The Coral Gables Times

THE Coral Gables TIMES

THE CITY BEAUTIFUL Vol. 36, No. 27 28 Pages Thursday, August 17, 1961 Phone HI 3-1661 Price 10c

CG School Loses Tax-Free Status

By MAURICE LABELLE Times Reporter One of two private Coral Gables schools will have to pay real estate and property taxes, Tax Assessor T. C. Blount said this week. Riviera Day School, 6800 Nervia St., will have to pay an estimated tax of $800 for this year, Blount said, and be assessed a comparable amount for the years 1958, 1959, and 1960. Deerborne School, 311 Sevilla Ave., has been exempted after an audit of its books. Blount's decision met with surprise from Lorin E. Coppock Jr., who owns Riviera School with his wife, Lucille Coppock. Coppock said he talked to Blount Sunday and thought an understanding had been reached. "We're working on this thing," said Coppock. "We need more time." Coppock said his attorney was out of town and that Blount based his decision on a "technicality." "Upon due consideration I have concluded that this property is not used for educational purposes by the owner, therefore, it is not entitled to the exemption under the law," Blount said in a letter to Coppock. Blount said he based his decision on a ruling of the attorney general made back in 1933, and never challenged, and the state law. According to Blount, the attorney general ruled that property which is leased but not owned by an educational institution and actually occupied and used by it solely for educational purposes is not exempt from taxation. The law, said Blount, states that such property as educational, literary, benevolent, fraternal, charitable and scientific institutions must be occupied and used by them for the purpose for which they have been organized. Coppock said that the technicality resulted from the fact that he and his wife incorporated the school to limit their liability in the event of a suit. They each own 24 shares and their son and daughter one share each. "We are the owners," Coppock said. If no agreement can be reached over this point, he said, the corporation can be dissolved and the school reorganized to meet the requirements.

HOW NEW MIRACLE MILE ADDITION WILL LOOK Two More Stories Will Top Surrey's

The familiar building at the northeast corner of Miracle Mile and Salzedo Street will soon grow in stature. Two more stories will be added to the one-story structure owned by the Ellveeay Corp., according to Charles R. Taylor, agent for Lewis Edwards real estate firm which handled the transaction. Surrey's occupies the ground floor, now. The more than $160,000 addition will bring the total value of the property to approximately $500,000. Sparks Construction Company Inc., of Coral Gables, was low bidder among the five firms that submitted bids. Taylor said that construction should get underway immediately with completion expected about the beginning of next year. The edifice, designed by architect Curtis E. Haley, will be air conditioned. A total of 15,000 square feet of floor space will be provided by the two-story addition. Engineer for the project is Harvey Baxter of Coral Gables.

But Margin Smaller We Say Yes, Too, To No on Metro

Reassessment was rejected approximately 6-1 in Coral Gables Tuesday, considerably below the 10-1 ratio recorded countywide. The vote was 5,742 to 921. An analysis of the Gables vote is difficult because five of the city's precincts include areas not within its boundaries. Precinct 162, for instance, is two-thirds out of the Gables. The program, if approved, would have doubled and tripled taxes for many residents, according to City Tax Assessor T. C. Blount. Benefitting from the proposed program would have been owners of the more expensive homes, business and industrial property owners. It is this fact that accounts, perhaps, for a greater acceptance of the program here than in other areas where property values are less. PRECINCT | AGAINST R'SSMT | FOR R'SSMT 161x | 310 | 54 162x | 576 | 47 163 | 449 | 34 164 | 723 | 92 174 | 459 | 72 175 | 211 | 35 176 | 520 | 69 185 | 612 | 75 186 | 272 | 33 197x | 275 | 57 198x | 645 | 133 200x | 679 | 220 5,742 | 921 x-Indicates precincts not entirely in Coral Gables.

Perfect Except . . .

Hans Wedemeyer and Tom Shelley were awarded perfect attendance certificates for 23 and 18 years, respectively, at the Coral Gables Kiwanis Club Tuesday. The only trouble was they couldn't be present to accept.

We're Still Being Safer This Year

The Coral Gables traffic accident picture this year remains bright through the seventh month with fewer accidents and injuries reported and fatalities at the same level. Only 93 accidents were reported by Gables police in July compared to 123 the same month last year. The seven month total showed a drop from 992 to 912 and injuries during the same period also dropped from 351 to 326. One person has been killed so far this year, the same as '60.

Advertising Dollars To Be Discussed

A meeting has been set tentatively for next Tuesday between the City Commission, the Advertising Advisory Board, Bert Burris, city and advertising consultant, and the advertising firm of Bishopric, Green, Fielden, Inc. The firm will present to the Commission its plan for spending a portion of the more than $140,000 appropriated for publicity, advertising and promotion not already committed. This amounts to more than $70,000. Commissioners are on vacation but the importance of getting the program under way has necessitated the request for the special meeting, Burris said.

CITIZEN'S RIGHT

At Early Hour She Found More Swimmers Than Voters

By HELEN REYNOLDS Times Society Editor Swimmers out-numbered the voters Tuesday at Venetian Pools. The score: 84 swimmers versus four voters. But then, it was 8:30 a.m. and the last of the Venetian Pools Aquatic Club's meetings. In the baby pool, we watched tots take their first lessons, where three attractive women certified teachers had them well in hand. Out in the deep pool, older children were well in hand too. Red seemed to be the favorite swim suit color. Perhaps it attracts the most attention. We talked to John Rosasco, pool manager, who said he was completing his 19th season there. Questioned as to jumping into the pool with his clothes on, he answered quickly, "Six times, but it was worth it." Now with this "learn to swim," sponsored not only by the Red Cross but by everyone, the day will come when drowning will be a rarity. Mrs. George Airth, 732 Palermo, was one of the two clerks at the voter registration table, the other was Mrs. Harry V. Wylie, 3413 Banos Ct. Each have two grown children. Mrs. Airth said that she gave up smoking years ago when her daughter, Alice, now 17, asked her to. Alice, who had been watching films on the danger of cancer, pleaded with her mother to give it up. She did. The Airths' older daughter Margie, 22, graduated at Randolph-Macon College. Judge Ralph Cullen and Mrs. Cullen, 3405 Banos Ct., and your reporter were the only ones signing in at that hour. Mrs. Amy Coval, 702 Camilo St., took our voting privilege paper. We closed the curtain, indicated our choice and were out of there in three seconds. We chatted with Mrs. Coval, a widow, who said she had been handling this particular job since the establishment of the City's second voting booth in the old Youth Center at Le Jeune Road and Avenue Andalusia. "Not the present Youth Center," Mrs. Coval emphasized, "the first one."

Cliff Was Treed

Eleven-year-old Clifford Snyder, 1316 Alhambra Circle, spent an uncomfortable half hour or so the night of Aug. 10. He was up a tree and couldn't come down. Young Snyder was finally rescued by Fireman Lloyd G. Griffith who used a ladder.

WANTED

Real Estate Salespeople to staff new South Miami-Coral Gables office. Walter M. Freeman, Realtor. FR 4-5111--Adv.

Larry Larimore, Realtor

Coral Gables' only accredited property management organization 150 Andalusia HI 8-1563 --Adv.

JIMMY'S LOUNGE

JIMMY'S LOUNGE, 737 SW 109th Ave. Package goods Sun. noon 'til 5 a.m.; Daily 8 a.m. 'til 5 a.m. Y'all Come!! --Adv.

Electrolux Sales & Service

1616 Ponce de Leon Blvd. HI 4-6621. --Adv.

Pool owner hdqtrs.

Chemicals. Patio items. Sun n' Fun Pool n' Patio, CE 5-7330. --Adv.