To Get Something Done in Miami-Dade, People
Have to Die or Get Maimed
Dear
Editor,
I am
ecstatic to see that the lack of cycling infrastructure is
finally being addressed in the mainstream Miami media [“Hell
of a Ride,” published August 30].
Unfortunately, the only reason the media is finally drawing
attention to this cause is the hundreds of injured cyclists
and half-dozen or so cycling deaths every year. I find it
unacceptable that the only way things get done in this
county is through reactive rather then proactive forces
(i.e., dead and injured cyclists). Regrettably, Miami-Dade
County seems to exacerbate the problem by turning a very
blind eye to the fact that there are thousands of cyclists
each day using their bicycles either for actual
transportation (i.e., going to and from school and work) or
for recreation (i.e., keeping healthy). These taxpaying
citizens, who happen to ride bicycles, are not being
provided the proper cycling infrastructure to keep them
safe. If we compare Miami with any other major (or minor)
city in the United States, we will find that Miami is about
15 years behind in terms of cycling infrastructure. Whereas
cities of comparable size have such basic things as bicycle
lanes, yield to pedestrian signs and crosswalks, Miami-Dade
County seems oblivious to the existence of these types of
elementary and basic urban design concepts. Miami Beach, in
particular, has much more to gain from providing a safe
cycling infrastructure for its citizens than the rest of
Miami-Dade County. We are a geographically small and
somewhat isolated community, where residents generally only
have to travel short distances. A combination of year-round
great weather, flat topography and short distances could
potentially make Miami Beach a utopia for cycling.
Unfortunately, we have too many city of Miami Beach
officials who believe transportation is limited to
gas-guzzling vehicles.
City of
Miami Beach: Start planning our city around people, NOT
cars!!!
Felipe
Azenha
Miami Beach
No
Informational Video Goes Unpunished
I am a
journalist who was fired by Ocean Drive magazine for
voicing my opinion in a video showing nightlife impacts in
our neighborhood [News, “Magazine to Resident: You’re
Fired,” published August 30]. A video, created by my
neighbors, was shown before the Miami Beach Planning Board,
in support of an ordinance that would have restricted the
accessory use of bars and restaurants South of Fifth.
Ocean Drive magazine, evidently afraid of offending one
of its biggest advertising bases, the hotel/entertainment
industry, ended my relationship with them. It is a shame
when a writer cannot have an opinion that might be different
from his or her publisher. For me, it's a matter of free
speech, whereas for them, it's evidently just ad dollars.
Trisha
Posner
Miami Beach
Way to
Act Like a Developer, Ocean Drive! Hey, Maybe You Can
Destroy Something Historical or Cultural, Too?
Dear Mr.
Torter,
I was
shocked to read that Ocean Drive magazine fired
Trisha Posner for identifying herself as one of their
columnists while appearing in a video urging the city not to
approve the development of a boutique hotel in her
neighborhood [News, “Magazine to Resident: You’re Fired,”
published August 30]. I live in New York City and have seen
time and again how developers have committed what I like to
call “crimes against history” — the needless destruction of
unique cultural/historical locations just to turn a quick
buck.
I have
known Trisha for years, and as someone involved in the arts
myself, I applaud her activism and find the actions of
Ocean Drive magazine excessive.
Anthony
Giacchino
New York
City
Introducing the Latest YouTube Sensation!
Residents
from throughout the city have e-mailed me about our video,
“Close the Loophole,” showing nightlife impacts on a
residential neighborhood [“Accessory to a Prime,” published
August 30]. The video is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFcnXLONSMk.
Business owners are also joining in with complaints about
the problems of nightlife crowds trashing the area.
The next
chapter in this story will be how the Historic Preservation
Board deals with the adverse impacts of oversized bar and
restaurant facilities at the proposed Bijou Hotel in the
300-block of Ocean Drive, a historic residential district.
The Historic Preservation Board will hold a public hearing
Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, on the application to demolish
the historic Hotel Simone, combine the property with an
adjacent site and erect a 130-room hotel. The original plan
created a neighborhood uproar because of its capacity for
more than 1,000 patrons at its bar and restaurant facilities
serving outdoor terraces next to condos on both sides and
the rooftop. Residents called for scaling back this proposed
huge nightlife complex to a true hotel accessory restaurant.
Frank Del
Vecchio
Miami Beach
A New
Concept: Attorneys Who Will Protect the Public From Their
Elected Representatives
Re: Recent
court decision overturning approval of Miami River condo
It seems
sadly evident that the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County
more often than not champion the developers’ interest over
that of the citizens.
The only
time we citizens get justice is when we take the city or
county to court.
Tallahassee, HUD and South Florida Water Management District
have more respect for us residents than our own elected
governments, and they often have to intervene.
The courts
provide public defenders for citizens who cannot afford
lawyers but must be represented in court. How can we get the
city and county to provide legal consumer citizen advocates
to represent us against developers, corporations and our own
elected governments?
We have to
start with preserving the marine repairing facilities on the
Miami River. We must limit the ability of our elected
government to rezone neighborhoods without the residents’
vote (let’s follow Key Biscayne’s good example). We must
require a building moratorium since we don’t have enough
water, sewer, proper traffic control or adequate hurricane
evacuation plans for those people that are here now.
We have to
stop adding housing units to the housing glut or it will
continue to devalue all of our property values. We must stop
building more condominiums when what are needed are more
employment, more services, lower property taxes and lower
property insurance. We must stop throwing fuel into the fire
of economic recession. Enough is enough!
Harry
Emilio Gottlieb
Miami
Miami
21: For the People or the Developers? Let Us Know Which,
Manny!
To any and
all concerned with Miami 21:
As a
rewrite of our existing 11000 Code, Miami 21 leaves much to
be desired. And most of that can be summed up with one
simple question that Miami 21 and its form-based approach
does not address:
Who holds
the primary right to decide how Miami is going to look and
feel as a city, now and in the future?
A) The
residents
B) The
developers
C) DPZ &
Co.
D) The
mayor and his administration
It would
seem to make sense that the residents who own properties
should be able to decide what “form” Miami’s future, and
specifically its neighborhoods, will take. They are after
all, its past, present and future, its shareholders in a
sense.
The
developers do not act on behalf of Miami’s constituents —
they act out of personal motivations such as common greed.
Common sense would suggest that their vision of Miami’s
future has much to do with maximizing their profits, and
little to do with the needs and desires of its residents, as
the currently expanding glut of housing units attests to.
Why should the residents have to abide by their will?
DPZ either
works for the residents, or the administration — and must
follow the directives from one, the other or a mix of both.
And the
mayor is supposed to be acting on behalf of the residents,
even if that means disappointing a developer now and then.
Our mayor
seems to have his own vision of what Miami should be — and I
would ask him to tell us what, exactly, that vision is by
answering two simple questions:
1)
Considering the limitations of our current infrastructure,
and the enormous difficulties inherent in expanding some of
its elements, how many people does he think Miami should be
home to? Is it 500,000, 1 million or 2 million? Whatever
number he has in mind — he should argue its validity
intelligently.
2) Does he,
or does he not, believe that the residents have the right to
determine what happens in their own neighborhoods (deciding
how high a building should be, for example)?
If our
mayor will answer these two questions, we will understand
clearly where we are heading.
If
developers rule, we are surely heading toward urban hell
with clogged roads, clogged sewers, a dwindling water
supply, an even less reliable electrical grid, more
litigation, higher taxes and more bad blood between the
administration and its primary constituents — the voters.
Our mayor’s vision will have proved to be the reshaping of
Miami as the New York City of the South, whether his
constituents wanted it or not. Does he have the right to
force his “vision” on us?
If, on the
other hand, the mayor believes that his residents have the
most profound rights to the form of our city, then he should
say so, and allow us to establish the quality and flavor of
life we want in what is left of our neighborhoods.
Commissioners who are shy about backing their constituents
against developers could begin to vote with their residents
at long last. After all, the developers have had a free hand
for decades, and maybe, just maybe, we can still save Miami
from the beast — unchecked overdevelopment — and all its
problems.
Paul Mann
Secretary,
Silver Bluff Homeowners Assoc.
Miami
P.S. Having
been born and raised in the heart of New York City, I know
intimately that one of New York’s assets is its abundance of
distinct and separate neighborhoods. No one is trying to
homogenize New York City.
The
Biscayne Corridor: Where Affluent Neighborhoods Are Forced
to Deal With Seedy, Crime-Ridden Motel
While we
appreciate the improvements that have been made in recent
years, residents of neighboring motels on Biscayne Boulevard
are still subject to crime. From Morningside to Belle Meade,
there are very prominent and affluent residents. However,
none of us is exempt from the ongoing activities in these
motels.
Our quiet
streets are divided by nothing more than a line from the
businesses on Biscayne. In the last two months alone, 70th
Street has experienced five attempted break-ins, three
burglaries, one occupied burglary and the very tragic
discovery of a dead body. These incidents, the police
believe, are a direct result of the illicit goings-on at the
motel next door.
The
question in hand is, how do we enforce that the owners of
these motels are more responsible, and discretionary about
their occupants?
The motel
next door to me does not even have cameras installed. We as
residents and citizens need an ear and a voice. Being new to
Miami myself, I'm not sure where to begin. I am however
willing to take the necessary steps to make our community
safer.
Sincerely,
Noelle
Dianella
Miami
