Plans for 27th Ave. to be discussed
Grove residents and business owners have another chance to give their opinions on cleaning up SW 27th Avenue -- a major entrance to the Grove. I think they need todo something with SW 32nd Avenue, too.
The Cocoanut Grove Village Council has scheduled a charrette with engineers and experts. This is tentatively planned for for Sat., Dec. 16 at 10 am at Coconut Grove Elementary (3351 Matilda Street).
Traffic circles and major landscaping have been suggested.
A few businesses have placed petitions on their counters to collect signatures against the project since many of their parking spaces would be eliminated with the tentative design plans.
James McCarthy, owner of the EZ Kwik, said the proposed plan would eliminate most of his parking, and also the loading space needed for trucks to drop off supplies. Berries is also worried about losing all of their parking.
''They want to take 30 feet off my property and take the street right up to the edge of the store,'' McCarthy said.
County Project Manager Priscilla Morales says that in worst-case scenario's where the business or property owners won't accommodate the plan (like giving up their parking areas), the county would use the eminent domain process to obtain the properties. Talk about balls. That's a great way for the county to treat concerned citizens.
"I just want to try and get a majority of the community content with what we're doing,'' Morales said. "I don't want them to think we're feeding them anything.''
NO -- just threatening to take their property away by force.
The Cocoanut Grove Village Council has scheduled a charrette with engineers and experts. This is tentatively planned for for Sat., Dec. 16 at 10 am at Coconut Grove Elementary (3351 Matilda Street).
Traffic circles and major landscaping have been suggested.
A few businesses have placed petitions on their counters to collect signatures against the project since many of their parking spaces would be eliminated with the tentative design plans.
James McCarthy, owner of the EZ Kwik, said the proposed plan would eliminate most of his parking, and also the loading space needed for trucks to drop off supplies. Berries is also worried about losing all of their parking.
''They want to take 30 feet off my property and take the street right up to the edge of the store,'' McCarthy said.
County Project Manager Priscilla Morales says that in worst-case scenario's where the business or property owners won't accommodate the plan (like giving up their parking areas), the county would use the eminent domain process to obtain the properties. Talk about balls. That's a great way for the county to treat concerned citizens.
"I just want to try and get a majority of the community content with what we're doing,'' Morales said. "I don't want them to think we're feeding them anything.''
NO -- just threatening to take their property away by force.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:39 AM
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10 Comments:
Honestly, that is bullshit... I cant believe that the city is allowed to even consider such a thing. Berries desperately needs that parking. Plus, traffic n that street is bad enough during before/after work rush. Now they want to start construction, which in Miami means delays for at least 6 months. I dont see what the problem is with that area anyways. How "nice" can an intersection off of US1 that has a gas station and a Burger King actually look? And maybe if construction finishes sometime this century the intersection of 27th and Bird might clean itself up a little...
Another dumb idea from our dumbass local government that will waste money and provide little to no purpose. Whats next?
This is absolute bullshit from our "government" and shows just how out of touch they are with real people.
The "remodeling" of Grand Avenue did nothing except make traffic slower (now we have the one lane) and going through it more difficult.
It did nothing to improve the looks of the run down buildings lining up the street.
Did nothing to improve traffic flow.
Did nothing to eliminate any of the other problems.
But, yes, it probably lined up someone's bank account in the Caymans.
Messing around with the 27th and maybe the 32nd avenue entrances to the Grove will render the entire place hopelessly tied up for a couple of years and definitely doom a bunch of businesses that barely manage to keep their heads above the water.
Really bright.
I hope lawyers among us can just sue the project out of existence.
well, the Grand Ave operation did do a good job of keeping Grand Ave residents from loitering in the middle of the streets...
Whoooah.
After 48 years in Coconut Grove, I can definitely say that 27th Ave shows neglect. Parts of the avenue are only dirt and dust on the roadside.
Visitors must be wondering if they are in the right place as they drive into Coconut Grove. They heard that it's a beautiful place, but surely this can't be the way in. Could it be?
While improvement is neccessary, the merchants must be treated fairly. Retail parking is a key issue.
On the other hand, please note that many property owners have been collecting parking fees on the public right-of-way for years, during every Art Festival. Of course it is they who are mad at the BAD government for taking THEIR property.
As idealistic as it sounds, let's all give our input and thoroughly enjoy the result.
Everyone will benefit from this in the long run... even those property owners adjacent to the improvements.
The EZ Kwik parking lot is a menace to vehicular navigation. Too many morons use it as a right turn lane. The appearance of the whole street is run-down and forlorn-looking. Something ought to be done, though precisely what, I'm not sure.
Having said that, I'm not sure that I trust the Miami-Dade County govt. to accomplish anything useful.
I think taking 30 feet of parking in front of Berries for a road and putting that amount of traffic up against the building will destroy their business. Like wise EZKwik.
Parking is an issue and should not be eliminated. Before the city built parking garages, we had angle parking, which is easier and parks more cars. Now we have wider sidewalks, less street, less convenient parking, more traffic conjestion and more businesses going belly up.
If they want to improve the look of 27 Ave why don't they plant some trees and when they get mature...NOT cut them down. Every time a tree gets big enough to provide some shade and even buffer some traffic noise, the city rushes in and cuts them down. The stupidity in this city is boundless.
How about landscaping and leaving the roads alone.
There are three parking areas within one block of berries. I can't believe the amount of whining that goes on when people may have to walk (gasp!) a whole block to get to a restaurant.
I might be misreading them, but according to those maps on the villagecouncil page the right of way in front of berries parking and the ezkwik already belongs to the city, and are just being commandeered by the businesses.
Adam,
While I agree that a one block walk to a restaurant is not a big deal, its still an inconvenience. Every restaurant has a parking lot that is used to allow patrons to park there. Not to mention elderly and handicapped folks that want to dine there. Not having ample parking can kill a restaurant as many would rather venture somewhere else than deal with the hassle of finding a spot to park.
As for 27th, I really dont see why people view this as a major problem. Id say that in the grand scheme of things, there are much bigger fish to fry. Sure, a sidewalk running up and down 27th would look nice, but it would take this city FOREVER to get that done. Just look at the sidewalk that they have been "building" in front of the AAA Arena. Its been going on for over a year now and doesnt look like itll be done any time soon. Traffic, traffic, and more traffic...
I do agree that we could use more foliage along 27th, especially along the sides of that hideous brick building that stands out like a sore thumb. They need to get some large palms in there to hide the building and make it a tad easier on the eyes.
Well, if you don't walk anywhere it's surely not a big deal, but I would like to be able to ride my bike from the metrorail to centergrove, or walk my dog up 27th or jog across it without fearing for my life.
The minor inconvenience of having to walk a few hundred feet every once in a while when berries' rear parking lot is full is insignificant compared with the benefit of being able to walk a up 27th every day on my way home from work. (or being able to ride my bike to the bike path on us 1).
ezkwik's parking area is a nightmare, and I suspect an infraction on some code. Besides that it is a neighborhood bodega, which should be used by people who walk to it in the first place, not drivers.
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