Advisory Board approves Waterfront Plan

The Waterfront Master Plan was presented to the Advisory Board tonight by the Sasaki Associates. If you click on the image above, the final draft will open.

Basically it's like this:

The waterfront will connect with the Center Grove, allowing easy foot traffic between the two. Along the process, the parks will all connect and be improved aesthetically.

The Chart House restaurant area will be used for commercial charter boats and working shrimp boats. This is part of phase one. There will be four phases. Lilliana Dones, Village Council member and President of the Chamber asked about the four phases: Why are there four phases, what is the purpose of the order of the phases and how long will it be between phases? That never was answered.

A three story garage will be built along South Bayshore Drive, camouflaged by vines and foliage. It will have retail space on the ground floor, mostly boating and nautical interests, and will not compete with Center Grove businesses.

The plan for McFarlane Road is to have the north bound lanes only as one lane, with parallel parking and the south side will be wider, used for pedestrians, connecting Center Grove with the waterfront, including the Commodore Bike Trail, which will run along the east side of South Bayshore Drive, too.

The Expo Center was brought up a lot. It seems like many feel that since it is bringing money into the area, why rush to bulldoze it? There is no reason other than "seeing action." This was the term used. They feel that this will show that something is being done.

Ron Nelson, Chief of Staff for Comm. Marc Sarnoff and David Collins, head of the BIC and Village Council member also feels that the time has come to get rid of the Expo Center. Michelle Niemeyer, head of the Village Council felt the same. So did Stuart Sorg, head of the Advisory Board.

Others like Sue McConnell feel that we should keep it as a movie studio until the final phase and that there was no rush to demolish it. Wendy Kalimar, on the Advisory Board, felt the same because it brings publicity and residual money to the area. As I have stated, no one is against razing the building. But why not leave that for the last phase and take the money and publicity it brings in now?

Many felt the Seminole Boat Ramp should stay. Others felt that Mathson Hammock was where boaters should go and that the Seminole Boat Ramp didn't accommodate enough people now to stay. I still don't get the whole idea of a waterfront without water access. Wendy Kalimar, who also runs the Orange Bowl Youth Regatta (the second biggest money maker for the Grove after the Arts Festival) was really flummoxed. Stuart Sorg felt the Seminole Boar Ramp launching ramp was critical and should stay.

He is very pleased that the dock masters office will stay. He is for the shrimp boats having easy access in and out. As Lilliana Dones said, the shrimp boats make the waterfront "real" and not "Disney World."

One resident who I really liked was Andy Hancock who said, "It ain't broke, why fix it?" While he reminded me of a cheap neighbor in my building who never wants to spend a penny, he felt that a boardwalk could be constructed and trees could beautify the area, without the City spending millions on redoing what does not need redoing. He also was for the movie studio staying put.

Stuart Sorg and many others want the Sailing Club to stay as-is. "Don't mess with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club," was how he put it.

He also said the best thing to do is NOT be a partner with the City simply because people come and go. The Waterfront Working Community should stay as it is.

Anyway, this all goes before the City Commission on July 24 and basically it all looks like a done deal.

The Waterfront Advisory Board voted tonight 6 to 2 in favor of keeping the Sasaki Plan. There was a motion, which passed 6 to 2, to add the boat ramp to the plan which makes total sense since the whole plan is based on the water.

The funny part is that no one really knows where the money is coming from, how the project will be paid for and when and where to start. They feel that demolition of the Expo Center, is the first step.