Miami-Dade mulls Turnberry development plan

Jeffrey Soffer
Jeffrey Soffer

Turnberry Associates is the latest real estate company to test Miami-Dade County’s limits for urban sprawl.

The Jeffrey and Jacquelyn Soffer-led firm has asked the county to move its Urban Development Boundary to accommodate a proposed high-end shopping mall, IMAX theater and water park, Miami Herald reported. Turnberry wants to build the complex within the Lake Belt zone off Northwest 41st Street, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. The zone is populated by miners excavating limestone rock, which is then distributed throughout the county.

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Turnberry’s opposition is mounting. Area miners have joined environmentalists and other activists to fight the proposed development. Even Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and the county’s planning department and planning board are openly against the project.

County commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal tomorrow. [Miami Herald]Eric Kalis