Saving the Grove's Village West History

There is an issue on Historic Preservation that will be voted on during the City of Miami commission meeting Thursday, which is sponsored by Commissioner Ken Russell.

SR.4 – This ordinance would amend Chapter 23 of the City Code to allow for historic designation of multiple properties. Currently the code only allows for historic designation of individual homes or creation of historic districts. This code change would create a mechanism for preserving multiple historic properties that share common element.

Ken wants to preserve historic homes such as the shotgun homes in Village West. “The Grove has a lot of historic homes being lost,” he says.

The amendment states: “This amendment will establish provisions whereby a group of thematically-related significant properties can be nominated for historic designation by the use of a streamlined alternative to historic district designation as only eligible thematically-related resources are surveyed."

Ken would like the city to look for property opportunities for construction of affordable housing. He also feels that the expansion of the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Area) to the Village West would be a good idea.