Make a decision on power lines now or dig up new construction later
The ongoing Crandon Boulevard road work could force the issue regarding whether or not to bury the Village’s power lines. Crandon Boulevard Master Plan officials discussed underground lines at a December 5 construction meeting, saying the time is now for the south end of the island. Otherwise, everything they are installing currently would have to be torn up if the Village decides to bury utilities in the future, something local leaders have discussed at length and continue to consider.
Crandon officials are meeting with Village Manager Jacqueline Menendez to discuss the subject, and the Village Council will likely get involved early next year. “We’ll see how strong the Council’s resolve is on this issue,” said Crandon consultant Ramon Castella, who has also been hired by the Village to start planning for underground utilities. Although Castella’s study is still in the early stages and the Council still plans a public workshop to help make the final decision on whether power lines should go underground at all, Crandon officials said it would make sense to bury lines along Crandon from Mashta Drive south — lines in the residential neighborhoods in the area are already buried. At the same time, Crandon is already torn up for the road project. They don’t want to do their work now, they said, then see it demolished in a year or so for buried lines.
“Every sidewalk we’re putting in now would be disrupted,” project Manager Paul Abbott explained. “If the Village wants to bury its utilities, now would be the hour.” If the Council does decide to move forward with buried power lines on the south end of Crandon, Abbott said he would recommend that Crandon crews defer the installation of the west sidewalk from Mashta Drove to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Everything else would proceed normally.
La Griteria celebration
The Nicaraguan tradition of La Griteria was celebrated at St. Agnes Catholic Church. Key Biscayne resident Patricia Villa-Riestra coordinated the event. Seen here are Father Hernando, Patricia Villa-Riestra, and Orlando Mora.
Grand Bay holiday shopping bazaar
The Grand Bay Club held its Annual Holiday Shopping Bazaar. The event showcased local vendors with various gift ideas for the upcoming holiday season. Seen here are Laudy Ibarra and Hossana G-Black.
Liz LaCorte leaves the Community Foundation
A going away party was held at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club for Liz LaCorte, the first executive director of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation. Pictured here are Bonnie Cooper and Liz LaCorte.
Pictured here are Jo and Dr. Glenn Abrahmsohn.
Chamber of Commerce Business Card Exchange
The Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce held a business card exchange at the Village Hall courtyard. Pictured here are Ines Abascal and Joan McCaughn.
Will a deficit in recreational space be found on the shores of Key Biscayne?
Residents say counting local beaches as public recreation space to meet concurrency rules is ludicrous – and they accused Village Council members of burying their heads in the sand out of a desire to push forward the redevelopment of the Sonesta Beach Resort.
The Council and public discussed the issue at a December 5, meeting after consultants from Wallace, Roberts & Todd presented ideas for fixing shortcomings in the state-mandated review of the Village’s 1995 Master Plan, or Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR). Council members will wait until next year to decide how to address the concurrency issue.
Mayor Robert Vernon requested a January workshop, which will be scheduled shortly, and said he wants to determine a solution within 60 days.
The Village is 6.2 acres short of space – for comparison’s sake, the Village Green is 9 acres, and if it doesn’t resolve that, its EAR will be found insufficient. The Village won’t be able to approve residential building permits. It could also lose out on state grants. As WRT’s Silvia Vargas said, “This is the big one. The Village has had a deficit for 10 years, and (The state) basically told us we have to address it. No one disagrees with that, but one of WRT’s ideas for solving the problem sparked controversy.
“The beach has never been included before, Vargas noted. “You could take 6.2 acres of beach and throw it into the calculation. But it’s not OK with some residents. Max Puyanic, a member of the Preserve Our Key Biscayne group that opposes the Sonesta proposal, mocked the “miraculous discovery” of 20 acres of beach. “To come at a time like this it seems rather disingenuous. The beach has always been there,” he said, alleging the Council only wants to count the beach now because it would allow them to approve the Sonesta plans, which include residential units.
But Sonesta attorney Carter McDowell said developers have already shown they’ll provide enough recreation space to cover any new residents their project adds. He added it would be illegal for the Village to use the concurrency issue to stop the development. As for the Council, Mayor Robert Vernon told Puyanic he’s wrong to be suspicious – that the issue is coming up now simply due to the timing of the EAR: “It’s important to remember this process started a year and a half ago, long before any pending applications came to the Village,” the Mayor said.
The problem stems from the Village Master Plan, which Vargas said requires 2.5 acres of recreation space per 1,000 residents. Key Biscayne currently has under two acres per 1,000 people.
Visions of Sugarplums at the Yacht Club
A Visions of Sugarplums Fashion show was held at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club. Clothing was provided by Fifty Rio and Seahorse Children’s Boutique. All the models were Yacht Club members. Pictured here are Mary Tague and Lauren Battle.
Raising the flag
A new Village flagpole was installed at The Monaco Reflecting Pool. Seen here are Councilmember Dr. Jorge Mendia and Frank Andrews.
Yacht Club Western Night
The Key Biscayne Yacht Club hosted a Western Night, complete with a hayride. Seen here are Sandy Winters and Stuart Ames.
Towers residents want to stop the need for speed
Residents of The Towers of Key Biscayne condominiums say they’ve coped for years with drivers who rush recklessly out of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park — and now that they see an opportunity for change, they’re not going to let that speed by as well. Towers residents have asked the Crandon Boulevard Master Plan Implementation Committee to consider installing brick pavers at the intersection of Crandon and the entrance to The Towers, just like crews have done and are doing for street intersections along Crandon.
“We’re exploring the option,” Committee Chairwoman Henny Groschel-Becker said. “We don’t have a cost estimate, and we don’t have a time estimate. We’ll need those before we can decide. “
Committee members did admit to concerns – primarily that cars driving over brick pavers make a lot of noise and that might not fly on the quiet south end of the island – but were generally receptive to the idea. They asked Crandon contractor Miguel Vila to draw up a proposal and cost estimate for them to consider at a January meeting. At that point, they will make a recommendation to the Village Council.
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