Pompano sets vote on Palm Aire special recreation tax district

Article Courtesy of the Sun Sentinel

By

Published June 26, 2008

POMPANO BEACH - The Palm Aire Special Recreation Tax District is another step closer to reality after the City Commission approved an ordinance Tuesday that places the proposal on the Aug. 26 ballot.

Vice Mayor George Brummer, a booster of the tax district, said if the five golf courses that surround the 600-acre Palm Aire development are ever for sale, residents would have an entity to purchase the land.

Under the plan, voters must approve every step in the process, including electing a board of supervisors, purchasing land or financing acquisitions with bonds.

If the referendum passes, prospective board members would be on the Nov. 4 ballot. If that slate of officials is approved, Brummer said it was likely that the new board would tax property owners $15 to $20 to create a checking account for the district.

Then, everyone waits.

"If this happens, the people of Palm Aire are masters of their own fates," Brummer said. "If they decide those golf courses are threatened with change to another use, they have the option of saying yes or no. If they want it and want to preserve what they have, they'll be willing to spend the money to do it."

Robert Eisengrein, president of the Oasis at Palm Aire Association, sought to have Oasis' 167 homeowners secede from the project. Those homeowners were among the 20 percent of Palm Aire's approximately 6,900 registered voters in 23 associations that did not contribute $20 each to the district's startup fund.

"From our standpoint, the concerns for creating the district are already protected by processes and addressed by the existing city and county Palm Aire land use plans," Eisengrein said. "If the commission in its wisdom sees fit to approve the establishment of such a district, we are not opposed as long as we are excluded from it."

Brummer and Mayor Lamar Fisher tried to dissuade Eisengrein of his confidence in the status quo.

"You could have different faces here [on future Commissions]," Fisher said. "Land use restrictions could be changed."

Commissioner Rex Hardin tried to amend the ordinance to include the wishes of the Oasis residents but he was not supported by his colleagues who unanimously passed the law.

Oasis resident Valmore Lucier joined Eisengrein to present a petition signed by 122 of their neighbors who oppose joining the district. Lucier feared that buying the golf courses would be too expensive for retirees, even for those who may still wish to prevent homes from being built on green space.

"People don't want to look at cement, but people are strapped," Lucier said.

Brummer said, "We're not talking about today. There is no intention to do this as long as there is golf there."

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