The Guide

THE GUIDE

BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit 742 Miami, Fla. local news for South & West Dade Vol. 2, No. 47 Thursday, May 4, 1961 Price 10c

Bird Road Owners Sue They Want South Miami To Rezone

By EDWIN KNIGHT Correspondent For the second time in three years, South Miami is being sued by a group of Bird Road property owners seeking to have their property zoning changed from a residential to the highest commercial usage. According to South Miami City Attorney George B. Hardie Jr., the suit was filed in Circuit Court last week. It has fallen into the division of Circuit Judge Robert Anderson. The city has not as yet answered the bill of complaint. 11 PLAINTIFFS Plaintiffs in the suit are 11 property owners of some 33 separate lots extending from SW 60th Pl. to SW 64th Ave. on Bird Road. In list of plaintiffs are John and Frieda Trabold, Raymond Bierbaum, Fred and Thelma Knocke, Maye Taylor, Dorothy Schoennith, Ber-Mar Corp., May Rotolante, Larry and Virginia Roehner and Allen and Dorothy Defidaugh. The plaintiffs are asking the court to rezone their 33 lots from an RU-2 (duplex) zoning to C-1, the highest commercial zoning. The value of the property could be increased by such zoning. The suit follows an appeal to the city's Planning and Zoning Board and the City Council earlier this year that the lots be rezoned. TURNED DOWN The advisory board recommended to the Council that the rezoning appeal be turned down. The recommendation was made because of the large number of objections. Council turned down the petition because of the Planning and Zoning Board recommendation. The property owners feel that the lots should be rezoned from residential to commercial because of the growth along, and the heavy traffic on, Bird Road in the past several years. The 11 property owners took the case to court in late 1958 when the lots were zoned for single family residences. The case was in litigation until the summer of 1960 when the Circuit Court ruled that the zoning should be changed to a more liberal category. Following this, the city did change the zoning from RU-1 to RU-2, the next lowest residential zoning. The property owners were still not satisfied, having sought a commercial zoning from the beginning.

Juvenile Delinquency Kiwanians in South Miami Ponder Stopping Bad News

From The South Miami Club Kiwanis Club bulletin: "We again heard of the mushrooming problems of juvenile delinquency in our area. "Program chairman Don Stang introduced Sgt. Jerry Bishop of the Metro Department of Public Safety. The display of weapons gathered from teens and passed around the room made you ill. "These lethal instruments were gathered from children under 17-18 years whose parents are more delinquent than the kids. "Many delinquents come from outwardly-appearing fine substantial homes but whose parents do not know what their children are doing with leisure time. "The deterrent of punishment under the law is lax and not enforceable so the kids mock adult control and run wild. "Needed for our area is some sort of Youth Center; why wouldn't this be a project for Kiwanis?" The club was already busy sponsoring one youth project last weekend. It held its annual kite-flying contest at the South Miami Little League ball park.

WEST of the City Limits with Ron Levitt

SUBURBIA—despite all the derogatory remarks it gets from the uninformed—is proving to be a blessing for the nation's business. This was evidenced this past weekend when the International Council of Shopping Centers met here. This group is composed of all bigwigs of the nation's mercantile world and their discussion centered on the potential of suburban areas. The general impression was that as long as suburban areas keep growing, there will be more and more shopping centers going up. They said that this was a boon to retailers, construction workers and dozens of related industries as well to the suburban housewife. Noted at this confab was the great growth of shopping centers in our area. Dozens of executives from the big national chain stores made trips into South West Miami to get a look at currently operating centers as well as the sites of several of the big proposed ones. They apparently liked what they saw. In fact, several of the big chain store executives expressed an interest in having their store sites in Our Town. One of the sites which got the look-see was the 70-acre site on Bird Road and 112th Avenue which is expected to house a regional center - similar to North Dade's 163rd Street site. By the way, this Bird Road-located center is being arranged by one of our local residents, Edward M. Strawgate—who lives in Westchester — and is executive veep of Webster Stone Inc. The impression our part of Dade County left on these merchandising Big Wheels was a good one. But even more important is what this good impression can lead to which will benefit the suburban dweller, particularly the suburban housewife. If these impressions are carried into action—and there is every likelihood they will be, it will mean more, newer and larger shopping areas for Mrs. Suburbia. In time it will mean department stores, big retail chain stores, theaters, and every other type of merchant. The optimism concerning more convenient shopping for suburbia will have its hidden factors, too. Having centers closer to the suburban home won't make the second family car obsolete—but it could help save on gas. AMONG THE NATIVES ... Beach Detective Wally Rawlson, who lives in the Century area, has been responsible for many a young delinquent starting to follow the straight and narrow. And he's set a few adults straight, too! One of the prize stories concerning Rawlson is that several years back, when he was on the police force, he answered a disturbance call from a woman. The woman became rather abusive and noisy herself but she was cut short when Rawlson told her "Madam. Quiet. YOU'RE DISTURBING MY PEACE!" Barbara Heiken, a resident of the Coral Park area, was installed this week as president of the B'nai B'rith women of Miami. Gladys Spitzer, another Coral Park dweller, is the new membership veep. Here's a special note to suburban residents who have been hoping for better school access to West Miami Junior High School: a recommendation by the West Dade Citizens Association for an overpass on Coral Way has been put into the hands of the County Manager via Metro Commissioner Bob Haverfield. Did you know that Jack Kenney lives on 78th Avenue and 32nd Terrace? But that the closest Nixon families to him are on SW 64th Court and at SW 60th Avenue in South Miami... Add to the list of civic organizations presidents in Our Town: Earl Scull, South Miami Civitan Club; Jim Billings, Southwest Kiwanis Club; Edward Grout, South Miami Kiwanis; Charles Vaughan, Southwest Civitan Club and Joe Dussault, South Miami Rotary.

PLAYING AIRMEN

while taking the controls of an Air Force C-119 are these three youngsters, all members of Cub Scout Pack 364, South Miami. The pack recently toured Homestead Air Force Base. From left to right are Steve Pearson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie L. Pearson Jr., 8235 SW 62nd Pl.; Ricky Rice, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Rice Jr., 7801 Ludlum Rd.; and Darl Chenoweth, 7540 SW 71st Ave.

Catholic Convent Planned at Kendall

A Catholic convent and retreat facilities for lay women is planned by Dominican Congregation of St. Catherine, Albany, N.Y., at a Kendall location. According to the office of Architect Thomas J. Madden Jr., two separate buildings are planned at SW 124th St. and 73rd Ave. One building will be for the convent, the other for the retreat. The convent will be 182 by 42 feet in size. The retreat will be 123 by 108 feet in size. Both buildings will be one-story. Other features of the two buildings include offices, a community room, a chapel, a lounge, a dining room and studies. A total of 48 separate retreat rooms will be included in the retreat building, according to the architect. Cost of the two structures is expected to be about $150,000. Construction will take about four months. The retreat will be for Catholic women who seek spiritual uplifting through meditation, prayers, fasting and association.

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