Thank you so much. All right. Started a little late. We got delayed from the prior committee, but we are here now. Welcome to the Infrastructure, Innovation, and Technology Committee, March 11, 2026. I guess we'll first do a moment of silence, and then my colleague, Danielle Cohen-Higgins, will lead us in the pledge. Thank you. All right. I guess I will look to the attorneys just to make sure. Are there any changes to the agenda before we set the agenda? There's not. Now would be a good time for a reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard, but there is no changes to the official printed agenda whatsoever. Yes. Thank you. And I'm going to open reasonable opportunity to be heard. We do have quite a few speakers signed up for item 2A, and so I will call your name, and please come up. And you have, since we have, looks like we have quite a few speakers, I don't want to limit your time, but we'll start with two minutes per person, and then we're going to have to limit it to one because we do have quorum issues potentially with some of my colleagues having to leave. And so our first speaker, Hugh Pringle, followed by Adrian Medenos. All right. I was just informed that there may be one or two people speaking on behalf of the group, and so who is that person? Oh, please come up. State your name. You can have, you can have, so you're the only speaker on this item for all the residents who are here? I think there might be me and one or two more, but that would be it, I think. If we could have everybody who's here from the neighborhood who's in favor of the resolution, please stand up. Thank you. Thank you. Please proceed. State your name and address for the record. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Jeffrey Fink. I live at 8345 Southwest 119th Street, Miami-Dade County, Florida. I'm here, as the rest of these lovely people from the neighborhood are, in support of the resolution which regards our neighborhood. Before I start, we want to thank and express our deep appreciation to Commissioner Cohen Higgins for her and her staff's efforts on behalf of our neighborhood. Miami-Dade County has numerous unique neighborhoods, many with historical significance, including in the south. Key Biscayne, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, South Miami, and Pinecrest. They are a significant reason for what makes our county a wonderful place to live. But these neighborhoods are incorporated, which has enabled them to protect themselves from incompatible development. There are many other equally unique neighborhoods, like ours, that remain within the county oversight and need your protection, not from development, but from development without regard for the characteristics that have made them lovely places to live. We want to welcome new residents, but not in a way that destroys the very reasons why we and they want to live here. Our neighborhood is mostly one-half and one-acre lots. It's immediately west of US-1 and Pinecrest and bordered by Killian Drive, a designated historic road. Many of us here today are active members of Preserve Historic Killian, a neighborhood organization. Our neighborhood has an almost rural feel, appropriate since it was once avocado and mango orchards. My house was built over 70 years ago. Almost every morning and afternoon, folks were out walking, often with their dogs, or jogging. Kids were allowed to ride their bikes in the street by themselves. The area is full of old-growth trees, including fruit and avocado trees. One property has a small pond that was dug to provide rock for Flagler's Railroad. You know what, Mr. Fink, your time is up, but I'm going to extend it, since you are speaking on behalf of a collective group. So you can finish your comments. Thank you. One property has a small pond that was dug to provide rock for Flagler's Railroad and contains a coral rock fence with historical designation. Unfortunately, developers are now looking to stuff hundreds more housing units and commercial facilities into our neighborhood. At this very moment, they are buying up homes, including the one with the historic pond and fence, to join the lots and seek rezoning to build high-rises and other incompatible structures and uses. They quietly cut down the old trees. Their plans will cause overcrowding, worsen the already unbearable traffic, and destroy the special residential feel of our neighborhood. We are already threatened by near bumper-to-bumper traffic that goes through our neighborhood to avoid the stretch of US-1 within Pinecrest. On many occasions, commuters looking to transit through speed past my car because the neighborhood speed limit is too slow for them. Many of them ignore the stop signs in the neighborhood for the same reason. Additional traffic is resulting from the new high-speed bus lanes, which often allow as little as three cars to cross US-1 in a single light change, and it is causing cars to back up from US-1 to 87th Avenue, a distance of a mile and a half. We have to endure multiple light changes on 82nd Avenue simply to enter our neighborhood. Our neighborhood cannot withstand the additional traffic burden such dense development would pose. This resolution is part of our effort to preserve the quality of life we enjoy and hope to continue to enjoy here. We ask that you please approve it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Anybody else wish to speak? Good afternoon. Please state your name and address for the record, please. Ola Luko, 11325, Southwest 82nd Avenue, Miami, Florida. Honorable Board Member Cohen Higgins. Honorable Members of the Board. We come here today before you to seek your support. Increasingly, multiple municipalities within Miami-Dade County have been able to preserve the charm and character of their established communities because they have the authority to guide growth, which occurs within their borders. Unfortunately, as part of an unincorporated Miami-Dade County, our community has not had the benefit of that same level of control. This is where we respectfully request your support. Our community warmly welcomes progress and understands that growth is a natural part of living in a dynamic community such as Miami-Dade County. What concerns our residents, though, is not development itself, but development that does not take into account established character and long-standing neighborhoods. When growth occurs without that sensitivity, the qualities that make these places so appealing can quickly be lost. A community-specific thematic zoning district will provide a thoughtful solution. It would not prevent growth, but instead, it will guide it in a way that reflects the established scale, greenery, and residential pattern that defines the neighborhood. By setting clear expectations for development, it will help protect the tree canopy, reduce incompatible projects, and give the residents' confidence that future changes will enhance, rather than diminish the community. Approval of this resolution to establish this community-specific thematic zoning district represents the beginning of our efforts to preserve the quality of life that residents have so long cherished while allowing the responsible progress. Yes, we respectfully ask for your support in protecting neighborhoods like ours and ensuring that growth throughout Miami-Dade County continues in a way that respects the character, history, livability that makes our community so special. We thank you. Thank you so much. And are you the final speaker? Yes. I believe there are three more, but there are less than two minutes. Okay. Good afternoon. Katia Landero, 11275 Southwest 82nd Avenue. I'm here today in strong support of the resolution sponsored by Commissioner Daniel Cohen-Higgins. This issue is personal. I live directly next to a vacant parcel of land, and for the past six years, I have had to fight to protect my home and the character of my neighborhood from proposals that would not be compatible with our community. Our neighborhood is defined by its distinctive architectural styles, historic roots, and cohesive aesthetics. These qualities reflect decades of care, pride, and investment by the residents who live here. But without clear protection, those qualities can easily be lost. This resolution is an important first step in creating a framework that ensures future development respects the character of our community rather than erasing it. And this is not about stopping progress. This is about making sure progress happens responsibly and in a way that respects the people who already live here. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Who else is there? Is there anybody else? Okay. So thank you. At this time, we will close. Reasonable opportunity to be heard. And we will move to the agenda. Do I have a motion to set the agenda? So moved. Madam Chair. Okay. Thank you. Seconded by Commissioner Lopez. All in favor? Aye. All right. That's done. And now, is there anybody who would like to pull any of the items on the agenda for further discussion? If so, please indicate yes. Commissioner Hardiman. I don't know if it needs to be pulled for further discussion, but it's just I want to speak in reference to the item that we're discussing now or that the comments have been about. So why don't I just bifurcate out 2A because I'm sure the sponsor would like to say a few words, and then we can move the balance of the agenda assuming no one has any other questions or comments. Right. Do I have a motion for the balance of the agenda? So moved. All right. Moved and seconded. Do I have all in favor? Aye. Show that by acclamation. And now, item 2A, Commissioner Hardiman. Okay. Well, first, I want to say I listened and watched the last committee's discussion. I thought it was pretty lively. You all had to end it a little early, which begs to show you that the schedule that we have is probably not conducive to the type of analysis you want to have in committee, which is why I believe that the administration comes to us with such short sort of explanation for things, and we are pressured to sort of move on. Obviously, this is not one of those items that take that much scrutiny, but it does bring about a great level of conversation about what we look like in Miami-Dade County. And so one of the speakers that spoke earlier, he spoke briefly about how the neighborhood used to be, well, even before they purchased, right? They were like orchards and things of that nature. It's interesting because if that was, say, agricultural, there were large portions of land, you know, acre, acre and a half, even probably even more before they were subdivided into what we have today. It was a travesty to many people that housing was then built upon them, meaning that they were agricultural in nature, and then it changed to a place that had a dwelling unit on it. Now, it's, I'm sure, a very beautiful space to live in, to grow children, and to have many positive experiences, and the density, of course, is quite low. And I think what happens is now we're starting to look at, well, first, you have to be able to afford even to be there. But, of course, much like in politics, in placement, and in living residential units, you're also battling what it is to have to compete with industry. And so when people, even of great means, have to compete with industry, they lose. Because industry makes money in ways that just you can't explain to the average person who's trying to make a living in Miami-Dade County. In fact, I mean, you can see this every single day. One of the things that we've seen is, for instance, you know, I can't keep track of which billionaire, but it may have been Ken Griffin that just recently purchased an island in our bay, and he plans on parking some of his toys there. This is a tremendous investment, but which one of you would have saw a billionaire purchasing one of the islands? I'm sure you didn't realize they were for sale, right? So, you know, our minds and imaginations are being stretched in this way. But what's incredible about that as well is that what we're describing is the sort of use of the urban core space. And what we've been seeing in the urban core space is an intensification of the use of property in the urban core space. You've seen transfer of development rights in the urban core space. You've seen bonuses given for development of what you will determine as affordable housing in the urban core space. We've asked for trains and other modes of transportation for last mile in the urban core space. And look, in the places that it makes sense, I mean, I've been a proponent of it as well. I represent a great deal of the urban core space, but I also represent a great deal of spaces that deserve sort of this preservation outlook on it, right? So these are my villages, right? My El Portel, my Miami Shores, and even they still have a degree of intensification that's necessary because of their proximity to certain things. So I'll describe that, for instance, along the 79th Street Causeway Corridor and such. Great big parcels of land that, you know, probably deserve some greater densification so that you can have nodes of transportation reach those spaces and people can experience all of Miami-Dade County. I bring that to our attention because, you know, even in those spaces that I've described to you, the El Portel, the Miami Shores, the parcels are not routinely an acre and a half and two acres. In the city of Miami, there was a big issue that we had, and I always forget, I always drop the name of the actual neighborhood, but in that particular neighborhood, each parcel was quite large. And one owner who purchased a parcel, the largest of the mall, wanted to subdivide them to two. That two different parcels would have been each larger than every other parcel that was available in that neighborhood. And in that regard, they fought against it still because they didn't want further development, further, you know, they didn't want two houses where there used to be one. And they won that battle. And it was a quite, it could have been, I don't want to say Silver Bluff, but I forget the name of it, but they won that battle. And, of course, it was, you contrast that with what goes on in our urban courts. I contrast that with Miami-Dade County, for instance. In Miami-Dade County right now, we have a policy, not in our municipalities, but in Dade County. So in my cities, Miami, El Portel, Miami Shores, this cannot happen. But one, the new mayor of Miami-Dade County, the new mayor of the city of Miami wants it to happen. But this is a cautionary tale, because in the unincorporated areas of the district, what you have is, if you have a single-family zone lot, typically you can build one house on it. Now, unlike the acre and a half that some of our, you know, our brethren, if you will, get a chance to enjoy, the average lot there is like a 5,000 square foot lot, right? So you have one house for that 5,000 square foot lot, except for in our unincorporated areas, especially in our urban core, we allow you to build duplexes on that 5,000 square foot lot. So if you've built your community with what you could afford, a 5,000 square foot lot in the urban core, similarly giving your children the same experience that other people are giving theirs on their acre and a half, as best as you can, you might have 1,000 trees, we might have two, right? But nevertheless, these are my two trees. We have memories on them, we attach a swing to it, we push our kids in rubber tires, and we actually grow a family in that space. And you have a house that probably was either decrepit, dilapidated, or maybe a vacant parcel of land next to you, 5,000 square foot lot. Not an acre and a half, you know, not a park next to you, but a lot. That lot now puts two different units on it. And so the character of that neighborhood has changed. Because what happens is in that neighborhood, it's not just one lot. You all know we're being sued right now by an entity. That entity is suing me personally and this body professionally because they have not executed on their agreement to develop single family lots within a two-year period. That was the agreement that they signed long before I became a commissioner. When I became commissioner, we extended that agreement to give them another opportunity. We extended it once again to give them another opportunity. We gave them access to millions of dollars to develop. And yet and still, we have empty lots. When you look at the lot report where we transfer all those properties out of Miami-Dade County, half of those lots, probably more than half, came from my district. So you're saying out of all 13 districts, more than half came from District 3. They were given away many to the same entity who can't build, right? But the reason I tell you this is because in a small neighborhood, in walking distance, there are a number of these lots. So we're still compromised. And when you have those many lots in a single family neighborhood that turn to duplexes, it changes the fabric of the community. And so I speak to this item not in the sense of saying I agree or disagree. What I'm saying to you is that what I appreciate about it is that it begs the conversation about how we treat development in all of our neighborhoods. You know, it's important because wherever you are, you choose to make your space better, hopefully, right? And we as commissioners should be trying to make people's spaces better. And I love the idea of preserving spaces and people's experiences in those spaces because the further we intensify in our neighborhoods, the more that the experience that we were sort of intending to have in those neighborhoods goes away. And so I wouldn't want to see a single family neighborhood taken away in order to make room for high rises. But you should know this. This happened in the Edgewater community. That is what happened. This is what happened on Brickle. That is what happened. So these neighborhoods that we tend to enjoy now, all of us traveling from here or there and everywhere, and we complain about traffic and things of that nature. Well, we did that on these types of boards when we decided to intensify these areas. So if you were on Edgewater, you had a single family home, two story, right there on the bay. Beautiful. And then someone bought all the properties around you, and you instead had to contend with a structure that had 45 floors peering into your backyard. We look at even what happened in, and this is a different sort of intensification. However, you look at what happened in Coral Gables with the one man that held out on this property, and he's right now across the street from a hotel, which I personally, I'm weird, but I like that. But I understand that he doesn't have the same sunlight. He doesn't have the same ability to grow plants in his yard or trees and such. I mean, it's just a different experience. And so, but it is the ultimate finger to government. He's in protest of what happened to his neighborhood. It changed his neighborhood, right? It absolutely did. And those who live around it, some may enjoy that they can walk right there to that space. Some may not. Some say, the traffic in my neighborhood is just too intense now because of this. And so I think what's good about this item is that you're talking about each neighborhood in your space and how it affects it. But I think that through even your item, we need to continue to have these conversations about all of our spaces because, to be honest with you, Commissioner, you know, my job, and I've told you this before, if I'm someone who is in a position where I can influence others, is to ensure that your district does well. I want your district to do well. Every commissioner here, we should have a plan for our district, and we should try as colleagues to help each other meet that need. And sometimes there's a conflict in districts. Sometimes there's a conflict in neighboring districts, and we have to work through those things. But ultimately, the goal is to make the neighborhood a better place to be. However, there's a difference between a change in neighborhood and growth, meaning, you know, many of the times, like, I think in here we mentioned the urban development boundary, right? And we talk about how there are attempts from time to time to push the urban development boundary further along. But it's true that we have to find space for, you know, people who are moving into Miami-Dade County. And we know that they're expanding further down south. That's part of where people are going, which is our commissioner's district and others. But we also, in that process, are intensifying the internal components of our county. And so, Gonzalez, this kind of hits to where you and I have had a brief discussion about this on the days from time to time. Is that why not then intensify where we're going? So, we're moving, you know, the UDB to have development, to have residential spaces. Maybe it should be quite more intense. Maybe we should be building city centers further away from the city core to encourage people to establish businesses there, to encourage people to stay there, to entertain themselves there, to build new community nodes, right, which then makes good use of a rail system and other bus systems and other ways that we can sort of disperse people around. And I think that that could have a better effect on traffic, right? Because now, instead of being in the downtown area, someone says, you know, I'm going to put my new headquarters deep down south because that's the place of the future. That's where growth is going and that's where we're going to have intensification of use and we're going to have communities built around these areas. And so, these are things that may or may not fly in each other's face. You know, the neighborhoods that spoke today, they, well, the representatives of today, they may keep what they want, but then have to understand that down the street, when we have new development, it's going to look like this. Because, you know, I hate when people say we're not making more land because we do from time to time. We've done it in the past. And so, but the land that we do have, we need to treasure and then, and if we want to push the, especially the urban development boundary, I don't want to push it if I'm just building more acre lots. I don't want to push it if every lot is just, you know, 40,000 square feet because what, the gentleman, can you have a little decorum in the back, you know, until I don't know if there's a micro zone back there, but we can hear them discussing in the back. So, you know, because if we do that, then what's happening is we're devaluing the properties that are in the urban core, even though we're closer to, you know, what's happening in our areas, and we're increasing the value and the likelihood that although you're buying more land and building more units out deep down south or out west, et cetera, fewer people are moving there. And so, you know, I don't want to see that either, right? So we have to really think smart about all of our places, and I applaud the commissioner for thinking smart about her district because things are changing, and somebody has to steer that change. If not, it's going to go the way that the money goes. And we're not talking about the individuals who've managed to do well in our community, but you're talking about companies, LLCs. And if, like, in the district that I represent, a great deal of my district are rentals, a great deal, the vast majority, actually, people are renting these places. And the more and more you look on your street level and identify the houses, these are not homesteaded properties. These are LLCs that are owning these places. The LLCs come in. The Airbnbs come in. It's no longer residential in the way that we see it. It becomes quite commercial. They don't have fire alarm systems and water systems. You're having more intense use of the trash, more intense use of the streets. The parks are not being played upon. It's just not a neighborhood the way that we think of it to be. And so when people have just a bit more money, they can preserve that lifestyle, but, you know, if you're not careful, it comes for you, too. It doesn't come for you in the sense of a 5,000-square-foot lot with a 2,700 house on it that's an Airbnb. It doesn't come that way. But it can come as a playground for the rich. It can come as a 45,000, 50,000-square-foot facility that is for, you know, recreation, that has pickleball courts and all kinds of things of that nature because you have all the space and people want the privacy. So it can change your neighborhood. And so I think that if we think about the least of us, then certainly we can ensure that those who have the most also get the same protection. That's all I have to say. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner, yes, Commissioner. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Commissioner Hardiman, for your comments. I don't know that there has been comments that you've made from the dais that I agree with more than the comments that you just made now. And here's the reason why I think you're bringing up a very good point about the changes that we're seeing in Miami-Dade County and who's benefiting from the changes that are coming to our community. I always say Miami-Dade County is a world-class community, but world-class for who? It's our job here to make sure that it's world-class for our hardworking, everyday residents, not just the millionaires and the billionaires that are finding our community attractive. And so I think that this is a conversation that we need to continue having. And I think that the residents that are here, first of all, thank you all for coming. Thank you for making your voices heard. And Commissioner Hardiman, I want to highlight these residents because they are doing things correctly, meaning they are being very proactive. They are not reactive. There's no CDMP application before us. There's nothing currently impending. They are being proactive in saying they see the tea leaves. They're reading the tea leaves. They're seeing the signs. They're seeing billionaires buy islands to park their mega yachts. They're seeing amalgamations of properties being picked up by LLCs and the level of power and control that gives enterprise or industry, as you describe it, in and around their neighborhoods. This is not just happening in District 8. I know it's not just happening in your district. It's something we all need to be paying attention to. And I applaud these residents of Miami-Dade County for coming together and saying, please help us. Please help us plan for the future because we are paying attention and we are being proactive. And if you hear the comments that they made, their comments were, we are not anti-development. We are anti-development that is not compatible with our neighborhood, which is taking a very reasonable approach, which I support entirely. And so when we talk about industry versus the everyday resident, we talk about David versus Goliath, when we talk about these dichotomies that we see before the board all the time, you know, this group of residents is not represented by a lobbyist or a lawyer, right? In fact, I'm their lobbyist. I'm the person that is charged with being their voice. And it's a charge that I take very seriously and one that I'm very honored and proud to have, as do you, Commissioner Hardeman, I know very, very intensely. So I look forward to having conversations with you about this is a thematic zoning district, just so that we understand it doesn't block or prevent development. It adds a layer of, hey, again, there's going to be community meetings. There's work that needs to be done. This is the first step, but it is signaling from a group of residents of a community that we want to do everything within our power should the board agree and should my colleagues accept we're doing everything in our power to be proactive and do everything that we can to make sure that a high-rise building like what was just described is not going to get built in our neighborhood, right, because nobody wants to see that. So I applaud them. I thank you for coming down and giving your testimony, Commissioner Hardeman. I greatly appreciate your remarks, and, frankly, I accept it as a charge. Let's have a conversation about how we curtail some of these issues from happening because everybody on the board is extremely pragmatic. Everybody is extremely aware of the fact that so many people are moving to our community, and everybody is extremely aware of the fact that we have an affordability crisis in this county. But that's why we're a single-member district. That's why there's 13 of us, and we need to have a conversation about what neighborhoods need to be preserved maybe a little bit more than others and what kinds of architects we are going to be and what this community looks like for the next generation. And I think that's what you're speaking about. So I look forward to having that conversation and happy to have those meetings in furtherance, either during committee hearing or sunshines or wherever you want to have that chat. I'm making sure that our millionaire and billionaire friends that are joining us here don't end up being the architects of this county for the next generation, but rather that the charge remains here with us. So I thank you for your comments. I'm happy to move to A, and thank you again to the residents for coming down and speaking. It is a long drive to get here. Thank you. Thank you for that, Commissioner Gonzalez. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I'll second that motion. And I just want to make a brief comment. You know, one, to Commissioner Colvin Higgins' point, thank you to all the residents that came out. This is what having your government work for you looks like, showing up, being proactive. A lot of folks think that we live in a democracy. We do not. We live in a constitutional republic, and the constitutional republic only works when folks get involved. I commend you, and I would hope and I would pray that the rest of the residents of Miami-Dade County look at this as an example. I wanted to put that on the record, but I also want to thank Commissioner Hardiman for his comments, and I just have to say this out loud. This is why I love this commission. This is why I love this commission. You can see where the vibe, for lack of a better word, is going. Not to bash any of our predecessors, I think all of us are very, you know, we admire our predecessors, and we think that our predecessors did a great job, but you need to plan. And I think the difference, I think there is no question that Miami-Dade is the center of the universe right now. It's the major metropolitan area in the world, not in the United States, in the world. And when something like that happens, to Commissioner Keon Hardiman's point, you need good stewards of what planning looks like. You need folks, like all of the folks that sit on this commission, that are willing to think 20, 30, 40 years ahead. And unfortunately, I think in the past, that hasn't happened so much so with Miami-Dade. But it is just so refreshing to hear a speech like the one that you just gave, to see the legislation that Commissioner Cohen-Higgins is putting forth, and to have the conversations we just had in the last committee. This is a commission that is ready to lay the infrastructure that is necessary to take Miami-Dade County into the future because it's not going to get slower. We are going to continue to lead. Not only are we going to lead in America, but we're leading in the entire hemisphere. We are the standard, and it is up to us to make those decisions so that companies, billionaires, et cetera, aren't the ones that are steering the ship. We are the steers of the ship, and I'm proud to sit with all of you. Thank you. Thank you so much for those comments. So with that, I will say that I think spot on that we should be looking at this at all our districts who have an incorporated areas. And with that, we have a motion and a second to do all in favor. Okay. Thank you. My acclamation showed approved. And I have one announcement to make. Thank you, by the way, everybody, for coming out to our meeting today. And I guess stay tuned. We have item R3H that was passed earlier. I am requesting that that be placed per the administration on the very next BCC. Is there anything else you need from me on that? Does anybody have any unreadiness or anything that they would like to discuss before we adjourn? Seeing none, do I have a motion to adjourn? All right. Show us adjourn. Thank you so much. Thank you.