Plantation Acres drainage district now run by the city

The City of Plantation took over the Plantation Acres Improvement District on Oct. 1. The district runs the canals, pump stations and drainage that keep the large-lot west side of the city dry.

It is now a dependent district of the city. Its elected board is gone. The mayor and the five City Council members govern it instead, sitting as the district’s Board of Supervisors.

District voters made the change in a special election June 23. The proposal passed with 50.44% of the vote, the district said in its announcement of the official results.

What changed and what did not

The district, known as PAID, still exists. The city’s transition FAQ (PDF) says its assets, debts, contracts and permits carry over under city Ordinance No. 2026-011.

What is different now:

• The board. The mayor and council members serve on the district board because of their city offices. Each has one vote, and the mayor has no veto over district decisions.
• The meetings. District business is heard alongside regular City Council meetings, on its own separate agenda. The first was Oct. 7, Mayor Nick Sortal said in his Oct. 7 city newsletter.
• The staff. City departments now run the district’s finances, engineering, records, maintenance and permits. The city’s Stormwater Division operates and inspects the pump stations and maintains the canals.
• The budget. District money stays separate. Its budget is listed on its own within the city budget, and the district board votes on it.

What stays the same:

• Existing permits and approvals remain valid. They do not lapse because of the change.
• District drainage rules still apply, on top of the city’s own engineering, flood and building rules.
• Residents can still speak at district meetings, under the city’s usual public meeting rules.

The district

PAID covers about 2,048 acres, according to the district’s own description. It runs from Hiatus Road west to Flamingo Road, and from the North New River Canal north to Northwest 28th Court. Most of it is single-family homes on lots of an acre or more, with horse farms, a saddle club and pastures.

The district began in 1963 as the Dixie Drainage District, set up to drain raw farmland for development. It became the Plantation Acres Improvement District in 1982, its history page says.

Its website lists six pump stations. A seventh, at Tara Park, is planned with the city, the district said in a project note. It has not published a schedule or cost for it.

What it means for you

If you live in Plantation Acres, your drainage questions now go to City Hall. These are the contacts in the city’s FAQ:

Call 911 for any immediate threat to life or safety.

The city asks residents to report these urgently:

• water rising fast toward homes or roads
• a pump station that seems not to be running during heavy rain
• a canal overtopping its banks
• a major drainage blockage or damaged structure

When you report flooding, the city asks for the location, roughly how deep the water is, whether it is rising or falling and whether a home or road is at risk. Send photos only if it is safe to take them. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30; our hurricane prep guide has the county’s shelters and sandbag sites.

If you have a district permit or application in progress:

• Do not start over. The city will carry your application into its own system and keep the old PAID number on file.
• New applications go through the city’s permitting process. That includes driveways, culverts, swales, fill, pools, additions and new homes.
• Do not cancel or change a bond or letter of credit without written direction from the city. Fees and deposits already paid will be reconciled permit by permit, and the city says not to assume a deposit is refundable.

The next City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at City Hall, 400 NW 73rd Ave. Agendas, including any district business, are on the city’s meetings page. More on the area is in our Plantation Acres neighborhood guide.