We need to follow St. Petersburg's lead
Last week, St. Petersburg, FL residents won a big victory against over-development. The City Council voted unanimously to use a new Floor Area Ratio (FAR) calculation to control the size, mass and scale and design of new construction.
They have NT-2 and NT-3 neighborhoods, similar to our NCD3 and NCD2 districts.
St. Pete residents got involved and fought for this. They fought for the character of their neighborhoods.
The proposed FAR was 0.50, which means that a new house cannot take up more than 50% of the property, but there are some exceptions.
From a Tampa Bay Times article: "Builders are coming in and tearing down these homes," City Council member Charlie Gerdes said. "If we allow that to continue, the very character of the neighborhood that was attractive to that builder isn't going to exist anymore. I want to make sure we do everything we can to preserve the magic."
Touche.
To show how out of place these big white boxes are next to smaller single story homes, the Tampa Bay Times shows a photo with the rest of the story of this great news from St. Pete.
They have NT-2 and NT-3 neighborhoods, similar to our NCD3 and NCD2 districts.
St. Pete residents got involved and fought for this. They fought for the character of their neighborhoods.
The proposed FAR was 0.50, which means that a new house cannot take up more than 50% of the property, but there are some exceptions.
From a Tampa Bay Times article: "Builders are coming in and tearing down these homes," City Council member Charlie Gerdes said. "If we allow that to continue, the very character of the neighborhood that was attractive to that builder isn't going to exist anymore. I want to make sure we do everything we can to preserve the magic."
Touche.
To show how out of place these big white boxes are next to smaller single story homes, the Tampa Bay Times shows a photo with the rest of the story of this great news from St. Pete.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article163436533.html
LETTER TO EDITOR
GROVE IN DANGER OF LOOSING IT’S CHARM
July 25, 2017
Re the July 23 story “Local residents revolt over tree-devouring ‘white boxes’ invading neighborhood:”
A few years ago, the trend was to build faux Mediterranean houses and duplexes. Now it seems the trend is for Big White Contemporary Boxes.
Our neighborhoods are looking more like medical complexes and doctors’ offices.
This is a sad turn of events that has been going on far too long. It is taking its toll on Coconut Grove by undermining its charm, uniqueness, and history. It is happening because the Grove lost the right to be its own municipality in 1925 and was never able to regain it.
Even though we are one of the oldest neighborhoods in South Florida, we have never sought historical registration like that of Morningside, Buena Vista and other communities. We don’t have an architectural design board to help preserve our village.
It also seems as if Miami’s Planning and Zoning Department, as well as a few city commissioners, are more supportive of developers.
Unless we agree to establish historic registration in some parts of Coconut Grove and establish some kind of design board, we shall continue to be homogenized and will become indistinguishable from other monotonous and cookie-cutter neighborhoods.
The next battles will decide the fate of the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse.
Most Grovites, preservationists and architects want it restored to its once-glorious condition and opened for world-class plays on an ample stage.
Unfortunately, it seems that Miami-Dade County hired the firm of Architectonica to only preserve the facade and to build a new structure with a huge parking garage and even more unnecessary condos.
Once again, Grovites will have to take a stand and speak truth to power in order to preserve what remains of our Coconut Grove.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb, Coconut Grove
It appears that our zoning already has a low ratio.
T3R, single family, in Coconut Grove, current zoning is as follows:
MIn. lot size = 5,000 SF
Lot width: 50'
50% max. first floor
Lot coverage: 30% second floor.
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