Are they circumventing the public process?

A Committee has been Formed to Propose Changes to Grove Zoning

However you are not invited to participate in that effort.

David Villano founder of Grove 2030 has apparently taken it upon himself to circumvent the public open process of Grove 2030 , to form a small exclusive group or committee to propose changes to Miami 21 Zoning as it pertains to Coconut Grove. Once again YOU are not invited to participate.

The group or committee which was formed without any community involvement or knowledge includes:
Two Residential Developers - Andy Parrish and Marcelo Fernandes
One Real Estate Salesman - Javier Gonzalez
Two Lawyers - Elan Gershon and Miriam Maer
One "businessperson" - Johannah Brown
One Veternarian - Ruth Ewing
One Architect - Thorn Grafton of Zyscovich Architects

At least one of the developers has been building oversized "McMansions" in the Grove for a some time and has proposed "relaxing" the restrictions governing residential construction in the Grove. i.e. "reducing setbacks, increasing FAR (Buildable Area), increasing Height"  and the like. The "committee" is currently entertaining those suggestions.

The "businessperson" plans to compile a list of the restrictions that some builders find onerous and would like to see more flexibility with...."

Other items under consideration by this "select" committee are basically ways to make larger, taller (40' suggested)  and more omnipresent houses in the Grove easier for developers to build.

I object to this "committee" proposing Code Revisions to COMMISSIONER RUSSELL AND  the Miami City Commission on a number of grounds.

1.) Any review of the Zoning code MUST be done with the full knowledge and input of this community. Any process like this that will effect every Grove Resident must be OPEN, TRANSPARENT and INCLUSIVE..The manner in which this committee was formed, and is operating, does not meet those requirements.

2.) Any other review of the Zoning code MUST include knowledgeble professionals  such as Planners, Landscape Architects and Historic Preservationists, who know Coconut Grove, who possess a working knowledge of the Code, and can visualize and articulate the impact of any proposed changes to Grove Zoning.

3.) NO one on this committee should have a clear conflict of interest..i.e. developers and or Real Estate Sales people who's goals may conflict with that of the community.

4.) At this time from what I have learned the intent of at least some members of this "committee"  is to make the Grove a better place for "investment". I do not believe that to be the primary goal desired by the Grove residents I have spoken with..I do believe perserving the Residential Grove to the greatest extent possible and stopping overdevelopment is the real priority of this community.

5.) At this time I have yet to hear any cogent identification of where specific  "problems" exist in the Zoning Code..They committee has NOT identified what those "problems" are or who is affected by them..BUT this committee is now proposing solutions to those yet unidentified 
problems.  

I do not object to a review of Zoning. HOWEVER I believe that in order to address the problems and issues that so many of us are troubled by that any committee formed to do so, MUST do so with the involvement and consent of the community.

By way of this letter I ask Commissioner Russel to totally disavow this group or any proposed Zoning changes they may present, to him, or the City Commission.

Charles Corda
Coconut Grove

RESPONSE:

Charles Corda’s letter is wildly inaccurate. There is no "group" from which he or anyone else in being excluded. What he refers to is a handful of people mostly working on their own, as volunteers, who are studying the Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD) zoning overlays with the idea of making recommendations to Ken Russell's office and to the City’s Planning & Zoning department for making them better. Mr. Corda’s suggestion that this effort is developer-driven is fanciful. Andy Parrish, for instance, is looking at things like increasing set-backs and reducing FAR (floor-area ration) allowances; I am looking at ways to better promote the tree canopy and for ways to encourage historic preservation. And none of this is a secret. The commissioner’s staff and P&Z staff are aware of these efforts, and it has been announced at least twice in Village Council meetings. Javier Gonzalez, on behalf of the Council, sent out multiple emails requesting community input (we got quite a bit); and a lengthy letter was printed in the Grapevine in November explaining this project. Mr. Corda, in fact, was individually approached, in writing, not long ago asking for his ideas, as an architect, for making the NCDs better. He declined, choosing instead to pursue one of his wild conspiracy theories that sadly, have become his signature.

Ironically, Grove 2030 was founded as a vehicle for moving beyond the inane civic ranting that has long dominated the public discourse here, by giving people a meaningful opportunity to engage in substantive steps -- real action, like reworking the NCDs -- at making the Grove better. Visit us at Grove2030.org and on Facebook.

David Villano
Grove 2030