Traffic And Flooding In Hallandale Beach

Traffic is not new to modern days; it has been an issue for centuries. The first traffic light was installed in the year 1868 in front of England’s Parliament due to excessive horse and buggy traffic. It was gas lit and functioned with two green and red gas lamps. It worked for a month but then exploded. It was not until 1914 that in Ohio the first electric traffic signal was installed. It was manually controlled. The design of today was patented in 1923.

History is important when it comes to this topic so residents understand there will be traffic. There will always be rush hours. This fact does not mean we will not stop trying to improve traffic flow. We have contracted with Broward County to control our lights through the FDOTs live traffic HUB. We continue to address traffic within the confines of state and county regulations. We have implemented more Cloud buses. We have added micro transit in the form of 10-dollar Uber vouchers so residents can visit our entertainment areas. We also do not require excess parking requirements on developments which add more cars.

I also hear that development needs to stop. This too is not a reality. Since the dawn of our country the 5th and 14th Amendments have protected real property rights. Individual owners have certain entitlements. Interference in those rights as far as seizure without just compensation is against the law. Governments and cities have developed land use patterns and codes to manage growth but reducing the ability to redevelop can result in what are called Burt Harris Claims.

The State of Florida recently upended our City home rule with the Live Local Act. This gives property owners the right to build up to 90 units per acre so long as 40 percent of the units created or deemed affordable by Housing and Development Standards. This means that in addition to being able to develop by right, the existing regulations the owners have, additional rights to redevelop. Development and redevelopment will happen. This is a double-edged sword. Yes, there will be impacts but some older buildings have served their useful life and need replacement. It has also become quite evident that the older properties need improvement due to climate change and sea level rise.

This brings me to the second biggest concern. Flooding. We here in South Florida have been ground zero for years. As former Chair of the US Mayors Water Council I saw the report from Nasa and the changes that were happening globally. In Florida, however, our state would not even allow us to use the words Climate change. Just like traffic, it did not mean we were not going to do anything about it. We have had a Stormwater Management Plan and have implemented the plan with a focus on low-lying areas in the northeast and southwest. I fought alongside our former City Manager Renee Crichton and lobbied to acquire over $20 Million in funding for pumping stations. These two systems were also intended to be a beginning, we knew then that matters would only get worse. That $20 Million now would only cover 1 and a half pumps.

With the two 1,000-year storms last year we have all now witnessed the changes that we were warning everyone about come to fruition. The recent combination of King Tides and microburst storms dropping 4 inches of rain in three hours now have all residents on edge, not just the traditional low-lying homes. Last year after the storms we made many changes operationally and began a full rewrite of our Stormwater Master Plan. I will be updating our readers next week on this issue.

As always, I am available anytime for your questions, concerns and ideas to make our City a better place on my Phone/Text at: (954) 632-5700. Or you can email me at: jcooper@cohb.org. Please visit me on my Facebook page at Mayor Joy Cooper. Like! Follow! And share!