A county planning staff review has advised against extending hours until 2 a.m. for a West Kendall soccer facility south of Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport due to a potential impact on a new housing development.
An application adding three hours to a nightly 11 p.m. zoning restriction comes before the West Kendall Community Council for public hearing on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 7 p.m., at Kendall Village Center Civic Pavilion, 8625 SW 124 Ave.
In a pre-hearing analysis, the Miami- Dade planning staff said extending nighttime soccer hours would have “negative and visual and aural impacts on the proposed residential development on the adjacent property to the east, which will detrimentally impact the way of life of future residents.”
Wynne Building Corp. of Miami owns approximately 75 acres at the southwest corner of SW 137th Avenue and 143rd Street where ground has been broken for 221 rental units of the “Green Turtle Club.”
Zoned for multi-family use, the Wynne property is located immediately west of a former Downtown Soccer facility at 14275 S W 139 Ct. built in 2011 and opened on Feb. 22, 2012 by Pedro Radon who has since left the operation as manager.
The application for increasing hours was made by the listed ownership, Aries Investments and Financial Services Inc., whose owner was unavailable for comment by deadline.
Ory M. Dawes, president of the Country Walk Master Homeowners Association, said she believed “the lighting will be focused on the playing field and will not spill into the neighboring homes.
“I trust that if the lighting does prove to be a problem to the Country Walk residents, the owners or operators of the soccer facility will work with us in minimizing the impact of the lighting,” she added.
Several Country Walk residents whose homes border the warehouse district along SW 144th Street, west of 137th Avenue had objected previously to lighting planned for the West Kendall Lexus automobile dealership before its construction.
According to a letter from attorney Guillermo Olmedillo, representing Aries, people who use the facility after hours are those who work in the industrial area. A small concession stand on the property serves its players.
Intensifying recreational uses by extending hours would be “incompatible” with the area, according to the staff, despite noting the change is consistent with land use requirements of the county Comprehensive Development Master Plan. The approximate 41,000- square-foot center lies between two warehouse units, north of SW 144th Street that borders the northern perimeter of Country Walk.
On a Green Turtle Club website, a “Coming Soon” summary, the community bearing the same name as a famous Bahama Islands resort is described as a new construction project with floor plans for “high quality rental townhouse(s)” in a two-story design.
