Countdown to Grovetoberfest

Grovetoberfest is back at Peacock Park in the Grove this fall. On Saturday, October 13, join all the beer lovers from 2 to 7 pm.

This year they'll have over 500 beers with the largest selection of local craft beer anywhere in the state. Your favorite features are back like to Kitchen Lab, games and live music. Don't miss the biggest and best craft beer festival in Florida.

BizBash Florida has consistently put the festival on their Top Events list, and The Wall Street Journal included it in their coverage of iconic things to do in Miami. Recently, Yelp! placed Grovetoberfest and its sister craft beer festival, Sprung!, on their list of Top Ten Festivals. 

Grovetoberfest continues to be one of the top craft beer festivals in the country and the top festival in Florida. Last year, it attracted 6,500 beer enthusiasts and hundreds of breweries offering over 400 different brews. Many beer companies have used Grovetoberfest as a launching pad for new beers and even new brew houses. “A lot of brewers working here in Miami started off at Grovetoberfest; either as homebrewers or breweries in planning. The festival was the first time for them to meet the masses, and that’s something we’re very proud of,” explained Tony Abello, organizer of the event.

Event is rain or shine. 

Tickets are $44 to $89. Purchase here.

Conflicting messages

This is how you are greeted at the front of CocoWalk these days. And if you follow them on social media, they are posting things that invite families out for a day of fun at CocoWalk.

But in reality, this is CocoWalk today. While there are a few businesses still open, most of it looks like this. All shops are not open. Most of the shops are in this demolition heap.

This is the sign on the window at Starbucks. They are closed until Friday, when they will open up across the street at their new location at the triangle at Main Highway and McFarlane Road.

This is inside the CocoWalk Starbucks location.

And this is the outside of the Starbucks location, or should I say former location at CocoWalk. Sign down. Closed.

This is CocoWalk for the next few years until the office building is complete and the stores are renovated. If you can of course, shop the businesses that are still there. Bring your hard hat.

Women's Happy Hour at the Mayfair Hotel

Women's Happy hour Monday is tomorrow, July 30 at the Mayfair Hotel.

This happy hour is the Last Monday of the Month, a standing date for women from all professional backgrounds to meet, network, share ideas, promote their businesses and endeavors, learn from featured speakers and enjoy happy hour cocktails and complimentary small bites in a relaxing, casual atmosphere.

It's free, and open to men, too.

Stop by the Lobby Bar from 5:30 to 8 pm.

The Mayfair Hotel and Spa is at 3000 Florida Avenue.

Join the effort to help the EAA reservoir project

Florida Bay Captains ask Governor Scott to Save EAA Reservoir Project.

Florida has declared a state of emergency regarding our water. Florida's crystal clear waters are turning to pea soup. It's a man-made crisis and can be fixed. The Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir is a vital addition to the Central Everglades Project (CEP). This project, which has been part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan since it's authorization by Congress in 2000, will reduce polluted discharges to Florida's coastal communities by nearly 54% while increasing critical freshwater flow to the Florida Keys. 

This solution must keep Floridians safe, while at the same time protecting the health of our marine ecosystems which are vital to our economy and way of life. We need immediate action on a long-term solution that will protect ALL Floridians.

Captains for Clean Water is a group that advances education, awareness and has scientifically supported solutions to restore and protect marine ecosystems for future generations. On July 9, 2018, they were behind a group effort that fired off messages to our Congress people and asked that bureaucratic red tape not stall the EAA reservoir project and it worked.

The Council on Environmental Quality and Army Corps of Engineers quickly sped up the process and sent the reservoir to Congress so it can be considered in the upcoming Senate vote on the Water Resources Development Act.

According to the Captains for Clean Water, "Florida is facing a significant water management crisis. Our state needs a long-term solution that will allow us to divert and clean the nutrient-laden fresh water currently killing estuaries on the East and West coasts, while not permitting high Lake Okeechobee levels to jeopardize the lives of those south of the lake. We need a solution to restore the natural sheet flow and provide much-needed, clean, fresh water to the Everglades, the South Florida aquifer and Florida Bay."

The Senate is expected to take up the authorization bill any day now. Not just Florida’s Senators- so your voice is needed now more than ever. Especially those of you who reside outside Florida. America’s Everglades is all of ours to protect.

Take action now and ask the U.S. Senate to authorize the EAA Reservoir. Check out this page for more info and see how to send a message to the Senate and more.

Or for more info, please email info@captainsforcleanwater.org 

Random thoughts . . .

A reader sent this in, do you have random thoughts? Send them, we'll keep you anonymous.

We keep building vertical “Cruise ships” and have been doing it for years (Grove Isle is the first one) and like ships we want to keep you “on board” to maximize profit (Maintenance fee) but We’ll take you to a cheesy island for a few hours and have you back on board before dinner.

Same with Offices, we need productivity so we need to keep you on site (on board) and happy with free food cause we can’t pay you.

Public transportation is dead as long as Ride Sharing is a “Thing," you need rich people to ride “public” and if they don’t, than only poor people go “public” and we’ll continue to subsidize.

Public land is just that “Public” and to give it away is a crime, District 2's yes vote could go down as the worst thing to happen to City since Marlins Fiasco.

BTW NO ONE will support an MLS team…….Miami Fans are “Nationalist," not some two bit Minor league fans.

Over 15 of the 40 Historic designated properties are appealing to undo designation and of the 25 others, it’s just because the owners don’t know the process or else they would bail also.

Cant wait till they dig up Bayshore, think things are bad now just wait for that shit show.

Reyes is the best Commissioner as of right now.

Fees waived for appealing historic designation

Earlier this month, Miami's HEP Board (Historic and Environmental Preservation Board) declared 40 wooden shotgun homes in Village West as historic.

Not all homeowners are happy, as they feel their hands are tied when it comes to selling the homes or restoring and/or fixing up the homes. Many of the homeowners are appealing the decision. The due date for the appeals is August 8, 2018. 

On Thursday, the City Commission unanimously passed an emergency ordinance which waives all fees and costs for the homeowners who wish to appeal the designation which is under the experimental "Wood Frame Residences of Coconut Grove Village West Multiple Property Designation." The appeals could cost a minimum of $10,000.

The emergency ordinance was drawn up and Mayor Francis Suarez signed it on the spot.
Frank Schnidman, attorney representing 16 of the appellants says, "As we move forward, it will be important to lay the foundation for a Section 1983 Civil Rights cause of action so that in the event that there is a law suit, as hopefully the prevailing party, we will be able to be awarded legal fee reimbursement against the City. I will also be laying the foundation for a potential 'disparate Impact”' challenge, made possible because of the substantial difference in provision of incentives for historic preservation of the white residents and investors in the MiMo/Biscayne area of the City of Miami and historic 'Negro District' as the City used to call the area, and now calls it 'Village West.' "

Originally, the HEP Boards report stated: "These homes in Village West are associated with the overall establishment and continued settlement of the area by black Bahamians, African-Americans from the South and their descendants. The homes are associated with the early history and development of Coconut Grove."

During the late 1800s, a mass immigration from the Bahamas to the US occurred. Criteria for designation of the houses as being historic included the historical nature of the houses, including cultural, political, economic and social trends in the community; they must portray an environment in an era of history and embody distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, period or method of construction.

Here in the dropbox is info on the existing wooden homes.

The Iguanas are at Berries on Saturday

The Iguanas are performing live at Berries in the Grove on Saturday, July 28 from 7 to 11 pm. Stop by and enjoy dinner and free entertainment.

The Iguanas are John Holcombe, Fred Hsia and Eric Wagner — with the amazing Jack Stamates on violin (you’ve heard Jack with Celtic Mayhem, Shakira, J Lo, the Rambling String Band and many more) and the rock steady Jay Drake on drums (you’ve heard Jay with Don Moen, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Andrae Crouch, Causeway and many more).

Berries is at 2884 SW 27 Avenue.

Forcing office workers to go out for lunch

I read an interesting story in the San Francisco Chronicle regarding tech companies and their in-house cafes/cafeterias.

From the article: "In an attempt to attract employees to local restaurants and businesses, Supervisors Ahsha Safaí and Aaron Peskin are co-sponsoring an ordinance that would ban 'employee cafeterias' from new office buildings in the city. This comes as local retailers, particularly those downtown, complain of a drop in business as more companies offer their workers meals in private corporate cafeterias, Safaí said."

The reason the story stuck out to me was because I had a conversation last week with a Grove restaurant owner. I mentioned that business must be up and will be up with all the new office buildings in the Grove. He told me that it wasn't the case. I told him I see so many people out and about at lunch time, I often ask, "Where did all these people come from?" If you stand in front of CocoWalk most weekdays, there are many people walking up and down the streets.

I was told that the people are from the many offices in the Grove but that they are not eating in the restaurants, they are probably out just stretching their legs.

I know that there are cafes in the tech offices here because they are easily seen, most right near the office entrances. And I assume the new offices going up at the Oak Street Garage location and the space next to Greenstreet will also have their own kitchens and cafes, as that is the way things are now, gone are the rooms with a vending machine, now it's all about catering to the workers where gyms, cafes and game rooms are part of today's office. In the past, food trucks were brought in as treats for the workers.

I'm not sure how this law would work in San Francisco, or if it is even legal. How can you keep people from eating and serving food in their own offices and buildings.

I'm wondering how it works here. Are office workers not spending money in the Grove? I know of some people who go out for lunch every day, I see them, so many people eat in the same spots out of habit, including myself. And I also see small groups that seem to be out for lunch, every day at the same time I see them out and about going to a different location each day. If this is not the case and they are only out stretching their legs, it seems that the new offices are only benefiting the developers and they are not bringing anything to the village except more traffic and less parking spaces.

Any comments from those who work in these tech places where cafes are present? Do you go out and eat in Grove restaurants or do you stay in the office and eat free?

Related story: Facebook banned from providing free lunch to employees

Village Council meets Monday

The Village Council invites the community to attend its monthly meeting, to be held Monday, July 30, at 6:30 pm, at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive. 

The agenda includes:

- Tree appeal 3376 Perry-Frow
- Outcome of the West Grove multiple property designations
- Playhouse update
- “Go Fund Me” for Village Council donations from community
- Criteria for Tree Appeals

Coffee With A Cop at the new Starbucks

The "new" Starbucks will be at its new location earlier than expected. They will be open on Friday, August 3 at 3400 Main Highway, which is at the triangle at Main Highway, McFarlane Road and Grand Avenue. And to celebrate, they are having "Coffee With A Cop," from 4 to 6 pm.

Stop by and meet our local police officers and check the new Starbucks out.

Next Chamber networker is at LnS Gallery

The Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce is having  a networker filled with art, wine and small bites at the LnS Gallery on Thursday, July 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

The LnS Gallery (which stands for Luisa Lignarolo and Sergio Cernuda) is located at 2610 SW 28 Lane.

Artists currently on view are John William Bailly, Jennifer Basile, Tomas Sanchez, Alexandre Arrechea and so many more.

General admission is $20, members pay $15.

Get your tickets here.

'Resonation' an evening of musical theater

The oldest club in Miami is presenting the newest work, when "Resonation," an evening of musical theater is presented at the Woman's Club of Coconut Grove in association with True Mirage Theater.

With selections from its festival of new work, True Mirage Theater brings a full program of songs from seven never-heard before musicals by composers from all over the county.

Resonation is a journey of Miami’s history told through an eclectic mix of live music, ranging from classical to contemporary styles and performed by an ensemble of well-known South Florida vocal and stage performers under the stage direction of Darcy Hernandez-Gil and musical direction of Priscilla Blanco.

Experience this special presentation on Friday, August 17 at 7 pm at the Woman's Club. Following the performance will be a brief Q&A where audience members will have an opportunity to hear about the composers, meet the artists, give feedback to the True Mirage Theater company, and socialize over light fare and cash bar.

Tickets are currently on sale on-line at truemiragetheater.com/events/resonation

Online tickets will guarantee a confirmed seat.
Tickets will also be sold "At the Door" on a first come, first serve basis.

Adults $12
Seniors $10
Veterans $5
Students $5

The Woman's Club is at 2985 South Bayshore Drive.

It's an obstacle course out there

Please be advised of the following temporary lane closures from 9am-4pm Monday through Friday. Flagmen are stationed at each location to allow for movement in each direction; one lane at a time:

 Main Highway:

The southbound lane of Main Highway just past Commodore Plaza will be closed through August to perform drainage work associated with the project located at 3480 Main Highway.

Florida Avenue; Rice Street; Oak Avenue:

Portions of the westbound lanes of Florida and Oak Avenues, along with a portion of the southbound lane on Rice Street will be temporarily closed through Friday, July 27th to perform underground utility work.

Please note these timelines are established barring any unforeseen issues and weather permitting.

Lots of memories at this location

I usually don't post summer closings, but I've received quite a few emails asking about BoHo, the restaurant at Main Highway at Fuller Street. They are closed for the summer, they will open again September 3.

Photo courtesy of the Herald

I found it interesting because this week I saw this photo of Coconuts, the shoe store floating around. It was taken in 1988. This was in that BoHo space in the 1980s. I love the photo because I created that logo! The Coconuts logo.


Every time I would pass by I would point to it and say, "I did that!"

I had a client who was a bag company, you know, they designed and sold paper bags and boxes to stores, so when you purchase something, that's the bag you would put the merchandise in. They gave me the info for Coconuts and I put it together with whatever went on the bag, I guess the name and address and phone number. They didn't have a logo so I sort of whipped this up quickly. It's simple, but they apparently liked it. It was on the store and their front windows for so many years.

I remember another time I called out, "I did that! I did that!" People looked at me like I was crazy, we were at a meeting about 10 years ago, I think it was a merchants meeting at the Glass House and someone held up the old Grapevine in the Grove newspaper, also from the 1980s. I used to typeset and lay that out. I hadn't seen it for years and when someone held it up to prove a point about something, I got excited and started yelling. 

Candidates meet for debate at St. Stephen's

Candidate Donna Shalala meets the public

All five Democratic candidates for US House of Representatives seat for district 27, which will be left vacant by Illiana Ros-Lehtinen, met for a debate at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on Thursday night.

Matt Haggman, Michael Hepburn, David Richardson, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and Donna Shalala explained their views on various topics from abolishing ICE, health care, immigration reform, citizenship for Dreamers, the environment and more, including "the wall," and Trump.

Adriana Rivera, candidate Michael Hepburn, Juan Godoy, Sebasatian Godoy

Donna Shalala was critizized for selling off the land near the zoo for a Wal-Mart, David Richardson was very passionate about the environment but was critizized for taking money from the sugar industry. Matt Haggman is very passionate about one Dreamer who he met through the Knight Foundation, where Matt was the former director, who is now a student at Harvard University.

Matt Haggman meets the public

Photos by Rafael Gutierrez

Commissioner Russell's take on the Melreese vote

For a guy whose political career began with a park, it may ironically end because of a park. I reached out to our Commissioner Ken Russell and asked him for an explanation for his vote regarding the Melreese Golf Course. I know many people are upset about his vote; he had the power at the Commission meeting and should have stood up to the Beckham group and Jorge Mas, they are bullies. Once the door was open, regarding private development, or any development in the city parks, it will be a disaster for years go come.

The District Commissioner's wishes should be respected, there was a reason Willy Gort and the neighbors who live next to the park don't want over-development in the park. One day, when Ken wants something for the Grove, we may not get the votes from the other commissioners since apparently the district commissioner's wishes don't count now. And the whole thing seemed like a show, because the outcome is so predictable in Miami. Just once we thought we had a hero, someone standing up for the wishes of the community, but it's business as usual.

This project is a huge project, it's not just a soccer stadium, the stadium is now accompanied by 96 businesses, a 500 room hotel, which is now 750 room and if Commissioner Joe Carollo has his way, 1000 rooms or more;  a conference center, a shopping mall and 400,000 square feet of office space and a minimum of 5000 parking spaces.  All this in a public park. At the entrance to the airport. 

The Beckham group is taking advantage of residents and the city commission and the mayor, making fools of all the taxpayers. It's not about soccer. It's about selling off/renting off valuable city owned green space. Voters will most likely vote in favor of the project in November because they will be fed a load of lies from now until then, telling them it will reduce taxes and bring soccer to Miami. They will be told that the park/golf course did not turn a profit, even though parks are not meant to turn a profit. It won't explained how they commandeered public park land to build a hotel, offices and a mall, because according to Commissioner Joe Carollo, the City of Miami needs a mall like Dadeland (his words), in this age of online shopping and dying malls. When one day condos, restaurants or offices start appearing in our local parks in Coconut Grove, you can remember this was the tipping point.

Here's Ken's explanation.

Hi Neighbors,

It was a tough vote this week at a special City Commission meeting regarding the Beckham group’s proposal.  From the hundreds of emails I’ve received, I know that many are happy, many are disappointed, and many just want more details. To start with, let me clarify what was approved at Commission yesterday.  We did not approve a soccer stadium. The commission voted to place an item on this November’s ballot asking voters if they want this or not. Specifically, asking if residents want the City of Miami to negotiate with the Beckham group to convert 130 acres of what is currently the Melreese Country Club near the airport into an approximately 60 acre open space Central Park, and a 70 acre development including a soccer stadium with restaurant, retail, hotel, and tech hub office complex. It’s a lot.  It’s a lot of potential development, but also the largest potential free and open park that the city has ever had. The potential development also includes a multi story driving range and 12 open public soccer fields. Theoretically, the ancillary commercial development would fund the stadium and green space allowing for no cost to Miami but rather a revenue stream and fair market rent. As the Beckham Group holds the only franchise with Major League Soccer to build a stadium in Miami, the ballot question also asks voters if the city should waive its normal procurement process to negotiate a lease directly with this group. Competitive bidding is mandatory in our charter but can and has been waived in the past through voter referendum. To complicate issues, the current golf course sits on deeply contaminated soil and is home to the very effective children’s golf charity, The First Tee. 

I am not here to defend or promote the intended project. I voted to put this forward to the voters so that they can decide what to do with their property.  I stand by my vote, but it was a very difficult decision. I would not allow this on the ballot unless I believed that it was a viable option that the public could consider. The status quo of the country club is of course a viable option as well. 

In last week’s meeting, the public and the Commission got their first in-depth look at the proposal. It was not good enough. The public outreach had been lacking, the financials of the deal were light, and the risk to green space was unclear. I had been receiving concerns from many residents and I vocalized those concerns in a specific list of demands that would need to be met and formalized in a term sheet before I could consider putting the proposal to the voters. I requested a special follow up Commission Meeting yesterday and asked for these commitments:

No Net Loss to Parks and Green Space. Although a tremendous amount of new park space and open soccer fields would be created on site, any commercial development on site would have to yield equivalent new park or green spaces throughout the city — All at the Beckham Group’s cost and responsibility.

Preservation and enhancement of the First Tee program that mentors children and builds character through golf and education. This would have to be done on site at the proposed driving range and classrooms and at neighboring 18-hole golf courses including Miami Springs Golf Course which is less than four miles away.

The City of Miami would not be responsible for any of the cost of the development, stadium, and Central Park, including no city of Miami money for any of the contamination remediation — no matter how bad it gets.

The Beckham Group would pay better than fair market value for the property. In addition to a base rent of $3.5 million per year as valued by independent appraisals, I requested the greater of that or 5% of all gross revenue earned on site by the Beckham group and affiliates, plus 1% of all capital transactions.  When they make money, the city would make money as well.

A living wage of no less than $15/hr for ALL employees on site.  They expect approximately 1400 permanent on-site jobs so this was an important one for me and has never been done in a non-subsidized stadium complex deal.  This includes groundskeepers, janitors, ticket takers, and everyone. For the employees of third party tenants that they would sub-lease to, I suggested a stepped increase over four years from $11 to $15.

By yesterday, the Beckham Group had agreed to every one of these concessions so I am comfortable with this proposal going before the voters.  There is a long way to go for this to become a reality though, so I remain skeptical on behalf of the residents who have been burned in stadium deals before. If the voters approve the concept, the city would negotiate a detailed lease that would come back to City Commission. A complete traffic study and analysis of green space impact and public outreach campaign would all need to happen before I would consider voting on that lease.

I’d like to thank everyone for their passionate advocacy for and against this project. I do not know if it will happen, but I do know that it is yours to decide. 

Your commissioner,
Ken Russell,
Coconut Grove

BID and Barnacle Society present movies in the park

Bring your blankets and chairs for summer evenings of movie watching under the stars along beautiful Biscayne Bay. 

Enjoy Disney favorites and comedic classics. Movies in the Park are sponsored by the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District, and admission is free.

Friday, July 27 – Coco (2017). Rated PG. Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer. Note: This event features a Day of the Dead costume contest! Come dressed up to be entered in the contest and win fun prizes!

Friday, August 24 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Rated PG-13. Rey develops her newly
discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares for battle with the First Order.

Friday, September 28 – Meet the Fockers (2004) Rated PG-13. Newly engaged Greg and Pam join Pam's straitlaced family on an RV trip to Miami to meet Greg's eccentric parents.

Gates open at 8:00 pm, movies begin at 8:30 pm.

Freebee shuttle service will be provided before and after the event to and from
neighboring parking lots and garages. Bicycle valet will also be available provided by Bike
Coconut Grove. 

The Barnacle is located at 3485 Main Highway.

Was there ever any doubt?

Miami residents will vote in November on whether to authorize the City to negotiate an agreement for the development of Miami Freedom Park, the proposed home of David Beckham's MLS team in the City of Miami. Commissioners voted Wednesday in favor of holding a referendum.

Commission Chairman Keon Hardemon, Vice Chairman Ken Russell and District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo voted in favor. District 1 Commissioner Wifredo "Willy" Gort and District 4 Commissioner Manolo Reyes voted against.

It was believe that Ken would vote no, as the swing vote, but apparently he feels that renting out city parkland is the way to go.

There is a lawsuit which was filed early Wednesday, which states that the city is breaking its own laws by not sending the project out for bidding.

Also, there is that nasty business of the park being toxic.

Village West homes declared historic

One of the original houses on Hibiscus Street.

Miami's HEP Board (Historic and Environmental Preservation Board) declared about 40 wooden shotgun homes in Village West as historic at a meeting on Tuesday, which means they cannot be destroyed and they are now part of the historic record of South Florida.

These homes are part of Coconut Grove history -the first homes built in the Grove from the earliest days. 

Not all homeowners are happy, as they feel their hands are tied when it comes to selling the homes or restoring and/or fixing up the homes. 

So much of the rest of Coconut Grove has been destroyed or built over, if only this was part of the whole village starting maybe 40 years ago, the Grove would be a totally different place today.

Hopefully this new designation will have the developers on the run. They can't destroy Coral Gables and other parts of the county, so they come to Coconut Grove to do their damage.

Historic homes and districts have traditionally had higher values than other parts of cities. The City of Miami will work with homeowners so as not to burden them by owning these historic homes now.

An original house on historic Charles Avenue.

From a HEP Board report: "These homes in Village West are associated with the overall establishment and continued settlement of the area by black Bahamians, African-Americans from the South and their descendants. The homes are associated with the early history and development of Coconut Grove."

During the late 1800s, a mass immigration from the Bahamas to the US occurred. Criteria for designation of the houses as being historic included the historical nature of the houses, including cultural, political, economic and social trends in the community; they must portray an environment in an era of history and embody distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, period or method of construction. A few were dropped from the list at Tuesday's meeting, the the majority made the cut.

In Center Grove is being destroyed by over-development, let's hope the neighborhoods can now have some sort of limitations when it comes to over-development.

Here in the dropbox is info on the existing wooden homes.

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Miami Memories; the early years

Bring your historic photographs to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens on Monday, July 23 for a public scanning event. The Miami Herald has partnered with local historical societies, universities, and the Miami-Dade County community on a new hardcover pictorial history book, “Miami Memories: The Early Years.”

The community is invited to participate in this unique project by bringing photos taken in the Miami-Dade County area between 1800 and 1939 to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens on Monday, July 23, 2018 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Photos will be scanned on-site and returned immediately. A simple photo submission form is required for each photo (maximum 10 photos per family). Forms and submission guidelines are available at Miami.PictorialBook.com or may be picked up at The Miami Herald (3511 NW 91 Avenue).

The July 23, 5:00 pm session at Vizcaya will be held in the Mechanic’s Shop in Vizcaya Village, located at 3250 South Miami Avenue. Additional sessions will be held at other area historical organizations from July 24 through July 29 and can be found at pediment.com.

Democratic debate for House of Rep seat

Residents of Coconut Grove are welcome to a US Congressional debate regarding the US House of Representatives seat for district 27, which will be left vacant by Illiana Ros-Lehtinen.

The debate is Thursday, July 19 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church from 6:30 to 9 pm.

Hear the five Democratic candidates and their views: Matt Haggman, Michael Hepburn, David Richardson, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and Donna Shalala. The debate is moderated by Michael Putney.

St. Stephen's is at 2750 McFarlane Road.

Look at the *!?#$% sidewalks!

Granted, the Grove is under renovation and it is a total mess, but so much of it doesn't need to be. Look at this here. Recently, for weeks, if not months, the sidewalks were repaired and replaced on Grand Avenue. Right here in front of the former Johnny Rockets location, the workers took a couple of weeks to make the sidewalk beautiful. The did a wonderful job, but look at it now.

This is the result of fiber optics being added underground. This is how the sidewalks were left after the phone company did its thing.

I'm not quite sure why the City of Miami's Office of Zoning didn't step in, assuming there were permits for the sidewalk repair and the fiber optics job and why they didn't coordinate the two jobs so that they could be done in the proper order. Just more incompetence from our City's Zoning and Permit departments.

And here on Main Highway, while the sidewalks were not renovated yet, this is how they left the job after their work. This is how the fiber optics idiots left things. Look at the manhole or whatever that thing is left open.

Look at the mess. The Main Highway project may not be done for another year or two or who knows how long. So is this the state of the Main Highway sidewalks for the next two years?

We have new businesses coming in here, like the Fireman Derek's Pie Shop. Is this how the new gleaming business will welcome guests? I was just in New York where I walked on 200 year old cobblestone streets that do not look this bad.

And here, a pile of bricks was left - right here on Main Highway. Can you see this happening in Coral Gables or Key Biscayne or Brickell?  This is not acceptable. 

Lack of communication is the issue. There are two different permit departments, utilities go through a separate department than the sidewalk repairs. Some of the work was permitted not all of it. Utilities have a lot of leniency because they use "emergency" as an excuse.  I spoke with Nicole Singletary, Coconut Grove BID director, and she is livid, she's reached out to the city and the companies involved to ask them why this was all left like this. The company that installed the fiber optics is Bore Tech. I reached out to them asking them if this mess is how they leave every completed job site. No response yet. Along with Bore Tech, Draft Pros is installing the fiber optics.  Sloppy pigs, both of them.

Preserving the old wooden houses

Photo by Harry Gottlieb

People are already getting into it regarding the old wooden homes in Village West.

This image is in the McFarlane Homestead, which is sort of in Village West, but it's in the Coral Gables section, where they preserve the homes.

It's true that if the homes become historic in Coconut Grove, that the homeowners will be hindered in what they can do with the properties and also might have problems selling the homes. Developers pay top dollar and maybe that's the solution. Perhaps the city can have first rights of refusal for the properties, so if and when the homeowner might want to sell, the city has first rights to purchase and they have to pay a decent price, a price that a developer would pay.

I'm not sure how that would be figured, but it would be fair and the house would be preserved. The city can then renovate the house and rent it out or something like that.

These houses are a big part of Coconut Grove's history and they should be preserved.

About the Melreese Park/Soccer scam

This Melreese Park/Soccer issue  speaks volumes about our city leaders and our parks. And it does affect Coconut Grove.

I like that our district commissioner Ken Russell's swing vote delayed the approval of the plan to move forward. It's all outlined here in the story about the meeting. Commissioners Willy Gort and Manolo Reyes also had reservations. Now if we can just get Ken and the rest to stop the whole project. Giving away public land for private enterprise is a terrible idea.

I was confused about our Mayor Francis Suarez who seemed to be pushing the project which to me should be out of his hands. I didn't understand why he was at the commission meeting and why he was pushing so hard for a deal, but then I read Al Crespo's blog and it's quite clear - Suarez is in the pockets of the Mas family and the Beckham group, they are helping fund his bid for strong mayor - a sure signal that we should vote NO for strong mayor.

I'm not sure how Crespo's blog works and how long the story will be there, but it is required reading and I recommend you read the whole scam story here.

You can tell they all rehearsed their parts because David Beckham, Jorge Mas and Francis Suarez all had the same story of how they grew up loving soccer to a loving family and how two of them grew up and played at local schools and sports fields, etc. Sob stories that have nothing to do with handing over public land to private enterprise. All stories meant to throw off the gullible voting public.

Commissioner Keon Hardemon's aunt, Barbara Hardeomon is a paid lobbyist for Beckham's MLS group, and as he stands there and puts on his act as being this great statesman, he should be removing himself from the process due to this fact.

Keep in mind this is not about soccer, this is about the city being scammed by the Mas family and David Beckham and his group. They want to turn a city owned park into a huge complex, not just a soccer stadium. The stadium is now accompanied by 96 businesses, a 500 room hotel, which is now 750 room and if Commissioner Joe Carollo has his way, 1000 rooms;  a conference center, retail and 400,000 square feet of office space and 3750 parking spaces.  All this in a public park. At the entrance to the airport. If you thought you were rushed to get to your plane now, wait till you have to sit in traffic before or after a soccer game.

And on top of all this, the neighbors who live adjacent to the park, do not want the project in their front yards.

This project needs to go elsewhere. And the Mayor needs to sit down. Opening any city parks to development should never be allowed. 

Giralda Plaza shows off colorful Umbrella Sky

Umbrella Sky is now part of Giralda Plaza in Coral Gables.

 I've seen this project online over the years and thought this would be perfect for Fuller Street or the Mayfair Promenade in the Grove. It consists of hundreds of colorful umbrellas hanging over the plaza. The Umbrella Project was presented to the pubic at a ceremony on Friday night.

The umbrellas will sway over Giralda Plaza until the end of summer.

Coral Gables is the first city in South Florida and the third city in the U.S. to host the Umbrella Sky art project, an internationally recognized public art display that has taken part in Paris and Lisbon.

“This captivating art project is a great example of our commitment to increase art and cultural experiences in the City Beautiful,” said Coral Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli. “Umbrella Sky will undoubtedly drive more people into our downtown, but we hope they stay to dine and shop while here.”

Umbrella Sky is the creation of Portuguese Company, Sextafeira, which means Friday in Portuguese.

Bring back the right turn lane on Bird Avenue

You would think with all the construction and all the traffic added to the Grove that the city would make navigating the streets easier, not harder. I still don't understand the purpose of getting rid of the right turn lane at Bird and McDonald for this planter.

This past week traffic was backed up in the one lane from McDonald to Matilda and beyond because two lanes are now one. The need to remove this less than smart planter feature and add the right turn lane back. This is a main artery, it needs as many lanes as possible.