Pinecrest officials look into FPL proposal for power lines
PINECREST
BY PRISCILLA GREEAR/pgreear@MiamiHerald.com
Like other cities that border U.S. 1, Pinecrest is discussing the village’s options in responding to Florida Power & Light’s proposal to establish 100-foot concrete power lines up U.S. 1 to Interstate 95 from the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant.
Village officials would prefer the proposed lines go along the Don Shula Expressway to Bird Road.
But Pinecrest is also seeking other options, such as underground lines.
The issue came up at the village’s transit advisory meeting last week.
The village plans to collaborate with Miami and other cities to form a united voice with which to negotiate with FPL, Mayor Cindy Lerner said.
Last week, Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno got approval from the City Commission to hire a consultant to analyze the impact the new FPL lines proposed along U.S. 1 will have on nearby residents.
Salerno said the city won’t get details from FPL until June, when the utility expects to file its application for construction in the Gables. But he wants to be ready.
Residents in South Miami, Coconut Grove, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and other areas worry about possible health hazards, particularly for children, of electric and magnetic fields emanating from high-voltage power lines.
Lerner also expressed concern that U.S. 1 lines could deter plans for mixed-use high rise developments.
”We need to do a little bit more homework and understand what the downside was of the alternative route we had wanted them to consider more seriously than they did and come up with another alternative route,” she said.
Pinecrest Council member and transportation advisory group leader Joseph Corradino said that the lines could fit along U.S. 1.
But, he said, they would need to be well-planned to fit in with the existing water and sewer infrastructure as well as Metrorail and bus lines.