"The
days where we’re just building sprawl forever,
those days are over. I think that Republicans,
Democrats, everybody recognizes that that’s
not a smart way to build communities."
President
Barack Obama
in Fort Meyers - February 10, 2009
Take
action alert!
Miami-Dade’s
Sprawl Checkup!
Now
is your chance to weigh in and be heard! Miami-Dade
County is due for it’s 7-year exam and your input
is needed to reinvest in our existing communities!
Overdevelopment
and traffic have become too costly to Miami families.
The Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) is our chance
help redirect County growth management policies Development
Master Plan (CDMP) and offer solutions!
Please
attend of the town hall meetings near you!
August
24th 6-8:30 p.m. Martin Luther
King Center
2525 NW 62 Street, 2nd Floor. Miami, Fl 33147
August 25th 6-8:30 p.m.
West Kendall Regional Library
10201 Hammocks Blvd, Miami, Fl 33196
Miami-Dade reports
59,798 pre-foreclosures between January and September
2008?
More than 14.2% of existing housing units in the county
are vacant?
Since 1994 the county has lost 27% of active farmlands?
Miami residents waste more than 50 hours in traffic
delays each year?
Florida has just beat out California for the highest home
foreclosures in the nation?
Lennar’s
Parklands project would:
Add 6,941 homes
to the surplus of homes on the market in Miami-Dade.
Use nearly 1 million gallons of water per day.
Be built in a FEMA flood zone.
Develop 961 acres of Miami-Dade’s remaining
agricultural lands.
Increase the population by an estimated 18,232 residents.
Pave open space within 2 miles of Everglades National
Park.
Offer less than 10% of its units for affordable housing.
Have insufficient density to support mass transit.
Meetings
- YOUR VOICE is needed at
these important meetings. It’s time to tell
Miami-Dade officials that our economy, our environment,
and our community can’t afford to keep bailing
out private land developers!
December 18, 2008, 9:30 A.M. Board of County Commissioners
Hearing
County Commission Chamber
111 N.W. 1st Street
Hold
the Line wins State Support!!!
Will Miami Dade Commissioner Gamble with our Budget?
The Department of Community Affairs
has filed a lawsuit rejecting Miami-Dade County Commissioners
efforts to move the Urban Development Boundary (UDB)
in an effort to preserve the Everglades, our community
and quality of life!
Although we successfully defeated one application, we still
have a long way to go. County Commissioners voted to transmit
with a recommendation of adoption an application for a Lowe’s
store in Doral and a retail project in West Kendall. Both of
these projects impact fire and rescue service response times,
traffic, and wellfield protection zones which protect our water
supply from degradation.
A
special thank you to Commissioners Sorenson, Heyman, Gimenez,
Moss and Sosa who fought for the all of Miami-Dade County
residents citing water needs, infrastructure deficits and
a surplus of available lands for residential, retail and industrial
use within the Urban Development Boundary! Thank you for being
stewards of smart growth for Miami-Dade and not succumbing
to developer driven public policy!
TAKE ACTION
NOW! Hold The Line Needs You! Click
here to voice your opposition to development outside
the current Urban Development Boundary (UDB).
GET INVOLVED!! The
future of Miami-Dade County is at stake. County Commissioners
are under pressure to move the Urban Development Boundary,
in order to accommodate land speculators and big developers.
Some massive development plans are already being reviewed
by state agencies. Nearly one dozen applications to
move the UDB have been filed with the county and will
be reviewed by the county commission in the coming months.
There
will be public meetings
and chances for you to be educated on the issues and
to become involved. Hold The Line believes that the
needs of current taxpayers and residents must be fully
accounted for, before any decisions to build new cities
in areas that are already overburdened with traffic,
inadequate schools, and parks. Our drinking water needs
and environment must be fully protected. You must help,
if you care about your future, your neighborhood, or
your community. Help us Hold The Line!!
Urban Sprawl
Strikes Again
A
look at any aerial photograph of Miami-Dade County will
show you where the Everglades meets development and
rooftops give way to marshy wetlands. In a 1975, the
Urban Development Boundary (UDB) was drawn along the
southern and western boundaries of Miami-Dade County
in an effort to create a buffer between metro Miami
and Florida’s Everglades.
In 2006, the Hold the Line campaign successfully to
kept the UDB from being moved to accommodate sprawling
development that would strain Miami-Dade’s already
backlogged infrastructure. Four new pending applications
have been filed to open another 178 acres of Miami-Dade
to development outside the line. An additional application
is expected that seeks to add another 7,000 residential
homes to the county’s roads, schools, and utilities
increasing both traffic and pollution.
South Florida can’t
afford to pave wetlands and permit new developments that will
draw from our already taxed water supply and jeopardize the
Everglades.
Action:
We need people and organizations to join the Hold the Line
Campaign and send the message to lawmakers. To learn how you
can help fight sprawl, please contact us at (305) 489-5949,
or htl@cleanwater.org.
Imagine a Miami where
we all have our American dream.
It can happen when we work together.
Everyone
agrees that growth is an opportunity to improve our Miami-Dade
community, but growth must be fair and include our needs.
We want safe neighborhoods, clean air and water. We want transportation
choices beyond mind-numbing traffic.
The big picture has to be kept
in mind, including the well-being of existing communities.
We are for housing choices for all families in vibrant cities,
suburbs, towns and rural areas.
To get there, we need to put
all options on the table, take all costs into account, and
fairly evaluate the big picture.
We must make our region growth-ready:
that means finishing the job of existing infrastructure needs
and protecting what we have as we look to our future together.
Our first campaign is to persuade
Miami-Dade decision-makers to "Hold the Line", the
Urban Development Boundary that separates urban areas from
environmental and agricultural lands.
Youth
and Future of Miami-Dade Stand Up to Protect the
UDB!
"The Miami-Dade County Student Government
Association is proud to join the Hold The Line
campaign in its efforts to stop county commissioners
from moving the urban development boundary line.
We as students believe that our environment is
precious and unique to our state and that it should
be kept intact and untouched. As President of
an organization that represents over 360,000 students
throughout Miami-Dade County, it is my job to
look out for the students' best interests. We
urge the Commission to oppose all remaining applications
to expand the UDB."
Ronald Bilbao President,
Miami-Dade County Student Government Association
