Village of Palmetto Bay
County
Miami-Dade
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Boundaries
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Community Type
Municipality
History
The Village of Palmetto Bay is located in an area of South Miami-Dade which has been inhabited by people of many cultures for over 10,000 years. Paleo-Indians, Tequestas, Seminoles, Afro-Bahamians, and Anglo-Americans have all lived here at different times. Each new group literally followed in the footsteps of the preceding one. The evidence left behind recounts the evolution of human housing along the Miami Rock Ridge, from stone cave dwellings to Mediterranean Revival style mansions. In what is today the Deering Estate property, early inhabitants established a camp over 10,000 years ago.
In 1838, during the Second Seminole War, the federal government awarded a large parcel of land in South Dade to Dr. Henry Perrine. The land grant encompassed 36 square miles covering the area that today is a part of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and the Falls. Henry Perrine, Jr. began the settlement process on the family’s land grant in 1875. He offered twenty-acre tracts free to those who would build a home, clear one acre, and grow one tropical crop. The Perrines set up a tent near the Addison family, who had moved to the Indian Hunting Grounds in 1864 and established a home near the present-day Charles Deering Estate. In 1883, Dr. William Cutler arrived and acquired 600 acres next to the Perrine land grant. The Town of Cutler, formerly located at the intersection of SW 168th Street and Old Cutler Road, grew quickly. Vegetable farms and fruit groves arose when drainage canals were created, which enabled the cultivation of crops. A decade later, Charles Deering bought much of the land in sleepy Cutler to build his estate. Deering chose 360 acres on which he built his Moorish style mansion, on the ridge overlooking Biscayne Bay. The State and the County bought the Deering Estate in 1985 for $24 million, for a park site. Today, the Richmond Inn on the Estate, the last surviving structure of the historic town of Cutler, remains one of Miami’s best examples of early Florida frame-vernacular architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Estate grounds are environmentally protected lands and a historical preserve.
In 1995, the Alliance of Palmetto South Homeowners Association petitioned Miami-Dade County to incorporate Palmetto Bay. It was not until 2002 that the Village of Palmetto Bay was incorporated and became Miami-Dade’s 33rd municipality.
Since its incorporation, the municipality has focused on elevating the quality of life of its residents and the attractiveness of area schools. Palmetto Bay is the host community to three public elementary schools, one public middle school, and ten private schools. The Village maintains six park facilities, which offer active and passive recreation, and hosts the Deering Estate, with its own areas dedicated to preservation. The Village administers its own historic preservation program.
Community Dynamics
According to Data USA, Palmetto Bay has a population of 24,443, with a median age of 41.1 and a median household income of $106,324. Between 2014 and 2015, the population of Palmetto Bay grew from 24,214 to 24,443, a 0.95% increase, and its median household income declined from $108,360 to $106,324, a 1.88% decrease. The median property value in Palmetto Bay is $448,000, and the homeownership rate is 83.6%. The economy of Palmetto Bay employs 11,478 people.
The population of Palmetto Bay is 45.7% White, 39.7% Hispanic, 6.84% Black and 5.4% Asian. Non-English languages are spoken by 45.2% of the people in Palmetto Bay, and 90.2% are U.S. citizens.
Sixty-five percent of the land in Palmetto Bay is dedicated to residential land use. Sixty-three percent is designated for single-family use, and only 1% for multi-family use. This is one of the least densely populated municipalities in the County. Only 4% of the municipality’s land is reserved for commercial use, and nearly all of these properties are along South Dixie Highway or Old Cutler Road. A large number of residents have home offices in this community.
Business Landscape
Businesses in Palmetto Bay are a healthy mix of professional and service oriented firms. The economy of Palmetto Bay specializes in professional, scientific and technical services, the wholesale trade, finance, and insurance. While there are beauty salons, cafeterias, restaurants and liquor stores, there are also interior design services, professional offices, broadcasting studios, and a few religious institutions. This municipality has more commercial banks, educational institutions, and professional offices than many cities in the County. The Palmetto Bay Business Association meets regularly and is actively engaged.
Transportation Characteristics
There are five "rapid transit stations" and two "community urban centers" serving the South Dade Busway, which appear on both the Village of Palmetto Bay Future Land Use Map and the Miami-Dade County Land Use Plan, proposed as locations for future transit oriented development.
To protect its community integrity, the Village of Palmetto Bay opposes the widening of SW 87th Avenue, north of SW 184th Street, identified in the Miami-Dade MPO 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan. The municipality also opposes recommended roadway widening projects on SW 136th Street, SW 144th Street, SW 152nd Street, and SW 168th Street east of US 1, as well as the widening of SW 67th Avenue, SW 72nd Avenue, SW 77th Avenue, SW 82nd Avenue, SW 87th Avenue, SW 92nd Avenue, and SW 97th Avenue between the northbound lanes of US 1 and SW 184th Street.
Palmetto Bay maintains a Street Tree Master Plan, with the goal of creating an attractive street environment, which includes increasing green space within the rights-of-way to support tree growth.
