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The Eyes Have It

The professional planners are right about one thing. Bay Harbor Islands is a very special town. 

Isaac and Linda

A.C. Weinstein
Columnist

For a couple of years the Town of Bay Harbor Islands has been grappling with a challenging dilemma. The elected officials and residents are trying to figure out the best way to spur on some level of economic growth and new vitality into the town without losing the islands’ very special character and quality of life. It’s all about finding what level of growth would be the most appropriate for the town’s future that’s become the quandary.

While the town’s elected officials are still unsure, there is a strong and vocal resident majority that clearly does not want to see the proliferation of new high-rise structures. The recent passage of a referendum to limit the height of any new building to a seventy-five foot cap has sent that strong message to the town’s elected officials.

Mayor and Rocker

Two of the town council members, Mayor Robert Yaffe and Councilman Isaac Salver are up for re-election on April Fool’s Day, no less. If Yaffe and Salver are to be challenged, the opponents’ campaign issue will likely be their vision on how best to develop the town, if at all. The issue of development has been and remains the one all-consuming topic of conversation around the islands. 

So much so, residents formed a citizen coalition and helped elect to the council in 2002 their control-growth candidate, Peter Lynch. After the election the coalition collected the required number of signatures in order to place the height limit referendum on the ballot. The voters then marched to the polls and overwhelmingly supported the coalition’s height cap. 

The council, it seems, finally took notice. It was time to consider a new course in the town’s current pro-development track. In concert with the coalition, the council retained the services of Glatting Jackson, a team of professional planners to undertake a community visioning outreach with residents, business owners and developers.

A well intended task that brought few surprises. With residents far outnumbering the development interests at the visioning sessions, the planner’s report that was brought to the council in a recent workshop at town hall was heavily tilted toward the wishes of those who favor less development.

When asked for his opinion, professional planner David M. Kutner told the council that he agreed with the majority opinion of the residents in their desire to limit development. Kutner even won a smattering of applause from the residents when he said that Bay Harbor Islands is at a place right now where many other cities in Florida are striving to return.

The planner’s bottom line: Bay Harbor Islands is a beautiful town that deserves to have its unique character preserved. Not exactly what the development interests wanted to hear.

The planners also presented an urban design study that showed how new low and mid-rise development could be weaved into the fabric of the town without destroying its small town feel and flavor. It’s a vision in urban planning that, in most cases, could be fully embraced by everyone.

It’s a vision that would please the elected officials, residents, local businesses and even the developers who could fit into their development plans a few new six and seven story structures along with a renovation of other buildings in targeted neighborhoods. As wonderful as the town is, Bay Harbor Islands does have its share of shabby public and private areas in need of some serious rehab. 

 How to develop and improve the town is far more complicated than just winning and driving resident consensus and electing coalition candidates. Although the heavy hammer of the public referendum has put an end to anyone’s dream of lining the waterfront with fifteen story buildings, a number of investors and developers have now been shoved between a rock and a bag of concrete.  

The developers are taking the position that their higher than seventy-five feet projects that were in the pipeline and approved by the town before the referendum should be allowed to go forward. The developers’ argument is further strengthened by the undisputed fact of being lured into Bay Harbor Islands to invest and build under the guise of a Planned Residential Development (PRD) zoning ordinance.

After the developers made their investments and received the town’s approvals, the town changed its position when it realized that its PRD ordinance was “not consistent” with its Comprehensive Plan and therefore the approvals would not be valid unless the Plan was amended. Comp Plan amendments are now pending.

It was the PRD ordinance that promised the developers they could put up new buildings that would be big enough to justify their huge investment in property. Without that greater latitude in zoning, those properties would have far less value and probably not enough to make those projects financially feasible. A number of developers took the town at its word and invested some big bucks, believing those acquisitions would bring back a fair return for their time and money.

It’s a real dilemma. To even further complicate matters, the one fifteen-story building that did rise up during the past year’s debate is a project owned by developer/Councilman George Reycraft. Whether the town will approve a certificate of occupancy for Reycraft’s nearly completed building under the circumstances is another question.

How the councilman obtained his approvals to date has raised a few eyebrows, and Reycraft will have to resolve that issue with the town voters when he faces his own re-election next year.

As for the other developers who invested some big bucks when they let the town reel them in with a promise of what they could build?  It now appears they may be lining up with a series of lawsuits to seek relief. In fact, some suits have already been filed.

Although the passage of the referendum will prevent any new projects in the future from exceeding seventy-five feet in height, a few developers that have invested the time and money in acquiring property and seeking the necessary permitting, argue the projects approved prior to the public vote should be allowed to move forward.

It’s frustrating and even somewhat embarrassing impasse, particularly with some of the developers and investors who are long time residents and considered pillars of the town. Neighbors arming themselves with an arsenal of lawsuits just doesn’t feel right in such a friendly and livable community where its vocal and politically active residents and business owners all appreciate and enjoy their very special town and interactive personal relationships.

While to the outside world the dilemma centering around the town’s visioning for future development may seem like a highly contentious one, it’s mostly a difference in philosophy that may still offer the opportunity to resolve itself without a long and costly legal battle, where only the lawyers are certain to come out ahead.

When the community vision study workshop concluded, the mayor, members of the council, residents, developers and lawyers demonstrated the priceless value of that small town feeling. They all left town hall and walked one block east to a party on Kane Concourse for a second visioning session, so to speak.

Keep in mind; this is Bay Harbor Islands, a town so special it really will be holding its next election on April Fool’s Day. The party following the visioning workshop celebrated the grand opening of Bay Harbor Eyes, located at 1900 Kane Concourse.

Pauline

The bubbly Bay Harbor Eyes owner and party hostess, Pauline K. Buck, who specializes in pediatric and family eyecare, had a rock band, food, drink and a wonderful vision for her brand new business awaiting the crowd from town hall.

Isaac and Scott

Council members Linda Zilber and Isaac Salver, not considered the chummiest of political allies when it comes to how high a building should be, suddenly found themselves fronting the rock band in a rap-like duet, entertaining the audience with a few soulful tunes. 

Feeling the beat, Mayor Robert Yaffe and developer Scott Hannon soon joined in. The planners were right about one thing. There is something pretty darn special about this town. Now, if all the interested parties can move this whole development mess from the courtroom to the dance floor, a better result might just boogie itself on out. The town deserves no less.