Junette Reyes / Editor-In-Chief
After years of planning, the University will take their hopes for expansion and put them into the hands of Miami-Dade County voters.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of putting the University expansion plan in a countywide referendum during the general election on Nov. 4.
If passed, the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition, Inc. will have to relocate so the University can continue building and growing into the 64 acres of public land that had been leased by the County.
“The current Miami-Dade County Youth Fair and Exposition property is our field of dreams,” said Alexis Calatayud, Student Government Council at Modesto A. Maidique president.
However, if the votes result in an unfavorable outcome for the University, plans of expansion into the property will be halted.
“If they’re not on board, if they don’t agree with this…then we’re not going to do anything,” said Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. of District 13 on the voters.
Although the County, the University and the Fair needed to present a final relocation site to the Commission by Sept. 3, no site was clearly defined or decided on.
Three sites have been taken into consideration from the sites analyzed, which include the “Graham Site,” 335 privately-owned acres west of Miami Lakes; the “Homestead Site,” 334 acres of county-owned acres near the Homestead Air Reserve Base, and the “Sun Life Site,” 85 acres owned by the Miami Dolphins near the Sun Life Stadium.
The Fair was interested in pursuing further consideration of the “Graham Site,” but the high expense rendered it unfeasible.
Without a clear relocation site for the Fair, Fair and Expo President and CEO Bob Hohenstein and fair supporters are concerned it might be too early to pass this on to the voters.
The ballot language does not explicitly explain that for FIU to get the 64 acres of land, the Fair has to move. It also neglects to indicate all the requirements necessary before the Fair is asked to relocate, mainly presenting a final recommended site.
“We believe that language in and of itself will mislead many voters,” said Hohenstein. “It is vague, it is misleading, and it is incredibly premature.”
Although the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners acknowledged this prematurity, the board still decided to pass it through.
“I know that this question for the ballot is early but we don’t have options because elections are right there,” said BCC Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa.
The final vote was 12 votes to one, with only District 8 Commissioner Lynda Bell dissenting.
Under the current use of the property, the Fair is exempt from the public park purposes use restrictions and construction limitations in Article 7 of the Home Rule charter.
So that the site remains exempted under the use and expansion of the University, County voters will have to vote in favor come the Nov. 4 elections.
“The most important thing here is that the commission made the decision to let the voters decide whether, if we find suitable alternative, we could move into the 64 acres,” said University President Mark B. Rosenberg. “So I’m really excited about that.”
The Commission also approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the University, the County and the Fair.
When creating the MOU, the University submitted to the County their plans for if they were to receive the fairgrounds.
Among the items listed, the University wishes to expand The Engineering Center, add another academic health center for space to research and build more housing.
Also listed is “support space,” which according to the Office of Media Relations, means the University will build more parking structures or spaces.
“I don’t want to build another parking garage if I don’t have to,” Rosenberg said. “Because every parking garage we build adds cost to our student fees.”
Additionally, Rosenberg also stated that the property would allow for the construction of world class facilities to provide students with exceptional degree programs and the opportunity for more eligible students to enroll.
“I don’t want to close our doors to this community because we don’t have any room to grow,” said Rosenberg.
junette.reyes@fiusm.com
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