Why aren't we part of Aventura?

The title of the Blog and the first post beg the question: if we are defined by our proximity to Aventura, why not join them?

Apparently there was some attempt to be part of Aventura from its beginning (it was incorporated in 1995), but because 1995 was before my residency here, I can't go into much detail on that.  

In 2004 there was a first effort to become ANNEXED by Aventura.  "Annexed" means an existing city absorbs a neighboring area that is not itself incorporated.  Here's how that 2004 effort was described:

"In September 2004, the City of Aventura ("City") prepared an Annexation Feasibility Study of the North East Mac area to determine the fiscal feasibility of annexing the subject area.  The study was requested after representatives from the unincorporated area west of the City formally petitioned the City Commission in May 2004 to annex into the corporate boundaries of the City." 

[source: January 2008 Annexation Feasibility Study - Introduction]

The 2004 result?: Aventura declined the opportunity, concluding 

"the City would experience a significant negative fiscal impact on [its] budget if the Northeast MAC area were annexed to the City ... The first year deficit was projected to be $1,032,445, an amount that equaled to about 20% of the revenues anticipated from the annexed area.  The County Code relating to electric franchise and utility tax revenues adversely affected the revenue projections by $1,403,700.  Without overcoming those obstacles, it was not prudent from a financial standpoint to annex..."

[source: January 2008 Annexation Feasibility Study - Introduction]

This 2004 effort by our "West of Aventura" community was happening at the same time the area was investigating INCORPORATION (which means forming a NEW city where previously there was only unincorporated land).  The history of incorporation will be covered in another post.

So in 2004, Aventura says "no" to annexation, the County put a stop to new incorporations, and there was a kind of "identity limbo".  The limbo persisted into 2008, when the "West of Aventura" crowd, now led by Gloria Romero Roses (then President of the Sky Lake-Highland Lakes Area HOA) petitioned Aventura to once again consider Annexation.  One of her communications to Aventura is pictured below:

So what was the response in 2008?  Because there had been NO change at the county level when it came to electric franchise revenues and utility tax revenues, the answer (unsurprisingly) was still "No".  Below is the "conclusion" page of the 2008 report from Aventura:

The concluding paragraph reads "... if the County is not willing to make concessions relating to the City retaining electric franchise and utility tax revenues, this would adversely affected [sic] the revenue projections by $1,015,000.  Without overcoming these obstacles it would not be prudent from a financial standpoint to annex the area identified in the study."

So to sum up the annexation efforts:
2004: NO
2008: NO

Where do we stand today, in 2014?  Well, there is a meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 27th at 9:30 where the County Commissioners will actually be considering changes to County laws, including those relating to "electric franchise revenues" [Sec. 20-8.1] and "utility tax revenues" [Sec.20-8.2].

If this meeting leads to a change in these laws, there would be no financial impediment to Aventura incorporating our area, and they would likely consider annexation on the merits.  That's not to say they would be in 100% in favor of annexation, but at least there would be no financial barrier to doing so, as there was in 2004 and 2008.

Stay tuned.  These issues will be revisited in a later post, and probably many posts thereafter.

First Post: Nomenclature

no·men·cla·ture

ˈnōmənˌklāCHər/

noun: the devising or choosing of names for things, esp. in a science or other discipline.

Naming a blog is almost as hard as naming a city.  As seen in the map below, there are no real distinguishing geographical features.

• Like the entire state of Florida, it's flat.
• Like much of the coastal regions, it has some water features.
• And like the East half of the State, it's next to I-95

Here's what it looks like:

There are so many lawyers living here, it seems, that if it were a town it might be called "lawyerville", or maybe "village-at-law".

What really defines the community is its proximity to Aventura Mall, which wikipedia describes as 

"the largest conventional shopping mall in Florida, having a gross leasable area of 2,700,000 square feet (250,000 m²), and is the third largest shopping center in the United States. The mall has three floors of retail space, comprising more than 300 retailers. In addition there is a food court with eighteen fast food eateries, as well as several chains and other restaurants at the mall's entrance."

 

But you can't call a blog "West of Aventura Mall", so I settled on "West of Aventura".  That way, most people in the County who pass through our community (probably to go shopping) will know what area I'm referring to.

Our area (pictured in the image above) is, and for many years has been, investigating more localized government.  On this blog I will post on the history of this effort, what is going on today, and what may happen in the future.  I'll also post on events and news of interest. 

I've never created a blog before, and I may end up being the only person to read it, but giving some organization to the issues facing the community is never futile.  Hopefully there will be a mechanism for other residents to comment or contribute to the site - I welcome other contributions and feedback.