Showing posts with label P3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label P3. Show all posts

Thursday, November 4, 2021

re Hollywood's Kevin Biederman problem. The Hollywood City Commissioner's recent conduct has been nothing short of abominable. And yet he persists. Today, a small taste of reality and things to come for him and his colleagues


I posted this bit of carefully-considered insight a few minutes ago to my Facebook page as well as the Hollywood Residents Speak Up group page on Facebook, and post it below with just a few small edits.

-----

re Hollywood's Kevin Biederman problem. The Hollywood City Commissioner's recent conduct has been nothing short of abominable. And yet he persists.  

Today, a small taste of reality and things to come for him and his colleagues.


Just going to tee this up right here, with more to come in a few days on my popular blog and Twitter feed. I simply could not let this go unsaid one more day, after witnessing the nonsense I heard coming from Hollywood City Hall yesterday, that seemed even more untethered to reality than usual.

Comm. Biederman: Just wanted to remind you and the South Florida press that your Commission Chambers dais microphone was, in fact, working Wednesday afternoon.
So when you went off (yet again) on one of your smug, patronizing, self-justifying, thin-skinned tirades, decrying in a whiny voice what you see as persistent, unfair online PUBLIC criticism of city employees and elected officials like you during the pandemic, we heard it.

But then that's become a habit for you the past 20 months, hasn't it: being wrong and being unwilling to admit it? Predictably, because you simply don't know what you are talking about.
And not for the first time, right?

Let me connect-the-dots for you.
There REALLY is a growing army of VERY dissatisfied #HollywoodFL citizens +stakeholders, people who in the past likely gave you and others at Hollywood City Hall the benefit of the doubt. 
And then some! 
People who simply bit their lip when what they really wanted to do was call the City Commission or you out. But they didn't. 
You know, discretion.

But since March of 2020, those same people in Hollywood have personally seen or experienced on a daily basis, consistently stupid, incompetent, self-serving, and undemocratic behavior and conduct at Hollywood City Hall that directly threatens their family's Quality of Life, and also threatens the better future that they want for this city.
Things that you and your colleagues and high-ranking city employees are STILL in complete denial about: the multiple failings of the city the past 20 months and YOUR own personal role in making that true.

And honestly, your whole straight-talking, guy-next-door shtick of the recent past no longer amuses anyone or fools anyone who is actually paying attention to the facts.
Especially since your new tactic is to try to maliciously malign people you disagree with, using unfounded assertions that you can not back up with actual facts.
Because, after all, it's all in your head.

And yet you naively persist in thinking that you'll continue to be able to get away with such creepy behavior indefinitely without paying any sort of consequences.
Now THAT is really naive -and sad.

Based on my conversations around town with smart, savvy, and well-informed Hollywood residents/stakeholders, as well as the emails and text messages I receive from them, one year from this week -that is, assuming that you are not part of the group of Hollywood City Commissioners recalled from office next August- the growing odds are that YOU will not be celebrating on Election Day 2022.

-----
Trust me, I have been writing things here-and-there about Hollywood City Commissioner Kevin Biederman's odd conduct in office for months that I have chosen not to post for various reasons. Mostly, because I did not want to post something while I was mad, after just seeing him in action on the dais, doing his tiresome shtick, saying yet another thing that has no connection to reality.
Not that he is unique on the dais in that respect, especially as The Related Group's incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive project has continued to dramatically ratchet up the community's collective frustration level.

I posted it here so that other people in the greater Hollywood community could see these specific words and thoughts and perhaps be able to exhale.
Exhale, knowing that they were NOT the only person in the area thinking similar things about Comm. Kevin Biederman's odd and creepy behavior in office, using his position to maliciously malign citizens who hold him to account, and him with no facts to offer up, just his thin-skinned attitude and snark.

But then the sad reality is that Kevin Biederman is NOT the only problem in the room, the only elephant in the Commission Chambers, when Hollywood City Commission and CRA meetings are taking place.
Far from it, as Commissioners Linda Hill Anderson and Adam Gruber continue to remind us every two weeks, as they continue to be largely unprepared, uninformed, and unaware of facts/situations they should and which most of the community -and most of my friends- know at least something about, if not MORE than them.

They often seem more like lost visitors who've taken a wrong turn than serious people who fully appreciate or grasp the expectations the citizenry of this community has for them.
And to an extent that's kind of shocking, they are unresponsive to emails, text messages or phone calls, including those about situations and incidents within their own district.

Anderson and Gruber have been in office for almost a year now, and yet remain completely underwhelming in nearly every respect, and more importantly, do NOT seem not up to the responsibility of the job they actively sought. In my opinion, they simply are not up to the job and the learning curve is only getting worse for them with every passing week.

I'll be double-checking those drafts, doing some serious editing, and present that for you to peruse sometime next week on my blog. 
Perhaps even with a helpful video or two that connects-the-dots on some aspects of the past 20 months on matters that you are not fully aware of.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Mid-October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, including The Related Group's incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive proposal on public land. That would dramatically alter -for the worse- the quiet, peaceful ambiance there forever.


Mid-October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, including The Related Group's incompatible 1301 S. Ocean Drive proposal on public land.

That would dramatically alter -for the worse- the quiet, peaceful ambiance there forever. 

And likely result in many current members of the Hollywood City Commission becoming ex-members.

David asks: If fixing the Hollywood Beach Community Center was really so important to the Hollywood City Commission, then why wasn't it listed on the city's 2019 GO Bond project list?

Good question, David!

Ask the 7 elected members of the Hollywood City Commission for the answer to that question, and let me know what they say.

* I'll be updating this post in the coming days, after having some super-frustrating technical issues with both the blog and my laptop.


Updates on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, projects that are either going to appear to you to be:

a.) Common Knowledge to you,

b.) Something percolating below the surface that you've been hearing faint outlines of for a while, or,

c.) Comes as a complete surprise to you if you aren't already following me on my popular Twitter platform and my new-ish Facebook page, with link at bottom.


I've been working on these for a bit and even felt the need to share some of them as emails rather than posting them here first and then sending out an email with a link. I may likely have even more news about some of these stories early next week if some people I've been talking to decide to finally share what they've hinted at to me via phone calls and emails.

Real facts, real news, NOT unsubstantiated rumors or hearsay.

----

So, via my email of Wednesday September 15th, 2021


Sad reality of what Hollywood residents are up against as The Related Group gets help from
City Commissioners, yet refuses to have even one public, in-person mtg. abt a 3-story luxury 
condo on public land. AT the beach!

a.) Since there are so many comments being made about this Related Group project, a project that's incompatible to its location in ways both large and small, physical and symbolic, and which to me represents a very conscious public thumb to the eye of every reasonable Hollywood resident and stakeholder by Hollywood''s elected officials and top-tier bureaucracy, and since everyone is NOT able to see, know about, or even necessarily keep track of who said what, I've made these 3 screengrabs below, based on what's been said/written the past 24 or so hours, as of about 1:15 pm today.

My purpose in doing so is to make it easy for you to find or highlight a comment quickly that you 
agree or disagree with, and not have to keep scrolling through everything to find it.

b.) Over the past week, former Sun-Sentinel reporter Ihosvani "George" Rodriguez, now working 
for Memorial Regional Hospital, has dropped lots of interesting facts re Hollywood Commissioner Kevin Biederman's rather strange and peevish behavior, and in particular, Biederman's unconscionable 
and reprehensible lies about Cat Uden actually being a secret, paid lobbyist against the project.

Having worked at a relatively high level on several winning national political campaigns in lots of different places with very different political cultures, doing policy and coordinating advance work and logistics, plus having worked for 15 years in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill and K Street for some of the largest law firms and corporations in the country in a variety of policy roles, 
I have a very well-developed Sixth Sense about local elected officials and govt. functionaries.

Especially pols who liked to pat themselves on the back perhaps a little too often, in order to try to endear themselves to the press, candidate, me, or our staff, I'll leave to another time my thoughts regarding how often elected officials who are at pains to always describe themselves as self styled "truth-tellers," eventually fall from grace when they do say what they REALLY think.
Suffice to say that I believe Kevin Biederman shows all the hallmarks of having fallen into this rather sad and dubious category.

ICYMI: Another unsolicited bid is generating anger in a city NOT named Hollywood. 
But plenty of similarities with us here about the public being intentionally kept in the dark when a government wants to do something that they know is very unpopular with the public.

Miami Herald
Miami-Dade | Key Biscayne - 'Give this a chance': - Key Biscayne softens approach to Rickenbacker bid proposal

Samantha J. Gross; Staff Writer
September 5, 2021
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/key-biscayne/article253941053.html

ICYMI, my latest blog post is:
What is the empirical data from Memorial Regional Hospital that the City of Hollywood is relying upon to re-open, and no longer be the only city of 58 in South Florida whose City Hall is closed to the public?

I encourage you to read that when you can, because right now, there is no objective criteria publicly delineated by Hollywood City Manager Ishmael on what parameters must be met for Hollywood City Hall to be reopened to the public again.
And yes, you read that right - Hollywood is the only city in South Florida whose City Hall is closed as of today. Why? 
We are either not getting the truth or we are being taken advantage of by the City Manager's office and the folks at Memorial Regional Hospital Hollywood.
I'll have some more news to share about this story next week, via some public records requests I've made to find out who said what and when to whom -and why.

-----
September 15th, 2021




flipflops365

Demonstration to oppose a 30 story condominium tower on our public land at #HollywoodBeach. This public land has deed restrictions for "open space, park, recreation, and public purpose." The land was given to the city to decrease density. This condo (99 year lease) would be 347 feet tall and 188 units. @joshlevymayorofhollywoodfl says that they can ignore height/density restrictions because it's public land.
The city has not even given the public one in-person meeting about the condo. They won’t even tell the public that they have the ability to oppose. All of the emails have been misleading, as if it’s a done deal. Commissioner Shuham CShuham@hollywoodfl.org asked that the city manager look into other ways to fund a remodel of the community center. Has he? (You can email the city manager Wazir Ishmael about this). Wishmael@hollywoodfl.org
.
If you live, work, vacation in, or visit Hollywood: Sign the petition at Change.org/WeLoveHollywoodBeach 😎 You’ll receive an alert about the next event.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2Ia0krycq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

---

I received this email on Saturday September 25th, 2021


Subject: A Message From The President of The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations  


Mayor and Commissioners,

The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations (HCCA) agrees with District 1 Commissioner Shuham and opposes this P3 project at 1301 S. Ocean Drive. We join all the other organizations such as the Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Lakes Civic Assn, the Hollywood Hills Civic Assn. the Summit Towers Condo Assn, The North Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Historical Society, the Friends of Hollywood, North Central Civic Assn, the Sierra Club and scores of individual residents and taxpayers who also agree with Commissioner Shuham. The reasons for this opposition have been well stated. To burden the taxpayers with a 99 lease with a private condo association that clearly violates the intent of a 45 year old deed restriction especially when there are potentially other funding sources for the community center replacement does not make good sense to anybody but the developer.

We feel that it is your duty as elected officials to adhere to the wishes and desires of the residents that elected you to office and move on from this bad project.

TERRY CANTRELL
President - HCCA



-----

I received this email today

From: Friends of Hollywood Florida Inc. <friendsofhollywoodfl@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 1:32 PM
Subject: Why Wasn't This On The GO Bond?


Beach Azalea













Dear Mayor & Commissioners,

The Hollywood Beach Coalition and its members have been following as
many presentations and meetings as possible on this project.
We have been listening to all the voices, the developer, city staff,
comments from the commission, comments from the residents of Hollywood
and the community at large.

We are of the opinion and have concluded that this project is not in the
best interest of Hollywood or its residents and we are opposed to it.

We share many of the same concerns and join all the other organizations
and scores of other individual residents and taxpayers that you already
have heard from, in opposing this project, as presented.

Below are some of the points that have been brought to the Hollywood
Beach Coalitions attention and why we are against this P3 project:

We do not believe that the height of this project conforms to the
surrounding area and certainly is against the “bookend” plan that city
staff has previous put forth for beach building heights in the CRA
district. This project will dwarf surrounding buildings.

We believe the city did not do their due diligence when they did not get
an appraisal for the property particularly in light of the fact that
other assemblages of property on the barrier island are for much greater
prices than what is being offered by this project, in our opinion.

There is concern about a 99 year lease and the possible renewal of
another 99 year lease term at its end. Clearly, this would be a sale and
not a lease.
Who would evict the condo owners if the lease was not paid? Who would
pay to demolish the building and return the property to as is condition,
at the end of the lease?
Would the city really evict 190 condo owners for nonpayment of the lease
payments?

Parking for the beach community center would be problematic for the many
older or disabled residents that continually use this facility and they
would have to compete to get a parking space with the proposed condo
residents, beach users and those that would use the proposed restaurant
and community center.
Look at what happened at Margaritaville where the hotel has taken over
the public parking spaces.

The issue of how the developer would transfer title to the condo
association is still unresolved as the P3 state statute does not appear
to address or allow this type of transfer or assignment.
A comprehensive agreement would not be able to supersede the state statute.
This question remains unanswered.

We believe the original deed transfer is quite clear to its purpose and
we do not see how a condo project built on this land qualifies as a
public purpose, as it will be closed to the public and we do not see how
it comports to the P3 statute with an ensuing transfer of ownership from
the developer to a condo association.

We also heard that there were known defects of the beach community
center since 2018 which were not divulged to the public and monies were
not put on the GO Bond to maintain and update this beach community center.
These defects are now being used as an excuse and driving force about
getting a new beach community center.
This is very problematic to the community at large.
Either pass a new GO Bond, take savings from the GO Bond, have the Beach
CRA pay to renovate, remodel or build a new community center or look for
other financing methods.

There were no Beach CRA projects on the GO Bond list and this is
certainly something that should have qualified.

This is some of the last beachfront property that the city owns.

This is prime beachfront property that Hollywood should keep and utilize
for the enjoyment and use of future generations of Hollywood residents
and taxpayers.
Once gone, it cannot be replaced.

We hope that you will move on from this project as presented, as it
seems most of your electorate is in agreement that this is not a project
for Hollywood.
If you doubt this statement, please put it out for vote to the community
at large.

Thank you,

Bob Glickman
On Behalf of the Hollywood Beach Coalition

---------

It's not your imagination. In a 60 Minutes version of this story, so far, there are a lot of once-respected people in Hollywood currently walking around town, still with some degree of power and influence, whose reputations would effectively be close to ruined once the program aired.

For good cause.
They are exactly what they look like.

Folks, believe me when I tell you this, the gloves are coming off all over town.
Not just with me, but with lots of people who thought they really KNEW the folks at Hollywood City Hall.
Their eyes are wide-open now!


Friday, October 1, 2021

October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, inc. The Related Group's 1301 S. Ocean Drive project. If fixing the Hollywood Beach Community Center was really so important to the Hollywood City Commission, why wasn't it listed on the 2019 GO Bond list?

October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, inc. The Related Group's 1301 S. Ocean Drive project. 

If fixing the Hollywood Beach Community Center was really so important to the Hollywood City Commission, why wasn't it listed on the 2019 GO Bond list?


Updates on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, projects that are either going to appear to you to be:

a.) Common Knowledge to you,

b.) Something percolating below the surface that you've been hearing faint outlines of for a while, or,

c.) Comes as a complete surprise to you if you aren't already following me on my popular Twitter platform and my new-ish Facebook page.


I've been working on these for a bit and even felt the need to share some of them as emails rather than posting them here first and then sending out an email with a link. I may likely have even more news about some of these stories early next week if some people I've been talking to decide to finally share what they've hinted at to me via phone calls and emails.

Real facts, real news, not unsubstantiated rumors or hearsay.

----

So, via my email of Wednesday September 15th, 2021


Sad reality of what Hollywood residents are up against as The Related Group gets help from
City Commissioners, yet refuses to have even one public, in-person mtg. abt a 3-story luxury 
condo on public land. 
AT the beach!

a.) Since there are so many comments being made about this Related Group project, a project that's incompatible to its location in ways both large and small, physical and symbolic, and which to me represents a very conscious public thumb to the eye of every reasonable Hollywood resident and stakeholder by Hollywood''s elected officials and top-tier bureaucracy, and since everyone is NOT able to see, know about, or even necessarily keep track of who said what, I've made these 3 screengrabs below, based on what's been said/written the past 24 or so hours, as of about 1:15 pm today.

My purpose in doing so is to make it easy for you to find or highlight a comment quickly that you 
agree or disagree with, and not have to keep scrolling through everything to find it.

b.) Over the past week, former Sun-Sentinel reporter Ihosvani "George" Rodriguez, now working 
for Memorial Regional Hospital, has dropped lots of interesting facts re Hollywood Commissioner Kevin Biederman's rather strange and peevish behavior, and in particular, Biederman's unconscionable 
and reprehensible lies about Cat Uden actually being a secret, paid lobbyist against the project.

Having worked at a relatively high level on several winning national political campaigns in lots of different places with very different political cultures, doing policy and coordinating advance work and logistics, plus having worked for 15 years in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill and K Street for some of the largest law firms and corporations in the country in a variety of policy roles, 
I have a very well-developed Sixth Sense about local elected officials and govt. functionaries.

Especially pols who liked to pat themselves on the back perhaps a little too often, in order to try to endear themselves to the press, candidate, me, or our staff, I'll leave to another time my thoughts regarding how often elected officials who are at pains to always describe themselves as self styled "truth-tellers," eventually fall from grace when they do say what they REALLY think.
Suffice to say that I believe Kevin Biederman shows all the hallmarks of having fallen into this rather sad and dubious category.

ICYMI: Another unsolicited bid is generating anger in a city NOT named Hollywood. 
But plenty of similarities with us here about the public being intentionally kept in the dark when a government wants to do something that they know is very unpopular with the public.

Miami Herald
Miami-Dade | Key Biscayne - 'Give this a chance': - Key Biscayne softens approach to Rickenbacker bid proposal

Samantha J. Gross; Staff Writer
September 5, 2021
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/key-biscayne/article253941053.html

ICYMI, my latest blog post is:
What is the empirical data from Memorial Regional Hospital that the City of Hollywood is relying upon to re-open, and no longer be the only city of 58 in South Florida whose City Hall is closed to the public?

I encourage you to read that when you can, because right now, there is no objective criteria publicly delineated by Hollywood City Manager Ishmael on what parameters must be met for Hollywood City Hall to be reopened to the public again.
And yes, you read that right - Hollywood is the only city in South Florida whose City Hall is closed as of today. Why? 
We are either not getting the truth or we are being taken advantage of by the City Manager's office and the folks at Memorial Regional Hospital Hollywood.
I'll have some more news to share about this story next week, via some public records requests I've made to find out who said what and when to whom -and why.

-----
September 15th, 2021




flipflops365

Demonstration to oppose a 30 story condominium tower on our public land at #HollywoodBeach. This public land has deed restrictions for "open space, park, recreation, and public purpose." The land was given to the city to decrease density. This condo (99 year lease) would be 347 feet tall and 188 units. @joshlevymayorofhollywoodfl says that they can ignore height/density restrictions because it's public land.
The city has not even given the public one in-person meeting about the condo. They won’t even tell the public that they have the ability to oppose. All of the emails have been misleading, as if it’s a done deal. Commissioner Shuham CShuham@hollywoodfl.org asked that the city manager look into other ways to fund a remodel of the community center. Has he? (You can email the city manager Wazir Ishmael about this). Wishmael@hollywoodfl.org
.
If you live, work, vacation in, or visit Hollywood: Sign the petition at Change.org/WeLoveHollywoodBeach 😎 You’ll receive an alert about the next event.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2Ia0krycq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

---

I received this email on Saturday September 25th, 2021


Subject: A Message From The President of The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations  


Mayor and Commissioners,

The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations (HCCA) agrees with District 1 Commissioner Shuham and opposes this P3 project at 1301 S. Ocean Drive. We join all the other organizations such as the Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Lakes Civic Assn, the Hollywood Hills Civic Assn. the Summit Towers Condo Assn, The North Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Historical Society, the Friends of Hollywood, North Central Civic Assn, the Sierra Club and scores of individual residents and taxpayers who also agree with Commissioner Shuham. The reasons for this opposition have been well stated. To burden the taxpayers with a 99 lease with a private condo association that clearly violates the intent of a 45 year old deed restriction especially when there are potentially other funding sources for the community center replacement does not make good sense to anybody but the developer.

We feel that it is your duty as elected officials to adhere to the wishes and desires of the residents that elected you to office and move on from this bad project.

TERRY CANTRELL
President - HCCA



-----

I received this email today

From: Friends of Hollywood Florida Inc. <friendsofhollywoodfl@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 1:32 PM
Subject: Why Wasn't This On The GO Bond?


Beach Azalea













Dear Mayor & Commissioners,

The Hollywood Beach Coalition and its members have been following as
many presentations and meetings as possible on this project.
We have been listening to all the voices, the developer, city staff,
comments from the commission, comments from the residents of Hollywood
and the community at large.

We are of the opinion and have concluded that this project is not in the
best interest of Hollywood or its residents and we are opposed to it.

We share many of the same concerns and join all the other organizations
and scores of other individual residents and taxpayers that you already
have heard from, in opposing this project, as presented.

Below are some of the points that have been brought to the Hollywood
Beach Coalitions attention and why we are against this P3 project:

We do not believe that the height of this project conforms to the
surrounding area and certainly is against the “bookend” plan that city
staff has previous put forth for beach building heights in the CRA
district. This project will dwarf surrounding buildings.

We believe the city did not do their due diligence when they did not get
an appraisal for the property particularly in light of the fact that
other assemblages of property on the barrier island are for much greater
prices than what is being offered by this project, in our opinion.

There is concern about a 99 year lease and the possible renewal of
another 99 year lease term at its end. Clearly, this would be a sale and
not a lease.
Who would evict the condo owners if the lease was not paid? Who would
pay to demolish the building and return the property to as is condition,
at the end of the lease?
Would the city really evict 190 condo owners for nonpayment of the lease
payments?

Parking for the beach community center would be problematic for the many
older or disabled residents that continually use this facility and they
would have to compete to get a parking space with the proposed condo
residents, beach users and those that would use the proposed restaurant
and community center.
Look at what happened at Margaritaville where the hotel has taken over
the public parking spaces.

The issue of how the developer would transfer title to the condo
association is still unresolved as the P3 state statute does not appear
to address or allow this type of transfer or assignment.
A comprehensive agreement would not be able to supersede the state statute.
This question remains unanswered.

We believe the original deed transfer is quite clear to its purpose and
we do not see how a condo project built on this land qualifies as a
public purpose, as it will be closed to the public and we do not see how
it comports to the P3 statute with an ensuing transfer of ownership from
the developer to a condo association.

We also heard that there were known defects of the beach community
center since 2018 which were not divulged to the public and monies were
not put on the GO Bond to maintain and update this beach community center.
These defects are now being used as an excuse and driving force about
getting a new beach community center.
This is very problematic to the community at large.
Either pass a new GO Bond, take savings from the GO Bond, have the Beach
CRA pay to renovate, remodel or build a new community center or look for
other financing methods.

There were no Beach CRA projects on the GO Bond list and this is
certainly something that should have qualified.

This is some of the last beachfront property that the city owns.

This is prime beachfront property that Hollywood should keep and utilize
for the enjoyment and use of future generations of Hollywood residents
and taxpayers.
Once gone, it cannot be replaced.

We hope that you will move on from this project as presented, as it
seems most of your electorate is in agreement that this is not a project
for Hollywood.
If you doubt this statement, please put it out for vote to the community
at large.

Thank you,

Bob Glickman
On Behalf of the Hollywood Beach Coalition

Dave 

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

It's more than a little convenient for the City of Hollywood to decide to close City Hall again. Yes, just as another key Hollywood City Comm. mtg. is coming up on Wed. the 25th re The Related Group's controversial, incompatible 30-story luxury condo building on public land.


It's more than a little convenient for the City of Hollywood to decide to close City Hall again.

Yes, just as another key Hollywood City Comm. mtg. is coming up on Wednesday the 25th re The Related Group's controversial, incompatible 30-story luxury condo building on public land. 

Yes, the one the city seems willing to allow the developer to build on public land at one of the most serene places at Hollywood Beach. 


1301 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood Beach, Florida. 




No reasonable person walks here and looks at these views and thinks to themselves, "What this beautiful beach area needs is a 30-story luxury condominium to mar the views and the sense of peace and contentment of anyone who lives here or visits here.  

And a year after the unsolicited bid, the Hollywood City Comm. is still acting deaf, dumb, and blind to the fact that the vast majority of Hollywood's citizens are AGAINST this #giveaway to developers. Even now, the City Commission remains convinced that they can do this without following their own rules and having the required voter referendum on the sale. They will lose and some of them will see the end of their nascent political career if I have anything to do with it. 
And I will.


 


 Today, August the 17th, the city posted the following to their website, and to their facebook page, but not to the official Sunshine Board as of 1:45 p.m.

https://www.hollywoodfl.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=988





Hollywood Residents Opposed to High Rise on Public Land at Azalea Terrace at Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/hollywood-city-commission-hollywood-residents-opposed-to-high-rise-on-public-land-at-azalea-terrace

Surfrider Foundation Broward County Chapter started this petition to Mayor Josh Levy and 

This petition is for residents of Hollywood opposed to a 30 story high rise condo building being developed on environmentally fragile public land on the barrier island. There is a developer proposal for a 99 year lease on this public land between Azalea Terrace and Bougainvillea Terrace, extending from A1A all the way to the beach. Residents are concerned about impact to quality of life. Sometimes, less is more. This is a quiet section of our beach, and the proposal submitted would bring hundreds of more residents to the barrier island. The developer's "concept drawing" had placed parks/plazas/playgrounds on top of our current mature dunes (east of Surf Road), a larger community center closer to the ocean, added a restaurant, added a private pool for the luxury condo residents, and extended the busy Broadwalk to this quiet section. Harry Berry Park as we know it was eliminated, and the drawing had moved Harry Berry Park on top of our current dune system. The tower will cast a dark shadow over the sand, taking away hours of sunlight (and the view of the sunset) at the end of the day. They propose a new parking garage, but they have not yet promised that residents will be able to use their annual resident parking stickers in this new proposed garage. 

These barrier island streets, and the emergency services, are in a vulnerable area for sea level rise. This is a sea turtle nesting beach which is supposed to be dark, clean, and quiet from May through October so that hatchlings have greater chance at survival. Residents currently on the barrier island already have issues with parking, traffic, and crowds. Please contact your city commissioner to oppose a new high rise on this land, or at least let the residents vote on the fate of our land. Don't silence our voices! 

Email the city: JLevy@hollywoodfl.org, CShuham@hollywoodfl.org, LSherwood@hollywoodfl.org, KBiederman@hollywoodfl.org, TCallari@hollywoodfl.org, LAnderson@hollywoodfl.org, AGruber@hollywoodfl.org, WIshmael@hollywoodfl.org, smaken@hollywoodfl.org, RStorey@hollywoodfl.org  

Related Group's proposal:  http://hollywoodfl.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=978 

City Commission: http://hollywoodfl.org/89/City-Commission 

The next CRA meeting and City Commission meeting are on August 25th at City Hall, 2nd floor. Citizen comments are at 5 PM. Use city meetings as an opportunity to state your concerns and opposition. If this is such a great deal/great idea, then why not let residents decide?  

Are you a Hollywood resident? Leave a reason why you love our beach and want to keep this green, open area free from new high rise towers in your "reasons for signing." You do not have to donate anything to sign the petition (donations go to Change.org). Thank you! 

Sun Sentinel article here: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-ne-hollywood-tower-ss-prem-20210402-smwgro5f7jg4np5l5vizv5bazu-story.html 


Dave