HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Steve HagenWhere as the City of Miami, atthe urging of Commissioner Wrnton and the Urban
Environment League, hired consultants Dover Kohl to conduct a charette to gather input on
the future of Bicentennial Park which was attended by over 350 persons in February of 2001
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Where as the results of that charette clearly showed that the participants wanted
Bicentennial Park to live up the original purpose of the park and to remain predominately
green with perhaps one modest sized building, drawn at no more then one quarter the sue.
of the AA Arena (AA Arena covers four acres) and
Where as the City of Miami has been remis in responding to requests for publicinformat®
about that chareete and 111
Whereas the Art and Science Museums had been lobbying various City officials for spadle-Trr
the park, months before the charette was held and
Where as the museums did not like the outcome of the public charette and
Whereas the City, the art and science museums and consultants then engaged in a serief
meetings over more then a year which had no public notice and included just two persons
from the Urban Environment League, neither of which were City of Miami residents and
Where as the Miami Commission, around this time, dissolved their official Parks Advisory
Board and
Where as the City has engaged in studies of Virginia Key, the Coconut Grove Waterfront,
Bicentennial Park, has hired consultants to design and construct facilities in numerous parks
around the city effectively reducing Miami park land by at least fifteen acres and engaged in
a Parks Master Plan with no Parks Advisory Board and
Where as the City's hired contractor for Bicentennial Park, Cooper Robertson conducted
only three public meetings which can be characterized as "presentations" as Tess then three
hours total were allocated to public input, with no time for debate on important design
features and
Where as there is evidence that the museum interests had many numerous hours of large
and small meetings with Cooper Robertson and
subcontractors and
Where as, as of May 22, 2008, no Parks Advisory Board has met to consider any of the
above projects and
Where as in 1969 and 1971 under the leadership of Mayor Kennedy the voters had the
opportunity to vote on bond issues to purchase the land from the Florida East Coast Railroad
to become what is now Bicentennial Park and
Where as in 1971 various interests tried to place a convention center, a museum and a hotel
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on this land and voters were outraged and
Where as in the "Parks for People" bond vote held in March of 1972, former City
Commissioner, the late Athalie Range, Percy Brown and Dan Paul were featured in Miami
Herald stories promoting the 39.9 million dollar bond vote of which 15. million was used to
purchase land for Bicentennial Park (The City's plan also called for a 13 mile bicycle path
from .the Little River along the FEC railroad thru Coconut Grove, but that did not materialize)
and
Where as the Miami Herald, after the vote, wrote that "Not a single all -black precinct went
against parks on Tuesday."
Where as federal funds were also used in the purchase and improvement of Bicentennial
Park, funds which may need to be repaid to the federal government if the park ceases to be
park land without replacement of equal type and value acreage and
Where as there is a Miami Dade County Ordinance, known as the Dan Paul Amendment
which protects park land by requiring a vote of the people to place any building larger then
1500 square feet on park land and
Where as there is a similar ordinance named after Mayor Carollo which is protect City of
Miami parks requiring a vote of the people to place any building which is not water related or
water dependent on City owned water front property not just land zoned as park and
Where as Bicentennial Park is waterfront park land owned by the taxpayers and
Where as members of the Urban Environment League and Miami Neighborhoods United met
with County Manager Burgess and staff prior to the "Building Better Communities" GOB
Bond vote in November of 2004 to try to include the fact that 250 million dollars were to go to
budding art and science museums in Bicentennial Park but Burgess and staff would have
nothing to do with changing the misleading wording which went to voters and
Where as the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority should be used for its intended purpose
of assisting sports and commercial exhibitions and
Where as it is was wrong for a previous City Commission to use MESA as a shell in to which
to place a portions of Watson Island to avoid a vote of the people concerning violation of the cry
Carollo Ordinance and 0 =Z 0a
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Where is it is now likewise a disservice to the voters and a previous Commission to once a o o x
again to use MESA to avoid havingthe people vote on givingawayvaluable irreplaceabletD t
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Day front Bicentennial Park land and o 2 0
as
Nhere as it is wrongfor MESA and Bayfront Park Trust to get into the business of leasing"0®�
and to museums, for the sole purpose of circumventing an important ordinance intended to
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,rotect Miami waterfront land and tl
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here as the museums were instructed by the City Commission to show progress on raising 2
rivate funds necessary for construction of their museums, but yet the museums will not
Thursday, May 22, 2008 AOL: SteveNmia
' Chief City Manager
divulge to any public entity the extent of their committed funds and
Where as it would be bad policy for Miami to extend to the museums deeds and or leases to
the eight acres the museums are to occupy so the museums can use the land to borrow
funds for construction they have not been able to raise thru donations and
Where as MAM has agreed to raise 65 million dollars for an operating endowment and
likewise, there is no evidence those funds are forthcoming and
Where as the residents of Miami could very well lose even having public access to
these buildings covering eight acres.in the case of a mortage foreclosure on these private
museum entities and
• Where as Miami is 54 out of 54 cities in terms of park land per resident and
Where as the City Commission has recognized how deficient Miami,is in terms of park land
and has adopted the new Parks Master Plan written by contractor Goody Clancy which
states there will be no net loss of park land and
• Where as there is no evidence that Miami is replacing the eight acres of prime bay front park
land with similar park land and
Where as the Rouse Company, the major tenant of Bayside, is to be paying seven percent of
their profits each year into a fund to purchase bayfront park land and
Where as the Rouse Company, according to information received from the
administration, has not reported a profit in many years and there is only slightly over a million
dollars in such fund and
Where as under the leadership of Mayor Diaz, the record of protecting Miami park land in
general and specifically Bicentennial Park is terrible. The
administration has purposely searched for ways to satisfy the special interests of museums
while ignoring the decisions of past voters and severely limiting public input and debate on
the use of public owned property, therefore
Be it resolved that calls on the Miami Commission not to approve
the Memorandum of Understanding between the Art, Science and History Museums, the City
and the County, but to instruct the administration to go to the public in a series of advertised
meetings to determine more appropriate designs for Bicentennial Park and all waterfront
property owed by the taxpayers of Miami and further more to look at how all of downtown
Miami can best function and serve the region making prudent use of our natural and
developed resources.
For further information: Steve Hagen 305 754 0099
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Submitted Into the public
recut . in connection with
item • 3 on 5-22-O;
Priscilla A. Thompson
City Clerk