It will be up to residents of seven communities on the west side of Miami Lakes if they will install license plate readers at the entrance to their neighborhoods.
The town council wants the board of Neighborhood Service District 1, which includes The Anchorage; Regatta Pointe; Lake Carol; Lake Cynthia; Lake Elizabeth; Lake Glenn-Ellen and Lake Sandra communities, to vote about whether to install the technology that compares tags to stolen vehicles and alerts police about unwanted persons in an area.
Miami Lakes Parks and Recreation Director Jeremy Bajdaun said during the Feb. 8 town council meeting that this NSD has not voted on the matter.
Over 800 residents live behind the gate at Montrose Road and Oak Lane, officials said.
NSD Section 1 Board Chair Boris Foster said he hopes a poll of residents will happen when they pick up new key cards from the Mary Collins Community Center at Veterans Park, on a date that hasn’t been scheduled because of supply chain issues.
“I think coming up we have a great opportunity,” Foster said about gaining input from residents who he said tell him they are for and against the cameras.
Foster said while he isn’t in favor of the LPRs, he wants neighbors to fill out a ballot before moving forward with a decision.
Councilman Luis Collazo was against having the council decide on the installation, as money being used for the cameras would come from taxes residents pay to the NSD.
“We started these special taxing districts on the premise we would give them more control, more autonomy, more authority,” Collazo said on Feb. 11. “They should have some say over this.”