UEL Newsletter - Issue21

The Urban ForumNewsletter of The Urban Environment League

April 2007Issue No. 21Website: www.uel.org

Email: [email protected]

Dear Members and Supporters of the Urban Environment League,

This is to inform you that I will be resigning as President of theUrban Environment League effective at the completion of theAnnual Meeting on May 16, 2007.

After examining my life obligations for next year and my plan foran extended stay in East Hampton until after Thanksgiving, I feel itwill be better for me to step down from my UEL obligations.

I have been putting off this decision for awhile. But as the timecame closer, I realized my obligations to my family and other recentendeavors in which I have become involved required greater prior-ity. I know I am making the right decision. I realize it would notfair to the board for me to be away from Miami for this extendedperiod of time, or for me to try from afar to juggle the work requiredto be the president of the organization.

Ernie Martin, as vice president, always does a fine job in myabsence. He knows the routines and all of the issues to manage theorganization until an election is held.

I have enjoyed the five years I have served as president of UEL. Itwas a magnificent education about life in Miami Dade County. Ihave many cherished memories of all we have accomplished together.I will always be available to answer questions and offer guidance.

Best wishes for a long-lasting future of the UEL. I look forwardto seeing all of you at the Annual Meeting of the UEL on May 16, atthe American Legion Hall at 6450 NE 7th Avenue.

Sincerely,Nancy Liebman

URBAN ENVIRONMENT LEAGUE OF GREATER MIAMI MEMBERSHIP & RENEWAL APPLICATION

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945 Pennsylvania AvenueSuite 100Miami Beach, FL 33139Phone: 305 532-7227Fax: 305 [email protected]: www.uel.org

NOTICE:The UEL accepts articles/lettersfrom its members and members ofthe public. These articles/letters donot always reflect the views of theMembers of the UEL, or its Board,or the views of the UEL Advisors.To submit articles/letters, contact:[email protected] editor takes full responsibilityfor botching articles during cuts.

Students: $15

To receive informationon upcoming UEL eventssuch as dinners, forumsand conferences sendyour email address to:

[email protected]

Nancy LiebmanErnest MartinKay Hancock ApfelEd BarberioKevin DoranGregory BushColgate DardenJohn DeLeonRobert Flanders

UEL Board of Directors: 2006-2007

Sage HoffmanMaria Ines CastroBruce HamerstromRuth JacobsLeroy JonesJames JudeRichard KormanSantiago LeonSusan LuckDan McCrea

Enid PinkneyGabrielle RedfernAlberto RuderDenis RussMaria SalvadorPaul SchwiepFortuna SmuklerDavid TurnerJohn Van Leer

UEL Dinner May 15th Are There Any Solutions ToOur Transportation and Traffic Problems?

2007 Annual Meeting and Orchid AwardsPresentation - May 16th - 6 p.m.

American Legion Hall -See Center-fold

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The Urban Environment League Dinner ForumsAre held at: The Historic Miami River Inn

118 SW South River Drive6:00 PM – Wine Reception

6:45 PM – Dinner, Followed by Program

Limited Seating, RSVP a must:Miami River Inn:305-325-0045

E-mail: [email protected]

TUESDAY, MAY 15 Are There Any Solutions To Our Transportation and Traffic Problems?Speakers: Miami Dade County Commissioner Carlos A. Gimenez and Bernardo Benes, one of the foundingmembers of the County’s MOVN (Meeting our Vehicular Needs) Initiative. We have invited a Board Memberof the County’s Citizens Independent Transportation Trust.

All dinners begin with a wine reception at 6PM and dinner at 6:45 followed by the speakers and a lively discussion. Opento the public, admission is $25 for UEL Members and $30 for non-members. Reservations are required. A limited numberof seats are available at no charge for the 7:30 discussion session only.

Topics and speakers can change without notice.

There are still twelve to fifteen thousand additional units expected to be com-pleted in the City of Miami’s downtown.

As you can see, the cranes are still a part of the downtown landscape. A futureof unsold units during the real estate slowdown is a concern.

A PAC called “Eight is Enough”was formed to put a very importantquestion before the people of theCounty:

Whether voters want to imposeterm limits - of eight years - on theirCounty Commission.

Ed Ludovici, Chairman of Eightis Enough said: “Unfortunately, theincumbent commissioners have anever increasing stranglehold on elec-tions making it all but impossible forcredible challengers to win.”

The last time a sitting Commis-sioner was unseated was in 1994.

The County Mayor is term lim-ited. Most City Commissioners andMayors are term limited includingthe City of Miami, North Miami andMiami Beach.

What do you think readers? - N. Lee

Eight is Enough! According to Reporer SusanStabley of the South Florida BusinessJournal, the “Recommendations inthe controversial South Miami-Dade Watershed Study, whichincluded a plan to freeze an urbandevelopment boundary until 2025,were killed in a County Commis-sion Subcommittee April 10.”

County commissioners JoseDiaz, Audrey Edmonson, CarlosGimenez and Dorrin Rolleunanimously approved a resolu-tion by subcommittee Chair-woman Natacha Seijas that thestudy and its recommendationswere “not satisfactory or appropri-ate for approval.” Stabley reported that Seijas’ callto kill the watershed study followsthe failure of its main advisorycommittee to reach a consensus onthe 68 recommendations. It maygo before the Commission May 8.

1921: James H. Bright and GlennH. Curtiss donate land for commu-nity use and help to acquire land andbuilding funds for the constructionof public buildings and facilities, in-cluding a racetrack.

1925 (Jan. 15): Hialeah Race Trackopens to 17,000 spectators, offeringthe most complete recreational com-plex in South Florida at the time. It

consists of a clubhouse, an adminis-trative building, a paddock area, andtwenty-one stables. Near the track, afronton for jai-alai is constructed, thefirst in the Miami area. An amuse-ment park with a roller coaster and adance hall is also developed.

1935 (Jan. 19): Seabiscuit makeshis racing debut at Hialeah RaceTrack.

1946: Winston Churchill attendsraces at Hialeah.

1977: Seattle Slew (future TripleCrown winner) wins FlamingoStakes. Seattle Slew didn’t make hisfirst start as a three-year-old untilMarch 9, 1977, when he won an al-lowance race by nine lengths at Hi-aleah in track record time for sevenfurlongs.

March 26, 1977: Seattle Slew wonthe Flamingo Stakes by four lengthsin the third fastest time in stakes his-tory. In 1977, Seattle Slew becamethe first undefeated winner of theTriple Crown and was named Horseof the Year. The following year, Slewwould firmly establish himself as oneof the greatest champions of the 20thcentury by winning against 1978Triple Crown winner Affirmed andEngland’s top horse, Excellor

1979: (Mar. 2) Hialeah Race Tracklisted on the National Register of His-toric Places.

Historical Hialeah Park Timeline

Save

Hialeah

Park

Editorial Cartoon:Is the County throwing the baby out with the bath water? Are theydismissing the smart growth principles contained in the$3,000,000 Watershed Study which has been going on for years?

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The UEL, as one of the many interestedstakeholders non-profit public interest groups,attended a “stakeholders” meeting. We wereencouraged that at last there would be a publicprocess for Virginia Key. Unfortunately, with theprevious City of Miami manager, there was aclosed door policy. Various public developments,including Virginia Key and Bicentennial Parkwere being designed by consultants withoutpublic input. Successful cities thrive when thereis a shared trust between the city officials and thecitizens.

Since Manager PeteHernandez took over, asmall crack in the doorhas opened. So farthere has been onepublic meeting forBicentennial Park, andanother for VirginiaKey. That is notenough. UEL willcontinue to encouragethe elected body andthe manager to holdfrequent open meetingsfor all public dollarprojects to listen tocitizen comments withan open mind forinnovative ideas.

Many good suggestions were expressed at theBicentennial meeting, including creating lessformal gardens, adding some active recreationalfacilities, deleting some of the concrete walkwaysand the restaurant, utilizing the boat slip forboats and working with the county to includeParcel B into the plans.

Virginia Key is not as far along in the planningprocess. The consultant has wisely begunmeeting with “stakeholder” groups. However, wewere shocked to learn he would be meeting with“developer stakeholders”. Surely, that is amistake. How can developers be “stakeholders”when Virginia Key is public land? This leads us

to believe that the city’s vision of Virginia Keyincludes development. The public will never acceptsuch a plan. Too much public land in the City ofMiami has been gobbled up by private developers.Those days are finished. Virginia Key must remain apublic island.

As the Virginia Key plan unfolds, UEL willcontinue to advocate for the restoration of theMarine Stadium with its unique architecture and itshistoric use. Not many cities can claim an entertain-ment venue at the water’s edge. The stadium is a

valuable asset that can onceagain be enjoyed by touristsand residents. We challengethe city to make a greatereffort to find modern tech-nology to restore the stadium.

We encourage the city toexamine the Seaquarium’sinsensitive structures andfences blocking the openspace on the water front. Ifthe city is to invest publicfunds to clean up VirginiaKey, all tenants of the Keymust be held to the samestandards.

One of the biggest dilem-mas for the Virginia Keymaster plan is the lack of clear

record keeping. The consultant is having difficultiesdetermining the zoning and the city, county andstate ownership of the land. It seems the Key’srecordkeeping has been as shabby as the island’smaintenance.

Above all, the UEL urges that the Key not becomeanother lackluster conglomerate of tacky littlecommercial areas reminiscent of ill-planned water-front tourist traps. We realize the city will need fundsto build and maintain Virginia Key. Let’s aim for ahigher goal of public/private partnerships that donot sacrifice the Key to commercial development.When there is truly a transparent public process, thecommunity will surely avoid that sort of disaster onits valuable public island.

Virginia Key And The Public Processby Nancy Liebman

Urban Environment League Focus 2007-2008UEL will sponsor a series of forums, tours and workshops on cur-

rent issues regarding master planning, preserving parks, open spaceand waterfront access, transportation, affordable housing, 2004 Gen-eral Obligation Bond enhancements, urban design, smart growth, andmaintaining community character.

UEL will continue to build its membership base and forge collabo-rations with community partners and neighborhood associations, andwill encourage public participation in government activities.

UEL will engage local, county and state agencies about growth man-agement laws.

UEL will continue to motivate government to create incentives foraffordable, workforce housing and encourage developers to identifycreative methods to prevent neighborhood gentrification.

UEL will present Honor Awards for significant achievement in ar-eas compatible with the League’s Core Values.

UEL will continue its monthly Dinner and Discussion Series withcurrent and provocative issues of concern to the community.

UEL will expand it website and newsletter, THE URBAN FORUM,to explore local and regional issues.

UEL will continue to be an integral part of the campaign designedto stop the expansion of the Urban Development Boundary Line andprotect the Everglades.

UEL will be involved and encourage public participation in Miamiand Miami Dade County’s Master Plan strategies for zoning, urbandesign, parks, pedestrian amenities and transportation.

UEL will strive to increase public participation in government andto advocate for better understanding of local history, historic preserva-tion, and cohesive community planning.

UEL will collaborate with a coalition of affected parties to ensurepublic participation in the development plans for Virginia Key and aworld-class Bicentennial Park. We will continue to promote commu-nity awareness about the significance a quality integrated downtownwater-front park and a restored Virginia Key will have on residents,tourists and the business community throughout Miami Dade County.

UEL will monitor the hotel development on Watson Island to as-sure the project adheres to the permitted guidelines as approved by theCity of Miami.

UEL will maintain a strong advocacy position for keeping publiclands for the public.

Thirsty? Where are wegoing to get the waterfor Lennar’s Parkland?

Lennar has filed a Developmentat the South Florida Regional Plan-ning Council: It is called Parkland.

It has close to 7,000 homes slatedfor about 960 acres bounded by SW136 Street on the North, SW 162Avenue on the East and SW 152Street on the South, and SW 177Avenue on the West.

There has been a very importantchange in the South Florida WaterManagement District’s water alloca-tions for new developments. Devel-opments needing additional watersupplies will now be required to seeksources that are not dependent on theEverglades for recharge.

Continued building in Florida isnow directly linked to availability ofdrinking water. The new rule, accord-ing to the South Florida Business Jour-nal, in conjunction with state legis-lation passed in 2005, requires futuredevelopment must be coordinatedwith water supply, similar to otherconcurrency laws that consider theimpact of growth on schools andstreets.

In order to do a very large devel-opment, known as a Development ofRegional Impact (DRI), the devel-oper has to tell the State where thedrinking water is coming from.

The water is not coming from theSouth Florida Water ManagementDistrict.

If County Commissioners ap-prove moving the Urban Develop-ment Boundary for Lennar on thisDRI, will all residents will have tosubsidize the unfunded infrastructurefor this development (i.e. desalinationplant, etc.)? - Nancy Lee

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Visiting Abacoa, Florida Atlantic University Jupiter Campus, and theFlorida Public Officials Design Institute

by Denis Russ, UEL Program Vice President

The UEL Program Committee organized anextraordinary Bus Trip to the Jupiter Campus ofFlorida Atlantic University and the Abacoa TownCenter. Our special host for the day was theFlorida Public Officials Design Institute and ourmission was to further explore and understand thespecial contributions of the Smart Growth, LivableCommunities and New Urbanism movements aswe seek to build a shared vision for the future ofour own community.

Eleven yeas following theAbacoa Groundbreaking, its clearto see the substantial accomplish-ments in developing a commu-nity around the concepts andprinciples of traditional neigh-borhood development —residential neighborhoods inclose proximity to the towncenter and business district, thespring training facility of twomajor baseball teams, meandering greenways andwetland preserves, FAU’s newest campus andhonors college and now the planned entry ofScripp’s Research Institute. There are lessons aswell to glean and understand as we move towardthe next generation of new urbanism communities.

Following lunch at the FAU dining hall, AntehaGianniotes described the work of the TreasureCoast Regional Planning Council which hasfacilitated planning charrettes for governmentjurisdictions and communities throughout Floridato help chart their futures.

Marie York, Director of theDesign Institute, and formerPresident of the FloridaChapter of the AmericanPlanning Institute shared withus the mission and history ofthis program providing a

laboratory for public officials how to shape projectswithin their communities in consultation withconsulting design professionals. David Barth —who specializes in community visioning and parksand open space planning — challenged our groupto adopt the Miami-Dade County parks planninginitiative as a unique opportunity for forming ashared vision in our community. Developer TimHernandez described the opportunities and

challenges that he faced in residen-tial and commercial developmentin Abacoa and in surroundingcommunities.

Carla Coleman, the ExecutiveDirector of our regional council ofthe Urban Land Institute, andJulia Trevarthen, of the SouthFlorida Regional Planning Coun-cil, accompanied us on the busand helped introduce the programin the morning and then summa-

rized the learning experience in the afternoon.They provided an extraordinary resource for theday.

This program was the fifth in series of bus tripsand workshops that have explored the region. TheUEL Program Committee has hosted programsthat explored Everglades National Park at SharkValley, the Urban Development Boundary,Redland Agricultural Community, affordablehousing in South Dade, Biscayne National Park,the Delray Beach Community RedevelopmentArea in Broward County and this last visit to Palm

Beach County with theobjective of using thelessons learned in theseprograms as we seek todevelop a shared vision forthe future of our owncommunity.

An UrbanEnvironmentLeagueBusTour

Commissioner Katy Sorenson, tried to initiate a resolution in Committee to outline a plan for membership of theCharter Review Task Force (similar to one proposed by Dan Paul’s years ago). Since this is OUR Charter, thepeople’s, Sorenson tried to make sure everyone was represented. Her Resolution was not approved. Here is what shethought the Charter Review Task Force membership should be (the Commission will probably appoint memberssince they didn’t like this effort):

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Abacoa bus trip - candid photos

On February 6, more than 150people gathered at UM’s RosenstielSchool on Virginia Key to listen toa variety of speakers comment onMiami’s Master Plan process for the1,000 acre island that lies betweenMiami and Key Biscayne. Countyofficials, including VivianRodriguez of the Parks Dept andGary Milano of Derm, spokeabout the County’s interests inthe island and the natural areas.Organized by the Urban Envi-ronment League and UM’s In-stitute for Public History, themeeting followed a dinner thathonored both environmentaleducator Mabel Miller andformer City CommissionerAthalie Range, two women whowere instrumental in preservingthe public land on the island.

Miami Commissioner MarcSarnoff noted with clear irrita-tion that the as yet unscheduledpublic hearings for the Master Planfor Virginia Key would be held af-ter preliminary drawings were ren-dered by the city of Miami’s con-sultants, EDSA. The audience wasinformed that the Urban Environ-ment League was establishing a“parallel public process” to that ofthe city in order to insure wide-spread public involvement in theprocess –something that had not asyet taken place more than a year af-ter the contract with EDSA wassigned. A website has been set up

for public comments and whichincludes a variety of streaming vid-eos, pictures and documents. It canbe accessed at website at the endof this article.

Miami City Manager PeteHernandez assured the audiencethat their voices would be heard.

Other speakers illustrated the

complex land uses and interests in-volved. Superintendent Mark Lewisof the Biscayne National Park notedthat the National Park Service is in-terested in having a northern foot-hold in Miami for park patrons.Jimbo Luzner of Jimbos place spokeabout the unique atmosphere of hisestablishment. Juan Fernandez ofthe City Parks Dept, Mabel Millerand Gary Milano all spoke aboutthe unique natural features of theisland that they have helped restoreover the years. Students from

Turner Tech produced a short videoproduction that championed sav-ing the Marine Stadium while mod-erator Greg Bush of the UEL andUM’s Institute for Public Historysaid that a preliminary report hadshowed that the stadium could beconsidered structurally sound andcould revived for arelatively small

amount of money.Attention was alsoplaced on the NorthPoint area of theislandwhere prelimi-nary ideas of the cityhave called for thepossibility of hotels.This land overlooksFisher Island and isalso a potential parkfor a city that has theleast amount of parkspace per capita ofanyhigh density cityin the nation. The au-

dience saw images of the area- nowclosed off to the public- and the po-tentially beautiful park that couldbe created in that space.

After the speakers made theirpresentations, the public spoke outat the end of the meeting showingoverwhelmingly that they were pas-sionately interested in preservingthe natural areas of the island andhaving more input in the futureplanning process.

www.floridacommunitystudies.org/vk.

Will Virginia Key Become Another Watson Island?by Greg Bush

The Children’s Museum on Watson Island

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Nancy Liebman

Ernie Martin

Kay Hancock Apfel

Richard Korman

Gregory Bush

John DeLeon

Robert Flanders

Sage Hoffman

Maria Ines Castro

Ruth Jacobs

James Jude

Susan Luck

Enid Pinkney

Alberto Ruder

Denis Russ

Urban Environment League 2007 Annual Meeting andOrchid Awards Presentation

May 16th - 6 p.m. American Legion Hall 6450 NE 7th Avenue, Miami

(East of Biscayne Blvd.)

All UEL Members and Non-Members are free to join us for the Orchid Awards Presentation. We also will beHolding the Election of our Board of Directors - Cocktails are Available and Hors d’ oeuvres will be Served

4. Sasaki’s Coconut Grove Waterfront PlanningProcessSasaki Associates, Inc Mark Dawson, PrincipalMichelle Niemeyer, Chairperson Waterfront WorkingCommitteeGary Hecht, Chairperson, Coconut Grove VillageCouncilT. Spencer Crowley, Chair City Of Miami WaterfrontAdvisory Board

5. Upper East Side Preservation CoalitionJack SpirkGinger VelaHal MarshallGlenn AmorusoJerry Bell

6. Lourdes Solera, Community Activisism.

Orchid Award Recipients:

1. Oak Plaza And The Miami Design DistrictCraig Robins - Dacra Development Miami Design DistrictKhoury And Vogt, ArchitectsCure Penabad Studio, ArchitectsElizabeth Plater Zyberk, ArchitectsJohn Keenen, Architects

2. City Of Miami Virginia Key Nature Trail/Restoration EffortsErnest Burkeen, Director Of City of Miami Parks & RecreationJuan Fernandez, City Of Miami Park NaturalistGary Milano, County DERM

3. Save Hialeah ParkHonorable Mayor Julio Robiana, City of HialeahAlex FuentesMilly Herrera

Slate for the Board of Directiors - 2007-2008

7. Coastal Communities Traffic StudyJoseph Corradino, The Corradino GroupMayors From The Following Cities: Golden Beach, Sunny Isles,Aventura, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, North BayVillage and Miami Beach.

8. The Miami Herald’s Series “House Of Lies”Debbie Cenziper, Lead Reporter Miami HeraldLarry Lebowitz, Miami Herald ReporterSusannah Nesmith, Miami Herald ReporterTim Henderson, Miami Herald ReporterMonika Leal, Miami Herald ReporterMichael Sallah, Miami Herald Investigations Editor

9. Umoja VillageMax RameauCenter for Pan-African Development andTake Back the Land

10. The Miami Workers Center and Scott Carver ProjectsGihan Perera

Paul Schwiep

David Turner

John Van Leer

Santiago Leon

Colgate Darden

Kevin Doran

Gabrielle Redfern

Leroy Jones

Nadjda Mishkovsky

Alex Fuentes

Erika Brigham

Patricia A. Harris

Judith Hancock Sandoval

Jeff Bradley

Frances M. Bohnsack

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