Code Enforcement are a bunch of foolish Grinches
Last weekend, The Travel Channel was in town. I took them around showing them the "real" Grove.
They were very interested and delighted with Commodore Plaza. That was their favorite place in the Grove. Their eyes lit up when they saw the street cafes, the people, the colors, the activity and especially the artists who were out on the streets for the "Paint Out" who were capturing the scene. Picture the scene now without the planters, the trees, the umbrellas, the benches and all the colors of Commodore Plaza.
What would The Travel Channel have filmed? What would the painters have painted? Blank walls? Bare tables?
I find it totally unconscionable and ignorant that the City of Miami's Code Enforcement team feels that this is a problem. Can you imagine if they had cleared off the planters, and umbrellas and fans and heaters and ALL THE AMBIANCE a day or so before The Travel Channel arrived?
Removing all the things that give the cafes their ambiance is like having a room with white walls. It is functional, but totally blah.
I'll tell you one thing -- the Grove would not have been featured on The Travel Channel if the ignorant fools at Code Enforcement had their way -- The Travel Channel people would have shrugged, packed up their cameras and headed to South Beach.
They were very interested and delighted with Commodore Plaza. That was their favorite place in the Grove. Their eyes lit up when they saw the street cafes, the people, the colors, the activity and especially the artists who were out on the streets for the "Paint Out" who were capturing the scene. Picture the scene now without the planters, the trees, the umbrellas, the benches and all the colors of Commodore Plaza.
What would The Travel Channel have filmed? What would the painters have painted? Blank walls? Bare tables?
I find it totally unconscionable and ignorant that the City of Miami's Code Enforcement team feels that this is a problem. Can you imagine if they had cleared off the planters, and umbrellas and fans and heaters and ALL THE AMBIANCE a day or so before The Travel Channel arrived?
Removing all the things that give the cafes their ambiance is like having a room with white walls. It is functional, but totally blah.
I'll tell you one thing -- the Grove would not have been featured on The Travel Channel if the ignorant fools at Code Enforcement had their way -- The Travel Channel people would have shrugged, packed up their cameras and headed to South Beach.
posted by Tom Falco at 11:21 PM
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8 Comments:
For the Grove, thank you.
As business owner, tonight, I'm just sad looking my place and others. Why removing planters??? why removing heaters, umbrellas, etc...all theses elements make our place nicer and more confortable. Globally, we're all working hard to make the grove more attractive. What's next? : turn off our AC next summer?
The "messenger" officer (as defined himself) came today was straight about who's the ordonance was coming from...It's sounds like it's not really coming from city of Miami.
I'm looking at the smiling faces above of the restaurant owners and crying for them and for the Grove. When we find the person or people responsible for this we need to get them out of office.
The City has put a large part of the zoning and planning department who were sitting idle at the office to produce revenue by focusing on inventing violations where ever possible. Otherwise 25% of the department will be laid off soon. I say good riddance. That is why they have become like fascist in the past few weeks. They are going absolutely nuts.
Read the following article, the City is looking at the problem the wrong way around, they should be helping the city instead of destroying it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081210/wl_time/08599186499100
What exactly is "real" Grove? Please, Id really like to know. To you have to be an artist to be considered "real" Grove? You and Sarah Palin would be great friends.
Originally they were sent to Chilis and Starbucks, I kid you not. I took them to the galleries, commodore plaza, the Barnacle, the neighborhoods and things that I felt were the "real" Grove.
The one-of-a-king places that say "Coconut Grove."
I didn't consider Chilis, The Gap and Starbucks to be the "real" Grove and neither did they.
The BID just got approved, is this a backlash from the City of Miami because the Grove is becoming more independent. Perhaps the first thing the BID should do is to band the people together and stand up to the city for the business owners and stop this destructive foolish attack on the life line of the Grove.
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