The controversial Coral Gables zoning code rewrite is up for its second and final reading in two weeks. But Vice Mayor Vince Lago wants the city to give residents one more opportunity to provide their comments.
That’s why he is asking the commissioners on Tuesday to schedule a third and final community meeting with all the residents and stakeholders before the decision is made at the Feb. 9 meeting. This comes after more than 200 people attended a virtual town hall meeting earlier this month, with most concerns focused on the changes proposed for Miracle Mile and the Crafts section.
“Over the past several weeks and after the meeting last night,” wrote Lago in a memo Jan. 15, “I have received an overwhelming amount of emails and phone calls from residents and community stakeholders requesting a second community meeting.”
“The purpose of this second community meeting would be to provide residents with a reasonable amount of time to study the proposed changes discussed in last night’s meeting and to grant them with another opportunity to share feedback if they were unable to do so in the first community meeting,” Lago, who is running for mayor, wrote.
Furthermore, Lago — the only no vote on first reading if the zoning code rewrite — plans to ask his colleagues on Tuesday to put the second reading item at 5 p.m. time certain on Feb. 9, so people who have to work during the day can be there to comment.
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“So anyone who wants to speak gets another bite of the apple,” said Lago, who has his own counter proposal. “You can never have enough transparency.”
He’s going to get pushback. Not from Commissioner Jorge Fors. He supports another community meeting.
“I believe one more meeting does the trick here,” Fors replied to Lago’s memo. But that doesn’t mean he won’t approve the rezoning.
“A significant factor in my support for the idea is that the second meeting proposed by the Vice Mayor does not require postponement of our second reading in February,” Fors said.
Sources say the meeting may be scheduled for Monday, Feb. 1.
Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli, however, has repeatedly tried to push past community input — he really never likes to hear from constituents — and Commissioner Pat Keon, whose friend owns a large chunk of properties on Miracle Mile and could directly benefit from the changes, has made her pro position known. They may try to say there have been enough meetings.
“We can hold as many meetings as needed to feel comfortable that all the information requested by residents has been made available to them as the only thing we can control is the free flow of information,” Keon, who is also running for mayor, replied to Lago’s memo.
“However, I don’t think this is the subject of a memo from one of us to all,” Keon wrote. “I think it is a discussion that should take place on the dais and a decision of the commission.”
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But the commission could decide to compromise.
Lago has an alternative proposal for the Miracle Mile upzoning that would not provide additional floor area ratio benefits and would prohibit heights as tall as six stories, he told Ladra. “It keeps Miracle Mile low scale,” he said.
Wonder if residents will have time to review the alternative before the next community meeting.
He is going to bring up the issues that the city of Miami Beach is having with Lincoln Road, where several small boutique shops have been taken over by big box retail.
“The problem is the genie is already out of the bottle,” Lago said.
“And that’s what could happen to Miracle Mile if we’re not careful and prudent with regards to the zoning code.”
The meeting Tuesday begins at 9 a.m. and can be seen online here.
Vince Lago wants one more community powwow on Coral Gables upzoning added by Ladra on
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