Murmurs 

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and sometimes a dog owner wants to dine at an outdoor café with his pooch. File photo by Mitchell Zachs/MagicalPhotos.com

“The proposed code is a ‘permissive’ ordinance and therefore does not give any absolute right to the dogs or their people …”

Work With Thy Neighbor

Brenda Nestor is rich. Not just rich. Very rich. Actually, very, very, very, very rich. As in having between $200 million and $1 billion worth of assets rich, according to Forbes Magazine and the Miami Herald.

Nestor, famous for befriending the late real estate developer Victor Posner when she was a young model and actress in the 1970s and known for being a generous philanthropist, now basically runs Victor Posner Enterprises, which owns and develops land all over South Florida.

Development was definitely on Nestor’s mind on the second day of 2007 — not projects undertaken by Victor Posner Enterprises or other limited companies Nestor co-owns, but what will happen to a currently empty, but historically significant house that abuts her own residence in the exclusive neighborhood of Palm Island.

Maria Menzel’s architect came before the Miami Beach Design Review Board in search of an approval for “modifications to an existing pre-1942 architecturally significant single family home.” Not just any single-family home but two-story 49 Palm Ave., designed by architect Richard Kiehnel of Kiehnel & Elliot in 1926. “Kiehnel & Elliot are also the architects of three surviving hotels in Miami Beach: The Barclay Plaza (1938), The Shorecrest (1940), and The Carlyle (1941),” Planning Department Director Jorge Gomez wrote in a Jan. 2 staff report to the DRB. The house has remained “largely intact,” although two second-floor porches were added in 1955. Menzel plans to fully restore the house, much to the Planning Department’s delight, as well as build a two-story addition at the rear of the property, a two-story addition to the front and two additional garage bays.

Nestor, however, politely asserted her rights as a neighboring property owner. “He is going to have a two-story building where I have a one-story [home],” Nestor (who was sporting a cast on one of her legs after a recent fall) told the DRB. By “he” Nestor meant architect Zbigniew “Zeb” W. Jarosz, who had plans to put a few air-conditioning units right over her outdoor entertainment area. Nestor also fretted over plans to demolish a wall of the 49 Palm Ave. house and the giant trees on the property.

“This is like the fourth owner in four or five years,” Nestor said.

“She is Brazilian,” Jarosz told the board, describing Menzel. “She wants to make [49 Palm Ave.] her primary residence.” While skeptical about keeping the wall, Jarosz said he would “revisit” the location of the air-conditioning units.

Plans for the house were approved by the DRB, pending certain conditions. The DRB also encouraged Jarosz to continue negotiating with Nestor.

Marco Loffredo, Nestor’s architect, was optimistic. “We are going to use our best efforts to work with the neighbor.”

When Murmurs inquired as to how Jarosz felt, he replied: “It’s a living.”

Not Shakespeare

Whether or not this a Romeo and Juliet story probably depends on whom you ask, but the ages of the main characters in this Murmur are similar. However, the Renaissance Period was several hundred years ago, and the idea of those over the age of 18 romantically seeing those under the age of 18, even if the age difference is less than four years, is generally frowned upon now in these parts — especially if the person over the age of 18 is an after-school program counselor and the person under the age of 18 is one of the participants in the program.

At any rate, a 19-year-old after-school counselor from Miami Beach Parks and Recreation was fired after an angry dad accused the young adult of fooling around with his 15-year-old daughter. Sources say the case has been thrown into the lap of the Miami-Dade Police Department. Whether or not charges have been filed could not be ascertained at deadline.

Performance Canceled

For those who were waiting with baited breath for the Jan. 24 Miami Beach workshop discussing the New World Symphony’s quest for $15 million in public money, so it can build a brand new $135 million Frank Gehry-designed performance facility on Lincoln Road, we have bad news for you: It’s been canceled. Officially, the reason is that NWS founder/artistic director/famed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas — a.k.a., MTT or the three-named one — can’t make the shindig. And then there are the conspiracy-esque rumors which insinuate that the delay may have something to do with the city of Miami rolling out the subsidy-red-carpet to entice the teaching orchestra and the three-named one to make their home in the Magic City. (Hmmm, the Lincoln Theatre might make a really neat Old Navy.)  According to Beach city officials, the workshop will likely be rescheduled to February.

Beach Roll Call

Luis Salom of Southern Foods and Commodities opened a campaign account on Jan. 5 to run in the Group 4 race, basically the commission seat Simon Cruz is vacating so that he may run for Miami Beach mayor. So far Salom’s competition for the seat is Jonah Wolfson, an attorney.

Also leaping into the fray is Elsa Urquiza, the retired Equal Employment Opportunity Commission official who ran just a few months ago to fill Luis Garcia’s Group 5 seat when he announced he was running for state representative. Urquiza declared her intent to run on Jan. 9 for the Group 6 commission seat, which is being vacated by Matti Bower so that she may run for mayor against Simon Cruz. Urquiza will likely face off against accountant Deede Weithorn (whom she faced a few months ago in the Group 5 special election), Realtor Frank Kruszewski and Collins Avenue coral rock house co-owner Michael Stern.

For the Group 5 race, the seat now held by attorney Michael Gongora, there are still only two individuals who have opened campaign accounts: Stern’s business partner in the coral rock house venture Ivor Rose, and handicap-accessibility activist Lee Weiss.

Meanwhile, in Miami …

Incumbency was not enough for Angel Gonzalez to frighten entrepreneur Mike Suarez out of opening a campaign account and challenging him for the Miami City Commission District 1 race. Gonzalez, 31, says he has lived in the city of Miami all his life. “I really love this city and I can do a lot better job than the incumbent,” said Suarez, who was recently appointed to the Code Enforcement Board by Commissioner Tomas Regalado. Suarez said he wants to have a more inclusive city.

In the upcoming November 2007 election, three seats will be up in Miami: Gonzalez’s District 1 seat, Regalado’s District 4 seat (so far, no challengers) and Marc Sarnoff’s/Johnny Winton’s District 2 seat.

By the by, for those waiting to see if Winton will be acquitted of charges that he assaulted two police officers in a drunken rage at Miami International Airport, his trial was set for March 12 — that is, until a motion for continuance was granted. No new date had been posted by the Clerk of Courts on miamidade.gov as of press time.

Doggie Bag

Yes, the rumors are true: a “doggie dining” ordinance is being drafted by the Miami City Attorney’s Office — one that will allow restaurant patrons to bring their beloved canines to outdoor seating areas if (a) the restaurant allows it and (b) they have the proper permit, according to Assistant City Attorney Maria Chiaro. The proposed code will be heard by the Planning and Zoning Board on Jan. 25.

And for those who are worried that dogs will infringe on the dining rights of us humans, well let it be known that the proposed code is a “‘permissive’ ordinance and therefore does not give any absolute right to the dogs or their people,” Chiaro wrote.

How will this impact the future fiscal health of Lincoln Road on South Beach, where doggies and humans frolic, shop and dine? Who knows?  All we got to say is this: doggies!

Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com.