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Miami Herald, The (FL)

February 19, 1998 Section: Neighbors KE Edition: Final Page: 1 Memo:COVER STORY

PINECREST PONDERS: SHOULD WE SPEND? VILLAGE CONSIDERS JUNGLE GROUNDS, TRAILER PARK AREA
CHARLES RABIN Herald Staff Writer For the first time since incorporating nearly two years ago, Pinecrest residents and officials must make decisions that could cost the village a great deal of money. Two of its most valuable properties -- Parrot Jungle and Fowler's Trailer Park -- will probably be sold, and village officials must decide whether to spend about $15 million to call them their own, or watch as the property owners sell it off, perhaps piece by piece. ``I think they are both very important, particularly the Parrot Jungle,'' Pinecrest Mayor Evelyn Greer said last week. ``I think the village is united in wanting to preserve Parrot Jungle as a park, so that's critical.'' The properties are as different as night and day. Parrot Jungle -- far and away the village's greatest attraction -- and its 21.86 acres sit on Pinecrest's eastern border at Southwest 111th Street and Red Road. It is surrounded by million dollar homes. The historical site, with 2,000 varieties of trees, flowers and other plants, is the largest native cypress hammock south of Lake Okeechobee. Fowler's and its 10 acres, near Southwest 124th Street and 82nd Avenue, is in a lower rent district near some homes, but backs up to a string of commercial businesses along U.S. 1. The entire site consists of trailers, small dirt roads and a coin laundry. Parrot Jungle Parrot Jungle owner Bern Levine reached an agreement last year with the City of Miami to move his tourist attraction to Watson Island sometime in 1999. Though he has not said so, it is believed Levine will eventually sell the property he leaves behind in Pinecrest. Twice, Greer said she has met with Levine to discuss the property. Both times, she said, he told her it was not for sale. Parrot Jungle Director of Marketing Eric Eimstad said Levine is going to keep quiet until the move to Watson Island is finalized. ``He would rather not make any comment until the move to Watson Island is 100 percent complete,'' Eimstad said. ``Until financing and construction are done, it's not a done deal.'' In 1994, after Miami-Dade commissioners ruled Levine could not build on the 10 acres of unused property on Parrot Jungle's western edge, he sold the parcel to developer Brookman-Fels for about $2.5 million. Since then, about a dozen luxury homes -- some costing as much as $1 million -- have been erected right next to Parrot Jungle. It is that precedent that strikes fear in some residents. If Levine has already allowed a developer to build on perhaps the village's only last vestige of pure nature, why would he not do so again, some ask. ``That would be a terrible, terrible tragedy,'' said 23-year resident Kenneth Pollack. ``I think the village of Pinecrest has an obligation to get that property.'' The likely cost: between $8 million to $12 million. Fowler's Trailer park owners Dennis Trupkin and his family had negotiated with Publix Supermarkets for almost a year before the Village Council late last year shot down the idea of changing the site's zoning requirements so Publix could build a supermarket and mini-mall.

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changing the site's zoning requirements so Publix could build a supermarket and mini-mall.

Miami Herald: Document View

It was the village's most heated issue to date. Most residents living in the trailer park, some for as many as 30 years, did not want to be uprooted. Many nearby homeowners did not want a giant supermarket as a neighbor. But village residents not living nearby, Publix officials, and attorneys representing Fowler's fought long and hard to get the council to change the zoning. Though the offer for the property was never made public, it is believed Publix offered the Trupkins about $7 million. Almost immediately after the Village Council deflated Publix's hopes of entering such a potentially lucrative location, Greer was able to work out an agreement with the Trupkins to buy the land for $3.5 million. Her suggestion: build an adult living facility on part of the property and a park on the remainder. The rest of the commission was not so certain. Council members believe they still have plenty of time to speak with residents and local business owners and get a taste of what they feel should be built on the property, if the village purchases it at all. Part of Greer's agreement with the Trupkins was that if the village does not sign, seal and deliver the offer by February 1999, the Trupkins, once again, are free to negotiate with whomever they choose. Ironically, the only folks who will not have any say in the property's outcome are the trailer park residents. They have been informed by Fowler attorney Mike Radell they must relocate by next February. ``The tenants here just listen,'' said park manager Victor Palacio, who has lived there for six years. ``They don't own any of the land. It's their right to sell it. It's come to the end.'' Palacio's sister Magalina Sickler was a 30-year resident. She recently moved out. There are 85 families living at the park. Big decisions ``I would not call them tough decisions,'' Village Manager Peter Lombardi said of the potential purchase of the jungle and trailer park properties. ``They're the biggest decisions probably, because of the money involved.'' Just two weeks ago the council decided it did not have enough time to ask for a $10 million grant from the Florida Communities Trust. Lombardi said the application is one of the most difficult to fill out in the state, and it is due April 27. Greer and other council members did not think three months was enough time to get a feel from residents as to what they wanted to do with the Parrot Jungle land -- build a restaurant, a child-care center, perhaps leave only green space. So the commission tabled filling out the application until a later date, perhaps six months from now. But there are other grants available, and the village can even use some of its own money if it wants. Lombardi said by the end of this fiscal year the village will probably be flush with almost $4 million in reserve. In the meantime, Pinecrest now has a 10-member Parrot Jungle Committee that will sit with residents and try to get a feel as to what they want before reporting back to the council June 1. A committee has been researching the possibility of buying Parrot Jungle for some time. Village founder Gary Matzner formed a private group called Preserve the Jungle Inc. right after Pinecrest incorporated. It was that group which secured $4 million from the 1996 passing of the county-wide parks bond issue. The group has also held numerous fund-raisers. Matzner spent two weeks on the village committee before excusing himself to go back to his private organization. Some of his motives were questioned by Pinecrest Councilman Barry Blaxberg and a small group of residents. About a month ago, Parrot Jungle Committee member Bruce Wilner asked Matzner and all others in the village group to sign an affidavit swearing they had no material interest in the village's acquisition of the Parrot Jungle property. Wilner's request came from months of haggling between Blaxberg and other commissioners. Blaxberg repeatedly questioned why everything having to do with Parrot Jungle was kept in the dark. When the village finally formed the Parrot Jungle Committee late last year, each council member was asked to appoint a representative. Blaxberg's appointee was Wilner. ``I felt that whatever was going on with the Parrot Jungle was going on with a select few people -- Gary Matzner and some people close to the mayor,'' Blaxberg said. ``My entire goal was to open it up to a public committee.'' Greer repeatedly assured Blaxberg that no one, herself included, was going to prosper financially from the purchasing of Parrot Jungle. At a meeting two weeks ago Greer agreed to sign the affidavit. ``I was going to make it clear that I had no interest in any way, shape, or form,'' Greer said. ``Nor would I ever receive any benefit of any kind from a Parrot Jungle transaction.'' But Parrot Jungle Committee chairman Roger Carlton told the mayor in no uncertain terms not to sign the sworn statement. He said he thought it was ``an insult.'' She did not sign it. ``I don't think it was out of line at all,'' Blaxberg said of Wilner's request. ``I didn't suggest it to him. But Bruce is a hard-core businessman who has a certain perception of politicians.'' At any rate, village officials must soon make some hard decisions. They have a year to decide on the Fowler's property. But with Levine set to move his 1,100 birds in about 18 months, the village needs to make a decision shortly or face the chance of losing the Parrot Jungle property altogether. ``I believe he will eventually get rid of the property,'' Preserve the Jungle Vice President Natalie Lemos said. ``As I understand it, the developer who he sold the other property to [Brookman-Fels] has expressed an interest in the remaining acreage available right now. But if we can come up with something, I think they are going to defer.'' Illustration:color photo: Parrot Jungle's lovely grounds (a); photo: Lee Morris lives in the mobile home park in Pinecrest (a), Annie Keller and Lauren Cain and Rachael Cain enjoy the gardens at Parrot Jungle (a), Kids enjoy a day of play at Parrot Jungle (a) Photos by RAUL RUBIERA / Herald Staff WILL THEY BE BACK?: Annie Keller, 5, Lauren Cain, 6, and Rachael Cain enjoy the gardens at Parrot Jungle. Pinecrest is considering buying the property to allow visitors to keep enjoying the beauty. THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Kids enjoy a day of play at Parrot Jungle. FOR SALE? : Lee Morris lives in the mobile home park on Southwest 124th Street. Pinecrest is considering buying the property, which backs up to a string of commercial businesses along U.S. 1. RAUL RUBIERA / Herald Staff IS A SALE FOR THE BIRDS?: When Parrot Jungle moves to Watson Island, what will become of the garden's lovely grounds? Pinecrest officials are wondering if the village should try to buy the land and make it a park.

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