Proposed Playhouse Demolition/Redevelopment Plan

Resident Sam Dobrow put this primer together regarding next week's Coconut Grove Playhouse meeting.

This item is the first item on the HEPB agenda on March 5 at City Hall. There is expected to be significant public commentary. Please review the plan documents so your public comments can be an informed comment. Comments made by people who are obviously not informed have little influence on the decision. http://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2235 This is the big document with all the ugly details: http://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=10318 Don't be overwhelmed with the volume of the document. Here are the highlights: 1. Notice the waivers exceeding zoning parameters on page 290-291 and 302 further destroying green space in the Grove, increasing non-pervious surfaces creating drainage issues, and increasing the maximum allowable size of the building on the land. The destruction of green space will also create a heat dome for the retail space making the use of outdoor space undesirable. NOTE THAT THE PLAN CAN NOT BE BUILT WITHOUT THESE WAIVERS TO THE EXISTING MIAMI ZONING ORDINANCES. As a side note, not only does this plan go against the City Zoning guidelines of MIAMI21, it completely circumvents the NDC2 guidelines which are supposed to further protect Coconut Grove from this type of excessive development. 2. Page 379 and 387 shows that the project is really about building a huge parking lot and office building without adequate planning for the vehicular traffic. How will the traffic affect neighborhoods on Charles, Williams, and surrounding residential properties at rush hour (see page 376)? 3. The only part of the playhouse that is preserved is the front facade (page 388 and 391), which is turned into an isolated strip mall, too small to be viable for retail foot traffic. The design is a make over of the failed Cocowalk interior courtyard shopping center on a smaller scale attached to a performance venue vs a movie theater. 4. The small theater is nothing more than a glorified 300 seat high school auditorium, unsuitable for professional touring theater groups (page 397). 5. Page 384, 392, and 393 shows the monolithic elevation of the parking lot which overwhelms the landscape and the greenspace of which the Grove is characteristically known for. Just looking at the renderings it is obvious that this is a plan for a heat dome in Coconut Grove. Pure ugliness! 6. Page 395 shows a modern "office style" building replacing the historic playhouse. The building looks like it belongs on a school campus not in the historically significant village of Coconut Grove. Consider this alternative vision (which Sam will present during public comments) that preserves the culture of the Grove and the history of the Playhouse: http://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=10452