City seeks to acquire land for school and park sites
By Bari Auerbach

The Sunny Isles Beach City Commission recently approved resolutions to acquire property via negotiations or eminent domain in order to build a school as well as expand a park site in the Golden Shores area.

The "Empress" property (201 182nd Drive) and "Benhamou" property (18211 North Bay Road), the two parcels targeted for the school site, are in close proximity to the active park soon to be developed.

City Manager Christopher Russo explained, "The city is in need of these properties to have an educational facility for city residents. Recent statistics show we have approximately 1,500 school age children within the boundaries of the city.the highest population being between grades K to 8.

"Presently, our elementary students are being schooled at three different elementary schools - all of which are outside the city. Acquisition of these properties will provide the space necessary for a new school and enable students to utilize the facilities and amenities of the active park.

"This is all being done because of the tremendous growth and level of development in the city which will continue to increase educational, municipal and recreational service needs that requires land the city currently does not have. Of course, we have the authority to purchase the land through negotiation or eminent domain as necessary.These are the options these resolutions will enable the city to pursue."

In regards to the "Empress" property (201 182nd Drive), Mayor Norman Edelcup noted that people residing in the building currently on the site would be given at least one year from the time the property is acquired by the city to vacate the premises.

The "Benhamou" property (18211 North Bay Road), is a vacant parcel abutting the "Empress" property. "When assembled, we would have a site of two and a half acres or so for the entire school," Russo said.

"This is a giant first step toward getting a school in the city," Edelcup said. "We hope to be successful in acquiring this land relatively quickly so we can try to get a school built for the term commencing September, 2006.It will either be a K through five or eight - depending on the number of students and configuration of the building we can put on the property."

The Commission also passed a resolution to acquire a triangular piece of property by Golden Shores Park.

"This is part of a comprehensive plan to assemble parcels," Russo said. "The city recently bought the parcel to the west of Golden Shores [and for this land], we've been in negotiations for over three years. We've made various offers that have been accepted and then turned down. We still have ability to [acquire the land via purchase negotiations] but we can use eminent domain as necessary to accomplish the goals we have for the Golden Shores area."

Eminent domain entails a court making a determination regarding a purchase price the city will pay for taking properties through condemnation. The resolutions passed at the March 18 City Commission meeting will now authorize Russo to start the process of trying to acquire the properties by conventional purchase negotiations or commence condemnation proceedings.

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