What's the rush? Residents urge Coral Gables leaders to listen, slow upzoning

Coral Gables Commissioners are poised to take the second and final vote Tuesday on the controversial zoning clean-up (read: rewrite), which includes remote parking, height increases downtown, and increased density in the neighborhood known as the Crafts Section.

If they do, they will have completely ignored hundreds of residents who have concerns about the process, which they say lacks transparency, and the long-term results of significant land use and zoning changes.

Meanwhile, a group of residents sued the city to delay the decision until such time as the public can meaningfully participate (meaning in person) in the process. And the Coral Gables Neighbor’s Association, along with other civic groups, has announced a protest against the changes at noon Tuesday across from City Hall.

Almost every single resident who has spoken at three public meetings since October have told the city commission to slow down and wait until after the April elections to proceed with something that could lead to dramatic changes in the City Beautiful.

The city planning staff, which recommends the changes, have said the changes would allow the city to meet the pedestrian-friendly and mixed use development goals in the downtown that have already been set and will help cut the cut-through traffic in the Gables.

“The only way to deal with that issue is to try to create density and buildings that are close together and create the kind of city where one can walk or use mass transit or other ways to move,” said Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Director Ramon Trias, who characterized the changes, in collaboration with DBZ Design as “tweaking” at the last meeting on Monday.

“No,” screamed Mayra Joli, the Trump-loving ‘nodding lady’ who is running for city commission and seemed to channel Kimberly Guilfoyle on Monday.

“The answer to the resolution is no,” she said, adding that it doesn’t matter what has been done in other cities and that she doesn’t want the Gables to become like Brickell — where she organizes a fashion gala fundraiser.

“We live in Coral Gables and we like Coral Gables the way it is. Why do you think we moved to Coral Gables,” Joli asked. “Density is the solution to our problem? Don’t you think you have enough buildings already.”

With Trump watching from a picture frame behind her, Joli called for a moratorium on any zoning changes or development. “Everybody understand? Why do you have to be so polite? You can take all your plans, all your beautiful plans, your 71 pages and take it. We are not going to budge. The answer is no.”

That was entertainment, which is the only value Joli brings to the commission race. But it was also what everybody else said — more politely.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to speak,” said one woman who had not spoken before on the matter. She said she only became aware of it recently and that the timeline for the public input — which started in October — has not been adequate in comparison with the time that consultants and developers have been able to look at it.

And October to February is a “particularly bad time to push through a major zoning change,” she said.

“Over the holidays, nobody is necessarily paying attention to what’s going on. I know that I, as a mom, as a full-time lawyer, wife and daughter in the middle of a pandemic, I’ve had a lot of other things on my plate.”

Another resident had the best suggestion of all: A referendum for voters to make the decision, like they just did last month in Bal Harbour Village. Voters there were asked if their town council should have the authority to increase building heights in the business district. More than 36% of eligible voters cast ballots — and 90% of them said no way Jose. That keeps the sole authority to increase heights in the hands of voters.

Ladra predicts that Gables voters would have a similar landslide and challenges a commission candidate to propose that.

“Over 2,000 residents have spoken against this,” said Karelia Martinez Carbonell, president of the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables.

She and others said that there is no need for people to live on the Mile to shop on the Mile and that there are 2,200 residential units for rent or sale within close proximity of the Gables main drag, not including Agave or other projects in the pipeline. She counted them off: 184 at 10 Aragon, 97 more at 100 Andalusia, 196 at Gables Grand Plaza, 167 at 55 Merrick Way, 200 at Columbus Center, 120 at The Minorca on Douglas and more.

“Residents speaking up on an issue should mean something to their elected officials. Stakeholders are saying no, they’re saying stop. They’re saying no more,” Martinez Carbonell said. “How many more not does the city need to stop patronizing its own residents?”

Good question. Seems the answer is a lot more than 2,000.

Rhonda Anderson, another commission candidate, said that without the proper traffic studies and without incentives for small buildings, the city should not move forward with the Crafts Section and Miracle Mile changes.

One of the best questions of the night, if not the outright best question, was posed by another commission candidate, Tania Cruz-Gimenez, an attorney and daughter-in-law of Congressman Carlos Gimenez, the former county mayor. Other residents had asked, but she put it more bluntly.

“What is the urgency? Why are we trying to pass this so quickly? Why must we pass it next week? The fact that we’re not answering that question is part of the reason that people have no faith in this process,” said Cruz-Gimenez, who apparently knows an inside deal when she sees one.

“Is the reason why we’re passing it so quickly because there’s an application in the wings and they don’t want to, uh, wait until after the election because the landscape of the commission will be different?”

She asked out loud what everyone else has been whispering: Basically, is there a special interest (read: developer) who needs to start the process now, before the election, so the current commission reviews it?

In case you missed it, she didn’t get an answer.

But everyone knows that Terranova Corp. wants to build a seven story hotel on property it bought on Miracle Mile in 2013 for $12 million. They submitted their first plans, and this rendering, in 2019, right around when the zoning clean-up (rewrite) was being considered.

That’s also the same year that developers got approval for a 14-story luxury rental mixed-use building at the corner of Miracle Mile and Navarro.

Remember, Ladra doesn’t believe in coincidences.

The meeting will start at 4 p.m. Tuesday, in order for more residents to be able to attend and participate. To participate, follow the Zoom directions and link on the city’s website.

Commissioners don’t have to vote it up or down, said Commissioner Mike Mena. “We don’t have to vote until we feel comfortable with it.”

Vice Mayor Vince Lago, who called for the third public meeting last week, agreed.

“I feel no pressure at all to have to vote on this on February 9. What I want to see is as much transparency and public input as possible,” said Lago, who has presented an alternative proposal that may be discussed on Tuesday.

For the first time.

Coral Gables, Miracle Mile, Vince Lago

What’s the rush? Residents urge Coral Gables leaders to listen, slow upzoning added by Ladra on February 5, 2021
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