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Home My WebLink AboutR-98-0923J-98-977 9/28/98 RESOLUTION NO. 9 8 923 A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE ADMINISTRATION FINDING, AT THE REQUEST OF THE HONORABLE CITY COMMISSIONER ARTHUR E. TEELE, JR., OF A DEFICIENCY OF PARK ACRES IN THE LITTLE HAITI NEIGHBORHOOD AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO INCLUDE, AS A TOP PRIORITY IN THE CITY OF MIAMI'S 1999 STATE LEGISLATIVE REQUESTS, FUNDING IN AN AMOUNT OF $10 MILLION TO ACQUIRE, BUILD, AND DEVELOP AN OUTSTANDING PARK FACILITY OF AT LEAST 8-10 ACRES IN THE LITTLE HAITI NEIGHBORHOOD; FURTHER, URGING THE GOVERNOR TO INCLUDE THIS FUNDING REQUEST IN THE FY 1998-1999 STATE BUDGET. WHEREAS, at the request of the Honorable City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele, Jr., the City initiated a Parks Open Space Evaluation Report for the Little Haiti Neighborhood; and WHEREAS, the Little Haiti Neighborhood is located in the northeast section of the City bounded by the Little River and City limits on the North, the Airport Expressway on the South, and the FEC railroad tracts on the East, and the I-95 Expressway on the West; and WHEREAS, the Parks Open Space Evaluation Report for Little Haiti prepared by the City of Miami revealed that a deficiency of 28.22 park acres exists in this neighborhood; and WHEREAS, the Little Haiti neighborhood is one of the poorest CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF S E P 2 9 1998 Raw1ution No. neighborhoods in the City of Miami; and WHEREAS, the City of Miami would require funding in an amount of $10 million to acquire, build, and develop an outstanding park facility of at least 8-10 acres in the Little Haiti neighborhood; and WHEREAS, the City intends to request that the State of Florida provide the funding needed for such a facility; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA; Section 1. The recitals and finding contained in the Preamble to this Resolution are hereby adopted by reference thereto and incorporated herein as if fully set forth in this Section. Section 2. The Administration's findings that a deficiency of park acres exists in the Little Haiti Neighborhood is hereby confirmed. Section 3. The City Manager is hereby authorized to include, as a top priority in the City of Miami's 1999 State Legislative funding requests, an amount of $10,000,000 to acquire, build, and develop an outstanding park facility of at least 8-10 acres in the Little Haiti neighborhood. Section 4. The City Commission hereby urges the Governor - 2 - 98- 923 to include this funding request in the FY 1998-1999 State budget. Section 5. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption and signature of the Mayor Y PASSED AND ADOPTED this 28th day of September ATTEST: Nowg"., JOE CAROLLO, MAYOR In accordance %(dh Miami Code Sec. 2.36, since the Mayor did not indicate approve! of this legislation by signing it in the designated place provided, said legislation vi becomes effective WM the elapse of ten 00) days from the date of Commission action Ong SaM66 widW the Mayor 7AW 4JWa2n, i City Clerk WALTER J. FOEMAN CITY CLERK APPROIkf A/TD ]AM AND CORRECTNESS :t ', NDROT V I LMRELLO ATTORNEY W2925:CSK:kc �i If the Mayor does not sign this Resolution, it shall become effective at the end of ten calendar days from the date it was passed and adopted. If the Mayor vetoes this Resolution, it shall become effective immediately upon override of the veto by the City Commission. 3 - 98- 923 CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Honorable Mayor and Members DATE : SEP 2 1 1998 FILE: of the City Commission SUBJECT: Resolution Confirming the Finding of A Deficiency of Park Acres in the Little FROM: REFERENCES: Haiti Neighborhood lonal?H.Varshaw City Manager ENCLOSURES: RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that as a result of the City Administration finding at the request of the Honorable City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele, Jr., that the City Commission adopt the attached resolution authorizing the City Manager to include as a top priority in the City of Miami's 1999 State Legislative requests, funding in an amount of $10 million to acquire build and develop a first class park facility of at least 8-10 acres in the Little Haiti neighborhood. BACKGROUND: At several recent City Commission Meetings, the Honorable District 5 Commissioner Arthur E. Teele, Jr., requested that the City Administration conduct an analysis to determine if in fact there is a shortage of park open space in the Little Haiti neighborhood. The Departments of Planning and Parks completed the attached Parks Open Space Evaluation Report for Little Haiti which reveals that there is a deficiency of approximately 28.22 park acres in this neighborhood. The Little Haiti neighborhood is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the City of Miami. It is located on the Northeast section of the City bounded by the Little River and City limits on the North, the Airport Expressway on the South, and the FEC railroad tracts on the East and I-95 Expressway on the West. �' A i2 DHWAR/ms Attachment 98- 923 PARKS OPEN SPACE EVALUATION FOR LITTLE HAITI DEPARTMENTS OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT/PARKS August 1998 98- 923 LITTLE HAITI 1990 POPULATION CENSUS POPULATION 14.01 5,361 14.02 4,207 20.01 5,110 20.03 4,450 20.04 3,494 22.01 5,688 22.02 7,109 TOTAL 35,419 ' EXISTING PARKS Athalie Range Community 11.90 Lemon City Neighborhood 2.80 Buena Vista Mini 1.60 Oakland Grove Mini 0.20 N. Bay Vista Mini 0.50 S. Bay Vista Mini 0.20 Pulman Mini 0.40 Little River Commerce Mini 0.22 TOTAL 17.82 Acres *ACCEPTABLE LEVELOF SERVICE: 1.3 Acres/1000 population 35,419 x 1.3 = 46.04 acres 1,000 DEFICIENCY: 46.04 - 17.82 = 28.22 Acres 98- 923 ----------------------- eaZ7 -- ��', s k�% Nl�}� GEC, Jx� 98- 923 (L'tU of 41 t1 {FItlzI .d..:..,,,. M 1 c _ O R = - - ARTHUR E. TEELE JR. v,CE CIAiRMAI, �'U. NN )'-- � T, O�— MIAM, COMM'SS�Or, FAX September 28, 1998 Re: Budget Hearing 5:05 p.m. Dear Mr. Mayor and Colleagues: Please be advised that I have invited members of the Dade Delegation, and other elected officials who represent the Little Haiti community to share their thoughts on the above referenced City's Resolution. This resolution directs the City Manager to include a request for $10 million from the Florida State legislature to acquire, design, and build a full service park of at least 8-10 acres for the Edison/ Little River (Little Haiti) neighborhoods. I respectfully request, that the elected officials who wish to speak on this issue be allowed to speak upon their arrival, as they are in their official capacity as representatives of the referenced project area. For your perusal, I have enclosed a list of those elected officials who have confirmed their attendance at today's public hearing. I appreciate your consideration in this matter. Warm personal regards. Faith lly, Arthur E. eele, Jr. Commissioner Enclosure 98- 923 LITTLE HAITI PARK INITIATIVE - ELECTED OFFICIALS As of 4:15pm 9/28/98 - Confirmed Attendees - Agenda Item 49 Florida State Senate The Honorable William H. Turner Florida State Senate 1175 N.E. 125th, Suite 320 North Miami, Florida 33161 305/895-8870 305/795-2108 (fax) - The Honorable Alberto Gutman Florida State Senate 1800 Southwest 27' Avenue, Suite 300 Miami, Florida 33145 305/442-6990 305/442-6980 (fax) Florida House of Representatives The Honorable Luis Rojas Florida House of Representatives 6011 West 16' Avenue, Suite A Hialeah, Florida 33012 305/827-2720 305/557-4762 (fax) The Honorable Beryl Roberts -Burke Florida House of Representatives 7900 N.E. 2nd Avenue, Suite 705 Miami, Florida 33138 305/325-3086 305/325-3088 (fax) 9 - 923 Florida House of Representatives (cont'd) The Honorable Larcenia Bullard Florida House of Representatives 10700 Caribbean Boulevard, Building 1, Suite 302 Miami, Florida 33189 305/253-3421 305/234-2256 (fax) 98- 923 Cat#Ij 0f ffl T- a M T _ „F 1 WALTER J.FOFMAN City Clerk November 4, 1998 TO: The Honorable Lawton Chiles Governor State Florida -� FROM: Walter J. an, C ty of Miami City Clerk DONALD H. AVARSH-\\% Otv Manager Enclosed please find a copy of Resolution 98-923, which was passed and adopted by the City of Miami Commission at its meeting on September 28, 1998. This legislation is being forwarded to you for your information and files. OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK/ 3500 Pan American Drive/P.O. Box 330708/Miami, FL 33233/(305) 250-5360/FAX: (305) 858-1610 CEh_ fER FOR HAITIAN S'6 UOIES, INC. C.H.S. September 29, 1998 -' BOARD OF DIRECTORS J. Bryan Page, Ph.D. Chairperson ' Commissioner J.L. Plummer Carmeus Jacob Board of City Commissioners 3500 Pan American Drive Kareen Jean Miami, Florida 33133 Jean-MichelCetoute Re: Commission Meeting of Monday September 28, 1998 Carl Craig Carlo Gabriel Dear Commissioner Plummer: Carmelo Monestime During the Commission meeting you presided over on Monday September 28, 1998, you rushed through a crucial issue regarding the Haitian community, not allowing Luis E. Perez concerned members of the community to fully voice their support for the proposition Prince C. Smith. Ph.D. of Commissioner Arthur Teele to establish a park in the neglected Edison/Little River area of Miami. I have attended other City Commission meetings where you have Richard Douyon disrespectfully shown the same lack of interest in listening to Americans of Haitian Fedy Brierre descent presenting issues about their district to the Commission. When other groups present their issues, however, I have observed you encouraging them to speak out by Rev. Haskell I. Young allowing them more time to express their concerns before the Commission. Betty Bigby Young. Edo. APR In addition, after Reverend Jonas Georges identified himself during the half second Laurinus Pierre, M.D.. M.P.H. Executive Director you allowed us to say our names and addresses, you stated: "You are the biggest Haitian I have ever seen." As an American of Haitian descent, I am very well aware of the typical high-tech, almost undetectable stereotypes and the treatment given to certain races and ethnic groups in the United States. I find this remark from a public official to be inappropriate, insensitive to Haitians and Americans of Haitian descent, and in this context, could be easily interpreted as racist. Members of the Little Haiti community came to City Hall to voice their support for the construction of a park in one of the most underserved areas of the City of Miami. During the past decade, we have seen many young Americans of Haitian descent engage in gang -related and other high risk activities. This is partly due to a lack of park facilities for recreational programs that are likely to offer an alternative to criminal activities in the streets of Little Haiti. This is serious business to us and it should be of concern to each citizen living in Miami since the next crime victim may be anyone living in any district in the City. 8260 N. E. 2nd Avenue • Miami, Florida 33138 METRO-AX DERA DAOE OF HUMAN RESOURCES (305) 757-9555 • Fax: (305) 756-8023 HAFF11MATED CHS is a private non-profit Community -based Organization AGENCY ,W„q,u An equal opportunity employer O � Commissioner J.L. Plummer Board of City Commissioners September 29, 1998 Page 2 When members of the community come to City Hall to be heard, we don't expect to hear ironic remarks about the physical appearance of any our compatriots. Haitians, like any other ethnic groups, come in all sizes. I would appreciate your refraining from making these kinds of "remarks" about citizens of Haitian descent whether they are meant in jest or not.. As voters and tax payers, our purpose in coming to the Commission meetings is to address issues that are vital to us as a people. Basic principles of democracy and simple courtesy require that we be allowed to speak out just like other groups of citizens/voters. I look forward to your response to this letter. Sincerely, j i -Laurinus Pierre, M.D., M.P.H. Executive Director cc: City of Miami Mayor/All City Commissioners 6260 N.E. 2nd Avenue • Miami, Florida 33136 (305) 757-9555 • Fax: (305) 756-8023 CHS is a private non-profit Community -based Organization An equal opportunity employer