The year 2007 will be an important year for those of us living in southwest Broward. There will be municipal elections in Davie and Miramar. Cooper City’s elected officials may be shamed or suspended from office for using taxpayer money to buy drinks and food at private dinner meetings that may have been held in violation of Florida’s strict Sunshine Laws. And several controversial developments and issues are expected to come before our Town Councils and City Commissions including several with a great impact on Weston.
This next year will also be contentious on the state and federal government levels as the new Democratic majority in Washington puts it imprint on our country’s governance while our state elected officials seek to do the same in Tallahassee where Republicans still rule. Will the Democrats in both capitols try to seek middle ground or continue their liberal tendencies? And will the Republicans finally listen to their constituents who continue to want smaller and more affordable government.
In my opinion, this coming year will also be monumental in the relationship and cooperation between our local Towns and Cities. Unfortunately, I do not believe the year will end with positive feelings.
Miramar and Pembroke Pines will continue to debate the best location for FPL to meet the growing electrical needs west of I-75. Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines will again face off on lighting, traffic, and road closure issues. And Cooper City and Davie will continue to deal with water issues and other frictions which resulted from the residents of United Ranches choosing to be annexed into Davie.
But perhaps no issue will challenge our local governments and residents more than a planned regional mall for west Davie. The mall which may potentially provide significant tax revenues to Davie will solely rely on Weston roads for the millions of cars going to the mall. And the proposed mall will certainly negatively impact Pembroke Lakes mall, Weston’s Town Center, and perhaps even Sunrise’s Sawgrass Mills. And because a great number of west Davie residents oppose the mall, it appears the only entity to benefit will be the mall’s developer. So why approve it?
Meanwhile Weston, in its own act of selfishness, is trying to get the Broward County School Board to possibly use eminent domain to seize part of the Davie mall land for a new high school site to help Weston solve its Cypress Bay High School overcrowding issue caused by poor land planning from years ago. And if the mall site does not work out, Weston may push for its new high school to be built elsewhere in Davie on land near Orange Drive and Shotgun Road originally provided by the builder of a west Davie development for a needed middle school for Davie residents.
There are also rumors that Weston is trying to get the Florida Department of Transportation to consider building a new ramp for I-75 onto SW 26th Street in Davie so that Davie can also deal with the inconvenience of thousands of cars pouring onto its roads daily from the proposed mall traffic. These battles of economics, traffic, and education can only poison the relationship between our local municipal governments and their residents while all should be focused on solving the area’s property insurance, housing affordability, and property tax issues.
Let’s hope 2007 turns out to be a better year for our communities than I predict, and that turf wars do not cause permanent harm between them. In any case, I hope you personally will have a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year! I look forward to providing you more of my opinions in the months to come. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to email me in care of this publication. I enjoy your comments.
