S. Miami eyes grab for land

Taking advantage of secession fever, the South Miami City Commission has set in motion a plan that would gobble up parts of the East Kendall, Pinecrest and Westchester incorporation proposals.

The annexation plan, which would more than double South Miami’s size and greatly increase its wealth, was rejected outright last week by some incorporation leaders but was welcomed by an East Kendall representative.

“Being a part of a city where the government is already established would be a better idea,” said Gonzalo Sanabria, head of the East Kendall steering committee, at a commission meeting Tuesday night.

South Miami’s proposal is one in a series of annexation and incorporation plans.

South Miami City Manager Eddie Cox’s proposal would extend city boundaries west from Southwest 57th Avenue to 87th Avenue and south from Southwest 40th Street to 104th Street. The plan also includes the unincorporated section between Red and Old Cutler roads from Coral Gables south.

Mayor Neil Carver, with the commission’s approval, concluded the meeting with a three-point assignment for Cox: identify the specific communities represented in the proposal; begin an annexation feasibility report; and plan a public forum for current South Miami residents to voice their opinions.

The commission will discuss the proposal again at its March 21 meeting.

At the commission meeting Tuesday, residents from several areas expressed eagerness for better services and concerns of higher taxes.

“I was happy with the service I received from South Miami,” said Arturo Mendoza, who lived in the city for 20 years before moving 200 yards west of city boundaries two years ago.

Some residents were not so supportive.

Gary Matzner, a member of the Pinecrest incorporation steering committee, said Friday that his committee has never considered joining South Miami and is proceeding with its incorporation plans.

Series Label

DIVIDING DADE

OCCASIONAL SERIES

Boundary Map Panel

A BIGGER SOUTH MIAMI?

South Miami officials have proposed an expansion that would more than double the city’s space and overlap three present incorporation proposals.

Five map headings:

• EXISTING SOUTH MIAMI
• PROPOSED S. MIAMI BOUNDARIES
• WESTCHESTER INCORPORATION
• EAST KENDALL INCORPORATION
• PINECREST INCORPORATION

Overview labels: Current boundaries of South Miami; KROME AVE.; BIRD RD.; SW 8 ST.; SW 56 ST.; SW 72 ST.; SW 88 ST.; SW 112 ST.; SW 136 ST.; SW 152 ST.; 157 AVE.; 137 AVE.; 127 AVE.; 117 AVE.; 87 AVE.; 67 AVE.; RED RD.; LEJEUNE RD.; OLD CUTLER RD.; Tamiami Airport; Turnpike; Biscayne Bay. Road shields: 41, 826, 874, 1. Scale: 0 to 1 MILE.

Smaller maps repeat street/road labels in different arrangements. Their boundary shapes and spatial relationships are preserved in boundary-maps.jpg; OCR labels alone are not an authoritative geographic dataset.

FERNANDO BATTAGLIA / Herald Staff

Graphic identifier: N-M10