Archive for the 'Commission' Category

Countdown to Miami 21 Hearing is Down to 24 Hours

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on June 27, 2007
in Commission, DPZ, Miami, Miami 21 and Zoning
. 3 Comments
It’s hard to believe, but Miami 21 (east quadrant) is finally scheduled to go before the City Commission tomorrow for its first reading. It’s been a long two years waiting, but I think the final product will be well worth the wait. While it isn’t perfect, it’s still a monumental improvement over the current code. It will give Miami a fighting chance at becoming a more livable, sustainable, pedestrian-oriented city, which would’ve been highly unlikely under the current code.
We must understand, however, that these positive changes will not happen overnight. Most of Miami suffers from legacies of planning incompetence, and it will take years for the new code to manifest large-scale positive change.

As for the hearing tomorrow, there is still some controversy surrounding Miami 21. Some officials and citizens are still concerned about affordable housing, which you can’t blame them for after the disgusting, embarrassing revelations of the past year regarding the Miami-Dade Housing Agency and City of Miami Department of Community Development. It should be interesting to see how the City Commission reacts to these concerns tomorrow morning.

To see the final draft of the code, click on the Miami 21 link above. Also, I recommend checking out the supporting links on the sidebar, which contain a lot of pictures and maps that help illustrate what Miami 21 is all about.

Photo courtesy of Miami21.org

Legacy of Incompetence and Self-Interest Continues to Plague Miami

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on May 21, 2007
in Commission, Everglades, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Natacha Seijas, South Miami-Dade Watershed, Sprawl, Traffic, UDB and incompetence
. 6 Comments
An article in the Herald today brings to light a very serious issue that has significant consequences for Miami-Dade’s future. According to insiders and the Herald, it is looking like the recommendations from the South Miami-Dade Watershed Study and Plan, which include holding the Urban Development Boundary and encouraging most development along the US-1 corridor to stop further sprawl, may be ignored by officials who either think they are experts or who just don’t care about anyone but themselves.

Vice-Chairman Dennis Moss was quoted, “It’s not an easy situation and folks are not going to give in in terms of their philosophies”.

Here’s a philosophy: We’re all screwed if the recommendations from the watershed study are ignored. Why? According to the study:

  • The South Miami-Dade Watershed region is expected to nearly double in population by 2050, going from 791,000 in 2000 to approximately 1, 500,000 in 2050.
  • The Watershed cannot continue to grow as expected without substantial consequences to its water and natural resources, quality of life, and community characteristics
  • The Watershed Plan calls for a Smart Growth (which we’ve preached for over a year ad nauseam) approach to accommodating future population growth; however, if the the alternative (sprawl or current) approach continues the watershed area will negatively and irreversibly be changed
  • The waters of Biscayne Bay will be subject to substantial increases in water pollution
  • 3/4 of our agricultural areas will be lost to sprawling, low-density residential subdivisions
  • Traffic congestion will increase significantly
  • The effectiveness of the $8 billion Everglades restoration program will be greatly reduced
  • It is estimated that the “sprawl scenario” will cost nearly $8 billion more for infrastructure than the recommended Watershed Plan between now and 2050, which does not even include substantial environmental costs (who’s going to be funding most of this unnecessary, unsustainable infrastructure? Mostly taxpayers.)
As you can see, the alternative to the Watershed Plan is wholly unsustainable. How could any politician unequivocally dismiss such an obvious and significant plan to accommodate future growth? Look no further than our County Commission and the Governmental Operations and Environment Committee (GOEC), chaired by none other than sprawl-champion Natacha Seijas.

Seijas, easily the worst of all the county commissioners (and that is really saying something), who is lucky to even have a job after threatening a fellow commissioner’s life during session in the County Chambers, is leading the charge to foil implementation of the watershed study. It shouldn’t be of much surprise to citizens, given that she is profoundly connected to developers and pro-sprawl interests as evidenced by her consistent voting record to move the UDB line and quotes like “I don’t see why we need to be creating an environment for them (Manatees) to continue”.

Her opposition is significant because she is the chairwoman for the GOEC, which oversees urban growth policies and monitors the utilization of our natural resources. What’s she saying?

“I don’t think this study should be used to do anything (involving major land-use decisions)”.

OK, so nearly $4 million, six years of research, and perhaps the future of our region may be down the drain if she gets her way. Some Commissioners are talking about potentially adopting some aspects of the Plan but ignoring the land-use aspects. Duh. It doesn’t work like that. ALL OF THESE ASPECTS ARE INTERCONNECTED.

This is the type of business that makes my blood pressure boil because the incompetence and special interest pandering is so blatantly obvious, shameless, and completely detrimental to the area’s future. This is the same type of incompetence and slipshod politics that has sadly become standard practice for many of our elected officials. It has become obvious that expert opinion, research, and administrative work are almost entirely irrelevant in this county, because our elected officials instead use their own pet theories, intuition, and self-interest to make decisions that will negatively affect the area for many generations to come. Frankly, it is not only unprofessional, but completely embarrassing.

Jorge Perez Speaks out on Affordable Housing

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 10, 2007
in Affordable Housing, Commission, Jorge Perez, Miami, Sarnoff and The Related Group
. 1 Comment

Jorge Perez spoke out today at the City of Miami Commission Meeting clearing the names of Miami city officials who purchased condos in his affordable housing projects in downtown. He and city officials were recent targets in a Herald article which criticized the actions of related and city officials alike…

Marlins’ Stadium Madness!

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 11, 2007
in Bayfront, Commission, Courthouse, Jose "Pepe" Diaz, MLB, Marlins, Melreese, Miami, Miami Intermodal Center, Museum Park, Natacha Seijas and Urban Planning
. 1 Comment
As if the Marlins’ Stadium conundrum couldn’t get any more ludicrous, a few articles appeared in the Miami Today adding multiple new dimensions to the problems at hand. Where should I begin? As you may recall, the Marlins last week asserted their position that a downtown facility would be ideal; it would give the team the greatest chance of success in Miami and would make sense from an urban planning perspective given that it would be easily connected to metrorail, tri-rail, I-95, and the downtown businesses. It appears that our most asinine commissioner, Natacha Seijas, known for such wonderful remarks as: “I don’t see why we need to be creating an environment so they can continue…” when speaking about protecting manatees or “Today is the day that you might just leave here in a body bag if you keep it up…” which she remarked at a county Commission meeting, is once again the forerunner to speak out against the Marlins’ latest statements (Click here for a video of Seijas.) Here is what the Miami Today reported:
SELF-INFLICTED BEANBALL: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas says the Florida Marlins hardly helped themselves over the weekend with their insistence that the team’s stadium be built downtown on a site designated for the county’s new juvenile-justice center. The team’s comments were a “completely and absolutely offensive” brushback of the county’s children, Ms. Seijas said Tuesday during a meeting of the commission’s Governmental Affairs and Operations committee. “The Marlins need to be more respectful when interviewed on TV. They need to be more respectful of the children’s courthouse.”

Ok, so Natacha Seijas has no clue what she’s talking about, right? Big Deal? Well, yes it is a big deal because she’s one of our Fab 13 who will be deciding where we will one day place the stadium in question. Given her take on the manatee, I’m sure she’d have no qualms with paving over everglades to accommodate anything…

In any case, like I mentioned above the stadium issue has gotten more complex. Now Michael Cannon, a “real-estate researcher” whatever that is, is declaring that the new Marlins’ stadium should be constructed on the Melreese Golf Course property. Sure, it would be next to the Miami Intermodal center, but, why complicate that project any further, FDOT has been constructing it since the late 90’s and we’ve yet to see any considerable progress. The Marlins’ stadium belongs in the city center which a new MLB drawing will soon depict, according to Miami Today:

COMING SOON: Major League Baseball is preparing a schematic of a stadium as it would appear in the proposed downtown location. “As soon as they have something formalized, they’ll bring it to us,” Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez said in a committee meeting Tuesday. The Florida Marlins want a retractable-roof ballpark with 37,000 seats and 60 suites to be built on nine acres of county- and city-owned land just north of the county government center north of Northwest Second Street, east of Interstate 95 and west of Metrorail. Commissioners have been reluctant to give full backing of the downtown location. “I know there are not seven votes here for this site,” Mr. Martinez said at a Tuesday meeting of the Government Affairs and Operations Committee. The favored plan is to replace the Orange Bowl with a ballpark.

Things can’t possibly get any worse, right? Try again. Plans also resurfaced at a recent commission meeting by Jose “Pepe” Diaz to analyze a “Bayfront” park idea. That’s Bayfront as in Bicentennial Park, the same park slated to for the new home of the MAM and Museum of Science, apparently chop liver and easily moved to sites elsewhere…Apparently it doesn’t matter if MAM has already contracted Herzog and DeMuron to design their new complex. The Millions spent thus far on plans to recreate Bicentennial into Museum Park also seem to be dispensable, after all, its only taxpayer money and there seems to be a never ending supply of it, why not keep wasting it? The Bayfront idea will never fly. We voted to create bonds to establish a cultural icon on the site, not another waterfront sports venue.

BACK TO THE BAY: Some formerly favored sites for a stadium haven’t been discarded, county commissioners say. Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he has asked County Manager George Burgess to give further study to putting the ballpark on the Biscayne Bay front. “I’ve asked him to look at it,” Mr. Diaz said, though he said he doubts a bayfront site is viable. The 29-acre Bicentennial Park, designated for a pair of museums, got a passing mention Tuesday. “If the city somehow has a change of mind, then that location would be back on the table,” Mr. Diaz said. Also back on the table, he said, would be the problem of parking. That’s been a major challenge for the bayfront Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, he said, and would be an even bigger one for planners of a ballpark on the bay.

Parking not the issue, not building any parking to along with the Carnival Center is the problem, which was under development since the 80’s…That’s the problem. Museum Park should feature underground parking, beneath the museum structure, with enough parking for some, but not all of the Museum Park visitors. The point is to provide some parking and some public transit, but just little enough to price people into not driving…

What is so incredibly difficult about agreeing on a single location for the Marlins’ stadium? Why can’t the Commission show some solidarity? One is discussing the orange bowl site while another asks for research on the Bayfront site and I’m sure someone else is still fixated on the Hialeah plan. There may very well be 13 different plans on 13 different sites floating around the Commission chambers. Heck, they’re not even sure of why it shouldn’t go in downtown. It’s amazing how hypocritical they are, somehow the Children’s courthouse poses as an insurmountable obstacle to placing the stadium downtown, but yet the two iconic museums and parks can be easily relocated elsewhere…Go figure!

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Marlins Stadium Circus Continues

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on April 9, 2007
in Bruno Barreiro, Carlos Giminez, Commission, Jeffrey Loria, Marco Rubio, Marlins, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Orange Bowl and Stadium
. 4 Comments
It’s hard to believe that the Marlins’ stadium saga could get even more bizarre (well, maybe not that hard to believe). Now Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has come out opposing the Orange Bowl site, saying that a downtown site is the team’s sole focus and the only viable location for a new stadium in South Florida. From the Herald’s article on Saturday:
  • Loria: A downtown setting “would be much more beneficial to the franchise and fans…it’s very easy to get to…we must get it done”.
  • Team President David Sampson: “Our sole focus is completing a deal downtown.”
Wow. First of all, I’m a little curious as to why it took so long for Loria to come out publicly in support of the downtown site, especially given the adamant tone of his language. Secondly, if he felt this way all along, which is how it sounds, then this likely means the county commission has not only gone against good urban planning, history, and common sense in pushing for the Orange Bowl site, but they’ve also been pushing a site the team owner is not even interested in.

Predictably, the county commission reacted to Loria’s and Sampson’s statements with concern. Commission Chairman, Bruno Barreiro, stated “We’re just trying to get money from the state…we can’t get distracted by the site issue.” Oh, really? Well, if I had a vote on whether or not to allocate state funds to the construction of a new baseball stadium, I would certainly be more inclined to vote yea if I knew specifically where the building site was located, especially if it was in downtown Miami. But don’t take it from me. State Representative David Rivera, who ultimately controls the flow of legislation for House Speaker Marco Rubio, said “There might be a lack on consensus to build at the Orange Bowl.” Rivera then offered his support for a downtown stadium.

The really disconcerting piece form the article actually came from a commissioner who is now in support of the downtown site. “Commissioner Carlos Gimenez…was one of the strongest proponents of the Orange Bowl site (last month). Now, after studying transportation issues, he says it’s no longer his first option. ‘For me, I think baseball would work better in an urban, downtown site, he said’.” Holy cow! So apparently we have commissioners advocating for a Marlins’ stadium at the Orange Bowl without even studying the project’s transportation issues! That is just unacceptable. It’s pretty tough to debate the merits of a downtown Miami site versus an Orange Bowl site for a new stadium without studying, comprehending, or even considering transportation issues, for that matter. If the Herald piece is accurate, we have county commissioners making major decisions and guiding policy without even examining some of the most important, relevant details. At least he had it in him to change his mind. We’re still waiting for the rest of the commission to stop going against the grain (and logic, and history, and urban planning, and best practice, etc.).

Moment of Clarity

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 19, 2006
in Commission, Community, Development, Gabriel J. Lopez-Bernal, Miami, Opinion, Public Works, Transit, Urban Growth and Vision
. 0 Comments
Unfortunately, I believe it has come to that time where I must clarify my position on certain community issues in order to prevent and dispel the skewed misconceptions which have been swirling around in a few comments lately about me. This article does not apply to the vast majority of you, but, I have to post it in order to preserve the integrity behind my name and my website.

First off, I am not a development happy, x-box playing, geek, who prances around gleefully whenever a new shiny glass skyscraper is unveiled in Miami. I do not own or wish to own an X-box, sorry Microsoft. Furthermore, I cringe when I see most of the planned buildings and developments slated to rise in Miami because I know full well that the current infrastructure (Transit, Electrical, Water, Educational, etc.) is not equipped to handle such growth. I cringe because I know that most of the developers are taking advantage of Miami in order to earn quick buck and in the end do not care about the impact their buildings will have on the community or the residents who purchase them. The politics behind much of this growth sickens me and is definitely not anything I stand for. The archaic development codes in this county and city are not suitable for such expansion and our public works sector is not familiar with the concept of sustainable growth. We lack the vision and foresight across all levels of government to plan anything properly and accordingly and in a timely fashion.

With regards to the people of Miami, I believe we all need to become more involved in what is going on in our community. I implore my readers to get involved in community meetings or even by leaving comments on my blog so that we can address issues together. We must hold ourselves as well as our elected officials accountable for the policies which govern us. Republican or Democrat? I say, who cares, we must all be concerned with how our tax money is being misappropriated and we need to first make sure that elected officials are designating our interests as their priorities. We need to enhance our educational system and improve our graduation rates from high schools and universities. We must build stronger communities to come together better in times of need and keep an eye out to lower crime and vandalism.

This is how I truly feel about development and life in Miami. I write my blog with passion daily to try and instill some of that heart into all of my readers. I genuinely care about Miami, not some other country, like many of our residents seem to do. I try to call things the way I see them and avoid sugarcoating topics so that my readers may come to their own conclusions. I believe growth is important for this community to continue to be a player in the global market, however, we must first learn how to grow in a method which will benefit future generations to come.

This is a glimpse of what I stand for and what my site is all about…

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Not Going Anywhere For A While…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 11, 2006
in Commission, Construction, Development, FDOT, Krome Avenue, Miami-Dade County, Palmetto and UDB
. 0 Comments


It wasn’t a rhetorical question, more of a declaration. You can still grab a Snickers bar if you’d like, I did.

For anyone who is wondering what the heck the FDOT is up to on the Palmetto and Dolphin Expressways, they created a little website to answer many of your questions. Personally, I love the way they shut down all but one lane at night forcing me sit idle while cars merge psychotically upon me, or the way the left lane of the palmetto is usually blocked off with Bob’s Barricades for no apparent reason. I find Rick’s blog’s name to be one of my saddest weekly experiences as I sit there gazing at all the other frustrated drivers who, like me, are stuck on the Palmetto.

In any case, the mess they have started now, isn’t slated to be completed until 2012 (I’m assuming this date is flexible in one direction only.) As the dolphin expressway is expanded westward to accommodate the sprawl we have all grown to embrace, the FDOT decided to finally fix the terrible interchange between the Dolphin and Palmetto Expressways Slow moving Parking Lots. Simultaneously, the Palmetto is being widened slightly at some key points both North and South of the Dolphin as well as receiving new noise barrier walls and exits, you know, so that cars can flow quicker onto the already clogged Bird Rd, 8th st, Coral Way, etc. Meanwhile the Dolphin is also being widened as it receives a new toll plaza to pay for the current project. Forget Okeechobee, they are currently in the process of depressing part of its roadway to allow the FEC tracks and Hialeah Expressway to cross without impeding traffic (can’t have those damn trains get in the way of our cars…)

Someone also decided that it would be a bright idea to enhance Krome avenue south of where it meets with Okeechobee. I’m assuming this measure was taken to help accelerate the development of land outside the UDB; precisely what the “very-well” educated members of our county commission desired seeing that they are always looking out for the best interests of the citizens developers.

The above picture is of the new interchange which will one day “seamlessly” whisk you from the Palmetto to the Dolphin or vice versa…Until then, idle away in traffic, I’ll be at the Palmetto, Palmetto Metrorail station that is…