David J. Coviello, a partner in the Miami office of Shutts & Bowen, has been selected as the new mayor of the Village of Biscayne Park.
His colleagues on the village commission chose him as mayor at their December 10 meeting. Mr. Coviello, in his first time as an elected official, was the top vote-getter in the December 3 municipal election, with 320 votes of the 460 total votes cast among seven candidates. He and Roxanna “Rox” Ross, the second-highest vote getter, will serve terms of four years and 11 months.
“I believe my background as a land use lawyer and my knowledge of municipal law will be of help to the village,” Mr. Coviello said. “I am not a member of any particular faction, so I hope to be an effective force for unity in moving the village forward.”
As a member of Shutts & Bowen’s Land Use and Zoning Practice Group, Mr. Coviello represents developers, property owners and other clients in zoning and land use matters, as well as code compliance and licensing matters. He also regularly assists institutional clients with zoning and land use diligence in connection with complex real estate acquisitions.
Mr. Coviello has lived in the village, in Northeast Miami-Dade between Miami Shores and North Miami, for 4 ½ years. He has been active in civic affairs, most recently as chair of the Code Compliance Board. The exclusively residential community of about 3,000 residents is dealing with a tight budget of $3 million and potential annexation of an industrial, commercial and mixed-use neighborhood across the FEC tracks to the east. It has the county’s highest millage rate, at 9.7 mills, and one of its lowest crime rates.
A nine-year South Florida resident, Mr. Coviello graduated from Vermont Law School in 1999 and received his B.S. in Natural Resource Management and Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1996.
About Shutts & Bowen LLP
Shutts & Bowen, established in 1910, is a full-service business law firm with more than 270 lawyers in offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. Learn more about Shutts & Bowen at www.shutts.com.