the preliminary step to preserve the critically needed vanishing habitats of pine rockland in South Florida,” said Al Sunshine, President of the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation. “Twenty-two acres of preserved pine rockland, protected from future development, is extremely significant for endangered animals that are being pushed out of their primary habitat.”

 -----------------------------------------

 

Photo right: Palmetto Bay's Earth Week 2018 included the annual community bike ride.  One stop occurs at the Ludlum Pineland Preserve in Palmetto Bay where a presentation is held regarding the importance of the Pine Rocklands.

CLICK HERE to view additional blog posts concerning Pine Rocklands

Photo immediately above taken on Nov. 5, 2016, while working at a Pinelands Clean up at Coral Reef Park: Al Sunshine & Belen Valladares, both board members, 
representing The Miami Pine Rockland Coalition, Daniel Mateo, Principal, 
BIOTECH, Susan Windmiller, President, League of Women Voters, Miami-Dade 
County, and Orestes Mayo, BIOTECH school

Protecting native pine rocklands - our duty to preserve our Palmetto Bay community - this property is still at risk - there is more work to be done to ensure preservation.

I was invited to speak before the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition on Thursday, March 22, 2018. I was pleased to present our continual efforts to protect what little native rock pineland remains in Miami-Dade County.  I posted information on how those interested in protecting our Pine lands can get involved: Presentation by the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition - -- Who they are. How you can join, Dec. 14, 2015.
I discussed our progress to date in preserving these Pinelands.

"The struggle is real": We almost lost the 22 acres of imperiled Pine Rocklands to development of 41 homes and a fire station back in 2014 - See: Palmetto Bay council defers old Burger King property zoning; approves Palmer Trinity’s site-plan changes, by Lola Duffort, July 22, 2014.This effort was sponsored by then Mayor Stanczyk (as reflected in official agenda and public documents)

See: Palmetto Bay developer’s rezoning request up for vote, Environmentalists worried about proposed project on 22 acres of forest land, July 21, 2014.

This was also covered in the Miami Herald at length, Palmetto Bay approves Palmer Trinity expansion, By Lola Duffort, September 26, 2014, reporting that:

The council was also initially scheduled to hear a rezoning package on 22 acres of mostly forested land to allow for single-family homes and fire station at the Palmetto Bay Village Center, the 80-acre bayfront office park that once housed Burger King’s world headquarters in the village’s southeastern quadrant.

The item was first deferred from July, when criticism from environmentalists about developing forestland peppered with Pine Rockland – an imperiled habitat unique to South Florida and the Bahamas – led council members to direct staff and the property owner to gather more information about the forest’s environmentally sensitive properties.

Last week Stanczyk, the item’s sponsor, withdrew it from consideration after staff told her that the appropriate information had not yet been gathered.

“Mr. [Scott] Silver [a partner in the office park] has contacted some of the [environmental] groups, he has done some things but I don’t have any thing in writing at this point that is available to me to show that those environmental concerns have been addressed,” she said on the Thursday before the hearing.

Environmentalists who spoke out against the measure in July, including Tropical Audubon Society Executive Director Laura Reynolds, have said they wouldn’t have a problem with the village rezoning just the 1.5 acres necessary to site a fire station on the northern tip of the parcel.

But Silver said on Tuesday that the company has no intention of splitting up the rezoning package to allow the village to make a decision on the fire station separately from the housing development.

___________________________

Is it important to save Pine Rockland?

Florida’s pine rocklands are some of the most imperiled lands in the world. They are characterized by limestone rock outcroppings with a low understory of tropical and temperate shrubs, palms, vines, grasses and herbaceous wildflowers — as well as a single species of overstory tree, the slash pine. With very little soil substrate and a dependence on fire, these ecosystems are among the world’s rarest forests, occurring only in South Florida and the Bahamas. They once spanned 185,000 acres of Miami-Dade County, but now — thanks to rampant development — just 2 percent of those lands remain outside Everglades National Park. Florida’s pine rocklands are now regarded as critically imperiled globally, and the plants and animals that rely on them are extremely rare.

See: Save The Pine Rocklands, Biological Diversity.org - savethepinerocklands.org

I chose to save the 22 acres. These 22 acres do have significant development rights (discussed in many other blog posts). 

I ask that our residents who care for our community continue to join the fight to preserve these lands.

Cully Waggoner's open letter to Anyone Who Cares, Note: NOT the Mayor or Commissioners of Miami-Dade County, We Know YOU Don’t Care.

An Open Letter Op Ed To Anyone Who Cares, Note: NOT the Mayor or Commissioners of Miami-Dade County, We Know YOU Don’t Care.

It rained constantly all day today, October 21st, 2020. It made me feel as if Mother Earth was crying over the decision yesterday by the Miami-Dade County Commissioners to Vote FOR Miami Wilds and the continued destruction of the Richmond Pine Rocklands.

One Mayor and 13 Commissioners and ONLY ONE, Commissioner Suarez, voted AGAINST Miami Wilds. I cannot say that I am not surprised by the County’s stupidity. The County often votes in favor of stupid things that do damage to our local environment, so the destruction of unique to only Dade County Pine Rocklands and the decimation to extinction of the Federally Endangered Species that ONLY live on the site for an EIGHTH Water Park in South Florida seems to make sense in Bizzarro World.

I AM surprised however by Commissioner and Mayoral Candidate, Daniella Levine Cava that voted FOR Miami Wilds. I thought SHE was different, NOT another corrupted South Florida politico like the others, I guess I was wrong. Daniella Levine Cava lost my vote for Mayor and lost my support for anything else. She used to be a beacon of hope, now she’s just like every other politician in this Banana Republic.

Commissioner Suarez is unique in that HE CALLED ME personally about this issue a few weeks ago. In the last SIX YEARS I’ve sent several e-mails, and spoken in person before the County Commission at least TWICE and don’t even get an “Auto Responder” e-mail back from most of the County Commissioner, let alone an e-mail reply or a call back. That shows me how little they care about the people of Miami-Dade County that they represent.

As if the debacle of Coral Reef Commons was not enough, the County decided to double down on yet another developer that lost both Sony and 20th Century Fox as major backers of Miami Wilds so they could build yet another mediocre water park and a hotel on County owned land, without public input, , without zoning change notices, without a conservation plan and without a review by the various County departments.

Southern Anchor is County OWNED Land that SHOULD have gone into the EEL (Environmental Endangered Lands) program that Miami-Dade has. NOT given outright to a developer for profit as they were / are for Miami Wilds. In FACT for the last four years there was a push to put “Southern Anchor”, the former U.S. Coast Guard housing site, into EEL and Miami-Dade fumbled and refused to add it to the EEL List, even though the County ALREADY OWNED IT, let that sink it as to how little the Miami-Dade County cares about our environment.

The Miami Herald, a shadow of its former self after selling its property to a developer for a new Casino that has yet to be built because the voters of South Florida vote AGAINST Casinos and gambling unless it is on Native American Indian land and then gambling is not only OK, except it is NOT taxed.

The main issue as I see it is that the Mayor and most of the Miami-Dade Commissioners DON’T CARE about the people of Miami-Dade County. With exceptions, they never have and they never will Remember how THEY voted when YOU Vote, I most certainly will as will others seeing this.

The full time jobs Miami Wilds will create is hardly significant employment, especially since most of them will be far below the $35k average the developer is touting. More dead-end entry-level jobs is not the answer. The “more jobs” promotion that Commissioner Moss keeps pushing is a misleading narrative at best. Moss was tasked with getting a “theme/water park next to MetroZoo (now ZooMiami) way back in 1997, he’s term limited and in his last term as Commissioner Moss wants one last hurrah before he leaves office.

Another favorite excuse for approving Miami Wilds is that it is being built on a Parking Lot. It is already paved over and won’t hurt any more Pine Rockland. Historically speaking, it is being built on the former landing pad for Naval Air Station Richmond, which became the MetroZoo parking lot in 1981. This is not entirely true, but the developers don’t want you to know this.

First: Pine Rocklands do not have to have Pine Trees on them to be considered Pine Rockland

Second: Some of the Richmond Pine Rocklands was paved over for the Navy Blimp base in 1941 and the land, the Pine Rockland beneath the concrete and asphalt is still intact and restorable. In fact, there are remains of two runways on the old base site. Both have pine trees pushing their way up through them. The old incinerator on the base had a tree growing out of the chimney.

Third: The plans for parking wipe out a part of The Gold Coast Railroad Musuem’s South Pad where the rail and “North Pole” for The Polar Express is. There is Pine Rockland with mostly Australian Pine Trees on it with a mix of other endangered flora and fauna that has already been documented and is a DERM concern.

#SaveItDontPaveIt #MiamiWilds #CoralReefCommons

--

Cully Waggoner

Note, Cully Waggoner also serves as a board member of the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition.

Presentation by the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition - -- Who they are. How you can join.

Thank you.

Thank you Al Sunshine and the entire Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition for the work you do - fighting to protect and preserve our sensitive Pine Rocklands.  The photo was taken on Saturday, December 12, 2015, during a Livable Cutler session.

I am honored to receive a Miami Pine Rocklands Limited Edition print as a "Miami Tiger Beetle" Member.  I accept this on behalf of all members of my family who have been so supportive of the effort "Save it, Don't Pave It."

CLICK HERE to view the Facebook page for Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition. Follow this link to the website for the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition

This website also takes you to a page where you can learn of all the critters that inhabit these imperiled Pine Rocklands, including access to the downloadable / printable Coloring Books of the Pine Rockland critters.  (You may access, print and please distribute to friends, family, groups that may have an interest, teachers, etc. simply by 'rightclicking' to save it to your computer for printing.

This photoprint to the right says it all, beautifully capturing our native Pinelands.   

Thank you,

Eugene Flinn

Palmetto Bay Pine area clean up - Coral Reef Park - look forward to a similar opportunity for the 22 acres at the PBVC

I continue in the fight to save imperiled Pine Rockland Habitat and assisting in taking care of what we have preserved.  I am posting some photos from a community effort here in our Village.
Coral Reef Park is home to 5 acres +/- of Pine Rocklands.  Some of the area is turning to oak/hardwood hammock.  Palmetto Bay hosted a pinelands clean up as park of the Saturday, 11/5/2016 events.  

Professions, enviro activists and students volunteered and worked together for the second consecutive year to clean up this precious Pine Rockland Preserve area located in Coral Reef Park. This clean-up included removal of debris, loose clippings and removal of invasive species of plants inside the park’s Pine Rockland Preserve area.  

Thank you to all who participated including students from BIOTECH, Riviera and Ferguson High Schools; The Miami Pine Rockland Coalition; members/enviro activists from Livable Cutler; local residents and park staff.  It was another outstanding community effort.  

I will add additional photos as received and as time permits to upload here.  CLICK HERE to view the photos that I have posted on my Facebook page.

 
Photo immediately above: Al Sunshine & Belen Valladares, both board members, 

representing The Miami Pine Rockland Coalition, Daniel Mateo, Principal, BIOTECH, 

Susan Windmiller, President, League of Women Voters, Miami-Dade County, and 

Orestes Mayo, PBay Educational Advisory Committee/BIOTECH school

A busy weekend - Saturday, November 5 - Two competing 5Ks and a Pine Rockland clean up

Alex and I are looking forward to once again Running 2 5K races in a single day  - and a Pine Rockland Clean up at Coral Reef Park - read all events listed below

CANCERFREE KIDS REASON TO RUN 5K

 
This Saturday (Nov 5) is the Cancerfree Kids Reason To Run which has traditionally been held the first Saturday after Halloween. Alex & I are fortunate to have been involved with the very first race and have run it often. You don't have to run it to enjoy the post run events or donate. This race is held at Deering Estate and runs from 8-10:30 with a run and events. See http://www.reasontorun.org/ for more info / to donate.

  

(Photos above taken at 2014, 2015 Reason to Run events)

CORAL REEF PINELANDS CLEAN UP - 9:30 - 12:30 pm

A Pineland cleanup is sandwiched between the two 5Ks.  I will be participating once again held at Coral Reef Park.  I am so pleased at the community effort - The Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition is joining Palmetto Bay in restoring the Pine Rocklands habitat at Coral Reef Park. Thank you Miami Pine Rockland Coalition and to our local Students who are participating.  Everyone is welcome to join.

Are you a student and in need of community service hours or just looking to volunteer in helping us restore a Pine Rockland Preserve area? This clean-up includes removal of debris, loose clippings and removal of any invasive species of plants inside the park’s Pine Rockland Preserve area.

To volunteer please register online at www.palmettobay-fl.gov or click on the registration link below: http://www.123contactform.com/form-1921843/Students-In-Action-Volunteer-Registration-Form

  

 (photos above taken at 2015 Coral Reef Park Pineland clean up)
 

PALMETTO BAY COLOR RUN - CORAL REEF PARK

We also have the Color Run this same Saturday, Nov 5 - the race/event starts at 4 PM this year from Coral Reef Park (it was held at Palmetto Bay Park last year). I am pleased to be one of the promoters for this race which benefits Palmetto High School. See: http://www.palmettobay-Fl.gov/node/1764  

(Photos above taken 2015 - First Annual Color Run)
 

3 events in your hometown in a single day.  It takes a Village!.