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The Woodlands Homeowners Association voted unanimously to create pedestrian lanes on Woodlands Boulevard on Monday, December 13th at their monthly meeting. The vote included Officers and Section Presidents. Several years ago, the City of Tamarac offered our community this option, however, the WHOA never went forward with it. It was placed on the December WHOA agenda by residents, possibly due in response to the neighbor who was severely injured by a vehicle a few weeks ago. This accident shocked many residents, but didn’t surprise the people that walk or run on the boulevard who have had close calls with vehicles.

Besides pedestrian safety, one of the benefits of the lanes will be new lane markings for drivers. If you walk or drive down the Boulevard, you will notice that most of the plastic reflectors are missing from between the lanes. They have been destroyed due to time and traffic. In many areas, especially around the blind curves, lane striping has faded over time as well. The pedestrian lanes will make our “main street” a safer, more people-friendly street. After the vote, the WHOA sent the City of Tamarac a letter asking them for these changes to be implemented. Will keep you posted on a future start date.

As you may have noticed, there are new trees being planted on Commercial Blvd in front of Section Two. This is near our Banyan and White Oak entrances. Jack Strain, Public Works Director for the City of Tamarac says that they are Silver Buttonwoods. These usually grow as a low branching shrub with several trunks, but under ideal conditions it can become a beautiful vase-shaped tree up to 50 ft. This new endeavor is in partnership with FPL, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and the City of Tamarac. The planting stage is being handled by FDOT, said Strain.

City of Tamarac Commissioners from www.tamarac.org

On Monday, November 8, 2010, the City of Tamarac Commissioners held a workshop, and one of the items on the agenda was the Woodlands Neighborhood Improvement District. Deputy City Manager Michael Cernech and Community Development Director Jennifer Bramley spoke about the district to the commission. They said the their staff had met with the individuals circulating the petition in order to understand why they wanted to do away with the district. Deputy City Manager Cernech said they were told that they did not believe it was legal or legally established; in fact, they believed that it was illegal. The City Attorney’s office has also answered correspondence that was received on the issue of legality. Cernech said he, as well as Assistant City Attorney Klahr, wanted to assure the Tamarac City Commission that the District was formed under the appropriate statute and all of this was explained at the meeting with the individuals. The petition and the fact sheet that is being circulated, which is not entirely factual, were also discussed. Bramley commented that the documentation upon which the opposition based the District’s illegality was very carefully reviewed so that the City Staff could address their concerns. They determined that a lot of the information pertained solely to HOA’s and the District is not an HOA, it is an Improvement District which is different. The City Staff tried to convey that these are two different entities and will continue to work with them to understand.

Deputy City Manager Cernech concluded that their staff will be assisting the District in doing some outreach to the affected property owners and residents and will help them do some goal setting, strategic planning, and establish priorities. They now have several other neighborhoods that are interested in pursuing similar Districts as they see the benefits. The City Staff will also work closely with the District Board and help them get in a position to be successful. They added that the District will have a neighborhood-wide ability to make some positive changes as opposed to what they are now doing section by section.