HomeMy WebLinkAboutSUBMITTAL AT PZAB - MORNINGSIDE CIVIC ASSOCIATIONj(-4L-P5
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SUBMITTED INTO
THE PURL IC RECORD
FUR ITEM(S) ON-'1l�
Morningside Civic Association
The Morningside Civic Association represents the 427 households of this neighborhood and is
charged with preserving and promoting a high quality of life for its residents.
It is the residents of this and other Biscayne Corridor neighborhoods who initially pioneered the
revitalization of this part of Miami. Commercial redevelopment followed, and together those efforts
have made the Upper East Side one of the most vibrant parts of a City that now competes on the
Global stage.
Now, the hard work of many area residents throughout the northeast is greatly threatened by
proposed unbridled growth being considered under the pressure of multiple Special Area Plans.
While each SAP is different, in superseding the Miami 21 requirement of successional zoning, SAP
proposals such as Magic City result in masterplans that promote massing and density that is out of
character to the neighborhoods that surround them.
In addition to the Magic City SAP, three other SAPs - Legion West, Eastside Ridge, and Miami Jewish
Health Systems, are already in the entitlement pipeline. Those proposed SAPs are no more than
1/l0th of a mile to 1/3rd of a mile from the Morningside neighborhood.
Taken on their own, each SAP may seem reasonable from a City planning perspective. Taken
together, they represent the addition of over 6,000 new residential units, more than 4 million
square feet of office, retail, and other commercial space, and at least two hotels. Add to this, the
recent sale of the former Archbishop Curley/Notre Dame High School, a 15.5-acre site which is
prime for another SAP application.
When you couple these four SAPs along with other non -SAP projects underway and proposed along
the Biscayne Corridor from the Arsht Center for the Preforming Arts to the northern City limits at
87th 5t, this represents an unprecedented level of development and growth to a part of Miami that
is already struggling with inadequate roadway systems operating at D & F levels, ageing
infrastructure and utility systems, along with noise and other quality of life impacts that are not
being properly addressed in the applications being presented to this Board.
Despite the potential of economic, social and neighborhood improvement described by the known
SAP proposals, if approved as proposed there will be tremendous short and long-term impacts
within a very condensed geographically boundary, many of which will directly - and probably
negatively - impact Morningside.
The Morningside Civic Association respectfully requests that the City and its Planning Boards
temporarily halt the entitlement processes of all four SAPs.
Further, we request that the PZAB, Commissioner Keon Hardemon and Commissioner Ken Russell,
instruct City Staff to prepare a study that aggregates the full development impact of all four SAPs
into one unified growth report that addresses among other things:
• Roadway capacities, capabilities, and traffic impacts.
• Maintenance of traffic, road closures, and paths of travel for construction traffic.
• Noise and nuisance abatement plans associated with construction activities of four major
construction projects at one time.
• Noise and nuisance abatement plans associated with the completed and operating commercial
and entertainment activities proposed at these SAP's, but in particular Magic City.
• Assessment of why successional zoning as prescribed under Miami 21 can be so easily
superseded under the SAP provision of Miami 21.
• Recommendations for modification to the SAP provision of Miami 21 that will continue to
promote the SAP redevelopment of these larger and aggregated development sites, but with
massing and density planning that is appropriate for their location relative to single family
residential and historic neighborhoods that predate and surround them.
Finally, during the period of this study, we would ask that MCD, Miami, LLC conduct outreach to the
Morningside neighborhood so that all residents have an opportunity to better understand the
proposed development program.
Thank you for considering our strong concerns.
Sincerely,
Morningside Civic, ssociation
David How man
Presid
Cc:
Commissioner Keon Hardemon
lames McQueen, Chief of Staff
Commissioner Ken Russell
Rebecca Wakefield, Chief of Staff
Francisco Garcia, Director, Planning Department