Here's How I See It, by Andrew Olis.

I support annexation.  Everyone in VoBP knows we are doing this and have been working on it sloowwwwly for years.  The letter a resident sent out a few days ago was misleading. FACT- If we don’t get it, some other Municipality (North Miami) will.  Their taxes go up no matter who gets it.  Do we need to have a tight plan in place?  Yes, as it will affect our codes, building department, planning and zoning, etc, as well as police. But we need the commercial component to add to the village.  Those 2  visible apt complexes are  very pretty and are a compliment to the Biscayne park feel. Complete with the Craftsman home with coral Fence Columns.  El Portal and the Shores have commercial.   We need it too, but without it, like a  stock portfolio that is not diversified, you lose.

Driveways/ Swale:  Although the original Ordinance was altered by the Commission, and then at that point became unclear on certain points, the Ordinance needs to stay as it was intended. It just needs to be cleaned up/clarified? returned to how we submitted from code review and re-checked by the attorney.  This was already hammered out with 2 or 3  joint meetings of the volunteer Boards- with workshops and public meetings where we had resident input and at least a year of work.  Several bottom lines here: In the past, properties were better maintained, driveways and parking surfaces were maintained, and people in the Park generally had better pride in their properties.   Then, there were years of lax Code enforcement- or selective Code enforcement.  Two facts are plain and clear: that residents ALWAYS were supposed to have parking on their property--old and new Code!-- and also, the amount of parking formula was ALWAYS there, in the old and new Code.  This is black and white.  But because it was not enforced in the past, those who were unaware of the requirements say we had no restrictions, and now it is a hardship.  Well, in my opinion-- mirrored by many-- if you cannot afford a home and  all costs associated with it, you need to make other arrangements as to what you can afford.  There are minimum standards that MUST be met to live in any nice community and we ALWAYS had these standards.  The appearance of our Village correlates directly to property values.  No one wants to see dirt in the front yard, or tire tracks or a dirt patch where cars parked on the lawn.  It needs to be an approved parking surface. And it is not fair that these residents are utilizing paved-over swales and don’t have a driveway.  We require parking on your property: we always did! The amount of this dirt and trashy  overall appearance of some front yards, and especially swales, has steadily increased to the point where it is an eyesore and necessitated this new Ordinance!

The numbers speak for themselves: our tax base has again risen.  This directly becomes money for the Village.  Rising home prices are bringing in potential residents that don’t want to see dirt, and many are put off by it.  We need to continue to correct our Village appearance to make it prettier for the residents as well as the potential new residents that increase the tax base with their new purchases.  It really looks like we live in unincorporated Dade on some blocks: embarrassing!  Remember- we have NO parking on the the narrow streets- we must have swale parking- with limitations as already set and with approved surfaces as already set.  This is not even an option to bring up and bluntly a waste of time. The only people that I have encountered that are against the Ordinance are  some of the ones that have to fix their  non-conforming properties, and they simply think their dirt or weeds or pieces of rocks and concrete driveways or swales are charming. This does not mean slum-like and trashy.  We need to improve!!!

added comments..

Our roads are crumbling fast. The deterioration is happening all over the Village.  Patching will not be enough very soon.  It is the Village’s responsibility to keep the roads in good condition, and it needs to be budgeted for or worked on almost immediately. We are famous for deferring things- I hit a pothole on my corner a few months ago that dislodged the wires from my car stereo.  I had to pay for a repair shop take apart the dash to fix it. Road/corner was fixed but just a band aid. Right before our house on NE 5th ave- there is a tree root lifting the asphalt.  It's a great natural speed bump, but soon the road will crumble there: a launch pad for those that are unaware. There are many of those bumps around.

Our entry signs:  I am OK with the signs and the solar illumination poles.  The poles may not be pretty- and solar never are- but they work well, and are just another post in the median.  We already have them and don’t need to pay for the power- wonderful! Do I agree that the solar poles were not vetted and approved/paid for correctly?  Yes- but this is another issue.  Lets move on!

Thanks for reading my perspective and opinions.  I just put it out there.....

Andrew Olis