Residents divided on idea of historically Black Miami neighborhoods becoming a city
Residents in north central Miami-Dade communities expressed concern about recent efforts to turn their neighborhoods into a new city at a town hall Wednesday evening.
Held by District 2 Commissioner Marliene Bastien’s office, about 100 residents gathered at the Arcola Lakes Senior Center to discuss the steps that would be needed to incorporate the Brownsville, Gladeview, Twin Lakes/North Shore Gardens and Gratigny neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are included in the boundary considered for cityhood, which goes as far north as NW 125th Street, as far south as NW 54th Street, a far west as 37th Avenue and as far east as I-95. One of the primary steps includes extending the life of the North Central Dade Municipal Advisory Committee, which is key in determining how feasible it is for the area to become a city.
“Whatever you want to do, the ball is in your corner,” Bastien told the crowd.
Brownsville Civic Association and three other communities – the Gladeview Homeowners & Civic Association, the Twin Lakes/North Shore Gardens Association and the Gratigny Homeowners Association – ignited incorporation efforts after Hialeah backed off the idea to annex 150 acres of Brownsville, a historically Black community. The city of Hialeah hired an engineering firm to conduct a feasibility study, which revealed annexing 150 acres of the community would generate revenue for the city, el Nuevo Herald reported in 2023.
At the time, the proposed area included two mobile home parks, Blue Bell and Carley Trailer Park, but according to the report less than 50% of the proposed area was residential therefore, no referendum was needed from residents to incorporate.
Resident Marion K. Brown was uninterested in the idea of the area becoming a city, saying doing so could increase taxes on residents in a community that doesn’t have a strong tax base. “We have no permanent engine in our communities to where you can supply or come up with enough money for the taxes. The money to create the city is going to come from your taxes,” he said at the meeting. His view was echoed by many in attendance.
But Brownsville Civic Association president Kenneth Kilpatrick, whose association along with the three others is calling for cityhood, said that residents need to have a say now otherwise they may not have an opportunity to incorporate again — leaving the area vulnerable to annexation in the future.
“I’m not getting up here trying to scare people to death,” he said. “There are other cities serious about annexing this area.”
Some residents such as Melba Rose want to know the pros and cons of what incorporating would mean.
“Everybody’s talking about taxation. Taxation is going to happen in terms of increases. That’s something that is a given,” she told the Herald the morning after the meeting. “But if you’re looking at the community in terms of something with some longevity, it’s like a car or anything else, you have to do things to upgrade it, to maintain it, to make it more viable.”
At the town hall, Bastien explained that extending the North Central Dade Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC), a group that was established in 2001, was a crucial step in exploring if the communities wanted to become a city. If the MAC is extended, a committee of at least seven people would be established and the feasibility study would take place, which is the first step to incorporation.
The Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners is expected to hear the matter at its Jan. 22 meeting during a public meeting.
