Hialeah council approves 50-year lease and separate use agreement for Cohea campus; neighbors urge guardrails on park access

The City Council approved a 50-year lease on first reading and a separate short-term use agreement for the City of Hialeah Education Academy (Cohea), a charter operator planning a campus adjacent to Carl F. Slade Park. Both measures passed after extended public comment and negotiations over park access, scheduling and operational safeguards.

The lease ordinance (first reading passed by council vote) grants Cohea a long-term lease for the school campus and related improvements. Council then considered a separate use agreement that defines how the city and the school will share specific park facilities. That use agreement sets weekday and weekend access windows for the city, establishes terms for a gymnasium built by Cohea, and describes how newly constructed fields, pickleball courts and a track — to be paid for and built by the school — will be made available to the city.

Cohea’s attorney Hugo Arza told the council the agreements reflect changes requested by the council earlier this year and memorialize commitments the applicant made during zoning and prior hearings. He said the school will construct a gymnasium, pickleball courts, synthetic track and soccer fields; the school will pay for those improvements and the city will retain prioritized access during weekday peak hours and broad access in summer and recess periods.

Opposition and concerns surfaced during public comment. Several neighborhood residents and civic leaders urged limits on how much of Carl F. Slade Park the school could occupy and sought explicit, enforceable guarantees of city access for seniors and other residents. Speakers repeatedly requested that the council put detailed operational conditions — including security, signage, locks on parking after hours, limits on nighttime events and daily police or trained traffic control during arrivals and departures — into the written agreements to prevent future disputes.

Council members debated the tradeoff. Supporters of the agreements stressed that Cohea’s construction will add amenities that would otherwise cost the city millions, and that the use agreement explicitly preserves city access during prime hours and in summer. Opponents said a 50-year lease is effectively privatizing public land and asked for clearer, longer-term guarantees that the community will retain meaningful use of the park. One council member dissenting on the lease first reading cited concerns about siting and access while praising the school’s mission.

Council action: The ordinance granting the 50-year lease passed on first reading; second reading was scheduled for a later date. The use-agreement resolution passed after the council inserted additional conditions discussed at the meeting: signage and traffic-control provisions, limited nighttime events (3 per year, ending by 8:30 p.m.), restrictions on off-street parking and a requirement to lock or fence parking lots after hours. Council members also asked that the final, amended use agreement be sent to the city attorney and planning staff for legal form review prior to second reading.

Ending: The council and the applicant agreed to finalize the written use agreement with the added conditions and return to the council for any remaining legislative steps. Many speakers on both sides urged continued engagement between the school and neighbors so the promises are enforceable.