Fort Lauderdale’s One Stop Shop property has been vacant for years. A proposed entertainment complex was canceled by the city commission. Now is the time for new ideas.
According to the Sun Sentinel, there are more than 27,000 existing and proposed apartment units in the city’s downtown. The county comprehensive land-use plan requires every city to have three acres of park land for every 1,000 people. That means Fort Lauderdale’s massive downtown density would require 81 acres of parks!
The city can count the entire beach as a park, and its existing parks, but it cannot declare the ocean, Intracoastal Waterway or New River a park.
Downtown has Riverwalk Linear Park along the New River, Esplanade Park near the Center for Performing Arts, and a new concrete slab covered with fake grass on top of the tunnel.
It’s a perfect time to develop the 3.5-acre One Stop Shop site, with its many big trees, for all downtown residents to enjoy. As planner for the Broward Parks and Recreation Division for 31 years, I suggest a real park with a tot lot, jogging trails, exercise area, dog park and four to six pickleball courts with six feet of decorative fencing around the site, locked at night, so it won’t become a homeless camp.
This is a great opportunity for the city commission to provide a park in a high-density downtown, and it would be a lasting tribute to a great quality of life for city residents.
John R. Fiore, Wilton Manors
We get what we vote for
No matter how nutty things get, everyone, even the “Nut in Chief” in charge of our health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., should protect America’s children from devastating, preventable diseases.
This confused man has replaced his HHS advisory committee with conspiracy theorists, which has destroyed the crown jewel of medical advisory boards, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This will absolutely cause preventable deaths of children and adults.
Whom does a parent consult? What do they do to keep their child safe?
Your child’s doctor has no doubt relied heavily on the CDC for advice on immunizing children against communicable diseases, but the scientific integrity of that agency has disintegrated.
The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to engage in reason and houses a wealth of knowledge on vaccine usage, timing of administration and safety.
For parents still hesitant about vaccinating their children, I strongly encourage you to study the disease that a given vaccine prevents.
Rick Soskis, R.N. (ret.), Havana, Fla.
Defining fascism
The word “fascist” is bandied about frequently in political discourse. I urge all readers to look it up in any reputable encyclopedia. Consider each characteristic of a fascist movement.
Sound familiar?
If you think fascism could never occur in America, the most admired democracy in the world, please open your eyes. It is happening.
Edward Pineau, Hollywood
Tax uncertainty
Tax relief or a Tallahassee power grab? Do the math.
Local property taxes provide the bulk of local government revenue. Sales and excise taxes provide much of state government revenue.
Eliminating local property taxes would not impact the state, but they would have to be replaced.
By what? Higher sales taxes will disproportionately impact seniors and families — and Tallahassee will control the revenue.
Look at your tax bill. You won’t find a “property tax” line. Ad valorem (“according to value”) taxes, based on property values, pay for schools, police, public hospitals and many other services. If property taxes are eliminated, the money has to come from somewhere.
Richard Carlson, Deerfield Beach
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