North Bay Village is building again. At the P&Z Meeting on Tuesday night, two projects were approved on the Causeway, one with 70 and the other with 45 new condos, making the total of new condos proposed since 2011 about 735 new units, plus 285 new rental apartments at Moda (formerly Blue on the Bay) and another 150 units coming back online at 7525 E. Treasure Drive. That 1,150 new housing units in the next few years. Assuming 2 people per, that's a 30% increase in our population.
In the past, each time a behemoth new project was approved, we were promised that the increase in the tax base would fund needed improvement. We were promised open access to the waterfront. We were promised that impact fees levied on the buildings would fund the expanded infrastructure. We were promised that North Bay Village would become a "destination."
The promises were lies.
As the Village careened towards broke under the mismanagement of the Commission, the only workable solution to financial stability was to raise our taxes 35% in 2 years.
Only one of the eleven buildings ever provided the bay access. The rest simply never opened it or as is the case at the 360, where Comrade Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez is President while sitting on the Village Commission, arbitrarily shut it down without consequence.
The impact fees were wasted on overinvestment in the Vogel Park while Treasure Island's Park, an open air litter box next to the Public Works facility, continues to rot and our rec money went to pay for a plan to make a plan for a park under the bridge to Miami Beach which should not and will not ever be built.
In the meantime, our water infrastructure is collapsing, operating at over 100x capacity on outflow and the state is about to tear up the Causeway for a year or so starting in mid 2015.
As far as being a "destination", our once popular restaurants are mostly closed and the Lexi ground floor remains abandoned.
But hey, maybe this time the commission will get it right. After all, a promise is a promise. Delivering on the promise, well that takes work.
In the meantime, our water infrastructure is collapsing, operating at over 100x capacity on outflow and the state is about to tear up the Causeway for a year or so starting in mid 2015.
As far as being a "destination", our once popular restaurants are mostly closed and the Lexi ground floor remains abandoned.
But hey, maybe this time the commission will get it right. After all, a promise is a promise. Delivering on the promise, well that takes work.
Kevin Vericker
December 5, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are available to all but you must have a name and a contact. If your comment contains either foul language or slanders against individuals, it will be deleted.