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The executive director of the South Dade YMCA told the
July meeting of the Pinecrest Business Association that he would
announce before the end of the year the location where a new
full-service facility for his organization will be built.
Tom Den Boer |
Katy Sorenson |
Tom Den Boer, whose South Dade Y hosted the
association's luncheon at the Anacapri Restaurant in the South Park
Center, told the group that the long-awaited announcement was near,
but that details remained to be worked out before he could reveal
specifics.
"Probably by Christmas we will have a formal
announcement where a facility will be located to centralize the
communities of South Miami, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, the northern tier
of Cutler Ridge, and the Killian-Country Walk area to the west,"
said Den Boer. "In a testament to the support that we have
received here in Pinecrest and the surrounding area, there will be a
facility here in the near future."
Den Boer noted that he opened a storefront
headquarters for the Y in Pinecrest a year ago and that he will expand
the operation in the South Park Center with a second office.
Meantime, Miami-Dade commissioner Katy Sorenson, a
Pinecrest resident, was guest speaker for the monthly business
luncheon and she used the occasion to lobby support for the
Collier-Hoover plan to develop the Homestead Air Force Base property.
Calling it a 'sleeper issue,' she warned that if the
property is allowed to become a 'reliever' airport for the cramped
Miami International Airport, it will result in 230,000 flights a year
into the Homestead airport.
"This would have a very significant impact on an
area with a fragile ecosystem," Sorenson said, "one right
next to Biscayne National Park and only 80 miles from the
Everglades."
Sorenson said the development of the Homestead
property is a matter of concern for the entire community because it is
an environmental issue, an economic development issue and has become a
national issue.
"I've been involved since the start," she
said. "When I ran for office in 1994 I opposed giving away this
facility to a group on a no-bid basis. But, then as I learned more and
more about the issue, I realized that it was much bigger than
that."
Sorenson said she supports the Collier-Hoover plan,
which would allow the Collier family to swap its significant mineral
rights in Collier County for the land at Homestead Air Force Base. The
Colliers would join with the Hoover interests of vacuum cleaner
fame and fortune -- to develop a high-end golf course-business park
type of development combined with a high-tech residential area sliced
by canals and featuring a major aquarium.
"I think it's more than a Homestead issue, or a
deep South Dade issue," said Sorenson. "It's an issue for
all of us. What do we want this community to be and what do we want it
to look like? How do we want it to be for our children and their
children?"
Sorenson said the Homestead property is stuck in a
process called a supplementary environmental impact statement, which
should be resolved by the end of the summer or early fall. Then, she
said, the decision will rest with Vice President Gore. She said she
has asked the Vice President not to turn the property into an airport,
but has not received an answer.
The next meeting of the Pinecrest Business Association
will be Aug. 15 at Hooligan's Pub and Oyster Bar, 9355 S. Dixie
Highway.
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