And you thought it couldn't get any worse
There is a pending ordinance that will be heard on Thursday, by the City Commission, which would require all establishments in the City of Miami that are applying for a liquor license to be heard in front of the full City Commission, not the Planning and Zoning Board as it is currently done.
The City is broke, why are City Commissioner's taking over this job, other than the fact that one or two want to micromanage Miami into being a little farm town? Who wants to bet that with this ordinance in place, Coconut Grove will be the loser and the rest of the City won't suffer? You think that with this ordinance they are going to allow any business to enter the Grove that wishes to serve liquor?
Oh, and according to Michelle Niemeyer, I didn't realize that the law exempts downtown and Brickell and some other areas that compete for the Grove's business!
The interesting part is that Coconut Grove is in such a central and great location, that we Grovites can easily be in South Beach in 10 to 15 minutes, we can be at Brickell in five minutes, the Gables in five minutes and South Miami in 10 minutes. Yet we prefer to stay in our own Village. All these new ordinances and rules, especially this totally stupid one we report on yesterday, is killing the Village of Coconut Grove and pushing us out.
The ordinance is here.
What next? Closing Virgina Street down so that no traffic passes by a select few houses?
The City is broke, why are City Commissioner's taking over this job, other than the fact that one or two want to micromanage Miami into being a little farm town? Who wants to bet that with this ordinance in place, Coconut Grove will be the loser and the rest of the City won't suffer? You think that with this ordinance they are going to allow any business to enter the Grove that wishes to serve liquor?
Oh, and according to Michelle Niemeyer, I didn't realize that the law exempts downtown and Brickell and some other areas that compete for the Grove's business!
The interesting part is that Coconut Grove is in such a central and great location, that we Grovites can easily be in South Beach in 10 to 15 minutes, we can be at Brickell in five minutes, the Gables in five minutes and South Miami in 10 minutes. Yet we prefer to stay in our own Village. All these new ordinances and rules, especially this totally stupid one we report on yesterday, is killing the Village of Coconut Grove and pushing us out.
The ordinance is here.
What next? Closing Virgina Street down so that no traffic passes by a select few houses?
posted by Tom Falco at 10:00 AM
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25 Comments:
I've only lived in the Grove for a few years and I know there were some who were trying for this, but why aren't the residents of Coconut Grove trying their hardest to incorporate and take charge of itself like Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay?
It has become abundantly clear that Marc Sarnoff is attempting to seize as much power and control as possible while our city commission is CRIPPLED. There is no opposition for him.
Frank Carrolo is a nobody, who's lost his previous dozen or so candidacies for a range of positions. He appears a political weakling and there's this history
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-10-15/news/miami-commission-candidate-frank-carollo-had-bitter-breakup-with-roy-black-s-ex-and-lied-to-cops/
Then there's the other nobody Francis Suarez - I have no information on him besides the fact that he "promised to slim down the city's bureaucracy," according to the Herald.
Well this proposal appears to increase bureaucracy substantially, so we get to see if that was lip service or not.
The reality is that Sarnoff will try to pass everything he can before there's a full commission, so that he can increase his own power. That's all any of this is about is his power grab. Please stand up to him. We need a recall.
You forgot the part about how the proposed law exempts downtown and Brickell and some other areas that compete for the Grove's business!
Would letters to the Herald help? How do you publicize this on a grand scale in addition to your blog? Would petitions be possible? Would a LARGE number of residents help? What are the options?
Think about this...
Anyone who wishes to open up a business that sells just incidental alcohol would have to appear in front of the Czar.
This means any business that wishes to obtain a certificate of use must go in front of the commission instead of going in front of the zoning board.
This would certainly increase the cost not only to the city for having to essemble everytime a certificate of use is to be issued but would make it cost prohibitive for a potential applicant. They would have to pay at least $15K-$20K just for a traffic. It would be another $20K for the special exception application process.
Someone would have to shell out all tis money just to face Marc and his hit squad of MADD, resident activists, bicycle groups Etc., Etc.....
Does anyone else out there find this disturbing??
All business owner should sue the city for
loss of commercial business!!
Quick, someone call Mayor Regalado!
oh wait...
After reviewing the ordinance in great detail, it is clear that this is serious usurpation of power by a political - and politically motivated commission, of powers which are completely within the regulatory scope. It is improper, it is in my opinion against the basic principles and spirit of the city charter, and is plainly an attempt to seize the ability to pick and choose on a preferential basis between the businesses, thereby destroying the very concept of competition and free enterprise.
A business is either legal under zoning or not. There is no need for a discretionary review by a commission of politicians, and if the city attorney doesn't inform the commission that this ordinance will definitely result in lawsuits which the city will (in my humble opinion) likely lose, it would be borderline malpractice.
Ms. Bru - if you read this, please take the time to consider it and advise Marc Sarnoff of what you and I both know to be true: this will cost the city tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, just to have the ordinance be knocked down by the courts, or reduced to ineffectuality.
What some people just don't get is that Sarnoff is all about the power.
He would literally pay the city to retain his bully pulpit.
If he were the President of the United States he would most certainly do away with both the Legislative and Judicial branches just so he'd be the center of attention.
Believe me... another time another era he would be no better than Fidel, Chavez, or any other dictator/Despot that's come down the pike.
what that guy said!
What's next? Do politicians get to veto a Korean restauraunt in favor of a French one? Only permit clothing stores that sell formal attire while a t-shirt shop is told to sell their wares elsewhere?
This isn't the type of representative democracy I signed up for.
How can this be? I'm from Argentina and it wouldn't be allowed over there and we're pretty backwards.
someone needs to consult an attorney!
Thank you everyone who voted for Regalado! You reap what you sow!! The old geezer is in charge and backwards thinking and making the city of Miami more like Cuba are the only things he cares about!
Don't blame Regalado, he voted against Mark Sarnoff on this ordinance. I believe if he's given the chance that he'd do the right thing for the grove.
Let's hope so because our elected official Sarnoff is out to make sure no more cars drive down his street after 9:00pm!
OK -- we know where to place the blame -- WHAT CAN WE DO? HOW DO WE EFFECTIVELY PROTEST????????????
Why not stage a huge protest in front of Sarnoff's house every night all night. Oh I forget the Grove is bunch of Pussy's all Anons and no bite. At least I have a clear conscious I voted for Joe Sanchez. Pat Sessions SAVE US. Carlos Gimenez SAVE US. Wait now there's an idea contact Carlos Gimenez. Start a petition to impeach Sarnoff? He has lied enough to be impeached.
Don't blame Regalado.
"When I speak of our great City, I do not envision a metropolis."
Exactly, no blame at all.
OMFG... I voted for Sarnoff...and now I feel like a complete a**hole. Totally helpless. Like my little town is being hijacked! I thought he had our best interests at heart, but now I go out to the Grove, during the day to run errands or out on the weekends, and it's so dead! Is there anything we can do? This seems so unjust. It makes me sad to see darkened storefronts and emptier streets.
Everyone who keeps blaming Regalado.
Blame Marc. Regalado is doing exactly what he promised, changing the police, auditing the City. He is not the legislative body.
Blame YOUR commissioners.
I could not agree more with Anon 1:01.
I am just mortified that I voted for Sarnoff. I believe we need to make a concerted effort to stop him. But how, and who will lead us? I will certainly be among the ranks.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A recall is allowed under the City Charter. All we need to do is collect the same number of voter elligible signatures that one would need to get on the ballot. Then there will be a recall election, which would be Sarnoff v. not Sarnoff. If there are move votes for not Sarnoff, then there would be a special election in order to fill his seat.
If someone is truly interested in getting this started, I will provide you the section of the ordinance (which I posted on the grapevine about 2 months ago), and a deeper explanation of what needs to be done.
Stop blaming Regalado?
He wanted to be in charge, and now he is.
Who is calling the shots over at City Hall anyhow, Regalado or Sarnoff?
Has Regalado even opined on this? has he threatened a veto? You create such low expectations for the guy, no wonder he has gone missing.
Sarnoff runs the show!
that guy,
Your 10:16 post is the perfect example of why nothing will happen. While you pretend to be supportive of a recall by offering to supply chapter and verse for the legal niceties, you then defer to "someone who is truly interested in getting this started", apparently not yourself. Sarnoff hasn't got a thing to worry about as long as the opposition is a bunch of do-nothing blowhards.
To 7:19 - Ironic that you call me out for offering my services and expertise in a limited capacity, while you offer nothing. "Hey there Pot, this is kettle, by the way, you're black."
I do not have the availability to actually go around collecting signatures, but I do know what needs to be done, and how to go about meeting the requirements - which are 2 essential elements of getting this done. I have offered to perform 1, because I know that I cannot do more and don't want to let anyone down. Maybe instead of name-calling here all day, you could offer to contribute something to the cause yourself.
Also - legal niceties?!?!? are you mentally incompetent? How about legal necessities.
as has been mentioned, we know what and who the problem is, now we need to organize, pretty much everyone involved in the grove is Sarnoffs bitch, so we need a new grove group with with old grove love in their hearts, there's no group in place that we can turn to, we need to start a grove first movement that addresses everything that's going wrong with the grove and is ready to fight it. first we take back the party then take the grove from the city as they dont deserve our tax revenue after selling us out over and over again. the time for change is now and the time for pointing fingers is OVER!
anyone wants to work with me to get things rolling, i'm Erik McCann
and my email is alienbein@yahoo.com
we are going to need legal and financial help to make a change, Sarnoff is just the first step and he has a strangle hold on the grove right now. but i'm sick of watching my utopia wash away and be turned into another generic sterile p.o.s. neighborhood, if we dont get to work now there wont be anything left to save later.
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