It was back-to-"school" night at Planning and Zoning tonight. After P&Z finished its normal agenda of permit applications, it entertained the Busta show, starring the Bustas and two of their assistants. One assistant was an architect, and the other was a traffic study expert, who had performed something that was presented as a traffic study.
The Bustas had two other helpers tonight. One was Eve Boutsis, whom the Village pays, supposedly to provide legal expertise for the Village's benefit, and the other was Alex David, whom the Village also pays, supposedly to provide municipal planning advice in furtherance of the Village's interests. But tonight, both of our paid professionals worked hard to get the Busta group its day care facility. Frankly, I doubt this is true, but one Village resident claims to have overheard Alex David tell Team Busta that he would see to it the application went through, otherwise he would angle us toward annexation by Miami Shores. I don't really believe anything that outrageous happened, but that's what someone told me. On the other hand, Team Busta did get excellent and energetic advocacy from the professionals the Village hires to protect it, so who knows. The Village did get sold down the river. And a bill of goods, too.
We're now told the aim is for 80 "students," of whom the youngest will be six weeks and the oldest will be six years. I still want to know what the curriculum for six-week-olds is. We're also told that the Village's only difficult, very difficult intersection will not be badly impacted at all by the delivery and retrieval of these 80 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Every objection or even adverse observation by Village residents, even those who live right there, was made to drift lovingly away by the traffic study expert. Nope, no problems at all. Smooth as silk. Boutsis and David threw in a couple of strategic precautions, to shut the complainers up, but largely, they did what they were paid (by us, but not for us) to do in furtherance of Team Busta's goal: get that day care open, and let's make some money.
Boutsis and David apparently did their jobs well, because they persuaded all four members of P&Z that the requirements for a variance were met, so P&Z voted unanimously to recommend granting of the variance when the matter is presented to the Commission. The variance, by the way, is to allow the day care to function in buildings that are too close to the street and to the property line: less than 50 feet. There was also some talk, via an offer from Ma Busta, to erect a fence around the property, so the cherubs wouldn't run into the street. Would you like a fence around your property, to protect your own cherubs or your dogs? So would the Espinosas. Forget it. But don't tell Sandy Busta and Eve Boutsis and Alex David to forget it.
The underpinning is this. Several years ago, the Village agreed in its comprehensive plan, recommended by the very same Mr David, to permit zoning for a school, because Mr David said the state required it of us. Someone later discovered the Village had been given an exemption, but Mr David says this is simply not so. So we agreed to the school provision. Mr David has gotten that provision parlayed into permission for a day care, and here we are, paying an attorney and a planner to help Ms Busta and the Church of the Resurrection and the Breathtakingly Reverend Alberto Cutie have their way with the Village.
I doubt this counts as good news, but there is a suggestion for a yearly review of the traffic activity at this intersection. I'm not sure what difference it will make, because Team Busta's traffic survey magician should have no trouble demonstrating that whatever happens is not a problem, and the day care is there to stay anyway.
I'd like to say I learned something at back-to-school night, but I'm not sure I really understand what exactly happened. Or at least how it happened.
Oh, and by the way, the room was surprisingly empty. This kind of meeting usually brings out lots of Village residents, but it appears that somehow, whatever effort to provide "notice" of the meeting was attempted simply didn't work tonight. Had three residents not gone out of their way to tell me about this meeting, the total attendance of residents would have been four. But I was told, so it was five. I've seen 30-40 in that room for that topic. Someone was being careful not to awaken sleeping dogs.
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