The 15,000 acres of land now comprising the City of Weston was first amassed in the 1950’s by a gentleman named Arthur Vining Davis, the original owner of Weston’s primary developer, ARVIDA. Over the course of the ensuing years, plans were prepared as to how the land would be developed and how that development would be financed, and the area now known as Bonaventure was sold to be developed separately.
The development was originally known as Indian Trace, and in 1978 with the first of what would be many development plans complete, the Indian Trace Development of Regional Impact (DRI) was approved, which permitted in excess of 25,000 dwelling units to be constructed, although subsequent amendments reduced that number to 17,000. Shortly thereafter, in 1981, the Indian Trace Community Development District was created for the purpose of financing and managing the construction, maintenance and operation of water and sewer mains, water management bodies, and arterial roadways, and was governed by a five-member developer appointed Board of Supervisors.
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The name of the Arvida development was changed from Indian Trace to Weston, and in 1984 the first homes were completed in Windmill Ranch and Country Isles, and Weston had its first residents. In November 1991, with over 5,000 residents in Weston, and with the Indian Trace Community Development District ten years old, it was now time for residents to be elected to three of the five seats on the Board of Supervisors; Harry Rosen as Chair, Kim Ballis as Vice Chair, and Mark Myers as Treasurer. In November 1993, residents were elected to the remaining two seats on the Board of Supervisors, giving residents full control of the district, adding Eric Hersh and John Flint.
Seeing Weston develop into what was appearing to be a self-sustainable community, the Board of Supervisors initiated an Incorporation Feasibility Study in April 1994 to determine if Weston should incorporate as a city, annex to a neighboring city, or remain as a part of unincorporated Broward County. In May 1995 the Board appointed a nine member Steering Committee to study the incorporation issue that was comprised of residents and consultants. The members were Alex Muxo, resident and former City Manager of the City of Homestead as Co-chair; Renee Smoley, resident as Co-chair; Donald Hall, Attorney representing Arvida and former Assistant City Attorney of the City of Fort Lauderdale; Dennis Giordano, Engineer and former Assistant City Manager of the City of Hollywood; Edwin Jacobson, retired attorney and Bonaventure resident; Brad Orviedo, Basin II landowner; Roy Rogers, Arvida Vice President; Glenn Sterling, M.D., resident and President of the Homeowners Association at Weston, Inc.; and Richard Weiss, resident and attorney for several south Florida municipalities.
In addition to the Steering Committee, the Board solicited Requests for Proposals from the neighboring municipalities of Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines and Sunrise to see if there were any benefits of Weston annexing to another city. In the November 1995 Board of Supervisors election, Eric Hersh and Mark Myers were reelected, and Cindy Fishbein was elected to replace Kim Ballis.
By November 1995 the Steering Committee and the Board of Supervisors arrived at the conclusion that the residents of Weston would be best served by forming a new city, as the tax dollars generated by the residents would remain in Weston under the control of and for the use of the residents, and planning and zoning matters would be determined by residents as well. The Board voted unanimously to file a Local Bill with the Broward Legislative Delegation to enable the residents of the Indian Trace Community Development District to vote on incorporation, and on May 5, 1996 the State Legislature approved the Bill.
On September 3, 1996 the residents of the Indian Trace Community Development district went to the polls, and of those voting, 90% voted in favor of incorporation. The City of Weston was born, and the Indian Trace Community Development District Board of Supervisors became the Interim City Commission, with Harry Rosen as Interim Mayor and John Flint, Eric Hersh, and Mark Myers as Interim Commissioners; Cindy Fishbein resigned prior to taking the oath of office as Interim City Commissioner to relocate outside of the city.
As a part of the Local Bill, the Bonaventure community was afforded the opportunity to vote on April 1, 1997 whether to become a part of the City of Weston, or the City of Sunrise, the result of which was to join Weston by an almost two to one margin.
Weston’s residents returned to the polls on June 3, 1997 to elect their first Mayor and City Commissioners. Elected were Harry Rosen as Mayor, and Commissioners Eric Hersh, Edwin Jacobson, Steve Keller, and Mark Myers. In July the City Commission hired the City’s first City Manager, John Flint, and appointed the city’s first City Attorney, Ellen Mills Gibbs. The city contracted with the Broward Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services; with the Broward County Board of County Commissioners for Fire Rescue services and Building Code services; with Calvin, Giordano and Associates, Inc., for Planning, Zoning, and Engineering services; and with Gary L. Moyer and Associates, P.A., later to become Severn Trent Environmental Services, for Administration, Finance, Community and Utility services. In October the City Manager and his staff moved into the first City Hall in leased space at the Weston Corporate Center. In 1999 the law firm of Weiss, Serota, Helfman, P.A. began representing the city with Jamie Alan Cole of the firm being the City Attorney.
The city continued to grow in land area with the annexation of the conservation area along US 27 westward to the L-35 levee from SR 84 to Griffin Road in 1999, and again with the annexation of the I-75/SR 84 corridor to the north in 2004., bringing the city’s total land mass to 16,539 acres, or 25.8 square miles.
