Blockbuster New Year
City looking forward to ‘picture perfect’ 2006
By Bari Auerbach

The City of Sunny Isles Beach is celebrating the New Year with a sequel to continued growth and prosperity. The entire cast and crew of city commissioners and city staff have made resolutions to ensure 2006 is yet another “blockbuster” year filled with action-oriented capital improvements and thrilling community events playing a starring role. So find a good seat and screen some of the city’s most award-worthy initiatives and attributes - plus exciting coming attractions sure to get “two thumbs up!”

THE PRODUCERS of progress in Sunny Isles Beach include Mayor Norman S. Edelcup, Vice Mayor Roslyn Brezin and Commissioners Gerry Goodman, Danny Iglesias and Lewis J. Thaler. The City Commission is committed to making 2006 the best year yet – especially in regards to promoting the most desirable development, creating more open space and pursuing solutions to traffic flow issues.

New City Manager John Szerlag from Troy, Michigan, is now working with the City Commission, Assistant City Manager Jorge Vera, Police Chief Fred Maas and the entire Government Center team to make sure there’s no such thing as “a flop” when it comes to producing the highest quality of life while maintaining one of the lowest tax rates in Miami-Dade County.

KING KONG growth occurring since Sunny Isles Beach became a city in 1997 is evidenced by the booming population now exceeding 16,000 and projected to reach 25,000 within 10 years.

An influx of families with children has created the need for a school, more parks and recreational amenities. This year, the City Commission will continue working with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to build a kindergarten through eighth grade school at 182nd Drive and North Bay Road. An active park featuring a little league baseball field planned adjacent to the school site is also part of the city’s winning game plan to “hit a homerun” with the younger generation.

THE INTERPRETER often seen assisting new residents and visitors from all across the globe flocking to Sunny Isles Beach signifies the city’s international appeal and rich cultural diversity. For 2006, the Sunny Isles Beach Resort Association is planning innovative ways to make news travel fast about the remarkable renaissance that has taken place since incorporation and help ensure, the “whole world” wants to discover the benefits of enjoying “life with a view in the City of Sun and Sea.”

TWO FOR THE MONEY could best describe the double beach access points being widened by developers of the Da Vinci 27-story condominium soon to rise at 17141 Collins Avenue. Architect Kobi Karp explained, “The [Da Vinci] property is located between two beach accesses [belonging to] Ocean Four on the south side and Jade Beach II on the north side…So [Da Vinci] is ‘sandwiched’ in-between…We [plan to] make the beach accesses on the Ocean Four and Jade sides even better…In addition to beach access [points] that meet code, we’ll also dedicate an easement on both sides of the property that will add to Ocean Four and Jade -creating even wider access on either side of the [Da Vinci] to enhance our own property as well.”

MILLION DOLLAR BABY could be what to call the generous donation developers of the Da Vinci condominium soon recently made to the Sunny Isles Beach school planned for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The “million dollar donation” was proffered during a Dec. 8, 2005 City Commission meeting just before the City Commission granted Da Vinci’s request to allow 100 percent tandem parking, in which two cars can fit in one spot, based on conditions including mandatory valet parking and an emergency generator.

RUMOR HAS IT this year, the city may be on the road to getting a new, modern Publix super market as well as a right-of-way for a road connecting sections of North Bay Road.

“We’re [considering] an ordinance that would increase the height of a building in that area in exchange for the developer giving us the right-of-way,” Mayor Norman Edelcup explained. “What’s proposed is a formula that says: ‘For every foot of width of a road, we’ll increase the height of the building by 1.5 feet.”

According to attorney Cliff Schulman, “The Stiles Corporation is looking for opportunities to move a Publix renovation [in Sunny Isles Beach] up on the priority list. If we can create value on the property, it can be redeveloped…We can create a publicly accessible roadway and alternative traffic solution; build a new Publix; and perhaps an apartment building…The proposed ordinance gives an incentive to a developer and could help the city get a new Publix as well as a publicly accessible road giving you the linkage you so direly need.”

WEDDING CRASHERS were recently spotted at the marriage of fame and success when the Dezer family and partner Donald J. Trump celebrated the opening of the sales office of Trump 1, 2 & 3; and it was triumphantly announced all three buildings are starting the New Year with what could prove to be a new record: All three have been almost sold out for a total of over one billion dollars.

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE plus all of your friends and family members is made possible by the Sunny Isles Beach Cultural and Human Services Department offering discount group pricing and transportation to a variety of cultural and sports events throughout Miami-Dade and Broward. Just some of the special events planned for 2006 include more Sunny Serenade concerts at the Samson oceanfront park and trips to see the New World Symphony, Miami City Ballet and Vizcaya. For a detailed list of planned trips and events, log on to www.sibfl.net and visit the cultural events calendar.

THE WEATHER MAN always serves as of the best marketing tools for Sunny Isles Beach. This time of year, when just about everyone else is shoveling snow, the only ice you’ll find around Collins Avenue is in tropical drinks being sipped by the pools of oceanfront condos and resorts or along the shores of warm, sandy beaches.
SKY HIGH property values in Sunny Isles Beach and escalating revenues from luxurious new developments made it possible for the City Commission to lower the tax rate this fiscal year while raising the bar for community enhancements.

WALK THE LINE is the ongoing mission of Florida Power & Light, continuing to underground overhead transmission lines along Collins Avenue and Sunny Isles Boulevard. To ensure there will be enough power this year and every year the city continues to grow, FPL has completed a new transmission station aesthetically camouflaged by a Mediterranean-style building near the drawbridge.

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK are just two of the perks Sunny Isles Beach residents enjoy knowing each night they go to bed, they’re lucky to wake up in the city known as the “jewel of Miami-Dade County” sure to sparkle even brighter in 2006.

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