Javier Baños
Baños is the Editor of Gables Insider
In a decisive outcome, the residents of Coral Gables have spoken against the annexation of Little Gables. On Tuesday, August 20th, 2024, voters turned out to address a significant question regarding the future of their community. The question on the ballot was clear: “Would you support the City pursuing the annexation of Little Gables (the area generally bounded by SW 8th Street to the North, SW 16 Street to the South, Cortez Street to the West, and SW 40th Avenue to the East) into the City of Coral Gables via Miami-Dade County’s annexation process, and absorbing all associated annexation costs?”
Election Results Detail:
Yes: 37.40% (3,358 votes)
No: 62.60% (5,620 votes)
Total Votes: 8,978
With all 16 precincts reporting, the community’s decision not to annex Little Gables came through loud and clear. This vote ends a long-standing debate on whether to incorporate the area into Coral Gables, a discussion marked by community meetings, strategic evaluations, and extensive deliberations on the potential benefits and drawbacks.
Reflections from Commissioner Fernandez
Commissioner Fernandez, who opposed the annexation, expressed gratitude towards the residents for their active participation and decision. “I want to thank the residents of our great City for their participation in today’s election. As I have made clear since my campaign, you, our residents, should always come first,” Fernandez said. “Although some mocked my motion to place this item on the ballot as a waste of time, today you have sent them a resounding message that you do not wish for the City to continue pursuing the annexation of Little Gables, which would have cost you tens of millions of dollars and strained our City’s resources.” Reflecting the decisive vote, Fernandez has requested the city attorney to place an item on the agenda for the next commission meeting, aimed at ceasing all annexation efforts of Little Gables effective immediately.
Implications of the Vote
The results signify a community preference to maintain the current boundaries and avoid the complexities and financial burdens that annexation might have brought. Many residents expressed concerns about the potential costs of integrating Little Gables, which included upgrading infrastructure and expanding city services to meet Coral Gables’ standards. Early estimates had suggested that these expenses might not be offset by the increased tax revenue from the newly annexed area, at least not in the immediate future.
Reevaluating Mayor Vince Lago’s Leadership
The decisive rejection of the annexation proposal also casts a spotlight on Mayor Vince Lago’s leadership. His staunch advocacy for annexing Little Gables met with a resounding defeat, with 62.60% voting against the measure he had vigorously championed. This outcome starkly contrasts with his first election victory in 2021, where he garnered over sixty percent of approximately 10,000 votes, suggesting a strong initial endorsement from the electorate.
Today’s reversal could be interpreted as a significant shift in public confidence regarding his leadership. While the decisions on specific issues like annexation do not always directly reflect broader opinions of political leadership, the correlation in this case is hard to ignore. This vote might reveal deeper currents of dissatisfaction or disconnection between Mayor Lago’s policies and the community’s priorities.
Moreover, the electoral dynamics within the city commission—where a 3/2 split has become a common occurrence on controversial issues—mirror the divide seen in the annexation vote. The 2023 election was similarly a 3/2 vote split for Commissioners Fernandez and Castro as opposed to the Mayor’s preferred candidates. This alignment might suggest that while Mayor Lago is not without support, he increasingly finds himself in a minority position within both the commission and the electorate. As Lago approaches a potential re-election campaign next year, this latest vote poses crucial questions about his ability to realign with the shifting sentiments of Coral Gables’ voters or to recalibrate his policy approaches in response to this clear mandate.
Moving Forward
With the election behind them, Coral Gables and Little Gables residents look ahead. The decision not to annex Little Gables means that both areas will continue to operate under their current jurisdictions. For Coral Gables, this result allows city officials and residents to focus on internal improvements and other priorities without the added complexity of an annexation.
For Little Gables, remaining unincorporated means continuing to rely on Miami-Dade County for certain services while maintaining a degree of autonomy from the more stringent regulations of Coral Gables. This could foster a unique identity for Little Gables, distinct from its illustrious neighbor, while still benefiting from proximity to Coral Gables’ amenities and services.
As Coral Gables moves forward from this definitive vote, the community’s engagement and turnout reflect a vibrant democratic process, showing a city actively shaping its own destiny. The decision marks a significant moment in the history of both communities, emphasizing the importance of local governance and the power of community input in shaping the future.
REMOVE/ DELETE entirely the MED BONUS given to developers. Why haven’t any of the activists or politicians started to work on this? No cojones or we all want to benefit from real estate speculation? Bunch of pretend new urbanists and RINOs. Miami people very red at heart. So corrupt and pretending to care about others.
Two things clearly emerge from the vote:
1. There is a huge apathy in the Gables… there were almost 9,000 votes, that’s it. There are probably 35,000 voters in Gables, but only 9,000 voted. Pitiful
2. The majority of those who care, don’t want it. Thus, it is obvious that if the City decides to still go ahead and annex it, there are going to be massive and costly lawsuits.
This back and forth with annexation of little gables has been going on for years we are down 33 firefighters and 30 to 40 police officers too short staffed. I agree this city has become Gotham City too many obnoxious buildings that just are too big for some residents areas. Rent is outrageous for miracle mile and apartments are way too expensive either for sale or rent. I have lived here my whole life my late father grew up here so I have seen the changes and some not for the better. But coral gables could do better with construction restrictions and roadways try going down Granada when will the pave the road? Good luck to who ever is running in April.
There still smart people in Coral Gables, 63% against 37%, the numbers don’t lay. THANKS!!!!
Now develpers and investors can build and open their 50 story monstrocities or cell towers or gun shops, etc. in the Little Gables without any oversight from Coral Gables. Sounds like it might also be a win for the Little Gables?
With the decision reached today by city voters against Annexation we say Thank you. And to those City officials who were willing to spend over 20 millions of dollars for Annexation improvements how about a Cost of Living Adjustment ( COLA ) for the Retirees ” Fire, Police and others ” who have not had one for 20 years or more. We all dedicated ourselves to preserving and making what Coral Gables is today and ” YOU have forgotten us. ” We humbly ask for your support.
Thank you
As an owner of a condo since 1989 I am happy of this decision Coral Gables has changed a lot already, not for the better. No more shops like Thimble & Things etc.
I encourage those peddling fantasies about North Gables versus South Gables residents to check the results of yesterday elections at: https://enr.electionsfl.org/DAD/3616/Summary/
They show that the annexation was equally defeated throughout all 16 precincts in the city of Coral Gables.
Nico, the Coral Gables residents south of US1 were offered a beautiful project which would give them restaurants and a destination within walking distance. But..it was met with hate from every short sighted NIMBY.
Lulu, I think you meant to write that the North Gables people have better quality of life being near City Hall, Miracle Mile Shopping, bars, restaurants, historic monuments such as the Biltmore and Venetian Pool, beautiful churches, etc. You must understand that the people living South of US1 are frustrated and spend so much time stuck in traffic. They live in their cars. Could have bought a home in Cocoplum for only a million, but the 5pm traffic jams on Lejeune Road were unbearable. You should feel sorry for these bad road warrior people who also oppose traffic cameras on residential streets and bike lanes, near UM. Maybe not; bunch of murderers giving lots of money to the body shops and hospitals.
Lulu, you are my spirit animal. Love. Nico, how arbitrary and nonsensical is your comment. Knock off 1 story? Why don’t we remove one window from your home? The roof will still be there to give your shelter. Let’s remove one wheel from your car! It will still go forward and stop. If you’re an owner of one of the little gables houses, once the annexation goes through, you will ALL sell your homes for a huge profit and move to North Carolina, with every other Miamian. Then the increased taxes on the newly sold houses will create a windfall for the City and the firefighters can finally hire all the people needed that they have been whining about. Also, the vision of Merrick will be fulfilled. Everybody wins.
As a Little Gables resident, I am thankful to the Coral Gables residents who voted no. The cost of living increases would have been too much for many neighbors, causing them to lose their homes and the neighborhood to deteriorate potentially lowering property values. There are hidden interests with the LG annexation. As many Gables’ residents have mentioned in these comments, overdevelopment is rampant in Coral Gables and Mayor Lago’s business is real estate. Thank you, commissioner Fernandez for requesting a vote.
The WICKED, self centered SOUTH Gables voters, have mobilized to screw over the North Gables, the HEART of the Gables, where all the HISTORIC BUILDINGS are. Zip 33134. Maybe out of envy, since the people south of Bird Rd have better access & quality of life? Saddens me how people don’t want others to progress, but bring them down. They deserve the hideous Paseo de la Riviera (what a stupid name) and the many big projects lined up on US1. We shouldn’t care about them! They have BETRAYED us. Merrick would have wanted the annexation for better borders. He paid Lejeune lots of money for Lejeune’s North Gables land.
Jay De la Riva, et al, why not ask Codina, or his daughter/ son-in-law, who were featured in the Miami Herald promoting workforce LOW RISE townhouse development in Little Havana, to do the right thing & knock only one (1) story off of the tall building going up across the street from the Post Ofiice? The new building which Mr Codina says he will be moving into, would be more EXCLUSIVE with 1 floor less of residences. He’d still have extra parking spaces which could be sold to units or even rented out. Why not contact his zoning attorney or even his politician buddies to help us all out?
I totally support the opinion expressed by Lynn Guarch-Pardo. We should put a stop to adding buildings that take away from what Coral Gables has always been. That Codina building is an aberration that should never have been approved. Let’s put a stop to that!
Adding Little Gables was a mistake that voters have now killed hopefully permanently.
Once again Milli “the vinnie” Vanilli goes down in flames!!!! Victory for the residents!!!
Hi Lynn, let’s ask the commishses that approved these out of scale monstrosities how they personally gained currently there are 3 on the commission.
On a separate note there should be an citizen referendum on these abusive projects, no more giveaway of our alleys the zoning restricts what can be done but our commishes, board of architects, planning allow there developer friends to build at will at the homeowners expense.
How shortsighted of the voters to vote NO. Kandace, you are included by saying that “no-one wanted it”. That is not true, there are many who do, and they are not the villains everyone on this board loves to hate. There is only upside to owners of little gables homes, immediate neighbors, ability of police to cover area. The police never said ‘no’, so your statement is false. Also, the efforts by the ‘representatives’ of the Fire Department are perplexing. They are saying they are understaffed, which sounds like a previous problem unrelated to annexation. Then they say if they have to cover this pocket, then they can’t do their job. However the additional taxes from this area will pay for additional hires. There problem solved! But no, they have a defeatist attitude and are linking their inability to run a fire department with annexation of a pocket that will only benefit the City and neighbors. By the way, what a beautiful new costly building! I guess it’s not a question of money?? Lynn the buildings you mentioned ARE responding to the City’s evolving context. If we don’t evolve, we will end up in a stagnant state. By voting NO, we have just failed ourselves, again.
The people have spoken. This NEVER made sense. No one wanted it, including our Fire & Police personnel.
“No more building” is missing the point…we don’t need a moratorium on construction, we need a moratorium on buildings that are INCOMPATIBLE with the surrounding area. How in the world did the behemoth Codina building across from the post office on Valencia get approved??? A building of that size is in the wrong place!
The same situation exists with the humongous construction project in the Craft Section on Salzedo and Catalonia. These projects are dwarfing their surroundings. Totally incompatible!
How shortsighted of the voters to vote NO. There is only upside to owners of little gables homes, immediate neighbors, ability of police to cover area. The efforts by the ‘representatives’ of the Fire Department are perplexing. They are saying they are understaffed, which sounds like a previous problem unrelated to annexation. Then they say if they have to cover this pocket, then they can’t do their job. However the additional taxes from this area will pay for additional hires. There problem solved! But no, they have a defeatist attitude and are linking their inability to run a fire department with annexation of a pocket that will only benefit the City and neighbors. By the way, what a beautiful new costly building! I guess it’s not a question of money?? We have just failed ourselves, again.
It is important that the City of Coral Gables Charter be amended so that any future attempt at annexing Little Gables or any other adjacent community requires a binding vote approval from the City of Coral Gables electorate. As it stands right now, Miami-Dade County regulations only require the community requesting annexation to be the only one whose input is required, which makes no sense since the “receiving” municipality would be the one bearing the financial burden, as it would have been in this case. We dodged the bullet for a while, but knowing the existing interests there will certainly be new attempts in the distant, or perhaps not-so-distant future. We need to bullet-proof the City Charter against any such efforts by a few to fill their pockets at the expense of the many.
@No more building is one of those immigrants who once they step on US land, they turn around and say to the person behind them, “get out of my country”. This person forgets that Coral Gables is a development, on land previously occupied by slash pines and native Americans. How shortsighted of this person to say ‘no more building’. The City should grow, but in a smart way. If not, we become just like Downtown Miami, a stagnant area which once had great activities and buildings, but for the past 30 years has not progressed and remains a dangerous ghost town.
Yesterday’s vote had nothing to do with Lago’s leadership on general. It had everything to do with the issue of taking in an area that does not fit coral gables and would be too costly to clean up.. We have other places to spend our millions. What I would love to see on the ballot is a moratorium on construction. Enough is enough. This city has lost its charm with highrises and every grocery store marquee in Florida shining ridiculously on them. NO MORE BUILDING. Let’s vote on that and shut it down to save our city beauty and charm.
Well done, commish Fernandez!
How shortsighted of the voters to vote NO. There is only upside to owners of little gables homes, immediate neighbors, ability of police to cover area. The efforts by the ‘representatives’ of the Fire Department are perplexing. They are saying they are understaffed, which sounds like a previous problem unrelated to annexation. Then they say if they have to cover this pocket, then they can’t do their job. However the additional taxes from this area will pay for additional hires. There problem solved! But no, they have a defeatist attitude and are linking their inability to run a fire department with annexation of a pocket that will only benefit the City and neighbors. By the way, what a beautiful new costly building! I guess it’s not a question of money?? We have just failed ourselves, again.
Positive Outcome! Jaime/Aida
Another defeat to his ego. This is why he didn’t want it on the ballot in the first place – he knew it would lose. Word is a candidate for Mayor will be announced in September. Vinnie has roughly 8 months left that he will use to complain, attack, and bemoan his predicament. The new day was not a year and a half ago. The new day will come in April. Sayonara sucker!