There’s a new battle potentially brewing between residents and the county government over a possible new waste facility — and, no, its not the will-they-or-won’t-they incinerator to replace the one that burned down in Doral.
A storage company with a 5-acre property in West Kendall wants county approval of a zoning change to build a waste transfer station off Southwest 136th Street and 127th Avenue — and residents nearby are, predictably, up in arms. They hope that, because the site is less than two miles from Miami Executive Airport (formerly Kendall Tamiami Airport), the federal government’s regulations will stop it.
But that didn’t work so well for the Miami residents who were against Miami Freedom Park, the mega real estate complex which is just a soccer kick from Miami International Airport (even though the issues are different). So they are organizing and trying to fight the proposal.
Read related: As Miami-Dade stalls again on incinerator, state legislators take it on
Secure Storage of Miami, Inc., owned by Jorge Pernas and Delfin Pernas, according to Florida Division of Corporation records, has a zoning application at the county to change the zoning from IU-C (industrial conditional) to IU-3 (industrial unlimited), which would apparently allow for the waste holding facility near several residential communities and next to an 
existing railway for trains to ship the garbage to landfills in the north. Miami-Dade has been increasingly shipping our solid waste in trains and will do so for the foreseeable future as the commission decides where and how — and even if — to rebuild the waste-to-energy incinerator destroyed in a fire more than two years ago.
Secure Storage purchased the West Kendall property in 1980 for $125,000. Today, the property — which looks like it is being used as a storage lot for trucks and construction or industrial equipment — has an assessed value of $464,000 and a market value of $1.4 million.
That would likely go up a lot if the property’s zoning is changed.
The proposal went before the county’s Community Council 11 on March 24 and was unanimously denied. But the property owner has appealed that decision, and the application is going through the county’s Regulatory and Economic Resources Department for review. It could end up back before the community council — it was denied without prejudice — or in front of the county commission for an appeal of their decision.
The letter of intent sent to the county by the applicant’s attorney in January does not state what they plan to do with the property if the zoning change is approved. Seems sneaky. Because a report on a “cursory review” by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, dated April 14, says the intent rather clearly.
“While there are no plans associated with the zoning hearing request, according to RER’s Staff Report to Community Council No. 11, the applicant is seeking a zone change to IU-3 in order to operate a solid waste transfer facility, with the transfer being conducted to rail cars for outbound transportation,” Ammad Riaz, chief of aviation planning, wrote to RER Development Services Assistant Director Eric Silva.
Riaz also said that property is within the airport’s “critical approach zone” and the applicant needs a determination from the Federal Aviation Administration, which can take up to four months. He also said that one of the prohibited uses is “landfills…and any associated uses that attract or sustain birds and bird movements.”
That’s one of the worries residents have, as well. “These type of facilities attract birds and can cause plane accidents,” said Julio Forte, who lives in nearby Venezia Lakes. “Think of the catastrophe we could have on the ground.”
It’s not that far-fetched, considering all the aircraft accidents that there have been lately.
“This site will bring a foul smell, health hazards, and will lower our property values as no one will want to live near a waste station,” Forte said. Other residents who have expressed concern live in 
Three Lakes, Azzura, Courts at Tuscany and Caribe at Bonita Lakes, among others.
Many have health concerns.
“The Environmental Protection Agency, the Urban Institute, the National Institute of Health, they all have studies that say these things produce chemicals that lead to respiratory problems, asthma, birth defects, heavy metal poisoning,” Forte told Political Cortadito. “This is a well-established community and we’ve been here for over 20 years. Nobody moved here to have a dump site next door and be exposed to all those things.”
Forte, who also says there are 18 schools within a five mile radius, says it is more egregious than the rebuilding the incinerator in Doral — which has gotten major resistance — because that was there before the nearby homes were built and bought. “But we were here first,” said Forte, who has taken to social media to get his neighbors to help him “prevent this project from being built.”
So has Maria Teresa Acevedo, the owner at Pacheco International Realty and a resident of the Three Lakes neighborhood. She is worried about the potential contamination of Three Lakes and the endangerment of local wildlife. Zoo Miami is also nearby, she said. And there will also be increased noise, pollution, industrial activity, heavy truck traffic and road safety issues on streets that are not designed for industrial use.
“This site was never part of the original proposal and was suddenly introduced, leaving residents uninformed and out of the decision-making process,” Acevedo said. She and Forte have urged their neighbors to write emails to Miami-Dade Commissioners Kionne McGhee, whose district the property is in, Roberto Gonzalez, whose district includes the airport, and Raquel Regalado, who has constituents who live nearby.
Forte said the only way the neighbors learned about it was because someone saw a sign leaning over on the corner of 127th. “Nobody in the surrounding community knew about it.”
Lack of notice and outreach to residents was the main reason the community council denied the zoning change request, said Cristhian Mancera, chairman of the Community Council No. 11. “There was no time to study the impact,” Mancera said. “We were unanimous against it because of the concerns from the community. So they can meet with residents.
“These people bought their homes, some for $500,000, and now they’re going to have a garbage warehouse there?”
He said the applicant’s multiple attorneys promised a fence and air fresheners to mitigate the stench — really? How many rearview mirror hanging Christmas trees would they need for that? — but seemed to act as if the council didn’t matter and the zoning change was a foregone conclusion.
“There was no commitment to listen or pay attention to the community,” Mancera told Political Cortadito. “Their answer was, ‘Why meet with those folks?'”‘
Read related: Op Ed by KFHA’s Michael Rosenberg: ‘Kendall Talk!’ makes Kendall strong
The denial has given the community time to organize.
Three out of every four people who attended the Kendall Talk! town hall Tuesday hosted by the Kendall Federation of 
Homeowner Associations earlier this month were there to hear and talk about the waste transfer station proposal, said KFHA President Michael Rosenberg. “They don’t want a garbage dump in front of their house,” he said.
Among the people in the standing-room-only crowd, was a staffer with the office of Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez. He may have known this topic was going to come up. He calls the county airport in his district “my airport” on occasion. Or she could have been there to hear what people had to say about fluoride in the water.
David Gonzalez, the commissioner’s communications director, said that there had been some emails sent to the district, but that the commissioner could not talk about it with any resident because of the Jennings Rule, which prohibits ex-parte communications by electeds on quasi-judicial matters, like a zoning change.
Calls to Kionne McGhee and his chief of staff were not returned. Deputy Chief of Staff Janie Olvera told Ladra she didn’t know anything about a waste transfer station.
But commissioners will likely hear about it soon, during public comments. Forte said he and a large group of neighbors are ready to go to whatever meeting when the appeal will be heard — to fight it.
“This is just bad for everybody, all concerned,” he told Political Cortadito. “It’s criminal that they would even consider putting a site like this in the middle of a community.”
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