Recalling mayor’s prophetic urging to save park

I urge all Fort Lauderdale residents to join the people of Flagler Village in supporting the master plan to preserve the site of the former One Stop Shop as green space for the entire community.

I have been a proud resident of Fort Lauderdale since 1997, when I bought a home in Imperial Point. The area north of downtown had lots of green space and I referred to it as a throwback to the 1960’s with children playing in the streets and folks walking dogs. I sold that house a couple years ago and moved to a loft in more densely-populated Flagler Village.

I love it, but it lacks the green space of Imperial Point. However, based on the agreement the city made in its master plan in 2003, an area just south of my building was designated as a park. Like many promises this city has made over the past 18 years, it is now ready to disregard the plan and turn promised green space into a concert venue and food hall.

Mayor Dean Trantalis, then a commissioner, urged the city in his April 2015 newsletter to preserve the master plan. (The headline read: “Unite to save downtown site for park. City considers selling One Stop Shop, but long-time master plan says lot should be preserved.”)

“Unfortunately,” he wrote, “the threat of development looms over the main site in Flagler Village that the master plan identified for future park space ... what many called the One Stop Shop.”

I ask the mayor to demonstrate true leadership and express clear opposition to this project. Be true to the position you held in 2015, Mayor. Nothing has changed; if anything, the need for green space is more acute.

A compromise is not the answer. The proposal is to take away 33% of the identified green space for a concert venue and food court. Moving from a 3-acre park to a 2-acre park is not the answer.

David Brown, Fort Lauderdale