Dear Plantation Smart Development Supporter: 

Early in the year, we last communicated with you concerning the Broward County School Board’s attempted sale of its 10 acre lot (Hiatus Road and Broward Boulevard).  As you may recall, last year we held a meeting with the prospective purchaser of the lot at the clubhouse.  It was the unanimous view at that meeting that the proposed project was unacceptable to the community.   Since then, and acting on your directive voiced at that meeting, we have formed a “smart development group” with several other HOAs including Westport and Plantation Acres, all of whom are opposed to the overly dense (8.8 du/acre) potential project which the prospective purchaser (Lennar Homes) wishes to develop.  

Over the course of the last six months we have, as a group, consulted with planning experts and have met with members of the City Council, the Mayor’s office, the Planning and Zoning Department and members of the Planning & Zoning Board in order to voice our willingness to work with the purchaser to scale down the density of the project to one that is acceptable to the surrounding neighborhoods.  As of this date, Lennar has been unwilling to scale down the project’s density.  Rather, it has continued to push its application through development review at the City and, a Planning and Zoning Board meeting has been scheduled viaZoom video conference meeting to consider it on September 1.  

Our community group has asked the Planning & Zoning Board to defer the request to allow the applicant the opportunity to re-scale the proposal to one meeting the underlying residential zoning of 3du/acre in a form consistent with the character of the surrounding neighborhoods.  We believe this is such an important issue that we have provided the Board with our thoughts a few weeks out from the meeting so it can do its own fact finding (see link below).

Below, you will find a link to a presentation our group of 500+ citizens created for the upcoming 9/1/20 P&Z Board meeting.  Our Six Point position focuses on one theme: “You can’t force a square peg into a round hole.”  As the 1,000 Friends of Florida believe, it is vital that our own City of Plantation Planning & Zoning Board act to save the special places remaining in our City and not capitulate to the highest bid (maximum density).  Specifically, this proposed project is inappropriate for the 10 acre School Board lot for the following reasons:

·       The proposed ROW townhome project is out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods and will cause an overcrowding burden on our neighborhood traffic.

·       The proposed ROW townhome project is too dense for the underlying residential 3du/acre zoning.

·       The Applicant refuses to reduce its targeted zoning from 8.8 (10) du/acre to a more palatable 5 du/acre which allows for 84% consistence with 84% of the surrounding neighborhoods (1 du/acre to 3 du/acre)

·       The Broward County School Board (the lot owner) must not be permitted to railroad the City into a project that is not fit for the underlying DRI recommended residential zoning (3 du/acre) by sheer benign neglect after paying ZERO in property taxes for nearly 20 years!

·       The Planning & Zoning Committee must be guided by the underlying recommended residential zoning (3 du/acre), together with the surrounding neighborhoods and traffic concerns and should adopt a plan that is fitting for the parcel.  

·       There are many acceptable, marketable and desirable neighborhood designs that are fitting for the parcel along with many interested developers more than willing to build what you, the P&Z Committee designate as appropriate for the parcel.

We have done the research and work to actually provide better acceptable designs and projects (depicted in the presentation) for the lot.  See an example of an acceptable smart development plan, attached.  

For those of you who currently abut the School Board lot, we have paid special attention to alternative designs that ameliorate the impact of noise, lights, traffic and other potential nuisances that might otherwise adversely affect your peaceable enjoyment of your own property as well as blunt the impact of all community property values.  Some of these alternative designs are found below (these and more can be found in the presentation link https://1drv.ms/b/s!ApaGXuUxOApcxBKeuL2t7X_HjblJ

We have provided a point by point rebuttal to the Applicant’s position actually demonstrating why this project is inappropriate for the lot in question.

We are not a group of “never develop” or “not in my back yard” people.  Our group consists of successful and conscientious builders and developers and professionals from all walks of life.  We firmly believe that with all the recent history of unchecked development (in turn lending to runaway traffic) in Plantation, it’s time for the Citizens to be heard.

To our group, this is far greater than a 10 acre "lot" consideration.  It is a re-adjustment that is needed by the City to take control over any future development to be absolutely consistent with the City's own goals rather than having an applicant pay a "land planner" to produce a massive result-oriented report aimed at fitting a "square peg into a round hole."  

By providing the Planning & Zoning Board with alternative designs that truly work with the lot, we have demonstrated that it can actually meet its mandate which is to promote and advance common-sense community designs that fit our residents’ current and future needs.  You may notice that some of the designs we have offered up are senior citizen (55 and older; of which many of us now count ourselves) pocket neighborhood designs where folks can live in smaller free standing single family homes that are tied to a true interior inner walk-in neighborhood surrounded by nature thereby satisfying the Sierra Club's (and other well-intentioned) conservationist goals’ --along with meeting Plantation’s own “grass is greener” goal – and actually meeting a true need (i.e., affordable senior living) for our current and future citizens.  

Let's let the citizens control future development not the highest bidder in a dubious lot sale. 

You can help.  If you haven’ already, please visit and sign the Petition Promoting Smart Development in Plantation at http://chng.it/4F5wXbhqNQ  Please send the link to anyone you know in the City of Plantation so they can do the same.  It is absolutely essential that your voice(s) are heard by our appointed (P&Z Board Members) elected (City Council) leaders.  

It’s an election year for four city council seats.  The issue of smart development, in general, and development plans for this particular lot, specifically, is front and center as one the most important topics in all four races. Several candidates have already committed to vote against the project, as presently constituted (i.e., too dense at 8.8 du/acre).  Because it's important to you, it's imperative to them, too!

Please consider supporting the following candidates who have committed to oppose this project:

Rob Koreman (Hawks Landing Resident);

Jennifer Andreu (Westport Resident);

Siobhan Edwards (East Plantation resident).  

For those candidates who haven’t committed or who support more traffic and more density (examples include: Ron Jacobs and Nick Sortal), time is marching on.  We’ve tried their method of packing too many row townhome and apartment complexes into small lots and parcels and all it has done is increase traffic and add to community crime statistics.  We are asking you, your friends and family, to consider supporting a change.

See the following Link to our Presentation at:  https://1drv.ms/b/s!ApaGXuUxOApcxBKeuL2t7X_HjblJ

Finally, plan on attending the September 1, 2020 (5:00 p.m.) Zoom video meeting of the Plantation Planning & Zoning Board.  Make your voice heard at that meeting and let the Board know that you support smart, measured development that will not deviate from the underlying zoning plan that existed when you moved into the City.  Let them know that you oppose runaway unchecked and overly dense development that has resulted in gridlock and traffic woes along with an uptick in area crime. (We are waiting for information on the Zoom link to this meeting from the City Planning & Zoning Department.  Once received, we will forward that information to you via global email.)

Together, we can provide sensible alternatives to the row townhome plan currently before the City!       

Sincerely, 

David (Weiss)

dweiss@hawkslandingpoa.com