Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutsubmittalRespected Commissioners, My name is Juana Villegas, I am a fashion designer for Soye, a women's clothing store at Soyka's 55th Street Station. I am here today in support of Kubik as a merchant of the area. 55th Street Station is a unique collection of wonderful stores and businesses; all of us are constantly working to make our niche a destination point to the residents of Miami, but there is still a great deal of work to be done. I believe a development like Kubik will make our street secure, friendly, and more beautiful still. Kubik respects the area's aesthetics and will create pedestrian traffic that will abate crime and prostitution while bringing customers to our places of business. I strongly support the development of Kubik at 56th Street and Biscayne. jlAtkk 70/ 5b'y1 E - 95� O VR/ � ea�� L0e5l6L ,)626A(i)- Mill41;//- 1\'641\i'cro wc,(-1 C4-e�s [„g 'E2- 0-Rill/ex. ,1e (5A/ V JOIE 77/76"--v0026,ggio (a it - u Ow-kW-1702 03-6415— �� f&'i-9{w(. 4ttieq tt i�11 SUBMITTED INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM Pz / ON y-aa-a� ..C)c-t-) I (J7 c e. /)S 471 4i 4, 1049 •<.5 61�1.r d 6B I WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2004 F UM/MIAMI PARTNERSHIP Plan to enhance Civic Center ■ The University of Miami and the city of Miami launch an Initiative to transform the Civic Center area into a cohesive neighborhood. BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI aviglucci@herald.com Miami's Civic Center seems to have enough going for it to power a vibrant city -within -a - city: hundreds of medical stu- dents, tens of thousands of people who daily visit or work at its vast medical centers and courthouse, a major produce market and three Metrorail stations, all of it surrounded by waterways and historic neighborhoods. Yet it remains an urban hodgepodge, a hard -to -navi- gate maze of unappealing side- walks and traffic -choked streets where amenities are few and most people have lit- tle reason to linger outside working hours. Now city officials and the University of Miami want to change all that. On Tuesday, they announced an initiative — The Miami Partnership — that aims to knit together all the disconnected pieces to create an attractive and dynamic urban neighborhood. MASTER PLAN Details are scant at this early stage. The idea is to pull together the major institutions and neighborhoods in the area to begin generating a master plan — including the state attorney's office, UM's medi- cal school, Jackson Memorial Hospital and the VA Hospital, as well as residents of adjacent Allapattah, Spring Garden and Highland Park. "This is an area where the wheel doesn't need to be rein- vented," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said at a news confer- ence. "Think of the purchasing power that exists in this area. Think of what we can do." The major players will reconvene for an initial plan- ning meeting April 13, Diaz said. They won't be starting entirely from scratch. They plan to build on a blueprint developed in 2002 by students in a program run by EDAW, one of the country's largest planning and design firms. One major flaw, the study found, was that uninviting rail and bus stops, and the lack of directional signs, clear path- ways and safe street crossings effectively isolate the medical and justice complexes from adjacent businesses and neigh- g>ods. adjacent Highland Park neigh- borhood. UM President Donna Shalala said spurring private construction of housing and commercial retail in surround- ing neighborhoods is essential. "We already work here. It's living and playing here that's important to us in creating a community," Shalala said, add- ing later: "People in the malt cal centers work long hours.,. They would love to live in the area if they could. But people! .._.,aren't going to come here to Few workers live in the stay unless they can buy gro- area, and few area residents — including some neighbor- hoods with high unemploy- ment — work in the Civic Center, the study found. POINTS TO IMPROVE The report recommended some quick, visible projects such as improved signs, light- ing and landscaping, as well as long-term initiatives to pro- mote pedestrian -friendly pro- jects that mix residential units and retail, and to revitalize the ceries, eat at a restaurant, get' their dry cleaning done."( The potential market is huge. According to city esti- mates, about 30,000 people work at the Civic Center. And Shalala said the UM -Jackson medical center is embarking on an expansion that will bring many more. UM recently broke ground on a vast new clinical research building, the first in a planned series of new research facili- ties. April 21, 2004 Volume tissue 1 INDEX President's Letter Page 1 Meeting Minutes Page 2 Letters Page 2 "Palm Grove needs to come together!" PALM GROVE NEWS President's Letter Palm Grove Members, It is with great pleasure that I announce the first volume of the monthly Palm Grove Neighborhood Association Newsletter. The inspiration for this newsletter was given to me by an old friend and Palm Grove Associate member, Dick DeCair. He created and edited this volume and will continue to do so for the coming year (thank you, Dick!). If you have suggestions, you can e-mail them either to PalmGroveBoard@aol.com or rdecair(bellsouth.net. In the past two years, Palm Grove has been blessed with a rapid evolution. This could never have been possible without the positive energy of all of our neighbors and residents. Many have just moved to the area and are creating beautiful homes within the infrastructure of a charming and quaint neighborhood. Others have been in Palm Grove for many years, (some as long as fifty + years), and they are truly one reason we reap the benefits of a wonderful community. Now we are all here together... Many of the new residents, including myself, chose Palm Grove because they saw potential in this pocket community we call home. Many of them did not even know the area was called Palm Grove, but they invested and created a home. The Upper Eastside has become one of the hottest zip codes, as published in the Biscayne Boulevard Times, "A recent review of raw real estate data by CNN Money has declared that 33137 and 33138 were in the top eight zip codes in the United States for gains in real estate appreciation for the last five years." Palm Grove is part of it! Our neighborhood has all the amenities many property owners want: location, sense of community, shopping, dining, etc.... And more is on its way! Palm Grovers need to come together! We need to embrace our community, putting differences and personal agendas aside. As such, we will ALL work together toward the enhancing of Palm Grove. We may not always agree and we may not always like what the other person has to say, but if we focus on our community and its goals, we will continue moving in the right direction. We all care about Palm Grove and want iiie best for it! Through the Pairn Grove iveighbornooa Association, the Upper Eastside Miami Council, The Biscayne Boulevard Chamber of Commerce, The City of Miami and, most importantly, YOU, we can make our neighborhood outstanding. People will compare Palm Grove with phenomenal neighboring communities such as: Historic Bayside, Belle Meade, El Portal, Biscayne Gardens and Morningside. We too are becoming a destination and a hot spot on the Boulevard! Let's work together and not apart. Let's bring in the good, throw out the bad; and continue to combine the old with the new. Let us ALL make Palm Grove GREAT! Regards, Alex Rodriguez President Important dates: Commission Meeting in reference to Kubik — Thursday, April 22nd at 3:00 PM April Palm Grove Board meeting — Wednesday, April 28th at 7:00 PM Commission meeting in reference to SD-9 overlay — Thursday, April 29th at 3:00 PM Your Ad Here Support neighbors who support your business PALM GROVE NEWS PAGE 2 OF 2 Published by the Board of Directors, Palm Grove Association Miami, Florida e-mail: PalmGroveBoard p(�aol.com Co -Editors: Dick DeCair rdecair@bellsouth.net Mitch McBee Board of Directors President Alex Rodriguez Secretary Ron Platt Treasurer David Bolen Directors Donald Wilson Daryl McDowell "Butreniem.er, it is - only up to us. " Association Meeting Minutes Legion Park Community Center 6447 NE 7th Avenue 7 PM, March 25, 2004 Minutes of Board Meeting of Palm Grove Neighborhood Association I. Ca11 to order II. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. III. Treasurer's Report David Bolen announced that the balance in the Palm Grove Neighborhood Association's account was $1,495.26. IV. Election of Officers and Board for 2004-2005 year David Bolen moved that Donald Wilson collect the absentee ballots and Abbie Cueller check them in due to the fact that Bill Keen was unable to attend the meeting. Passed unanimously President Alex Rodriguez asked for any floor nominations. There were none. All of the candidates were given 5 minutes to speak their position. Nominations were then closed. Abbie Cueller oversaw counting of the votes. Results of voting: President Alex Rodriguez — 54 Abbie Cuellar — 27 Secretary Ron Platt — 54 Ulrich Michel — 27 Treasurer David Bolen — 72 (Unopposed) Directors Donald Wilson — 55 Daryl McDowell — 54 Evelyn Hernandez — 27 Gordon Willits — 26 V. Presentation by City of Miami Department of Planning and Zoning A presentation was made by Planning and Zoning explaining the process for applying and the benefits of a Neighborhood Conservation District. The proposed plan has an overlay that would restrict the type of development that would come into our neighborhood. It was suggested that we look at the overlays created by other neighborhoods for guidance in the writing of our own. It was explained that it takes 10-12 months for approval once we request the designation. Monique Taylor expressed her concern that the PGNA does not represent the entire community and notification, including a vote, should be distributed to the entire Palm Grove area before we move forward on the topic. VI. Drug Free Zone Alex Rodriguez, on behalf of Neighborhood Resource Officers Nichols and Burden (who had to leave), discussed the elements of a drug free zone. He indicated that the City was making a move to strongly enforce laws against drugs. He also announced the launch of the Drug -Free Zone program at Mornigside Elementary on Friday, March 26th at 11:00 AM. VII. Discussion of Palm Grove Development Concerns President Alex Rodriguez asked the membership for a list of development concerns on a legal pad at the meeting. None were listed. VIII. Kubik Project Presentation Kubik presented their project and answered several questions. The majority of those in attendance indicated they were in favor of the project. Meeting adjourned. Our thanks to Dogma and Gourmet Station for their contributions to the Annual Meeting. LETTERS All current residents and owners are invited to send your letters to PaImGroveBoard(@aol.com or rdecair(&bellsouth.net To the Palm Grove Board and Developers, I do believe that the only way that prostitution, drugs, it's dealers and all the bad elements that are still present on Biscayne Boulevard and in our neighborhoods can be eliminated is with a major difference in the development of the area. I moved here a year and a half ago after living in South Beach for 15 years. As one of the pioneers of the South Beach, one that contributed to place it in the map with many others, I realize now that we are the ones to blame for what that beautiful and special place that once was ours has become today — a horrible mess. That happened because we really didn't know what we were doing and we were too busy developing our own lives and careers to attend meetings and fight. We had the chance but we didn't use it. Before we knew it, the whole place was been taken away from us right in our own faces. Believe me when I say that I did benefit very much from the development of the beach in that it contributed quite a bit to the development of my career and my financial situation, but all this didn't happened without paying a major price. That price was losing a very special, beautiful place that I was very proud to call home. I was lucky enough to find another great place in this beautiful city, a place that is giving me the same pleasures and benefits that South Beach gave me then. This time I'll do what ever needs to do be done and fight to whatever level is needed to make sure that we don't let this chance get taken away from us. I do believe very much that a happy medium can be achieved between residents and developers. I'm the first one to appreciate th e increase in value on my house in the last year alone. I'm all in favor of development and making this neighborhood what it can be. This place can be a really special and convenient place to live. If we all work together and really make it our priority to keep a close eye on what's going on, the benefits to us residents and others in this neighborhood can be quite amazing. We can all achieve the perfect level of having it all. Once again it is going to be only up to us to make sure that this happens. If we don't speak out about what we do and don't wan t and only accept what developers and other people/companies interested on investing in the area say we will be the losers. How we partici pate and help shape the area is what's going to finally clean up this area for good and continue to increase the value of our properties and give us a greater quality of life. Fortunately most of the people living here now and developing this area are the ones who did it on the beach. We have a second chance of making it work right this time. I believe that's is totally up to us to find that balance. But remember, it is only up to us. Sincerely, Noel Artist/Palm Grove Resident