Anyone can sign this petition, but if you are not in one of the groups of persons in the next paragraph, please say so in the Comment Section when you sign.
More Parks for Miami NOW! Being a youth or adult resident of Miami, someone who works in Miami, or a person who owns property in the City of Miami, I realize; Miami ranks last of all high density cities in the entire US in park space per resident; that 4 of 5 Miami Commission districts severly lack parks; that parks add to the quality of life; that parks are proven to be economic generators and that to keep property taxes low, Florida Law provides that developers who add population, should pay for the capital costs of new parks if residents demand it from their elected leaders, instead of property taxes on all property.
Therefore, I petition Mayor Regalado and the Miami Commission to take actions immediately to make it possible to collect higher one time Impact Fees on developers so park acreage is actually added to Miami so as to not further deteriorate our park acreage / population ratio as it has severly declined over the last several years, to better serve our population and visitors and that Miami 21 be changed so parks are protected from being covered with buildings and parking lots.
Please ask your youth and adult friends to sign this petition to be delivered to the Mayor and Commissioners. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/moreparksformiaminow/
Below are more detailed facts about this petition:
Miami has the least amount of park space per resident of any high density city in the entire United States and 4 of 5 Commission Districts have little or no park space. Over the years, taxpayers from all Commission districts have paid taxes to create the parks which are mainly in District Two.
During the recent building boom our park situation became much worse because only two acres of parks were added when 155 acres should have been added to serve the over 50,000 new residents added by developers.
Under Florida law, municipalities can hold developers responsible for paying one time Impact Fees to pay for additional classroom space, police and fire department needs and new park land, but the fees collected for parks were not enough and to make the matter worse the Miami Commission used the park fee money for improvement projects, but not to buy the needed park land.
Also during the recent building boom, many developers escaped paying the new higher Impact Fees because the Commission failed to enact the new fees in time to apply to the new, mostly luxury high rise condos.
A review of the Impact Fees by the Commission was due in 2008, but that review has not taken place.
A massive development, south of the Miami River, which the Commission has approved, will be applying in early 2012 for a building permit which will add over two thousand new residents, plus hotel rooms, office space and commercial space.
In progressive cities, impact fees for parks are collected not just on residential units, but also on hotel, commercial and office space because visitors, shoppers and office workers respectively also create a need for more park space.
If Miami Impact Fees for parks are revised in time and if they are commensurate with the actual cost of Miami land, then the funds collected on this one large project could create up to eight neighborhood size parks instead of perhaps one if fees are not revised. Time is critical because revised Impact Fees must be in place 90 days before this new project or any project applys for a building permit.
If Mayor Regaldo and the Commission fail to review and adjust the fees before April of 2012, this developer and others will slide under the wire as many developers have done over the last several years.
Beyond Impact Fees, Miami 21, the new zoning code, allows 25% of any park to automatically be covered with buildings
with no limit on the additional space allowed for parking.
Miami Parks need protections similar to County Parks. Miami 21 must be revised so no more than 25% of any park can be covered with a combination of buildings, parking and other hard surfaces. If more space in a park is needed for a public building, then there needs to be public process and the
green park land to be covered over should be replaced in the neighborhood.
This petition means Mayor Regalado and the Commission need to adjust our Level of Service for Parks from 1.3 acres per thousand residents to 3.1, where our actual park acreage was several years ago and that the Impact Fees for parks be raised to provide for the purchase and development of 3.1 acres per thousand new residents, paid for by developers who add population to our city, that these new Impact Fees be in place by March 2012 and that Miami 21 be revised to provide protections for Miami parks.