Streetscape project discussed (again) last night

The Coconut Grove BID (Business Improvement District) held another long community meeting last night at City Hall to try and persuade the public that the planned Sidewalk Replacement Project and the Tree Disposition that will accompany that, is a good thing. As you know, many trees will be moved or replaced or just taken out as part of the sidewalk plan.

Scott Silver, member of the BID board hosted the evening along with Ida Curtis from Curtis + Rogers Design Studio, a landscape architectural firm in the Grove and Albert Sosa, Assistant Director of Capital Improvements for the City of Miami.

The meeting was a repeat of all that has been published here, here and here. Many more of the trees will be saved than previously planned. But many people at last night's meeting are concerned that more can be done. I originally was in favor of this project, but have questions now about why the sidewalk replacement needs to affect so many trees especially after the massacre on 27th Avenue. I don't remember seeing this done anywhere else. Since when is Coconut Grove the cutting edge of streetscapes? We are an old historic village. Maybe the streets should be imperfect.

The one street that concerns many is Fuller Street. This diagram (click to enlarge) shows that every tree on Fuller, except two, will be replaced. The new plan calls for one side of parking to be removed, and the sidewalks will be widened to at least 5 feet, which is required to make the street ADA (Americans With Disabilities) required. But this makes no sense to me because if this was honestly an issue, every small curvey street in the country would have to have the sidewalks redone to be ADA compliant.

Many of those trees are deemed diseased or hazardous. Local arborist Lisa Hammer, was enlisted to walk the Grove and decide the fate of each tree. There are 109 trees in the area that were assessed according to Ida Curtis.

As for the new bricks, they will be 2-3/8" in thickness now, as opposed to the 1-1/2" bricks on the sidewalks now. The sand will also be placed underneath in the correct proportion, which will keep the bricks steady, they will also interlock.

The Silva Cell System (shown here) will direct the roots of the new trees in the "proper direction." Many are concerned. No one has seen the Silva Cell System in action and don't even know if it works. It's an underground "glorified milk crate" as many called it in the audience last night. At $7500 per cell, that is a large chunk of the $3.2 million project. If 44 trees each have a cell, and it might be less if trees share cells, the cost is $330,000. Trees grow all over the world and have since day one without the Silva Cell System.

As for maintenance of the new trees, the BID will take that on. They will water and maintain the new trees. The project was to have stared on Florida Avenue in July, now the projected start date is 45 days from now, but there will be no work between Thanksgiving and New Years, so it might be safe to say that this job will start after the new year and not before.

The best question asked last night by Santiago Villegas, member of TreeWatch, was, "Who is making all the money on this project?" That question went unanswered. I also have a question: "Who is connected locally to the Silva Cell people? Why are we the guinea pigs for this project which looks like an overpriced Ikea table? Oh, and to the people who approved the expenditure of this Silva Cell System, I have a bridge I want to sell you in Brooklyn.

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