Community’s drive for cityhood threatened by annexation plan

Community’s drive for cityhood threatened by annexation plan

Story & photographs by José Pérez

NORTH CENTRAL MIAMI-DADE – Efforts to create a new city out of a large area of unincorporated North Miami-Dade County are running into new obstacles. 

After waiting for a decade-long moratorium on incorporation to be lifted, supporters of the North Central Dade Area Municipal Advisory Committee (NCDA-MAC) say that neighboring municipalities are making moves to take annex key areas of the proposed city.

The Rev. Dr. Mark Gardner, senior pastor of Northside Church of God, a member of NCDA’s steering committee, said that Opa-locka has openly declared its intention to annex 822 acres of land located south of Northwest 127th Street, east of Northwest 27th Avenue, north of Northwest 107th Street and west of Northwest 37th Avenue. 

The area, listed in Opa-locka city records as “Annexation Area B,” sits in the northwest corner of the incorporation area originally outlined by NCDA leaders several years earlier.  

Opa-locka’s plans to annex the area are not mere speculation.  “They started their process and they are moving forward with it,” Gardner said.

Opa-locka’s Assistant City Manager David Chiverton confirmed that the annexation plan was approved earlier this summer by city leaders.  “Our [city] commission has approved the order,” said Chiverton, who added that there is currently “no timeline” as to when Opa-locka will advance the annexation process.

The motivation for opalocka city officials is simple: increased revenue. According to an annexation report published by the City of Opa-locka, acquiring the land would "expand city boundaries" to include commercial and industrial properties.  According to the report, this expansion is expected to generate revenue via "impact fees for development, code enforcement, [and] fines" in the annexed areas.

Mack Samuel, a member of the NCDA-MAC, said the area for Application B, which is primarily commercial, with warehouses in abundance, is estimated to be worth $266 million in taxable value annually – which would severely deplete the tax base of the proposed city.   Because there are no known residents living in that area, there is little to hinder Opa-locka – or other areas – from annexing it.

Ed Lopez, president of Antilles Freight Corporation, said that Hialeah has also expressed in interest in acquiring the area that Opa-locka is trying to annex ahead of any incorporation by the NCDA-MAC.  Calls to the City of Hialeah were not returned for confirmation before press time.

According to the Miami-Dade County Charter, a referendum on annexation or incorporation is not needed if less than 250 people live in the area in question.

Alarmed by the threat to their plans to create what would be Florida’s second-largest majority-black city after Miami Gardens, NCDA leaders addressed the Opa-locka City Commission in late July.

“Our position was to inform them that our process has been ongoing for the past 10 years.  We wanted to make sure that they were aware of that. Our desire was for them to put the brakes on it,” Gardner said.

Gardner and Mack were not alone in opposing the annexation plans in the Opa-locka Commission chambers. 

Some business owners in Application Area B also spoke out against the proposal.  Lopez said that the business community in Gratigny Industrial Park, where his business has been since the late 1990's, was not at all happy with the plan to bring them into Opa-locka.  The biggest concern cited by Lopez would be a spike in property taxes for him and his neighbors.   According to Miami-Dade County records, the millage rate for unincorporated Miami-Dade County – which the business are now paying – is under $2 for every $1,000 or taxable property value, whereas the rate for Opa-locka is just above $9, second-highest in the County behind Biscayne Park ($9.50).

“It doesn’t make any economic sense to be in Opa-locka,” Lopez said.

Lopez, Gardner, Mack and Felix Lasarte, an attorney representing Lopez and other business owners, all doubted that the anticipated steep increase in taxes will yield a corresponding improvement increase in services if the Opa-locka annexation effort succeeds.

Chiverton pointed out that the area is already being served by the Opa-locka police department. He acknowledged what he called “a cross-section of concerns” presented to the city commission related to cost and financial impact for local businesses. Water and sewage services for the area would picked up by Opa-locka if the annexation is approved.

“What services are they providing to offset” the increase in taxes, asked Lopez.   “They promised one more police officer but that won’t make a difference.”

For Opa-locka city leaders, the move has benefits for residents,  Chiverton said. He sees the proposed annexation as a way to create jobs by attracting businesses with manufacturing and assembly specialties.

“The interest of the city is to complete what the commission approved,” he said

Lopez disagreed, saying, “It’s going to be a ghost town.”

Asked if business owners will consider suing to stop the annexation, Lasarte said that “all options are on the table.”

“The property owners intend to protect themselves.  They want to have a say in the process,” he said.

The NCDA-MAC also wants to ensure that any annexation move is decided by residents.

“It is important that the area be given an opportunity to incorporate,” Gardner said.

“The citizens deserve the right to vote,” Mack added.        

For the record, NCDA organizers do not yet know what its mill would be.  When asked, Lopez said he prefers that the area remain unincorporated but he had to "choose from the lesser of three evils," he'd pick Hialeah because their millage rate is 6.3.

*To read this article as it appeared in the South Florida Times, please click on this urlink.

A Grateful Maestro says 'Thanks' to JMH for 'Quake Support

A Grateful Maestro says 'Thanks' to JMH for Earthquake Support
by José Pérez

Romel Joseph embodies both the success and resilience, as well as concern for the plight of tens of thousands of other Haitians still suffering from the effects of the January 2010 earthquake.

Joseph was among more than 200 survivors treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The blind classical musician who was trained at Julliard spent 18 hours under the rubble of his music school that killed his pregnant wife. Both his legs and an arm were broken and he stayed three months at Jackson for surgery and therapy.

“I was brought to Miami by the American Embassy for treatment,” said Joseph, who performed a mini-concert at the hospital Jan. 11 with his children Victoria and Bradley to express gratitude to the hospital.

For Joseph, a renowned violinist, to be able to play two different suites for violin and piano, with his children again in public showed “how far I’ve come.”

“I still need more treatment but I’m fine enough to play,” said Joseph, a powerfully built man with gentle hands and a kind and generous smile.

Joseph also travels regularly between South Florida and Haiti, performing and raising funds to rebuild his Victorian School and to construct what would be the first concert hall in his country.  Yet, when he talks about challenges to overcome, he is not referring to himself as much as he is talking about his country.  “It’s far from over,” he said.

With the echoes of sweet music by composers such as Shostakovich dancing upon the polished walls of the Atrium of the Clark Diagnostic Treatment Center, Northwest 12th Avenue and 19th Street, Joseph wanted to make sure that people did not forget the stories of those still struggling years later to recover from life-altering devastation. “It is important that people remember,” he said.

For Joseph, survival has meant many things, including not being content to merely meet the basic needs of Haitians.  Speaking as an artist, a parent, an earthquake survivor and as a Haitian, he gently expressed frustration with the government of President Michel Martelly, whose candidacy Joseph said he supported. 

“I am disappointed that the government is not doing enough for the arts,” said Joseph. Developing and supporting the arts can be an avenue of healing for his country and compatriots, he said. The arts can help foster and protect “emotional stability.”

Joseph uses his own experiences in those harrowing hours beneath what used to be his school as proof.

“You can remove yourself with music, remove yourself from pain and space,” said Joseph. He explained he survived the agony of broken bones and acute claustrophobia by playing concertos in his mind until rescuers found him the next day.

“I didn’t die because my mission is to bring music and culture to Haiti,” he said.

The maestro, who received a special get-well gift of a keyboard from legendary recording artist Stevie Wonder while he was still recuperating, wants to see the construction of a performing arts center in Haiti.   Right now, he said, “there is not one music hall or even movie theatre in Haiti.”

*To read this article as it appeared in the South Florida Times, please click on this urlink.