SRHA General Meeting Minutes July 27, 2022
President Christine Brownlow called the meeting to order at 7:36 PM. She welcomed Anna Caldis, who sits on our Town Comp. Board as a volunteer and is serving as interim president for the revamping of the Deans Ranches Civic Association. Jim Starkweather led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Chris welcomed all residents, partners, Council, board members, and guests Carlos Martinez and Robert Lewin.
Davie Police: Detective Hobales said that there were not a lot of crime-related calls, although last Thursday, there was some activity with a couple of young men with hoodies who jumped a fence and were targeting a Mercedes Benz SUV and a Land Rover. Remember to lock your cars and remove your FOBs from your cars!! Mail theft is still happening. Do not leave your flags up on your mailbox with mail. If you see something, please use the app https://www.saferwatchapp.com/davie to report anything; it goes straight to dispatch. 911 non-emergency is still being worked on for staffing. Best number to call is 954-693-8200 which goes to BSO after hours.
Council comments: Mayor Steve mentioned Sandy Luongo’s passing. She had been with our town for almost 10 years and was such a great resource for us. We will miss her greatly. The first Farmers’ Market will be September 24. Also, the Mayor’s call will start again starting Wednesday, September 14. President Chris encouraged residents to attend this very valuable meeting. Chris also asked him about Airbnb, since some of our homes are being used for these, and some of this ongoing activity is protected by the Florida legislature. Residents, please call the police if you see illegal activity or hear loud parties in your area.
Vice Mayor Jablonski gave Public Works update.
As Chris introduced Councilman Bob Hartmann, she said that he is up for re-election this year and has an opponent. As a resident, she gave praise to Bob Hartmann’s contributions to the town and asked for residents’ support. This was not a comment from her role as President. Bob talked about some of the important items that would be covered in the July 28 meeting, including the RR+ ordinance, Waste Management (WM). We will continue with recycling and WM will provide more education regarding their services.
Councilman Jim Allbritton is looking forward to the Green Meadows Association revamp and revitalization. It’s a group with community interest at heart. He also recognized Ms. Anna Caldis in her new role as interim president.
Councilmember David Kuczenski congratulated Anna and encouraged her, also thanked Vilma who was his first Vice President when he was SRHOA president. David spoke to the waste company change and other of the Council’s meeting items for tomorrow’s meetings including budget items. Regarding signs, they are illegal, and need to be removed, including realtors’ signs on the swales. As a resident, David made a motion that Sunshine Ranches HOA make a contribution of $500 to the Green Meadows Civic Association to get things rolling. James Starkweather seconded. There was discussion, and Councilman Allbritton advised that there is still nothing set up yet, so if passed, it would have to be put in reserve. The motion passed unanimously.
President Chris proceeded to the next item of business, the 40-acre lot on Hancock and Griffin, and introduced Carlos Martinez, owner and developer, who was joined by Mr. Duran, his equity partner, and Robert Lewin and Courtney Crush. Chris prefaced this discussion by saying that if any resident had any conversation with any Council member where an opinion was expressed for anything coming up before a vote, please keep that opinion to yourself. Florida has a law called the Sunshine Law against this. For instance, Jason Halberg provided as an example: if Carlos Martinez had a conversation with a Council member, and an opinion was shared, he is not to provide that in this meeting.
Prior to speaking about the 40-acre lot, Carlos Martinez thanked Chris and Jason for their help in being a sounding board for what our community would like to see with this property. He summarized the last vote that was brought before the HOA some 5 months ago and was approved. Since then, there have been opinions on the zoning which restricted the project, so he put the property up for sale 2 months ago. He recently received interest from 2 separate parties interested in putting a home each on the property, one for 32.5 acres and the other for 7.5 acres; and if all approvals are met, he would proceed. Mark Fisher would like to buy 32.5 acres and had his attorney Ms. Courtney Crush representing him at the meeting, and Robert Lewin, a SR resident, is interested in 7.5 acres. Carlos assured us that he would stay on board as the owner/developer to get everything approved for the plats on both properties with the town. Each would have an entrance from Hancock. The 32.5-acre lot would have a future sub-division, in case the owner sells in the future, so it would be 3 lots in total.
Ms. Crush gave a brief overview of Mr. Fisher’s plan for his lot: a single-family home for his family, plus a private recreation building which would house a tennis court, which would be used for personal family use only, e.g., not for tennis tournaments. Several residents asked questions of Mr. Fisher’s intentions, and the board and residents asked questions and made known our interest in maintaining our rural lifestyle, with horse trails, low lighting, and lush landscaping. Mr. Fisher then joined the meeting and made clear his intentions to relocate from Bal Harbour in Miami to rural Broward. He talked about his family, children, and his intentions. Additionally, Mr. Lewin also provided his vision for the 7.5 acres: he is a long-time resident of Sunshine Ranches, and he wants to use the land to build a smaller residence than what he currently owns.
Chris asked for a motion to support going forward with Carlos and the intentions presented by the 2 potential new residents/owners. David Kuczenski went on record to state that because he is on the Council, he would abstain from the vote. Jim Starkweather made the motion to support the development of these properties. Vilma Lopez seconded. Ed Gonzalez asked for more drawings and information. Carlos said that if this doesn’t go through, he would continue with his plans to develop 2.5 acre lots and expressed his dissatisfaction with Council’s restrictions on his original plans. He would still need the HOA’s support. The motion was passed unanimously.
Next meeting will be held at Wunderbar on August 31 at 7:30 pm.
Meeting was adjourned.