Couple of Grove zoning issues coming up
Two new zoning issues are coming up at the March 27 zoning hearing at City Hall. One is about the property at 3570 Main Highway -- they want to change the single property zoning to allow a place of worship on the property.
The other is a second reading on allowing Mayfair to rent offices on street level, as well as the usual stores which are preferred but just not there. Sony Music is already moving to Mayfair. They are leaving their Lincoln Road building for the Grove. This will bring more foot traffic and life to the Grove. Anything is better than the empty storefronts. The current Grove stores and restaurants are sure to welcome all the new people in the area.
Also, the new tenants will be required to have the lights on until midnight, which would light up all the dark areas and add more life to the Grove. That old Borders Books area, on the corner of Mary and Grand, needs it bad.
The other is a second reading on allowing Mayfair to rent offices on street level, as well as the usual stores which are preferred but just not there. Sony Music is already moving to Mayfair. They are leaving their Lincoln Road building for the Grove. This will bring more foot traffic and life to the Grove. Anything is better than the empty storefronts. The current Grove stores and restaurants are sure to welcome all the new people in the area.
Also, the new tenants will be required to have the lights on until midnight, which would light up all the dark areas and add more life to the Grove. That old Borders Books area, on the corner of Mary and Grand, needs it bad.
posted by Tom Falco at 9:07 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
4 Comments:
On the other hand, denying the request might force them to get reasonable with their retail rental rates, so that retail becomes viable again.
I guess rents might decrease when taxes go down. Some of the tenants are now paying minimal rent just to keep them there and keep the lights on. We should give thanks to the Mayfair for allowing the Windisch-Hunt Gallery to go in there - what a great addition.
The right times to close open bars?
Apparently 3am is the answer, according to Miami city commissioners. Does the time a bar closes really effect the amount of drunk drivers leaving it? The mecca for college students looking to party, otherwise known as Coconut Grove bars, has been dealt a blow by it’s wealthier counterpart, the residents of the Grove. Preferred by students for it’s location (just around the corner from UM), no covers, cheap drinks, and lax dress code. Preferred by it’s residents for it’s canopy of trees equal to that of the Gables but with less zoning code restrictions.
How will the already struggling businesses compete with the 24 hour liquor liscence club owners in downtown? or the Beach for that matter?
Won’t these kids just leave the bars there and head out to other areas that are open later instead of going home, if they even start out there at all now? Does it matter? Aren’t they going to be drunk either way? Those whose drive drunk at 5am are still going to be the same idiots that drive drunk at 3am.
I get the noise issue, I used to live off Washington on Miami Beach. The best part was hearing people puking outside next to my apartment building as they were leaving the clubs at 5am. However, to say that the 3am cut off is going to limit the amount of drunk drivers is a bit ridiculous and to use that reasoning to decide on changing the curfew for businesses is even worse.
“The Grove is at a crossroads,” said City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who pushed the new law. “The Grove either grows up or it becomes a full-time drinking establishment.”
I disagree Mr. Sarnoff, that crossroad was already passed. Being a full time drinking establishment is what it is known for, that’s why all those bar and night club owners bought property there and set up shop, right next to other bars and night clubs.
Just admit you are trying to push them out, all the undesirables, in an attempt to create an elite area for those residents who want to keep everyone who doesn’t drive a certain type of car out of their neighborhoods. Why don’t you just put a wall around it and place a main gate at Grand Avenue? That’s what you really want to do. With all the “redevelopment” that’s been done around the Grove they’ve already pushed out the community members they’ve deemed unworthy to live there. Now they will systematically remove all the businesses they see likewise as undesirable and replace them with more high end shops that cater to the sticks up the Grove residents asses.
This little rant took a completely different direction than I originally intended, but there it is apparently I have issues with the Grove, and seeing as to how I am a Grove resident I view it as a problem.
Just a couple of corrections. 20 years ago, before South Beach became the place to be, Coconut Grove was "the" place to party. Teenagers cruised the Grove and it was impossible to drive through after 10:00. The Grove was packed, and quite disruptive to the local residents. Kids were speeding down our skinny streets with no realization that people with kids and pets actually resided here, just like in Kendall. Thank God the rehabilitation of South Beach came along and all those people disappeared. And since these kids were not of drinking age, they weren't spending any money. They were just stopping the people with money from getting to the Grove to spend it. So this is not a recent problem. Its something that has been going on before Sarnoff and the 12:46 pm writer and possibly most of the people that read this blog ever knew the Grove exited. If these people want to drink until 5, there are some wonderful bars downtown like Space and the Pawn Shop. These places are ready to handle the 5 am crowd. And the drunk driving part, well, if they have so much money to spend as people seem to think, then they must have enough money for a cab. Or do they? Also, the bars that serve these drunks should take the responsibility to make sure these people are not getting behind a wheel. I know I'll get flack for that one, but I feel if they are making the profit, they have a responsibility to the residents that have to put up with the aftermath, whether at 5am or 5 pm.
Oh, and if you think that development has gotten rid of all of us, well, not yet. There is a large group of community people still here. You see them at the local school with their kids. You see them at the Barnacle. You see them on Gifford Lane. You see them at Kennedy Park for an early walk. Where don't you see them? Driving home drunk at 5am.
Post a Comment
<< Home