“We do everything for the benefit of our residents, yet strive to make their investment in our city appreciate so in years to come, it will be worth more than when they first purchased.” —Mayor Daniel J. Stermer
vironmental negativity around Arvida’s idea of developing Weston, employing a green consultant named Roy Rogers who became his conscience. Together, they focused on landscaping and parks and developing with the residents’ best interests in mind. They landscaped interchanges, created parks and wide sidewalks, and made building sports facilities a priority. While enduring flack from architects, land planners and environmentalists, Sessions and Rogers went beyond what would make people happy to live in Weston and raise their families. “I grew up in Coral Gables and still live there,” says Sessions of his vision for Weston. “My childhood memories are of sidewalks and parks. We created Weston based on my memories of Coral Gables. There is a lot of that city in Weston.”
Arvida’s “master plan” for the suburban city that Money magazine later touted as one of the top places to live in the U.S. was first envisioned by Arthur Vining Davis, the original owner of Arvida. The Weston land was originally known as Indian Trace. In 1978, with the first of what would be many development plans, the Indian Trace Development of Regional Impact (DRI) was approved, which permitted 25,000 dwelling units to be built, although it was eventually reduced to17,000. In 1981, the Indian Trace Community Development District was created to finance and manage the construction and to maintain water, sewer and water management bodies and arterial roadways. It was governed by a five-member developer appointed Board of Supervisors. The name Indian
Trace was changed to Arvida, and in 1984, the first homes were completed in Windmill Ranch and Country Isles, and Weston became home to its first residents. In November 1991, with more than 5,000 residents in Weston, and the Indian Trace Community Development District 10 years old, residents were given power to make their own decisions by being elected to three of the five seats on the Board of Supervisors. Two years later, other residents were elected to the two remaining seats. So residents had full control of their district. After research, project studies, conversations, unpleasant conflicts and everything else that goes into convincing people that something new can actually be better, Weston developed into a self-sustainable community, then a new city, as the tax dollars generated by the residents inWESTON MAGAZINE
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