Pinecrest turnout as high as in presidential race

The idea of forming a village of Pinecrest got many people out to the polls last week.

Pinecrest’s voter turnout was 46.4 percent - meaning almost half of the area’s 10,321 registered voters took part in democracy.

That’s higher than when Key Biscayne or Aventura voted to form their cities - and it’s higher than the voter turnout in some presidential elections.

Perhaps voters were interested because it struck the heart of their community.

“The issue of incorporation is a unique issue, and it becomes very personal to people living within those communities,” said Gisela Salas, assistant supervisor of elections. “This is a different type of issue than other issues you normally see on the ballot because it affects people at home. [It’s] their community.”

When Aventura voted to form its own city in March, 41.5 percent of the area’s 12,415 registered voters turned out.

Known for getting voters to the polls, the condo commandos in Aventura apparently didn’t do as good a job as the single-family homeowners in Pinecrest.

Key Biscayne’s incorporation election in 1990 brought out 32.2 percent of the area’s 4,241 registered voters.

All three areas are vastly different. Aventura is modern, sleek condos; Key Biscayne boasts plenty of waterfront property; and Pinecrest is made up mostly of Florida-style dwellings: long one-story homes on large lots with manicured lawns.

But while Pinecrest got the vote out, its winning percentage wasn’t the highest. Of the three areas, Aventura reports the highest percentage of yes votes: 85.35 percent. Pinecrest had 65 percent of its voters in favor of incorporation, and Key Biscayne had 58 percent.

Evelyn Greer, a leader of the Pinecrest incorporation, said on election night: “This shows you we got the information for the people, they were anxious for that information, and once they got it, they went out to vote.”

Much of the campaign was spent informing homeowners about municipal service taxes that are sent to the county for services like garbage pickup and other county taxes that pay for regional services, Greer said.

Pinecrest’s opposition came out a week before the election in the form of anti-incorporation letters from the Police Benevolent Association and some private citizens.

“[The victory] is more gratifying given the opposition,” said Gary Matzner, who worked with Greer for incorporation.

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