WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018
A Singular Voice in an Evolving City
WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00
DOUBLE-DECKER VIADUCT TO BE BUILT SOON OVER 836 COULD EASE TRAFFIC CONGESTION, pg. 3 CRIME REPORTS PLUNGE: Crimes are down markedly in Miami-Dade County for the first four months of the year, according to a report from the Miami-Dade Police Department. Overall, crimes were down in that period 11.47% from the same four months of 2017 in all areas of the county that county police deal with. The decrease was greatest among violent crimes, down 18.33% versus a drop of 10.23% in non-violent crimes in areas where the county has police jurisdiction – the report doesn’t cover areas that municipal police departments oversee. Homicides were down 10.23%, forcible sex offenses down 2.26%, robberies down 25.92%, aggravated assaults down 19.1%, burglaries down 18.85%, larcenies down 8.65% and motor vehicle theft down 12.1%, county police reported.
The Achiever
By John Charles Robbins
CLIMATE COMPACT PASSES: County commissioners unanimously moved to rejoin Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties in funding services related to the South Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. Each county will contribute $50,000 annually for three years to retain the Institute for Sustainable Communities, which will run workshops and meetings with compact stakeholders, prepare a four-county greenhouse gas emissions inventory and assessment, develop an online interactive platform, update the Regional Climate Action Plan and participate in the planning and execution of nine annual Regional Climate Leadership Summits. The new agreement renews the 2016 agreement among the four counties and includes further funding from the Kresge Foundation, a Michigan-based philanthropic organization committing $500,000 to the program over three years. $5 MILLION PIZZA BOXES: Resident Michael Rosenberg presented a crucial issue to Miami-Dade commissioners last week: pizza boxes. More specifically, he asked the commission to better educate the public on what is and isn’t recyclable – pizza boxes being among the many products deceptively non-recyclable. “This is one example of what kills recycling,” he said, hoisting a “Hot, Fresh & Tasty” pizza box in the air. “There’s hundreds of items we’re putting in our recycling [that don’t belong there], and next year,” he said, pointing a finger at Esteban Bovo Jr., the commission chair. “You’re going to get the bill.” Mr. Rosenberg, an activist whose past efforts include establishing a PTA in an Overtown elementary school and shutting down a Northside drug den, gave the pizza box to the commission before parting from the lectern. “I’m leaving this $5 million box here as a reminder.”
Patrick Goddard
Photo by Cristina Sullivan
President sees bright future elsewhere too for Brightline The profile is on Page 4
Giménez’s ‘other side’ on 836 softens city board By Catherine Lackner
If some directors of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority have softened their opposition to a plan to extend State Road 836 to the west and south, chalk it up to a visit by County Mayor Carlos Giménez. “I’m somewhat disappointed that you voted against it without listening to the other side,” the mayor told the downtown group at its meeting Friday. Last month, directors voiced opposition to the planned Kendall Parkway, which would take the toll road from Northwest 12th Street near Dolphin Mall to Southwest 136th Street on the south and to Southwest 177th Avenue (Krome Avenue) on the west. The road would be built beyond the urban development boundary (UDB), which was a key issue for the downtown authority. Authority board member Marta Viciedo, founding partner of the Urban Impact Lab, first brought the proposed extension up several months ago. Extending the expressway, she said, would add to suburban sprawl, dilute county resources and prioritize cars over public transit. The route the extended highway would take “isn’t even in the SMART plan,”
City fires up transit zone partnership
the county’s ambitious mass-transit scenario, she said. At that time, Ken Russell, authority chair and Miami commissioner; and Neisen Kasdin, authority vice chair and office-managing shareholder of Akerman LLP, said the group should hear what the other side has to say. If built, the Kendall Parkway would offer some traffic relief to 600,000 West Kendall residents without taking money away from the SMART plan or other mass transit programs, Mr. Giménez told the group Friday. In fact, it would be built with dedicated lanes for bus rapid transit or some mass transit mode yet to be determined, he said. “Bus rapid transit is something we can do right away, and do it the right way.” “We’re trying to divert traffic by getting some people to go west in the morning,” when many area residents are driving east to pick up the Florida Turnpike, the mayor said. “It would simplify mobility for everybody. “We’re not trying to move the UDB,” Mr. Gimenez insisted. “You can’t use the road to justify building more. You can’t use it for concurrency, or to upzone.” Neither should the extension of the toll road signal that the county is abandoning mass transit, he said. “This takes no money away from the
SMART plan. I want to see other transit options.” “This is more of a philosophical thing for us,” said board member Alan Ojeda, president of the Rilea Development Group and chair of the downtown authority’s Transit, Connectivity and Mobility Committee. “We see that for every $2 spent, $1 is going to cars and $1 is going to the SMART plan.” “The bottom line is, it’s not touching the SMART plan, so let’s move to support it,” said board member Richard Lydecker, senior partner of the Lydecker-Diaz law firm. Coming back to Miami from the Florida Keys, he said, he has observed the West Kendall area to be a “parking lot” in the mornings. Board member Nitin Motwani, managing director Miami Worldcenter Group LLC, said his company recently “lost a team member” because of a 90-minute commute. “Please don’t forget these folks,” Mr. Giménez implored the authority’s board. “In the five years it would take to build this, we could really help them.” “It’s about a philosophical position for us,” said board member Alicia Cervera, managing partner of Cervera Real Estate. “If we don’t really commit to mass transit, this is really just a temporary solution.”
A major public-private partnership bringing a residential tower attached to a new fire station to the heart of Brickell is advancing. Miami commissioners are to consider a deal today (5/24) to expand the Rapid Transit Zone around the Brickell Metrorail Station to tie into the new mixeduse development from Southside Place LLC and the city. The project replaces the city fire station at 1105 SW Second Ave. with a larger, state-of-the-art fire station. Southside has offered to consolidate its adjacent property at 191 SW 12th St. with the city’s for no compensation, unifying the sites under city ownership. Southside would pay to build an $8 million fire station and develop an attached residential tower with parking and first floor retail. The fire station is less than a block west of Miami-Dade’s Brickell Metrorail Station and separate Metromover station. The county controls the land under the elevated Metrorail and Metromover tracks, regulated as the Rapid Transit Zone and a series of subzones. City commissioners will consider authorizing the city manager to sign a city-county agreement “for expansion and development of the Rapid Transit Zone with inclusion of the Brickell Metrorail Station, its surrounding property, a new city Fire Station No. 4, public-private parking garage, and mixed-use project.” The city wants to expedite construction under a single regulator to avoid duplicative or inconsistent processes, the resolution says. Pending county legislation says the city wants to transfer to the county all zoning and permitting authority for the project. County code provides for city participation in the design, review, zoning and development. The partnership with Southside calls for it to spend $2.2 million for vehicles and equipment for the new fire station, which must be in use before the old one closes.
ANOTHER DELAY OK’D IN REVAMP OF FLAGLER STREET ...
2
MIAMI SET TO SEEK $34 MILLION IRMA REIMBURSEMENT ...
10
FORMULA ONE VOWS LEAST INTRUSIVE RACE POSSIBLE ...
3
AIRPORT INVESTING BIG TO UPGRADE CARGO FACILITIES ...
12
VIEWPOINT: REAL READERS STILL REQUIRE REAL NEWS ...
6
BIG COMMERCIAL INSURANCE HIKES ‘DODGED A BULLET’ ...
13
TWO MT. SINAI EXPANSIONS DUE TO OPEN IN AUTUMN ...
7
BEACH LOOKS AT NOVEMBER CONVENTION HOTEL VOTE ...
22