Biscayne Gardens residents vote overwhelmingly against incorporation

By a margin of 83-17%, voters on Tuesday defeated a move to incorporate Biscayne Gardens as Miami-Dade’s 35th municipality.

With all nine precincts reporting, 2,705 voted against incorporation, and 559 supported it, for a preliminary total of 3,264 voters, or 17.4% of Biscayne Gardens’ 18,800 voters.

To revive any effort to incorporate, organizers have 30 days to gather 3,800 signatures, or 20% of Biscayne Gardens’ registered voters, to place the efforts on the ballot for the next election in August 2022.

In other words, the petition effort will require more signatures than actual voters who cast ballots in the Northeast Miami-Dade community of 35,000.

The election was vigorously contested, with a strong a vocal anti-incorporation movement active as far back as May. Pro-incorporation forces were led by Bernard Jennings, president and CEO of the Biscayne Gardens Chamber of Commerce.