Residents urge pause on Northeast 13th Avenue sidewalk plan, citing parking loss and notice failures

At a packed March 4 City Commission meeting, multiple Oakland Park residents asked commissioners to pause and rework parts of the Northeast 13th Avenue improvement project, saying the plan as currently designed will take away established parking, harm property owners, and was reintroduced into the scope without adequate neighborhood notification.

Madeline Mushetiski, who gave her address as 1585 Northeast 33rd Street, said the revised project "takes a problem that, according to your own 2024 mobility study, does not exist, and it creates three new ones: unfunctional driveways, illegal parking, and unfunctional sidewalks." She said her home was never re-notified after the project scope changed and warned that the project "forces residents into an impossible position" and risks displacement.

Speakers repeated similar complaints: Gordon McNichols told commissioners that a comprehensive plan should act as a restraint on government power and warned that treating the plan as optional "is a dangerous precedent." Jim Hevert, an affected homeowner, said the sidewalk design is effectively a de facto rezoning because it will make existing parking illegal and could lead to lawsuits and regulatory takings claims.

Several commenters pressed the commission on legal and procedural questions. Edward Voigtol, who said he did not receive direct notice, asked the city to confirm whether proper notice requirements were met and requested re-noticing and renewed engagement. Francis Fajon distinguished drainage funding from sidewalks, noting that the Resilient Florida drainage grant does not in itself require side-street sidewalks.

City staff and elected officials responded with process details and next steps. Assistant City Manager Sierra Marrero and City Manager Abare (by title) repeated that the project had prior neighborhood participation meetings and that staff would review notice and mitigation options. In response to residents’ questions about funding, staff stated that the overall project is approximately $5 million, with drainage estimated at just over $3.0 million and roughly $1.8 million associated with sidewalk elements (grant-funded). The city manager warned that pausing the project could have contractual and cost consequences: previous delays had already cost the city tens of thousands of dollars, staff said.

Several residents read a written clarification they said they had obtained from Resilient Florida. Lee Gonzales read an excerpt of an email from Alex Reid at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that stated, according to the excerpt, that "the Resilient Florida program has no requirements for construction of sidewalks on side streets" and that grantees must work in accordance with local, state and federal laws and permit requirements.

Commissioner Budhu said she remains a proponent of sidewalks in principle but asked for a pause and further review in the affected neighborhood blocks; she said she will submit a formal agenda item to revisit the sidewalk component. The commission voted 4–1 to place a discussion item on a future agenda to consider modification of the project and additional review with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

The meeting record shows no formal change to contract awards or grant agreements that night; the commission directed staff to pursue additional outreach, provide property-by-property consultations, and return with options for mitigation and possible modifications.

Next steps: staff said door-hanger notices and offers for individual property consultations would be deployed in the affected area; the commission scheduled a discussion on the sidewalks/drainage modification for a future meeting so members can consider the legal and contract implications and potential modifications before further construction.