Aventura Mall: Not Big Enough for Ya?

What impact will Aventura Mall growing in size to become the SECOND largest retail mall in the United States have on traffic and planning "West of Aventura"?

Summary from the February 21 issue of the Miami Herald:

• Mall will soon demolish its existing food court to build a new three-story wing of stores and a parking garage of up to seven levels tall.
• Turnberry Associates, got the go-ahead from the Aventura City Commission earlier this month, and expects to begin construction by the end of the year.
• 241,000 sf expansion will be constructed on the current food court site, near the JCPenney store. The parking garage could include as many as 1,400 spaces.
• The Aventura Mall already is Florida’s largest mall and one of the nation’s biggest, with 2.7 million square feet of floor space. That makes it the nation’s 16th largest, according to Mall Directory of America; by other measures, it comes in as the third largest. It also is one of the top five highest grossing malls in the country in terms of sales per square foot, according to Turnberry.
• the mall will create an enclosed transportation facility for buses on the ground floor of the new parking deck. “The bus stops are currently at five to six locations around the mall and are not that convenient to some people,” Aventura City Manager Eric Soroka said. “It is not an ideal situation as far as … mixing the pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic. This will allow all traffic from … buses to go into one consolidated place, which will be safer and … more convenient for people to use mass transit to get to the mall.”
• Aventura is currently reviewing a traffic impact study submitted by Turnberry, said Joanne Carr, Aventura’s community development director.

From Miami Today News

• three-story, 241,000-square-foot retail wing and a seven-level parking garage would be the mall’s second major expansion since 2008.
• Wikipedia ranks it third with 2.7 million square feet of retail space behind the Mall of America outside Minneapolis and the King of Prussia Mall outside Philadelphia.  The proposed addition would push Aventura Mall into the No. 2 spot above the King of Prussia Mall.
• Proposed retail wing would be between the JCPenney and Macy’s department stores
• The proposed garage would have about 1,400 parking spaces and feature a “transit facility” for buses, shuttle vans and taxis.
• If the final plan meets current zoning requirements for the site, it will only have to undergo an administrative review by city departments and their consultants. If a zoning variance is needed, it would need to be approved by a vote of a city board or boards, Ms. Carr said.
• The expansion plan was submitted to the city at about the same time the mall’s owners had its mortgage raised by $770 million to be refinanced at $1.2 billion.  The loan was sold to investors as part of a commercial mortgage-backed securities trust, the South Florida Business Journal reported, but the story did not mention the proposed expansion or whether the two are related.
• The mall was renovated in 2006 and expanded in 2008.  The 2008 expansion cost about $125 million and included construction of a two-story, 167,000-square-foot Nordstrom department store. The project also included a three-level retail wing and a three-story parking garage.  Prior to that, Aventura Mall was expanded and repositioned, doubling its size in 1997.
• According to Fitch Ratings, Aventura Mall’s tenants generated sales of about $1.4 billion in 2012. The firm said the mall draws about 28 million visits a year, making it the nation’s second-most visited mall behind the Mall of America.

February 27 BCC meeting PART 2: "Things to Come"

There was lots of meaty stuff left on the cutting room floor at the 2/27 meeting.  This post digs into the details of these items, which were deferred but not defeated.  In no particular order: 

Special Item #8
ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO ANNEXATIONS; CREATING SECTION 20-4.3 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; PROHIBITING THE FILING, CONSIDERATION, APPROVAL OF OR REFERENDUM ON ANNEXATION REQUESTS IF THE BOUNDARIES OF THE AREA PROPOSED TO BE ANNEXED CONFLICT WITH THE BOUNDARIES OF ANY MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGARDLESS OF WHEN SUCH COMMITTEE WAS CREATED; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE APPLIES TO PENDING AND FUTURE ANNEXATION REQUESTS; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE 

It's not breaking news to say here what has already been posted on Nextdoor: if this item had been voted on last week, Annexation with Aventura would have become against the law - it's that simple.  The item was a huge surprise, was only known the day before the meeting, and would have left "West of Aventura" with only 2 choices (new city or status quo) instead of 3 (annexation being the third) if it had passed. 


Special item #11:
ORDINANCE RELATING TO INCORPORATION PROCEDURES; PROVIDING THAT A REQUEST OR PETITION FOR INCORPORATION SHALL NOT BE FILED NOR ANY FILED PETITION FOR INCORPORATION BE HEARD, CONSIDERED, OR APPROVED WHERE THE INCORPORATION REQUEST OR PETITION CREATES A NEW ENCLAVE; CREATING SECTION 20-21.2 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE 

In the supporting memo it is noted that the MDC Code 20-3.1 "precludes the Board from considering an annexation application that creates a new enclave" BUT "20-23(B)(1)(c) does not preclude the Board considering an incorporation that creates a new enclave."

This is very interesting, because in a 2013 meeting of the MAC, Secretary Rochelle Matza was told by Jorge Hernandez (Office of Management and Budget) that the condominiums in the SW part of the study area could not be excluded from the MAC study area, since doing so would create an enclave.  This resolution acknowledges this is not the case. 

Special item #7:
ORDINANCE RELATING TO INCORPORATION PROCEDURES FOR MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES; AMENDING SECTION 20-29 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; SPECIFYING CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP, LOCATION AND STANDARDS FOR MEETING FACILITY, AND TIME FOR MEETINGS; PROVIDING APPLICABILITY; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE 

This one could be important "West of Aventura": it provides for amendments that would require MAC members "possess a variety of views on whether the study area should become incorporated" and "represent all geographical areas within the [MAC study area]."  WOW!  That would make the NE MAC look pretty bad, since it was initially stacked with "new city advocates" (in 2004/05), and even now in 2014 they all reside in the North end of the study area (no condos, no Ojus, no Presidential Estates even).  Section 2 of the background indicates that the ordinance would only apply to new MACs, but it WOULD apply to the filling of any vacancies on an existing MAC!  Keep an eye on this one. 

Special item #9:
ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO BOUNDARY CHANGE PROCEDURES; AMENDING SECTIONS 20-3 AND 20-4 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA TO PROVIDE THAT PETITIONS FOR BOUNDARY CHANGES SHALL REQUIRE CONSENT OF TWENTY PERCENT OF REGISTERED ELECTORS IN THE AREA PROPOSED TO BE ANNEXED; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE 

Voters decided in November of 2012 to amend the MDC Home Rule Charter to provide that 20% of resident electors in an area could sign an incorporation petition to get a MAC process started.  Annexations by petition require 25%, and this proposal would change that number to the same 20% voters approved for incorporation. 

Special item #6:
ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO THE INCORPORATION OF NEW MUNICIPALITIES; AMENDING SECTION 20-26 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE, FLORIDA; DELETING THE REQUIREMENT THAT MUNICIPALITIES PAY FOR MIAMI- DADE COUNTY SPECIALIZED POLICE SERVICES FROM ITS MUNICIPAL MILLAGE OR OTHER MUNICIPAL FUNDS; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE 

Someone in our community living on NE 199th Street spoke against this one, and she was the only person to speak on it either way.  The ordinance would amend 20-26 of the Code, deleting the requirement that municipalities (including any "new city" West of Aventura), no longer pay for specialized police services which include narcotics ("Miami Vice"), homicide ("Dexter"), sexual crimes ("Law and Order: SVU"), crime scene investigations ("CSI Miami") - basically all the things they make TV shows out of.  The rationale for this is that MDC does not currently charge municipalities for such services.  The question is: as more and more areas incorporate or are annexed, will the budget for these important services shrink?, or will they just be funded differently?

Special Item #3:
RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING BOARD POLICY FAVORING ANNEXATIONS BY SMALL ECONOMICALLY CHALLENGED MUNICIPALITIES AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR THE MAYOR'S DESIGNEE TO PROVIDE RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES TO HELP ENSURE SUCH MUNICIPALITIES ARE ABLE TO ANNEX UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF THE COUNTY 

This one acknowledges that lots of these "under 18,000 resident" villages in MDC are struggling, and that their only way to stabilize and improve their tax base is to annex surrounding lands.  It begs the question: if the annexing city is already challenged, who'd want to be annexed by them?

Special Item #4:
ORDINANCE RELATING TO ANNEXATION PROCEDURES; REQUIRING CONSENT FROM PROPERTY OWNERS IN AN AREA PROPOSED TO BE ANNEXED, IF THERE IS NO REQUIRED VOTE OF RESIDENT ELECTORS BECAUSE THERE ARE 250 OR FEWER RESIDENT ELECTORS IN THE AREA AND THE AREA IS FIFTY PERCENT OR LESS DEVELOPED RESIDENTIAL; PROVIDING THAT SUCH REQUIREMENT IS APPLICABLE TO PENDING AND FUTURE ANNEXATION REQUESTS, UNLESS SUCH REQUESTS HAVE RECEIVED A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD ON OR BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ORDINANCE; AMENDING SECTION 20-9 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA (''CODE''); PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE   

The BCC can currently accomplish an annexation by ordinance (without a vote of resident electors) if there are under 250 resident electors in the area, and the area is less than 50% developed residential.  This change would provide that in those situations, at least 50% of the resident electors in the area consent to the annexation.  It's a pretty big change, and would prevent "serial killer" annexors (cities who avoid the need for a vote by just biting off pieces, <250 resident electors in size, one after another).



Expect to see all of these items discussed in 3 months when County Mayor Gimenez delivers his report ("Special Item 1" described in the last post) to the Commissioners, and the debate rages once again.

County Comission Meeting 2/27, PART 1: "No Direction"

At the January 30th meeting of the NE Municipal Advisory Committee (the "MAC"), much emphasis was placed on a February 27th meeting of the full Board of County Comissioners (the "BCC") to discuss issues related to Annexation and Incorporation.  The BCC meeting was so central to the MAC's discussions, in fact, that the MAC decided to have no meeting in February, to await guidance from the county.

Guidance on what?  
As discussed in earlier posts, our area is at a standstill because of the "poison pill" to incorporation (mitigation) which is a huge financial obstacle, and the "poison pills" to annexation (utility revenues, franchise revenues, and mitigation).  The expectation was that some direction would be given, which would (i) give Aventura the necessary tools to conduct a 2014 update to its feasibility study on annexation, and (ii) allowing the MAC to properly construct a budget for incorporation.

The meeting was promoted heavily enough to generate some coverage from the local rag (Miami Herald), who had completely ignored earlier meetings of the issues, and the hearings of the Annexation and Incorporation Task Force.
The story is viewable here.  And for you seriously die-hard followers, the entire 5-hour meeting was recorded, and viewable here.


The agenda was only made available the night before the meeting, and it really is worth a read.  You can find it here, and of the 11 special items on the agenda, none of them addressed the "poison pills", and only 4 of them were ultimately even voted on.


The most notable development was therefore the BCC kicking the ball back to the Mayor.  So here is a summary of all the recent events:

• April 1, 2013: Mayor drafts memo urging elimination of "poison pills"
• Summer, 2013: AITF meets and also recommends eliminating "poison pills"
• Fall, 2013: AITF discredited due to corrupt members (indicted Mayors)
• March 27, 2014: BCC asks Mayor for another report, due in 90 days.

There was a lot of frustration from the audience who came in numbers to protest specific actions related to their specific areas.  The "red shirt" brigade from "West of Aventura" was out in full force, and as you can see in the video link, many of them had their say on the evils being planned and committed.


So Mayor Gimenez will have under 3 months to report and recommend on several key items, including (i) whether additional unincorporated areas should be considered "areas of significance" that should remain in County hands; (ii) whether the area outside the "urban development boundary" should similarly remain in County hands; (iii) whether the BCC should further strengthen policies preferring annexation to incorporation; (iv) whether police and fire services should be considered regional in nature and remain at the county level when new cities are created and (v) whether existing County debt would be affected by additional annexations/incorporations.


The language promoting annexation over incorporation is interesting.  As noted in a prior post, there are 34 municipalities within MDC already.  As the Skylake HOA noted, 17 of those villages have a smaller population then the 18,000 "West of Aventura."   Just open a road atlas and you can see what a patchwork mess MDC has become: 34 tiny kingdoms, each with its own king or queen, and sheriff. Perhaps the BCC recognizes a need to promote sensible annexations over yet more hamlets, since the number could easily exceed 50 municipalities in MDC the way things are going.


So: the first resolution passed at the 2/27 meeting of the BCC was to have the Mayor prepare a report in 90 days.


The second resolution was to create an annexation/incorporation website, to be launched in 60 days.  No controversy there.  In fact, I thought it already existed at: http://www.miamidade.gov/managementandbudget/incorporation-annexation.asp


The 3rd item passed was 
"ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO BOUNDARY CHANGE AND INCORPORATION PROCEDURES; AMENDING SECTIONS 20-6 AND 20-22 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA TO DELETE REQUIREMENT FOR REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION BY A COMMITTEE OF THE PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD FOR PURPOSES OF MAKING A COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION TO THE FULL PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD ON PROPOSED ANNEXATIONS AND INCORPORATIONS; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE."

This basically eliminates a duplicative process, since the full Planning Advisory Board still reviews, but now does it as a full board, and not first by a committee.  

The remaining special items on the agenda, about 7 of them, were deferred (the hope being that the Mayor would address them in his report).  

The next post will discusses the items that were NOT voted on.  Spoiler alert: Annexation with Aventura is almost shot down in flames.