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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSUBMITTAL AT PZAB - MORNINGSIDE CIVIC ASSOCIATIONj(-4L-P5 Aeir-111 alff: a. �r► no rmma r - OMR.. _ err Nreleis 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