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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal at 10-16-2019 PZAB Mtg - Public Comment - Eastside Ridge'SUBMITTED INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM(S)3301ON i0112111 sbakeho de s Francisco Herretes Downtown Little Haiti Stakeholders 6200 NE 2nd Ave. Miami, FL 33138 October 16, 2019 Chairman Charles Garavaglia City of Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 RE: PZAB October 16, 2019 - Items 1 and 3 Dear Chairman Garavaglia, Vice Chair Torrens and board members, Downtown Little Haiti Stakeholders, Inc. is the commercial property and business owners association on NE 2nd Avenue, between NE 54th and NE 65th Streets, representing the interests of the majority of the commercial property and business owners in the area immediately impacted by PZAB Items 1 and 3. Regarding PZAB 1, the Stakeholders request you defer until this board and the public have had time to review the new revision of the Eastside Ridge SAP Development Agreement dated Sept 30, 2019, which is cross-referenced 17 times in the PZAB agenda packet, but is not itself included in the public agenda packet. The Development Agreement is a critical document and the only place in all of these SAP documents where the community has a voice. This board should absolutely provide its expert opinion and weigh in on the Development Agreement before moving this process along with either your recommendation to approve or deny. Regarding PZAB 3, the Stakeholders request you recommend its approval as drafted in the public PZAB agenda packet. Historically, the Downtown Little Haiti Cultural District did not have a distance requirement to religious facilities, and our issue was the 500-foot distance requirement to schools. We fought for years to reduce that distance requirement to 300 feet and doing so, potentially unlocked the entire district for activation and revitalization. However and admittedly, the new wording of Chapter 4 leaves some room for interpretation regarding religious facilities, which this minor amendment clarifies, Under the alternative, many churches and religious facilities in Little Haiti and Liberty City would unwillingly obstruct neighborhood activation and defeat the very purpose of a Specialty District in the first place. Thank you for our consideration. Francisc'•" "` errete Executiv- `Director Downto n Little Haiti Stakeholders UNITEHERE! October 16, 2019 Planning & Zoning Board City of Miami 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 RE: Planning and Zoning Item #1- Eastside Ridge Dear Planning & Zoning Board Members, Local 355 SUBMITTED INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM(S)53b ON I am writing to express our concern with Item PZ.1, the Eastside"Ridge SAP FLUM, on the October 16, 2019 PZAB agenda. Our union represents nearly 300 families in the Little Haiti neighborhood, and we stand with the Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti (CLoLH) in opposition to this development. Below are some of our land use concerns: • Too Many SAPs. This SAP is out of scale and out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. Little Haiti cannot sustain a third SAP directly abutting the already approved Miami Jewish Health Systems SAP. This will set a negative precedent of overdevelopment in the region at a time when rumors of a fourth SAP application at the Archbishop Curley High School site have already surfaced. • Displacement of Housing. Eastside Ridge is the first SAP in the Little Haiti area that will displace existing renters by demolishing 515 existing units to build nearly 2,000 more dwelling units than are currently allowed. These high-rise, upscale residential units are incompatible with the surrounding low -density, single family homes and duplexes. • Inconsistent with Land Use Policy 1.1.3. Staff claims that the project is consistent with LU-1.1.3, which directs the City's land use code to develop "strategies to further protect existing neighborhoods through the development of appropriate transition standards and buffering requirement." In that same report, staff outlines how the average household incomes for the blocks adjacent to the project range from $19,000-$29,000, where 71% of households are cost burdened. How does a mega -development like Eastside Ridge create an "appropriate transition" that "protects existing neighborhoods"? • Traffic. The SAP is projected to add 1,392 person -trips in the AM peak hour and 1,689 person - trips during the PM. The intersection of NE 54th Street and NE 3rd Avenue would operate at an "F" level of service at both peak hours. This project will create gridlock and deteriorate the quality of life of the surrounding residents. Please deny the PZ.1 Eastside Ridge SAP FLUM. Sincerely, Wendi Walsh Secretary -Treasurer UNITE HERE Local 355 1525 NW 167 Street Suite 450 Miami, FL 33169 Tel. 305-614-0377 Fax. 305-620-0434 5b1-242-9911 October 16th, 2019 PZAB 1 SURATIID INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM(S)33010N 1000111 From: Peter R. Ehrlich, Jr. — Lemon City, Industrial 59, LLC RE: Eastside Ridge Special Area Plan (SAP) Application Defer. Do Not approve this scheme "with conditions". Let the developer fix the plethora of problems before bringing it back for your approval. I ask you as a longtime stakeholder in the neighborhood. Since 1998 my companies have owned property located between NE 54' Street and NE 62' Streets. I have driven through the neighborhood 20,000+ times since 1998. (4 times a day x 6,000+/- days.). I am affiliated with Lemon City, MiMo, the Urban Environment League, Scenic Miami and the Bayside Historic District. We have tried to work things out with the applicants. Neighbors expressed their concerns to Ed Martos, Vicky Leiva and other paid promoters of the up zoning. Ed Martos refused to respond to E-mails and calls since August 2017. Vicky Leiva, the most recently hired lobbyist/attomey-, has NOT addressed our concerns either. Specifically, regarding traffic and access to the site: A. We strongly recommend that the existing and proposed main entrance on NE 54th Street be moved west to perfectly line up with the existing City owned NE 3rd Avenue. Two lanes in and two lanes out south of 54th Street but definitely line up with the existing 3rd Avenue. (We oppose the vague scheme outlined in the Development Agreement.) B. We strongly recommend that the entrance/exit at NE 2nd Avenue at 51st Street be fixed. We recommend 2 lanes coming in and 2 lanes going out. Most importantly, there should be one NE 51st Street intersection NOT two. Line up with the Jewish Home Medical Center and Hotel entrance/exit currently called NE 51st Street. Yes, there are two NE 51st Streets now... There should be one traffic light for NE 51st Street, NOT two. C. We recommend that a new NE 3rd Avenue be extended due south to NE 48th Street and INTO the Archbishop Curley site. NE 3rd Avenue south of NE 54th Street should be perfectly aligned with NE 3rd Avenue going north to 62nd Street. This helps to provide accessibility to surrounding neighborhoods and it would help alleviate the inevitable traffic gridlock. D. We recommend that the property owners plan for the horrible monster intersection at 54Street/Biscayne Blvd./NE 4th Avenue/Federal Highway/NE 4th Court/FEC Railroad Tracks. There should be an entrance/exit on NE 54th Street as far west as possible to keep traffic away from the horrible monster intersection at 54' Street/Biscayne Blvd./Federal Highway/NE 4th Court/FEC Railroad Tracks. We get 32-40 Brightline trains a day now? We get freight trains. Imagine the gridlock if we get more...? Imagine if we get 32-40 Local trains a day...? E. Traffic Study. The Traffic Study is useless. It was conducted almost FOUR years ago. (January 2016, printed March 2016.) It ignores the Magic City Innovation District SAP and its 2,800 apartments and 1,000,000 sq. ft. commercial space. The Traffic Study's 555 pages ignore NE 4th Avenue. (See pages 1-555). The traffic study needs to be updated and redone! Please defer this application. Do not approve this scheme "with conditions". Defer it and let the developer fix the plethora of problems before bringing it back. Thank you. Peter R. Ehrlich, Jr. 720 NE 69th Street, #6N, Miami 33138 2 `,:!) .44-151„dowev (2- Little Haiti Continued from page49 a meeting at the One God in Three Persons Baptist Church; located on the bottom floor of an old apat.tnient building at 473 NW 77th Si. Attended by several dozen people, most of them Haitian, the gathering was organized by Pastor Erick Jules, the service workers union UNITE. HERE Local 355, and Farm Ayisyen NanMiyanii (also known as Haitian Women of Miami). Discussion at the meeting included stories of the Po �g-€a ly' ast coB- troversial tons iu New ',ork,:=wl ie volved ony convictions. Two Pedals: broths s, along with their fathe Zenek . Poe lsky (who died in 201$),pleaded. guilty to 37 felonies in 1984 in connec- tion with a scheme to hire "professional v.. ators" to intimidate rent -control te: ants . •m three buildings they own New York "We're ge. E m ANM's executive director, Marleine Bastien. But the fight isn't just about Eastside Ridge. There were also stories of how developers and real estate investors are swooping into the Little Haiti area and forcing out small businesses and churches. In addition, speakers talked about real estate agents continuously contacting Haitianhomeowners in the area, encouraging them to sell their homes. Bastien called it a plot to -remove Haitian people from Little Haiti.` "You can't sell your house. 3f you sell ynrir house, we are going to lose Little Haiti!" Bastien shouted asthe..auddience applauded. "You need to keep your house!" Actually, the plot has more to do with making money than simply forcing out Haitians. In July 2016, RealtyTrac rang the dinner bell for house flinners 13 eel quadruple the monthly rent. Jules says he left, even though he had spent some $70,000 renovating the. space New developers are making offers to buy the apartment building wherehis church relocated. "We're not okay with the way inves- tors and developers, the way they work, the way they fight with -us," Jules says. Evan Philias One God in Three Person's youth director, says:they''r-e also organizing with other,churches in the area But Philias says they don't neces- sarily want to Stop the project outright. They want concessions -that Will benefit working-class.people, particularly- Hai- tians,, who hve in the sue sounding area "Right now,.tere �'s nothing to"helt e coinniunity, and the things that will 'help the .community are better housing and better jobs,-says_Philias, who is also affiliated with UNITE HERE, "Small businesses are being dispiaced, and there's nothing to help them." To obtain their desired zoning, Eastside Ridge's developers are going. through a process to evaluate a special area plan, or SAP. As part of that pro- cess, developers must demonstrate com- munity benefits. Three activists at the April meeting told the BTthat they'd like an arrangement similar to the one that Miaiii Worldcenter's developers had to follow in Park West three years ago_ Iti-exchange for receiving up to $10million intax rebates, the develop- ers agreed>to hire at least 30 percent of its workforce from within theSoutheast Overtown Park West Community Re- development Area.at salaries starting at $11.58.an hour for -unskilled labor. The arrangement was; negotiated largely by -City of Miami .Commiission Chairman Keon Hardemon, whose` iclrr# int.hiAi c SUBMITTED INTO P2 b4-8 THE PUBLIC RECORD / FOR ITEM(S)33O1 ON ►a1►o(ict it)` `6 Ll 1. SUBMITTED INTO pZ(.6 THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR ITEM(S)33o1ON roltnl" Infamous Podolsky brothers being investigated for tax fraud: report Hoteliers paid by city to house homeless may have hidden money to avoid taxes, sources tell Wall Street Journal TRD New York / Jan.January 18, 2019 10:05 AM Staff Aladdin hotel at 230 West 54th Street and Stuart and Jay Podolsky (Credit: West 45th Street Block Association and Getty Images) They served five years probation for grand larceny and coercion in the 1980s. But now it looks like the Podolsky brothers may have been committing financial crimes too. Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating whether hoteliers paid by the city to house the homeless hid money to evade taxes. Amsterdam Hospitality Group, the firm led by brothers Stuart and Jay Podolsky, allegedly hid money in attorney escrow accounts, sources familiar with the federal investigation told the Wall Street Journal. Prosecutors are also looking into whether they overbilled subcontractors for repairs and then put the excess funds into shell accounts, according to the Journal's reporting. The brothers' company has received tens of millions of city dollars to house the homeless over the last five years, in Manhattan hotels like the Aladdin Hotel, the Apollo Hotel and the Ellington Hotel, sources told the Journal. Records show the City paid the city paid $5.4 million in the fiscal year 2018 alone to house homeless people at the Aladdin, near Times Square. The city currently houses around 60,000 people shelters and hotels, spending about $384 million. annu ally. The exact size of the Podolskys' empire is hard to pin down because they use a series of shell companies to operate their properties and avoid the scrutiny of city officials and auditors, sources familiar with the brothers' business practices told the Journal. A spokesperson for the brothers said they were unaware of any investigation and maintained that they never attempted to keep the family name out of the public record. "As with any large company, a team of accountants, both in house and out, prepare the tax returns for the various companies and individuals," the representative said. The brothers and their company have been embroiled in controversy for decades, including allegations from tenants and housing activists that their properties are unsafe. In 1986, the Podolskys pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny and coercion, after they were indicted for using illegal means to force tenants out of apartments, including paying men to harass and forcibly evict tenants. The current probe into the Podolsky's business appears to be connected to the guilty plea of their former employee, George Dfouni, in a wire fraud and tax evasion case in New Jersey last year, according to the Journal. Prosecutors in that case that Dfouni he stole portions of payments that he negotiated for the Amsterdam Hospitality Group while working there, embezzling nearly $14 million from the company. They also say that between 2007 and 2014 Dfouni didn't report $28 million in income to the Internal Revenue Service. [WSJ] — Decal Muldowney Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShaare, on cnkedinShare via Email nCtie ypork daily new, e SUBMITTED INTO 9-2-. kA-6 1_ 9 THE PUBLIC RECORD / Dig 0 Z019 FOR ITEM (S )33o1 ON 100119 EXCLUSIVE: Shady real estate clan at center of New York City's plan to convert homeless apartments into affordable housing By Michael Gartland .Ian 20. 2U19 7 From left: Zenek Podolsky and sons Jay Podolsky and Stuart Podolsky are pictured in the 1980s. (Obtained by Daily News) The city's plan to convert nearly 500 "cluster site" homeless apartments into affordable housing hinges on acquiring 17 buildings controlled by the notorious Podolsky family, known for years as one of the city's worst landlords, the Daily News has learned. The deal which Mayor de Blasio announced in December and abruptly placed on "pause" Friday — would involve the city financing the purchase of the properties at market -rate prices. That could cost the city anywhere between $40 million and $60 million or more, based on an analysis of available records. The Podolskys — whose methods have included maintaining squalid buildings run with rats, raking in millions of dollars from the city to house the homeless, and allegedly forcing tenants from their apartments through intimidation — own dozens of properties throughout the city, including hotels in Midtown. Stuart Podolsky, an unidentified woman and Jay Podolsky are pictured Feb. 15, 1988. (Clarence Davis / New York Daily News) The Podolsky brothers, Jay and Stuart, are now under investigation for potentially evading taxes, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. A spokesman for the brothers said they are unaware of the probe. A de Blasio spokeswoman said the city is "putting this deal on pause to conduct additional appropriate due diligence," but declined to define the terms of that pause. The administration also did not immediately respond when asked why the landlords, who pleaded guilty to grand larceny and coercion in 1986, didn't raise hackles before learning about the federal probe. The cluster site properties in question are in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Since announcing his plans in December, Mayor de Blasio and city officials have for weeks kept the properties' locations and the landlord's identity a closely guarded secret. City Hall officials have confirmed that only one landlord controls all 17 properties and that they are in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but contend making any more information public could derail the deal. Among the 17 properties in question, four are located in Brooklyn, sources with knowledge of some of the deal's contours told The News. Two other sources confirmed the Podolskys have been negotiating with the city for months to sell. The Brooklyn properties — 1629 Eastern Parkway in Brownsville, 135 Albany Ave. in Flatbush, 594 Park Place and 1180 President St., both in Crown Heights — are all held by shell companies, city records show. Those limited liability companies all list the Podolskys' attorney, David Satnick, as the primary point of contact, according to state records. They are also tied to two holding companies, Tristate Realty Holdings and Amsterdam Hospitality, which are both family - controlled shell companies. Satnick said he is not involved in the negotiations. "I know there have been negotiations over the course of the year, but I don't know if they're going forward," Satnick said. "Let's face it, the city can take it anytime they want — whether it's through negotiating a price or through eminent domain." Satnick declined to comment on specific property addresses. Brooklyn buildings (from left) 1629 Eastern Parkway, 1180 President St., 135 Albany Ave. and 594 Park Place are all held by shell companies, city records show (David Wexler for New York Daily News) The Bronx properties — which include 941 Intervale Ave., 751 East 1.87`" St. and 976 Tinton Ave. — are all linked to the Podolsky family through shell companies that list Satnick as the primary point of contact People living and working in the Podolsky-controlled Brooklyn properties offered scant detail about the landlords because, according to some of them, they don't know who they are. Willie Badger, 74, said he's been the super at 1180 President St. for decades, but that he doesn't know the building owner's name. Advertisement He only knows of "management," the people who occasionally provide him with new supplies. Those people, he said, are always different and always call. from different phone numbers. For the past 10 years, about half of the units in the building have been used to house the homeless. "They're in some kind of program. A New York City shelter thing," he said. The super at 594 Park Place, Akim Roseman, said he doesn't know the landlord either, but heard about the city's plan to convert units into permanent housing from a tenant caseworker. Saifur Khan of Amsterdam Hospitality, which manages the building, confirmed a deal is in the works. "I don't think they're buying," he said. Officials have said the city has ruled out using eminent domain in this deal, but Mayor de Blasio himself has floated the general idea, which could take years to finalize due to likely court challenges. During his most recent State of the City speech, de Blasio again touched on the prospect of forcing landlords to forfeit property if they fail to rectify dangerous conditions. At 594 Park, inspections are constant, according to Roseman. A search of city records revealed there are four current open violations issued by the city Buildings Department Boiler Division. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. In the world of New York real estate, members of the Podolsky family are known as players with a checkered past. The family's now -deceased patriarch Zenek Podolsky was born in Poland and, by his own account, survived the Holocaust through working for the Gestapo as a welder who'd clean out the safes of fellow Jews sent to their deaths. Zenek Podolsky is pictured at the district attorney's office after being indicted on May 2, 1984. (Obtained by Daily News) Zenek came to Brooklyn after the war and began to buy property in Coney Island. In the '80's, the family set its sights on the Upper West Side, where prosecutors from the Manhattan DA's Office found it hired "professional vacaters" to bring in "drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves and other criminals" to make living conditions so bad tenants would flee. Eventually, then -Manhattan DA Robert Morganthau indicted the vacaters and a dozen landlords, including Zenek and his Jay and Stuart. The trio pleaded guilty to more than two dozen felonies, with Zenek sentenced to 90 days in lockup, and his sons each getting hit with five years probation and 250 hours of community service, according to the DA's Office. "They were pretty nasty in their interactions with tenants," said Larry Wood of the Goddard Riverside Community Center, which was instrumental in bringing evidence against the Podolskys to the DA's Office. MOST READ ® ' The Podolsky brothers said through a spokesman they "agree with Mayor de Blasio" that cluster -site housing should be run by non -profits, not landlords. "We have worked with the city in an ethical and transparent manner for many years providing housing for some of the city's most vulnerable populations," the spokesman said. "That work continues today." Politically complicating de Blasio's plan to convert cluster units to permanent affordable housing is the fact that he accepted contributions from associates of the Podolsky clan in the run-up to his 2013 mayoral victory. DeBlasio ended up returning more than $4,950 from Alan Lapes, who has managed Podolsky properties, campaign finance records show. But he held onto more than S 10,000 in contributions bundled through Robert Hess, the now - deceased founder of Housing Solutions USA, a non-profit also tied to the Podolskys.