Despite staff objections and those listed by the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the Miami-Dade County Planning Advisory Board has approved moving the Urban Development Boundary in West Kendall for commercial development.

Nine members of the 14-member board first acted to deny the application on Mar. 10 but when that motion failed by a 5-4 “no” vote, a subsequent motion approved the application with a restriction limiting any development to 75,000 square feet of neighborhood office and retail uses. Approval by the split vote of the board (with five absentees on Mar. 10) is the last step in the current permitting process scheduled for final action on the agenda of the county commission at a Wednesday, Apr. 28, meeting, 9:30 a.m., in the downtown Stephen P. Clark Government Center.

That’s when the commission will receive “Amendment Four” from the (Merio) Ferro Investment Group LLC represented by attorney Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, of Becker & Poliakoff, asking that 9.9 acres at the southeast corner of SW 167th Avenue and SW 104th Street be changed from agricultural to a combined business and office use.

The area, known as “Kendall Commons,” originally was planned as a housing development, south of Kendall Drive and bordering SW 167th Avenue. Pending commission action has touched off a renewed protest by Miami-Dade’s Clean Water Action organization under the leadership of Dawn Shirreffs, program coordinator, and Margaret Morales, program organizer.

“We expect other organizations and West Kendall neighbors to join us in protesting this effort to move the UDB at a time when empty storefronts exist throughout Miami- Dade County within the boundary, practically begging for tenants,” said Morales, who was photographing “For Lease” signage at strip centers.

The application for a retail shopping center began its path through the CDMP amendment process on Sept. 22, 2009, when Community Council 11 voted 3-1 to submit the document without recommendation. Council chair Patricia “Shannen” Davis voted “no,” explaining she was against UDB movement “on principle.”

A list of objections by the Planning and Zoning staff was seconded later when reviewed by the State Department of Community Affairs that found “no need had been demonstrated” for designating land outside the UDB Miami-Dade County for commercial development. In addition, a 44-page document authored by several state departments concluded that the application included “multiple factors of urban sprawl” and failure to protect agriculture while causing potential impact to an existing water well field.

Morales said that sufficient commercial land has been documented as available within the UDB without depletion “until year 2025 and beyond,” adding that approval of the CDMP change would lead to increased traffic congestion and overextended municipal services.

She estimated that 3 million square feet of business and office space currently is available within a four-mile radius of the site. She also noted the 10-acre parcel is bordered by the UDB “on only one side, creating a pocket of agricultural land surrounded by urban uses which will surely lead to even more development of agricultural land outside the UDB to “fill in” that space in the future.

“This 9.9-acre proposal represents only a small percent of land owned by Mario Ferro in this area. Approval will also set the stage for subsequent surplus development in a wellfield protection area, potentially damaging our already severely taxed water supply.”

In pleading Ferro’s case before both Community Council 11 and the PAB, Diaz de la Portilla said the land is located within an already designated Urban Expansion Area (UEA), deemed suitable for urban land uses.

He said development could not be construed as “urban sprawl” because there already are public facilities and services in place to serve the site.

The attorney previously told community council members that the land was not viable for agricultural use because it was located in an already-developed residential and commercial area between SW 157th and Krome avenues in West Kendall.

A new playground complete with a colorful climbing apparatus officially debuted at Winston Park K-8 Center in front of hundreds of students, parents, teachers and administrators during an opening ceremony on Apr. 20.

“It’s rare to see a new playground open as a ribbon-cutting event,” said principal Carlos Diaz, who emceed the event. “But it isn’t every school that has a parent-teacher organization that goes out and raises $30,000 to make it happen.” Four years ago, surface tiles on the former area began coming up under heavy wear and tear, explained Maria Moscoso, PTSA vice president for fundraising.

“Kids played with balls, hula hoops, chalk and jump ropes in the area of the old playground that became barren dirt from overuse,” Moscoso said. “It became a muddy mess, making it unsafe with kids tripping over themselves, as the surface tiles broke loose. It had to be closed in 2006.”

That led a loyal group of PTSA parents to “see what we could do ourselves to get a new play area for the kids.” Three years later, the PTSA met with school district officials pledging to pay to open a restored playground and embarking the group on sales of bright red “Wildcat” T-shirts, books and other projects to raise funds for a new playground.

“We actually became part of the design and vendor process and with the $30,000 we raised, school officials were so impressed they kicked in another $16,000 to resurface the old playground and provide landscaping,” Moscoso said.

Joining her were four key PTSA officers, honored for their part in the project, including Maria Diaz, president; Mayra Diaz, treasurer; Diana Hernandez, secretary (a WP-K8 teacher), and Elena Nieves, vice president of events.

Before the ribbon cutting, Miami-Dade School Board District 7 member Ana Rivas Logan recalled walking “my daughter to school here when I lived in an apartment just a few blocks away. So as a parent and a working teacher, this is very special moment for me, and this PTSA shows how working together can make special things happen.

“And I promise you, you will soon get your new cafetorium, too.” Janet Hupp, Region 4 superintendent, representing schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho, said, “By playing and working together, our children learn the cooperative spirit that can bring about a successful projects like this.”

In appreciation, a delegation of elementary pupils displayed a hand-written scroll, dedicating the playground to a deceased kindergarten teacher who spent extra hours daily as before and after-school manager. The wording to honor his memory reads: “A good teacher explains, a superior teacher demonstrates, a great teacher inspires. Dedicated to a teacher who inspired us all: Willie Felder.” The scroll will become a permanent fixture at Winston-Park K-8, just around the corner from its new playground.

A creative explosion of scientific know-how engineered by its inaugural freshmen class on Apr. 21, a day before Earth Day, marked the colorful and creative dedication of Terra Environmental Research Institute, Miami- Dade County’s first “Green” high school.

Among the initial 400 ninth grade students at the Kendall school were paper-clad butterflies; a walking snail; $5,000 working robot demonstration, and three students covered with plastic bags, reminding visitors to properly dispose of non-recyclable materials. These were among working exhibits of environmental research, engineering technology and biomedical research, Terra’s three academic disciplines.

“When I was greeted on the sidewalk by 500 walking trash bags, I knew this school would do something entirely out of the ordinary to host a dedication,” smiled Miami- Dade Public Schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho during an address in the school’s cafetorium.

“I became even more positive when I had my blood pressure taken by a student biological team. Not only that, this has to be the first school serving drinks at its dedication,” he added, toasting the audience with a paper cup of peach-infused tea, an environmentally conscious refreshment. All of his comments drew appreciable chuckles from more than 200 school administrators, teachers, school board members and educational VIPs that included visitors from Japan and German consulates observing Miami-Dade’s first LEED-certified magnet high school.

“The real celebration here is the magic of teachers,” Carvalho concluded somewhat pointedly, alluding to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s recent veto of legislation opposed by most educators that would have eliminated teacher tenure.

“Seeing this school today, you would never know its concept began with a meeting four years ago to discuss how to relieve overcrowding at Killian and Palmetto Senior High,” recalled Miami-Dade School Board District 7 member Ana Rivas- Logan. “Parents were then adamant against transferring students out of their neighborhoods. Now, we count 1,800 applications for the next 400 seats, including Killian and Palmetto students waiting to get into Terra in the future.”

Adding her praise was Region Four superintendent Janet Hupp who complimented the “skilled work of Silva Architects of Coral Gables that transformed the prototype of a new middle school on the grounds of MacArthur School into a setting for three scientific academies, the foundation for Terra’s unique study program.”

Terra principal Caridad Montano, who has guided the day-to-day fortune of the school through its first year, credited its energetic students, “supported by their parents and a team of very special teachers and administrators who made a school like this a reality.” Just before noon, Montano joined school board members and Carvalho to cut a ribbon made of palm fibers, using natural rather than manufactured material that would waste resources.

A colorful display of “War Birds and Classics,” coupled with free first flights for students, will mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday, May 15, at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport.

The “Fly-In Show” is designed to expand activities and interest at the Wings Over Miami Air Museum, located at the far western tip of the SW 128th Street entrance road serving the general aviation airfield off SW 137th Avenue.

Pilots from throughout Florida will arrive in a continuing parade of landings and takeoffs to exhibit a variety of aircraft types that also will be parked and examined on the tarmac area near the museum’s hangar that houses its permanent aviation exhibits.

Foreign exotics like the Russianmade Yakovlev (YAK-52), owned by Fred Schafly, a director at the museum, also will be on display, along with a Navy SNJ advanced trainer with a World War II-styled Miss America decorating its nose.

A special “Young Eagles Program” will offer free first flights for students, ages 8-17, with advance reservations accepted by email at < youngeagles620@aol.com >.

Yale Mosk, who displays his own twoseater biplane, emblematic of “barnstorming” pilots of the early 20th Century, directs the student program as president of the Tamiami Experimental Aircraft Association.

The Fly-in Show provides an opportunity for Florida and other U.S. pilots to park and display their flown-in planes, much like car shows with vintage automobiles. Pilots will be available for visits and explanations about their aircraft.

“Preparation for the Fly-In is a community effort,” said Suzette Rice, a volunteer publicist who credits assistance from Miami-Dade College aviation students, Civil Air Patrol members, the Sapere Group non-profit business organization, Experimental Aircraft Association 620 and West Kendall Business Association. Show vendors may contact Rice at 305-323-9995 for information.

The program is the first of a series planned in 2010 by museum chair William “Bill” Walker and a board of directors that has inaugurated a “Friday Night at the Museum” series, which kicked off on Apr. 9 with a reenactment of a WWII military pilots’ briefing.

Both the display and admittance to the museum are combined in a single admission for the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at $10, adult, and $5, child under age 12.

Annual museum family memberships are $40 for unlimited visits to shows at Wings Over Miami, a tribute to veterans and aviators who pioneered both military and civilian aircraft. For details, visit online at < www.wingsovermiami.com > or call 305- 233-5197.

Welcomed aboard by U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Anthony D. Atwood’s boatswain’s pipe, a delegation headed by Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart mounted the stage for the Apr. 24 dedication of “Building 25” as the future home of a new Miami Military Museum.

With another creative touch, Atwood supervised officials who collectively hauled on a rope to “move” the 700,000- pound structure five-feet north on rollerequipped steel support beams to a permanent foundation adjacent to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum grounds.

The “lanyard pull” symbolized the final move of the three-story structure from the World War II era Richmond Naval Air Station where its skeleton was rebuilt under a new roof and ship-lapped wall siding on all four sides to further recreate appropriate detail of the 1940-era military building.

The relocation represented “a key step to give Miami’s military history a permanent home,” said Atwood, who steadfastly has guided the concept both as a tribute to Miamians who served in the Armed Forces and a living record of the role played by those stationed here since World War II. The full and proper name is “The Miami Military Museum and Veterans Memorial.”

With its original Dade County pine hardwood beams still intact, the Naval quarters was the last viable structure that could be salvaged from a sprawling base that once housed blimps that hunted for German submarines. The area has become home to part of Miami Metrozoo and the Gold Coast Railroad Museum (GCRR) just south of SW 152nd Street.

A $2 million grant from the Building Better Communities bond issue provided funding to rehabilitate the dilapidated and termite-infested structure with flooring tiles “saturated with asbestos,” according to Atwood. Such hazards have been eliminated to create “a totally sanitized and safe exhibition space,” said the former Naval officer (now an FIU professor) who is stockpiling wartime relics of the 20th Century to showcase Miami- and Floridaconnected history.

With its replicated (but hurricane-proofed) windows, the building also will get a proper coat of white paint to maintain its authenticity said Atwood of the structure that later became a home for training anti-Castro freedom fighters and provided a center for both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

The new location places the museum-tobe as a partner with GCRR exhibits, forming what is planned as a “Main Street” town plaza, part of Waterpark, Miami-Dade Commission chair Dennis Moss’ dream to open a major tourist destination that annually would attract 400,000 visitors.

Kathleen Slesnick Kauffman of the county’s Office of Historic Preservation, proudly tracing three generations of personal ancestry in military service, said the museum “was a symbol of the foresight of citizens who set aside $10 million for preservation of its culture and history.”

Adding his congratulations was commission vice chair Jose “Pepe” Diaz who pledged both his and the county’s continuing support of the museum project that Rep. Diaz-Balart termed the “most significant reminder of our first responders, the men and women who serve the United States military.”