Res No 117-16-14672RESOLUTION NO.117-16-14672
A Resolution amending Resolution 084-16-14639 and urging the Miami-Dade
County Board of County Commissions to reject the request to change existing
zoning of the University Baptist Church property folio 30-4035-052-0010
WHEREAS,on September 9,2015 Somerset Academy ("Somerset")filedavariancetoa
1997 Miami-Dade County Resolution No.Z-18-97 to build a charter school with 2500 students on
Sunset and 73rd Court;and
WHEREAS,under the1997 Resolution aschoolis prohibited inthisareawiththe
exception of aday nursery limited to96 children;and
WHEREAS,under the 1997 Resolution a school can only be operated from 9:00a.m.to
1:00 p.m.but the Somerset proposal would callfor school be opened from 7:00a.m.to 4:00 p.m.;
and
WHEREAS,the traffic study provided totheCity of South Miami Commission isover
two-years old;and
WHEREAS,onP21 of the traffic study under the heading "School Operations"it states
"the School willbe using vehicular stacking areasforthefew parents that will use their private
passenger vehicles asa means (of)transportation";and
WHEREAS,onP21 of the traffic study it states,"The School will have a large
percentage of the student body transported onlarge yellow busses;and
WHEREAS,Table 5.4 A-2 states that 375 of the 2,500 students will arrive and depart on
school busses;and
WHEREAS,on P53 of the traffic study it states "The School is committed to having
15%of the student population using busses;and
WHEREAS,on P24 it states,"The School SHALL not allow for students to walk to or
from this site alone;and
WHEREAS,the traffic report listsonly24asthe number of bicycle parking spaces fora
school with 2,500;and
WHEREAS,the traffic report listsZERO(0)asthe number of school crossing guards
provided by the school;and
WHEREAS,on P54 it states "the intersection of Sunset and SW 74rd Court will require
tobe controlled bya police officer during the arrival of students";and
WHEREAS,Table 9-0.2 Traffic Control Resource Officer Commitment requires the
Schooltohavean officer atthe intersection of SunsetandSW 73rd Court for ONLY thefirsttwo
weeks of every semester;and
Res.No.117-16-14672
WHEREAS,the City Manager of South Miami has made repeated attempts to contact
JulioRobaina,the representative of SomersetandpriorMayor of Hialeah,todeterminethe
number of children receiving reduced rate/freeschoollunches.WhileMr.Robaina finally
responded,onoraboutJune7,2016,itwasnotresponsivetotherequestandthereforethe
Commission canonly presume thattheschooldoesnot provide anyreducedrate/freelunches;
and
WHEREAS,theTrafficReportdonetwoyearsagodidnot measure any volumes of
traffic WEST of the Palmetto Expressway;and
WHEREAS,according to Mayor Stoddard,the traffic study estimated that 25%of the
students will arrive from thenorth,but thetraffic study DID NOT count the volume of
southbound Palmetto traffic existing eastonto Sunset northe frequency to which this traffic
presently "blocks the box"of the intersection preventing westbound traffic from entering theon-
ramp to the southbound Palmetto;and
WHEREAS,emergency vehicles routinely transport patients along Sunset toSouth
Miami Hospital,and should the addition of vehicles transporting 2,500 children tothe proposed
charter school happen and negatively impact Sunset traffic,a patient's chances of dying inthe
ambulance onthe way to South Miami Hospital increase;and
WHEREAS,the proposed school willbe built onthe south side of Sunset Drive directly
adjacenttoone of thelast protected rock pinelands in Miami-Dade County -Trinty Pineland
County Park;and
WHEREAS,the South Miami City Commission has been a strong proponent of protecting
threatened rock pinelands andweare concerned thatthis proposed school may harm the Trinity
Pinelands;and
WHEREAS,in2014,aftera number of complaints bylocal residents,South Miami's City
Commission instructed city government officials to investigating why just 1%of Somerset
Academy South Miami Charter School's students are African-American when 17%of South
Miami residents are African-American;and
WHEREAS,2%of SOMI Somerset's students receive special education and District 6
of Miami-Dade Public Schools has16%of its students receiving special education;and
WHEREAS,the South Miami City Commission is concerned that this new charter school
on Sunset willnot provide equal opportunity access toall families and students inthe community.
Itisourhopethatthe admissions processwouldbeopenand if thisschoolisapproveditwould
become a community asset;and
WHEREAS,dueto proposed drastic zoning changes,concernsregardingincreased traffic,
environmental concerns,andconcernsregardingwhetherthisschoolwillhaveanopenaccess
admission policy.WehopetheCounty Commission willgivethis proposal morescrutinyand
reject the request for rezoning of the property inquestion.
Page 2 of 3
Res.No.117-16-14672
NOW,THEREFORE,BE RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA THAT:
Section 1.TheCity of SouthMiamiherebyrequeststhattheMiami-DadeCountyBoardof
CountyCommissionsrejectany of thezoningchangesbeingrequestedfortheUniversityBaptist
Church property folio 30-4035-052-0010.
Section 2.TheCity Clerk isherebydirectedto transmit this resolution toall members of
Miami-Dade County Board of County Commission andall members of the Miami-Dade School
Board.
Section 3.Severability.Ifanysectionclause,sentence,orphrase of this resolution isfor
anyreasonheldinvalidor unconstitutional byacourt of competent jurisdiction,theholdingshall
not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 4.Effective Date.This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by vote of the City Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this21st day of June ,2016.
Page3 of 3
APPROVED:
lAYORmayo:
commission vote:4-0
Mayor Stoddard:Yea
Vice Mayor Welsh:Yea
Commissioner Harris:Yea
Commissioner Edmond:Yea
Commissioner Liebman:absent