The Redland

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Palmetto Bay Mayor Sued

August 19th, 2010 Categories: Community News, Palmetto Bay

Palmetto Bay Mayor Flinn was sued yesterday for not resigning his post as mayor before entering the race for County Commissioner.

The suit was filed by attorney Stephen Cody, a 30 year veteran of election law. According to Cody, one cannot be in office while running for a different office when one may end up serving both positions at the same time.

The lawsuit comes just days before the election. Palmetto Bay residents are left wondering why this is happening now. There will be an emergency hearing this afternoon to determine if his candidacy will be disqualified.  Read more details here.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: 2 Comments »

Pinecrest Entertainment Venue Revival

August 19th, 2010 Categories: Pinecrest

The Village of Pinecrest is looking into making better use of the Banyan Bowl amphitheater, located within Pinecrest Gardens.

Pinecrest commissioned a study which included the opinion of Pinecrest residents to discover whether the initiative would be welcomed by them.  Overwhelmingly, the majority of Pinecrest residents are on board for using the 500-seat amphitheater to bring cultural events such as music and theater to Pinecrest.

The study indicated that there are plenty of theater and music groups that could make use of the Banyan Bowl if it were upgraded.

Read more about it here.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Pinecrest Adopt-a-Tree Program

July 13th, 2010 Categories: Community News, Pinecrest

Are you a Pinecrest resident wanting a tree on the swale outside your property?  Although the right-of-way property is not legally the homeowner’s, the public swale is to be maintained by the homeowner.  And who doesn’t want to keep their surroundings looking pretty?

Pinecrest has an Adopt-a-Tree program which provides trees at low-bid prices for interested homeowners.  Pinecrest has been designated as a Tree City, USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for their commitment to community forestry. The Village of Pinecrest has planted over 10,000 trees since 1997.  Not shabby at all.

If you’d like more information about the Pinecrest Adopt-a-Tree program, click on the link.

And remember that Miami-Dade County still has it’s own program where they give two trees per year to homeowners of single family or townhome properties in the county.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Old Cutler Road Construction Will Cause Delays

July 12th, 2010 Categories: Community News, Palmetto Bay

Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay residents who use Old Cutler Road please note that it will be shut down at the end of July for construction.  The South Florida Water Management District will be installing a flow-way tunnel beneath Old Cutler Road and this will impact the stretch between SW 156th Street and SW 162nd Street.

The road will be open to local traffic only.  If you don’t live in the area, make plans for a different route during construction.  SFWMD has stated that the project will take two weeks only and it is slated to begin no earlier than July 26th. Utility services and the popular bike path on Old Cutler may be impacted as well so plan accordingly.  Click here for more information.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Pinecrest Seizes Home. Maybe?

July 10th, 2010 Categories: Community News, Pinecrest

A citizen is fighting the Village of Pinecrest for improper seizure of her home.  Or should I clarify and say, her property, as she does not live in the Pinecrest house.

I just read an interesting legal article about the case involving Zenaida Gomez and the Village of Pinecrest.  Apparently Ms. Gomez purchased the Pinecrest home in 2006, in 2007 leased it to someone and in 2008 the Pinecrest police were called in to investigate some goings on in the home.

The police found that the Pinecrest home was being used for an illegal hydroponics lab (proving that the Redland doesn’t have that market cornered and that upper scale neighborhoods are not immune to criminal activity, but I digress).  Due to the activities going on at the home, the Village of Pinecrest proceeded to seize the home, through legal means.

The article is full of legalese and I have to admit that I couldn’t finish it.  It appears that the seizing authority (the Village of Pinecrest) has to prove that that the owner of the house knew or had reasonable cause to know that the Pinecrest house was being used for criminal activity.  They claim she leased the home without even so much as checking whether the driver’s license presented by the tenant was valid.

I checked the home’s history in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and found the sale in there.  The home is in a great north Pinecrest location with multimillion dollar homes around.  The home itself was move-in ready but needing updating according to the MLS remarks when it sold.  It sold back in 2006 for $1,075,000 and according to a desktop appraisal I quickly did on it, might be worth in the neighborhood of $717K today, although that doesn’t take into account the damage that is done to a home when it is used as a hydroponics facility.
In any event, I find the case interesting. Be cautious when renting your home and make sure you do background checks!

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

Palmetto Bay Keeps Residents Safe From Lightning

June 16th, 2010 Categories: Community News, Palmetto Bay

The Village of Palmetto Bay has installed a system at one of the village parks to predict when a lightning strike is possible.

The system, aptly named Thor, has been installed at the Palmetto Bay Park (SW 94 Avenue & 175 Street) and will sound a siren to alert parkgoers and nearby residents to seek shelter if a lightning strike is predicted.  Read all about it here.

Considering that Florida gets a ton of activity where lightning is concerned, this is a great benefit to area residents.  Way to go Palmetto Bay!

Check out this link for tips on staying safe in case of lightning.

Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: No Comments »

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