For the first time in three years, West Kendall Community Council has begun a new year with a full seven-member complement.
As a Zoning Board of Appeals, the council hears applications in Miami-Dade County west of Florida’s Turnpike from SW 42nd Street (Bird Road) to various areas immediately north of SW 154th and SW 184th streets.
The December 2011 appointment of Ileana Petisco by Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez fills the Sub Area 116 seat representing an area of West Kendall, generally west of SW 157th Avenue between 104th and 154th streets.
The seat was last held by chair Domingo Castillo, first Dominican- American elected to a public position in South Florida, a historical achievement regarded by the Dominican Republic community.
The seat had been vacant since Castillo resigned on Jan. 20, 2009 after not seeking reelection in the 2008 primary.
Petisco’s service brought the council to its full seven members during its first two meetings in 2012, including the Jan. 17 session when Ileana R. Vazquez was elected chair and Miguel A. Diaz, vice chair.
Vazquez, an at-large appointee of Commissioner Martinez in 2007, is an intervention specialist on behalf of children, and holds a doctorate in Children, Youth and Family Studies from Nova Southeastern University. Awarded a specialist degree in education from the National Board of Education, she serves as director of the ILE Learning Centers Inc. in West Kendall. Diaz was elected to a fouryear term in August 2010.
Petisco, graduated from University of Miami Nursing School in 2010 as a registered nurse. She also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2007 from FIU, majoring in sociology and anthropology.
She currently is associated with the University of Miami School of Medicine in new drug control programs. She is the mother of three children. David, 18; Anabelle, 14, and Andrew, 5.
Asked of her relationship to Anthony Petisco, appointed to fill a vacant seat on East Kendall’s Community Council 12 in October 2011, she laughed.
“That’s just a coincidence,” she said. “He’s the nephew of my husband, Jose. Anthony and I are both interested in service to our communities.”
SCHOOL EXPANSION DENIED BY COUNCIL
In zoning actions on Feb. 14, West Kendall Community Council acting as a Zoning Board of Appeals:
• Denied by a 6-0 vote Camejo Private School expansion of facilities at the northwest corner of SW 59th Street and 136th Avenue on a three-acre site that would utilize an adjoining FPL easement to house up to 814 students instead of its current enrollment of 260.
Granted permission by a 6-0 vote for TDBank to provide a directional sign on an existing monument emplacement of First Baptist Church and permit a drive-in bank branch on 1.4 acres of the church property of 10.2 acres at 14955 SW 88 St., immediately west of the Target store.
• Approved the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday in an existing package store at BJ’s Wholesale Club, operated by Mormax Beverage Corporation, on an 8.7- acre site located at 16200 SW 88 St.
