A Juvenile Jail in Doral,
Yes or No?

This proposed location is in the heart of our Doral community, across the street from Costa del Sol and Costa Verde. It also borders NW 33 Street, which will be the only safe route for children to walk and ride their bicycles to the 80-acre Miami West Park that is being built on the west side of NW 87 Avenue at NW 33 Street.

The WDFHA immediately sent a letter to Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of State Lands, objecting to this facility being considered in our Doral community.

A hearing was scheduled for March 22, 2000 in Tallahassee before the Cabinet Aides, and I was authorized by the WDFHA to fly to Tallahassee to oppose the JDC in our neighborhood.

I requested strong support to our opposition from Mayor Alex Penelas, Commissioner Miriam Alonso, State Representative Alex Villalobos, State Senator Mario Diaz Balart and U.S. Senator Lincoln Diaz Balart.

I made a very strong presentation in opposition to the JDC and in doing so I offered our help finding a suitable site that is not in anyone's neighborhood. The item has been deferred to April 11, 2000 when the Governor and his cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees, will have a hearing to make a final decision.

By the time you read this most likely the decision will have been made--I urge everyone to attend the April 20, 2000 meeting of the WDFHA at 8 PM at the Doral Park Clubhouse to learn about the decision and what, if anything, needs to be done next.

New Home and
Condo Defects:
When you move into your new home or condominium apartment and find problems in the construction, there are some important steps to take to protect the investment that you have made.

Most of the new homes and condos being built in the Doral Community are in homeowner or condo associations. Experience has shown that many of the homes in an association end up with the same construction problems.

Talk to your neighbors and list the problems that you have found in your home. The problems could be plumbing, electrical, bad workmanship, roofing, design defects, landscaping etc. Any of these could be code violations but could also be the result of poor sub-contractor workmanship.

Your first responsibility is to promptly notify the builder by certified mail, return receipt requested, with a complete list of the problems that you have detected, adding to your letter that this may not be the final list of defects but you are requesting that the developer investigate and make all required repairs without delay. Keep a photocopy of all correspondence from this date forward.

Do not attempt to be your own lawyer or engineer! If you do not get a prompt, satisfactory reply from your developer, it is time for you to check with your neighbors who might have similar problems and form and ad hoc committee to hire a qualified engineer to inspect all deficiencies in every home. This expense will be the very best investment you can make in protecting your new property.

Depending on the nature and quantity of the construction deficiencies that are documented by your engineer both in pictures and in a written report, you can then deal with your developer from a position of strength given that the Miami-Dade Building & Zoning Department has been notified and is on your side.

If there were code violations or shoddy workmanship, the developer will be notified by county building inspectors to make the required corrections.

Most developers will want to do the right thing. Most developers have many homes to sell and they want to maintain a good reputation.

In many cases, the developer has hired sub-contractors who have cut corners, not followed the approved plans or did poor work.

Of course, there may be a developer who intends to build as cheaply as possible, resulting in the problems that you have discovered. That developer will try to give you every excuse in the book for his failure to provide you a house or apartment with good workmanship and in accordance to the county building codes.

After your engineering report has been delivered to the developer and the county building and zoning department, if you still do not obtain corrective action from your developer, it is time to hire a good attorney who is familiar with building defects and violations.

The WDFHA and the Doral Community Council both work very hard with all developers to make sure that their site plan and also often their floor plans are designed for the owner's best interests.

High standards have been set for developers in the Doral area but neither the WDFHA nor the Doral Community Council has any influence on the actual construction of your new home or condo apartment.

Only when Doral becomes a city and has its own building and zoning department can new homebuilding be scrutinized to prevent many of the problems that are occurring now.

CALL 305 591 2222 AND OFFER YOUR HELP TO GET OUR CITY OF DORAL APPROVED NOW.

The Incorporation Effort Continues:
LINC (Let's Incorporate Now Coalition) members on March 20, 2000

finalized a proposal to resolve the stalemate on permitting incorporation to proceed in an orderly manner in Miami-Dade County.

This proposal will be taken to the Board of County Commissioners to request their approval and it will take votes from seven of the thirteen commissioners for it to be accepted.

Some important concessions have been made in order to resolve the concerns of the police department and the budget department.

It is time for all of the thirteen commissioners to agree to incorporation.

At the same time, a federal lawsuit is being filed regarding the structure of Miami-Dade County that permits citizens living in cities to elect commissioners that govern those of us living in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.

And all the while a petition drive is being mounted to change the section 5.05 of the county charter (which deals with incorporation) to require a vote within the boundaries of a proposed incorporated area after certain preliminary steps are concluded. Also, should there be an affirmative vote in favor of incorporation, the Board of County Commissioners would be required to promptly permit that new city to be incorporated.

Any one or all of the above movements in favor of incorporation could resolve this issue, allowing the City of Doral to become a reality in the near future.