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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Steve HagenNM position on PZ items 4 and 5, African Square Park final April 8, 2010 Submitted for the record at second reading at Miami City Commission In case we need to appeal your decision today, I will be asking several questions which you and the public need to have answers to regarding this application. We ask you Chairman Sarnoff to allow responses as I ask the question, or after I finish. First I will start with reasons why land adjoining African Square Park should not be rezoned to R3 to allow for the construction of living units. You must give high weight to the unanimous recommendation of the PAB to not rezone the parcel in question and the second recommendation of the PAB to change the R3 zoning to Park zoning to allow for the expansion of Africa Square Park one of Miami smallest parks, which has less than 30% green space. As far as we can determine, this project was begun by the Carlisle Group, but it was passed off to Carrfour sometime before the middle of June 2008. Did Carlisle know something about the parcel of land in question zoned park or did they know that this type project in this area was going to have trouble getting built and rented? As far as we can determine, the only public meeting of any type on this proposed project was called early 2008 by Elaine Black of the Liberty City Trust or what ever it is now called The residents attending, including a woman here today, Ms. Sands, make it clear they did not want this project on this land. They wanted it to be park land. Please see the email from Elaine Black dated June 26, 2008 to Doug Mayer of Carrfour asking him to meet with the neighborhood. That email was copied to Commissioner Spence Jones and staff. No such meeting ever occurred, despite the fact that Ms. Sands made numerous calls to Commissioner Spence Jones for such a meeting. Indeed, this project has been proceeding behind closed doors with no sunshine. The only reason we are here today is because it was discovered one parcel of land was zoned park land instead of R3. MNU got involved in late 2009 when the zoning change was first published for hearing. We could not believe the City was using park land for housing. I took pictures at the site which showed no red hearing notice signs. That is when I met the neighbor, Ms. Sands and her daughter who both told me they never saw any red signs posted announcing a pubic hearing. Fast forward several months. Five candidates running for the Distict 5 seat on the Commission, including Reverend Dunn, stated at a candidate forum January 26, 2010 that they would vote against a zoning change and he would advocate for the expansion of the park. Spence Jones was absent as was one other candidate. I asked the question and I made it very clear to all the candidates as to the details of the question and the unanimous recommendation of the PAB. So we have the PAB and five candidates siding with the PAB. SublftW Into the.PW comweWnwhh og- oo(:�So lv Svma j- Steve N e t'z.°n Og- 00690Zc h Priscilla A. T11OMPsOn City ' G.t`� For the above reasons alone, you must deny this application, but since public housing dollars are in question and since others have spoken about the perceived need for housing, this Commission and the public must have clear answers on this proposed project be it is considered for this site or some other site. We understand that the parcel in question and the adjoining parcels are owned by the city. When were the parcels acquired and what type of funds were used? Were any HUD, or HOPE6, or other federal, state funds or City funds used to acquire this property? Were any funds earmarked for parks or impact fees used? What type of funds were used to demolish the structures on the property? Were there any or are there any liens on the property? Explain how liens will be treated. We understand this land had affordable housing on it. We need to see a report detailing the number of units and the number of bedrooms in each unit that were removed from the affordable housing stock and when demolition occurred. Will the proposed housing provide a like number and of units and number of bedrooms? Will like units be increased of decreased in square footage? Since this is city owned land, has there been any published application process or competition for the use of this land? Please provide copy of the publication with date. With or without a published request for application, who in the city approved these developers for this site? We want the City to explain the financing details of this proposed project including the value of the city owned land and funds used. Perhaps the most important question is: What will be the classification of this housing? Is there a report showing a demonstrated need for this type of housing in this area? We request a copy of that report and who made the determination. Will this proposed housing serve local residents who have been displaced from affordable housing? We have doubts it will serve these clients, because we know it is to cost $180 a foot to construct. As far as we can determine, this housing will be too expensive for persons displaced from public housing to afford. Is this project sustainable? A project of this size should produce impact fees in an amount equal to purchasing 3/4 of an acre of new park land or 32,670 square feet. Will this project pay these impact fees or will the developer ask for forgiveness on the fees? In regard to affordability and the sustainability of this proposed project: In a meeting with Commission Dunn, February 18, Ms. Gardner of Talcocy, which, as we understand it, would be the managers of this proposed project, said this project will be an asset to the neighborhood, but, and I quote, "this property will be hard to rent" She was referring to the rents needed to be charged and she went on to say, that there is "drug dealing in the park" indicating that this housing will help correct that problem. I checked with Submitted Intoothe P Ubft wM recd n con L93_4 item 4 — °n Priscilla A. Thompson City Clerk Commander Cunningham of the North Station and he told me on February 25 that there is no drug dealing in the park and they get few calls for service at that site. Three officers are assigned to the area. We are submitting police generated Crystal Reports indicating that for a period of one year that African Square Park received just one call for service and that was for an attempted break in of the locked gate at night. We are also submitting two reports on two housing projects managed by Talcosy. The Edison Gardens location had eleven pages of calls for service and Edison Towers had sixteen pages of calls for service during the same period of time April 2009 thur March 2010. What makes this project very troubling is that we know other affordable housing groups have submitted affordable housing proposals to the City, with executed agreements, using some of the many other city owned parcels of land, but these proposed projects have been ignored. We have to wonder if these developers have had some special treatment. Given all the above, IF the City can clearly show a demonstrated need for this type of expensive to build housing and that it will serve residents because of reduced low income housing units, then the public has the right to know if either of the developers have looked at the many other parcels of land in the area. See visual of three larger parcels within one block. In the Mayors state of the City address, he stated that since January over one hundred people have applied for assistance to make repairs to existing housing stock. This is good news. Time is over due that residents and landlords of this city get their fair share of federal housing dollars intended to maintain our housing stock. We can no longer afford to let any area of the city deteriorate to the point where demolition appears to be the only Alternative. We must abide by federal housing laws to maintain existing residents in our neighborhoods. Commissioners and Mayor, this City needs to get proactive and do a complete assessment of the housing needs in the city and develop an Affordable Housing Program. If Miami is serious about serving the housing needs of all of the residents then you need to stop reacting to projects brought to you on a piece meal basis. Let's apply the Miami 21 standard of predictability to our housing needs. It is clear this zoning change needs to be denied. MNU is waiting for this Commission to get serious about parks, green space and affordable housing. This week I learned that Carrefour in French means crossroads, intersection or turning. Miami is at a crossroads. Take the turn that will end shortsighted practices of the past and actually expand a park on city owned land at hardly any cost. Just today, we heard Liberty City Trust is being dissolved. If that is true, who will oversee any proposed project? Also submitting petitions with 58 signatures. Submitted Into the PUW record*in connection with item . ` °n "� Q Priscilla A. Thompson City � Sr `( Sor rSr� t 0 S—Tt Submitted Into the public recon �n nnection with Rem on��_.:�� 0 Prisa a A. Thompson City Clerk fi.400t ✓i1CAkio 75 a, R)