Dade commission OK’s 1st reading of annexation bids that would expand Virginia Gardens, Medley

The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners voted 8 to 4 Tuesday to approve a proposed ordinance, on first reading, whereby the Village of Virginia Gardens sought to annex a prime parcel of real estate.

If approved, the land area of Virginia Garden would be expanded by 550 percent, and Medley’s would increase by 234 percent. Currently the proposed annexation area is in unincorporated Miami-Dade.

Virginia Gardens is a .29-square-mile bedroom community, population 2,364, that abuts NW 36th St., just north of Miami International Airport.

For 20 years, Virginia Gardens has made several earnest attempts to annex land after its council approved a 2002 resolution. The county commission’s approval, on first reading, means the the Village’s size is projected to grow by 550 percent.

The land slated to become part of the Village measures about 1.6 square miles. Its boundaries run from Miami International Airport and Northwest 55th Avenue to the east, the Dolphin Expressway to the south, the Palmetto Expressway to the west, and NW 36th Street to the north, according to the county.

“The annexation will help the Village sustain a low millage rate,” Virginia Gardens Mayor Spencer Deno IV, said. “It will also give the businesses in the area a voice and an identity.”

Virginia Gardens’ neighbor to the west, the Town of Medley, would also expand its size and tax base after the county commission voted 8 – 3 to approve its bid for 2.55 square miles of land to the south and west of the town’s borders.

Medley is a 5.98-square-mile industrial town of warehouses and mobile home parks, population 1,056, just south of Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens. Its size would increase by about 234 percent.

The town failed, in 2013, to annex pockets of land in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. In 2015, the Medley town council voted to lift all height restrictions on commercial buildings.

“It’s great the County allowed us to legally manage the area, said Medley Councilman Edgar Ayala, who is running for re-election on Nov. 8. “The opportunities are endless when you have more vacant land.”

Medley and Virginia Gardens will have their second reading before the county commission at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, 111 NW 1st St. in Miami.

Theo Karantsalis can be reached at karantsalis@bellsouth.net