UEL Newsletter - Issue20

A Message from UEL President Nancy Liebman

UEL is well into its2007- 08 eventsmode. In 2006 wehosted candidate’sforums for the 2006County Commissionelections and City ofMiami Commissionelections. We heldfour successful dinnerprograms at thehistoric Miami RiverInn, held a StrongMayor CharterChange Debate andsponsored an Urban Smart Growth themed bustour to Delray Beach.

Additionally, we negotiated a Watson IslandLetter of Agreement between UEL and FlagstoneDevelopers that provides for the public amenitiespromised by the developer on Watson Island to becompleted prior to the time the Certificate ofOccupancy is issued by the City of Miami. Thosepublic amenities include a garden designed byFairchild Gardens, a maritime museum designedby the Miami Historical Museum, shops andpublic baywalks, a garage roof top garden and amarina viewing pier. Look for the complete detailsof the agreement on Page 8 and 9 of this issue ofthe Urban Forum.

One of the on-going “burning” issues which

GROWTH, VISUAL BLIGHT, SCENIC POLLUTION, SPRAWL, TRAFFICAND A LOT OF CONCRETE:Where has the Good Life Gone?

The Urban ForumNewsletter of The Urban Environment League

February 2007Issue No. 20Website: www.uel.org

Email: [email protected]

UEL has still notresolved is the lackof open publicparticipation for theBicentennial Parkand Virginia Keymaster plans.

At the UELJanuary Boardmeeting, it wasagreed that UELwould join withMiami Neighbor-hoods United to

protest the City ofMiami’s neglect in presenting information to thepublic regarding developments to be built on publiclands with public funds.

UEL’s resolution can be found on Page 5 of thisnewsletter. The resolution, if agreed upon by bothUEL and MNU will be sent to the Miami andCounty Commissioners.

We will continue to demand open, transparentpublic planning workshops until relief is offered bythe elected officials.

To further exacerbate the City of Miami’s closeddoor park planning, is their recent betrayal of thepublic trust by allowing private, for profit closed-door events in public parks during the New YearHoliday and Super Bowl Week with no neighbor-hood input or involvement. (Continued next pg.)

UEL Bus Tour: River Walk in Ft. Lauderdale 11/17

URBAN ENVIRONMENT LEAGUE OF GREATER MIAMI MEMBERSHIP & RENEWAL APPLICATION

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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 send youemail address to:

[email protected]

Nancy LiebmanErnest MartinKay Hancock ApfelEd BarberioKevin DoranGregory BushColgate DardenJohn DeLeonRobert Flanders

UEL Board of Directors:

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

Enid PinkneyGabrielle RedfernAlberto RuderDenis RussMaria SalvadorPaul SchwiepFortuna SmuklerDavid TurnerJohn Van Leer

Join UEL ona trip to

Jupiter Friday,March 23rd

See Centerfold

UEL Dinner Feb. 20thBlack History Month -Overtown: Its Present ChallengesAnd Future Vision Also: Virginia Key Visioning Session &Dinner Feb. 6th (see inside)

An UrbanEnvironmentLeagueBusTour

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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, FEBRUARY 20Honoring Black History Month - Overtown: Its Present Challenges And Future Vision.Moderator: Mike Vasquez. Speakers: Denise Perry, Director of Power U Center and Philip Bacon, GeneralManager, Growth Partnership for the Collins Center for Public Policy.

TUESDAY, MARCH 20South Florida: A Regional Vision for our Future.Speaker: Jim Murley, Director of the Catanese Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlan-tic University. (This serves as a prequel to the UEL’s sponsored ABACOA Smart Growth bus tour. See center-fold)

TUESDAY, APRIL 17Why Isn’t There A Stronger Constituency for Historic Preservation In Miami? (Dade Heritage Days Event)Speakers: Becky Roper Matkov, Executive Director, Dade Heritage Trust; City of Miami Historic PreservationPlanner Ellen J. Uguccioni and University of Miami School of Architecture Associate Professor Rocco Ceo, Co-Author of “The Historic Landscapes of Florida.”

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.

UEL continues to advocate againstvisual blight from billboard andbuilding signage pollution. Most ofthe signs found lurking along the in-terstate roads are illegal, according tothe County’s Outdoor Sign Ordi-nance, so, where is the enforcement?While the County, who holds the en-forcement powers, drags its feet, thesign industry continues to lobby

harder in Tallahassee to take localsignage powers away from Florida’sHome Rule counties. It is time forthe citizens to step up to the plateand demand an end to the visual pol-lution of billboards and wall signs.

Even San Paulo, Brazil is banningthis type of visual obstruction fromits skyline. According to an articlefrom the Sao Paulo Journal and re-

ported by the New York Times (De-cember 12, ‘06). The Times said,Brazil’s new law, which took effect onJanuary 1, 2007, “is a rare victory ofthe public interest over private, of or-der over disorder, aesthetics over ugli-ness, of cleanliness over trash”.

Will the time come when ourelected officials consider prevailingover private disorder? (More on Pg. 9)

On January 20th longtime UELActivist, Nancy Lee was honored toreceive the prestigious John KablerAward from the Everglades Coalitionduring an awards dinner in Orlando.

Since 1999, the John V. KablerAward has been bestowed on some-one who has worked to organize andeducate the public and generategrassroots support for Everglades res-toration.

The Everglades Coalition is an al-liance of 45 local, state and nationalconservation and environmental or-ganizations dedicated to full restora-tion of the greater Everglades ecosys-tem, from the Kissimmee Chain ofLakes into Lake Okeechobee,through the “River of Grass”, out toFlorida Bay and the Keys. The UELis a member of the Everglades Coali-tion and has fought to hold the lineon development near the Everglades.

Nancy Lee said in her acceptancespeech: “John Kabler tried to edu-cate and organize people around Ev-erglades issues. Like him I also try toeducate the public on the importanceof the Everglades and specifically,these past few years, I have workedwith grass roots coalitions to keep de-velopment from the buffer lands in

O P I N I O N(This is from an email exchange withNancy Liebman on the Watershed Study)

What is interesting to me in thisdialogue is that we have accepted theidea that our population will growrapidly rather than working to con-trol growth in our fragile ecosystem.Why?

In 1929, New York City predictedthat its population would grow from7.5 million to 11 million by 1965 –so long as the City invested in newrailway lines and needed infrastruc-ture. The City, however, went brokeinstead and no infrastructure wasprovided. Since the City also had adeclining job base with high wagemanufacturing jobs being replaced bylower wage service sector jobs, highhousing costs, high cost of living, etc.;the City actually did not grow inpopulation at all during those 30years. It is now at 8.2 million.

Perhaps the City did not grow be-cause a natural equilibrium had beenreached – the high housing costs, lowwage jobs, and failing infrastructureencouraged potential new residentsto go elsewhere.

Perhaps high housing costs, a lowwage economy, hurricanes, highproperty taxes and insurance havecreated a natural equilibrium in Mi-ami as well.

The Watershed Study assumedrapid growth and tried to plan for it,which is good planning. However,the number of students in our pub-lic school system – that is, publicschools plus charter schools – hasdeclined by 30,000 over the past fiveyears. That is almost a 10% declinein five years. The school system de-mographer anticipates continued de-clines in enrollment.

If you have not driven down US 1to Florida City in the past three years,

please take the ride – there is littleplace for green space, recreation andhealthful living in the corridor alongUS 1. Further, there is little space orfinancing for the new schools thatthis growth would require.

Perhaps we are playing an awaygame, focusing on how to grow ratherthan whether to grow.

Evelyn Langlieb GreerDistrict 9 Miami-Dade CountyPublic School Board Member

UEL Activist, Nancy LeeReceives

John Kabler Award

Nancy receiving award of a signed ClydeButcher Photograph, from Nate Geislerof Clean Water Fund and JohnAdornato of National Parks Conserva-tion Association. (Below) Nancy withDan Kimball, Superintendent ofEverglades National Park. (The UELthanks Nate for all his hard work onbehalf of the environment.)

Miami Dade, so the Everglades canthrive without a line of condo’s butt-ing up to the levee.”

She also acknowledged that theEverglades learning curve was steep.“First you must learn a new language:Army Corps speak. And then youget this thick yellow bible filled withstuff you hardly understand. It is hardto recruit volunteers when you needto understand an entire eco-system.”

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the city’s planning director, sent a let-ter to the South Florida RegionalPlanning Council supporting theHistoric Preservation Board’s deci-sion, outlining a few historical facts,and objecting to the developmentplan that was proposed.

In May, Frederick P. Gaske, Direc-tor and State Historic PreservationOfficer under the Florida Depart-

ment of State,sent a letter toSteve Lefton, ar-chitect forK iml ey -Hornand Associates,echoing the samesentiments andoutlining a num-

ber of historical and architecturalfacts.

Let’s look backJames H. Bright, the founder of

the city of Hialeah, donated the landthat is Hialeah Park for public use andwas successful at obtaining publicfunding for its development. Thepark opened in 1925 and wentthrough several transformations dur-ing its initial years, including the re-building of the clubhouse and grand-stand shortly after a Hurricane in1926 damaged it.

We believe that any attempt toconvert this park into a residential orcommercial complex goes against ev-erything that Bright envisioned forthis site and fails to render the landfor public use.

Hialeah Park is of tremendous ar-chitectural and historical significance.It marks the beginnings of the city ofHialeah, its founders, first architectsand builders, and represents a historicresting place for the champion thor-oughbreds that raced here. The 210-acre sanctuary displays two grandentrances, a magnificent clubhouseof French-Mediterranean style, a long

Australian tree-line path named af-ter horse trainer, Sunny Fitzsimmons,and a most impressive race track withinfield lakes that the flamingos andother birds still call home. The bo-tanical gardens include very old treesand a large Ficus Tree that was onceone of the most photographed inAmerica. The Flamingo Fountain,Widener Fountain and statue of Ci-tation still stand at Hialeah Park.Nonetheless, years of neglect anddamage from Hurricane Wilma haveleft all structures in dire need of re-pair. The stables were decertified bythe city council as historic in Novem-ber and were recently demolished andlost forever....

As a community activist in Hi-aleah and member of The Citizensof South Florida for the Preservationof the Hialeah Race Track, I call onall elected officials who sincerely careabout this park to join us in helpingto save this historic treasure. This isespecially a call to action to Cuban-Americans representing us at the lo-cal, state and federal levels. We didnot come to this country to destroya piece of American history or remainpassive when such a threat exists.Continued neglect and failure toimmediately repair the damagedstructures at Hialeah Park is irrespon-sible. Our elected officials should feelthe urgency of saving Hialeah Parkand do something now.

Anyone interested in the preser-vation of Hialeah Park should con-tact either Alex Fuentes at:[email protected], or MillyHerrera at: [email protected].

Nate Geisler of Clean Water Fundis leaving to attend graduate school.Nate worked with UEL during theHold The Line Campaign. We thankhim and wish him the best of luck.

Call To Action ForElected Officials To

Help Save Hialeah ParkBy Milly Herrera

Hialeah Park appears almostghostly from afar. Those waiting atthe Metrorail Station can glance overand see portions of the grounds andoften spot the pretty pink flamin-gos by the lake. They won’t seethe track because itfilled in with grassover time; thehorses haven’t racedhere since 2001,and the stables lin-ing Palm Avenueare gone. Also visible from theMetroRail Station is the top of themagnificent clubhouse, which sadlyshows damage sustained from Hur-ricane Wilma in 2005 and previousyears of neglect, and nothing is be-ing done to repair it.

Massive Residential DevelopmentA massive redevelopment plan was

proposed last year, to create a mixedused community on the parkgrounds, which would include me-dium and high density residential, aschool and commercial “big box” re-tail stores.

In March 2006, the City ofHialeah’s Historic Preservation Boardwrote that “The proposed develop-ment has an adverse effect on the his-toric character of the Hialeah ParkRace Track because it is adverse to theprotection, enhancement and per-petuation of building, structures, im-provements, landscape features andhistorical sources of the Hialeah ParkRace Track that represents a distinc-tive element of the city’s cultural, so-cial, economic and architectural his-tory.”

Two weeks later, Debora Storch,

Photo Album:UEL Bus Tour 11/

17/2006Building a

Shared Vision forthe Future of our

Community

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These are some candidphotos taken on thetour. We must thankDelray Beach MayorJeff Pearlman andDiane Colonna of theCRA for the inspiringpresentation on theDelray redevelopment.

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We also want to thank the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation for hosting us at the BonnetHouse. And thank you Gloria Katz of Smart Growth Broward for the Riverwalk Tour.

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The city of Miami is embarking on an ambitious plan to create a Master Plan forthe island but it is up to the residents of the city and the county to help provide inputinto the design, otherwise the island could turn out like Watson Island or worse.

You are invited to help the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County create a MasterPlan for Virginia Key. It’s up to us and not simply professional planners to envision abetter future for that unique island.

On February 6th Two Events will take place on Virginia KeyYou are invited to participate in either or both.

There will be a DinnerTo Honor the Late Chair of the Virginia Key Park Trust, Athalie Range &

Longtime Virginia Key Activist Mabel MillerCocktails at 5:30 (Cash bar) Dinner Begins at 6 pm: Cost of Dinner $25

Location: Overlooking Biscayne Bay at Rosenstiel School

Help Design the Futureof Miami’s Tropical Island

February 6th Dinner and Visioning SessionIn Honor of:

Speakers IncludeMiami-Dade

Mayor Carlos Alvarez

EnvironmentalistMabel Miller

In Memory of CivilRights Leader Athalie Range

A Separate FREE Visioning Forum(including speakers, video overview of the island, oral history testimony and public

comment) for Virginia Key. Open to the public from 7-9 pm.

Rosenstiel Auditorium, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key.Reservations are required to attend the dinner (where there is a cost of $25 per person)

If you are coming to the dinner you must call: 305 667-4398 to Reserve TODAY!

UEL has been advocating for good urban planning and design practicessince its formation in 1997. With the onslaught of applications to move theUrban Development Boundary line, our organization hosted forums andtours and spoke out in favor of a countywide master plan for urban designinfill and smart growth. We felt this would be a better alternative to movingthe line for new development and dispelling some of the myths about den-sity. The South Dade Watershed study was an example of a master plan forurban infill development. However, in some circles, there remains a zealousmove to continue to develop beyond the UDB. Those line movers continueto gain momentum and some of the valuable concepts in the Watershedstudy appear to be tanking.

Among the strategies of the Watershed Plan was the concept to tie newdevelopment to infrastructure improvements. UEL continues to join thechorus of citizens demanding the existing infrastructure within the urbancore be fixed before adding new development outside the line.

As the Watershed Committee sunsets, we applaud the efforts of its longtime chair, Roger Carlton and the valiant members of the environmentalcommunity for their undying efforts to promote rational growth in MiamiDade County and address dire water issues. We should all be watching forthe new hoard of UDB line movers. It will probably be a cast of the same oldplayers in 2008, once again trying to move development into the bufferlands of the Everglades. How much longer will Miami Dade Countians putup with the urban sprawl that is crowding out the landscape? See an alter-nate point of view by School Board member, Evelyn Greer on Page 11.

Coming up on the UEL agenda is the March 23th study tour to FIU’sSmart Growth Resource Center to learn from the experts how “smart growth”can be applied to Miami Dade County’s future. We will visit Abacoa, a modelcommunity developed with smart growth principles (see center-fold).

We are planning a joint venture with the Trust for Public Lands to host aseries of community workshops about growth management, density, urbandesign and transportation.

We look forward to seeing you at our events and hope you will share yourcomments with us about the issues you read in this newsletter.

amenities be codified and UEL willtake on the burden of public moni-toring (to which all parties agreed).Here are the amenities UEL will bemonitoring:

• 60% of the project is set aside aspublic open space.

• A 100-foot wide promenade willrun the entire length of the propertyon the water side. This promenadewill be fully open to the public andwill connect to walking paths. Thepromenade will be landscaped withpalm trees and provide seating toenjoy the waterfront view.

• A full-service fish market will beconstructed waterside next to theWestin Hotel which will have its ownparking for easy access by the public.

• A Maritime Gallery/Museumwill be designed and operated by theHistorical Museum of SouthernFlorida. The Museum originally re-quested 4000 square feet of space,which is the minimum required inthe lease. However, the developer isworking with the Museum to accom-modate additional square footage re-quests.

• The developer is obligated tospend up to $1,000,000 for the im-provement of the South park area(slated to be the only true public openspace in City unencumbered owner-ship on the Island) and the JapaneseGarden. Improvements may include,but are not limited to, a children’splayground, restroom facilities, view-ing area and lighting.

• A model boat basin will be con-structed which will be similar to thechildren’s boat basin in Central Park.

•There is a small pier planned onthe east side of the mega yacht facil-ity nearest to the fish market for awater taxi drop-off and pick-up sta-tion.

• A civic arts trust is planned inkeeping with one of the major project

precepts which is to make IslandGardens a cultural experience. Thetrust will be funded with a percent-age of net operating income from theproject and managed by a boardwhose members will plan for the se-lection of specific art and other in-stallations.

• The establishment of the SkillTraining Center will require Flag-stone to provide 10% of the construc-tion jobs to City of Miami residentsand provide training for them to ob-tain marketable construction skills

and safety fundamentals. The post-construction Career Center will thenprovide accredited education servicein areas such as retail management,customer service, botanical training,marina operations and hospitality.

The UEL may not like the project,or how it came about, but we nowall have an obligation to assure thatthese public promises are fulfilled.Too often in the past, public asser-tions have been neglected when noone is looking. UEL will be thewatchdog.

Nancy Liebman, Continued...

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WHERE AS, THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT LEAGUE AND THE MIAMI NEIGHBORHOODSUNITED are non-profit organizations whose mission is to insure open, transparent planning and approvalprocesses, and

WHERE AS, the City of Miami has been negligent in providing public notices to its citizens regardingprojects paid for with public funds, and

WHERE AS, the City of Miami needs to improve its communication process to inform its citizens aboutzoning, permitting and use changes to their neighborhoods, and

WHERE AS, the planning process in the City of Miami has failed to be an open and transparent process forits residents seeking input and information regarding projects on public land, and

WHERE AS, the citizens in Cocoanut Grove insured that City of Miami Sasaki Cocoanut Grove WaterfrontRedevelopment Plan included an open public process complete with public hearings, recruiting citizens tobecome part of the planning effort, open workshops, and the planning philosophy that “All development shallbe determined through the public process” and

WHERE AS, the planning process for Bicentennial Park and Virginia Key has never had a scheduled publichearing, open workshops, or citizen involvement, and

WHERE AS, the Buena Vista East Historic Neighborhood Association has filed a law suit against the City ofMiami because of lack of public notice on projects the Association opposes, and

WHERE AS, the residents who live, pay for and support parks, public spaces, waterfronts, streetscapes, andpublic buildings are the primary users and the major stakeholders in public projects and neighborhood changes,and

WHERE AS, the RFP process for public projects in the City of Miami lacks specifics for the creation ofguidelines and scope of work that includes the public, and

WHERE AS, the residents in the City of Miami need to be kept informed about projects on public land,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT LEAGUE AND THE MI-AMI NEIGHBORHOODS UNITED WILL ESTABLISH THEIR COALITION TO DEMAND THATTHE CITY OF MIAMI ENACT THE FOLLOWING IMPROVEMENTS TO CREATE AN OPEN ANDTRANSPARENT PLANNING AND APPROVAL PROCESS:

1. Adopt the guidelines that adopt the methods used by Sasaki and Associates for the Cocoanut GroveWaterfront Redevelopment Plan to provide open and inclusive meetings with members of the community.

2. Resolve to change the city ordinance to require direct notification to property owners within 1,000 feet ofa zoning and land use changes

3. Require consultants for all public projects to assist stakeholders in following the process by requiring therebe a current dedicated link on their websites

4. Establish a broad-based effort to appreciate the history of public spaces so that important history within acommunity can be preserved

5. Finalize the city’s Master Plan to prevent the destruction of the historic character and built pattern ofexisting neighborhoods

6. Immediately plan for an open public workshop for Bicentennial Park and Virginia Key to include allstakeholders throughout Miami Dade County

7. Establish a Resident’s Committee with members from each registered neighborhood association in the cityto participate with the Planning Department on public projects 8. Re-activate the Parks Advisory Board imme-diately to create a public oversight process in the city.

UEL ResolutionA Cautionary Tale:Watson Island and the City

of Miami’s Waterfront By Ernie Martin, Senior Vice

President of the UEL

Watson Island— the City ofMiami’s jewel on the MacArthurCauseway connecting downtownMiami to South Beach— is an in-structive lesson of how NOT to savepublic open space on Biscayne Bay.

The City of Miami became thesteward of this valuable land in 1949,when the State deeded the propertyto the City stipulating that the Citycould “not give or grant any licenseor permit to any private person, firmor corporation to construct struc-tures, buildings or other things onthe...lands or any part thereof for anyprivate use or purpose.” The deedfurther states that the city “never sellor convey or lease the...land or anypart thereof to any private person,firm or corporation for any privateuse or purpose, it being the intentionof this restriction that the said landsshall be used solely for public pur-poses, including municipal purposesand not otherwise.” In recent years,the City has leased the land to ParrotIsland Jungle, the Children’s Museum(which, in a stretch, might arguablywiggle in as a “municipal purpose”)and now the Island Gardens andMega Yacht Marina, a 24 acre play-ground for the rich with two towersof 26 and 42 stories. The City, assteward of the land, has opened upthe henhouse to the foxes.

One might expect a tourist ori-ented waterfront City like Miamiwould use the availability of a strate-gically located public island inBiscayne Bay as an opportunity tocreate a grand municipal park, some-thing like Sydney’s waterfront or

Millennium Park in Chicago. NotMiami. Part of the problem is thatthe City still is recovering from itsfinancial traumas of the 90’s, its brushwith bankruptcy, and its craving forrevenue to claw its way to solvency—which caused the City to view valu-able public land owned by the tax-payers, presumably in perpetuity, asan opportunity to sell off land towealthy developers as a short-term fixfor their financial woes. With therecent building boom and the in-crease in the tax base, this mentalityshould have switched back to munici-pal service as the principal goal oflocal government. But, to this day,valuable public waterfront lands inMiami are not assigned to its Parksand Recreation Dept., whose missionis to protect and develop publicspaces, but to its Economic Devel-opment Dept., whose mission is tomaximize revenue to the City.

In this context, the UEL began anuphill battle—a sort of David andGoliath story—to try to salvage asmuch public benefit from the IslandGardens project as was feasible, andremarkably we have had some majorsuccesses in the process.

UEL President Nancy Liebmanhad tried to get the public benefitprovisions of Flagstone Properties,the developer of Island Gardens andMega Yacht Marina, to be specifiedfor at least two years, with no successin getting City cooperation. Flag-stone had won a public Request forProposal process in 2001 by promis-ing several concessions for publicbenefit, after which the project wentto voter referendum in 2001 withheavy lobbying by the City and Flag-stone to waive the law against water-front land give-a ways. In an off elec-tion with little opposition and heavyFlagstone funding to persuade vot-ers, the referendum passed. The City

then lobbied the State to waive itsdeed restrictions. Governor Jeb Bushand the State Cabinet authorized thewaiver. UEL focused its oppositionon trying to get the promised publicbenefits implemented, but the Citywas not forthcoming with any docu-mentation.

Finally, UEL hired a public com-munication specialist to help us withthe City—Mr. Alfredo Balsera. For-tunately, he identified a County per-mit process for an environmentalmarina that required a public hear-ing before the Board of CountyCommissioners. With Nancy out oftown, I represented UEL on Septem-ber 26, 2006 and strongly objectedto the lack of documentation of thepublic benefits promised by the de-veloper. The City was represented byMayor Diaz, Miami CommissionersSanchez and Haskins, the lawyer forthe developer, and the developer him-self. To our surprise, the CountyCommission agreed with us! Theydeferred the meeting until the Cityand the entire development team metwith UEL to document the publicbenefits.

Nancy Liebman conducted thenegotiations, and (after some initialreluctance) all of the public docu-ments were released to us—theequivalent of a couple of New YorkCity telephone books. Sadly, theCity’s documentation is voluminousabout how much money the Citycould get from the development, butsparse on how the public would ben-efit from this give away of publiclyowned land. Since we were holdingup the approval of their marina per-mits, Flagstone and the City becamevery forthcoming. Since we knewfrom the outset that we could notstop the project (a lawsuit by Citycitizens had already failed in thecourts) we demanded that public

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UEL Newsletter - Issue20

News & Politics

Transcript of UEL Newsletter - Issue20