Miami Herald on Virginia Key Master Plan to be reviewed tonight. By Fran Bohnsack

I usually think Andreas Viggluci writes clearly and well, but today's piece on Virginia Key in The Miami Herald is not up to his usual standard of analysis. I think the EDSA revision is improved, but still top heavy, and I am concerned that simply changing the name of something proposed in the original plan doesn't necessarily indicate what is intimately going to be built.

There is still concern about a hotel sneaking in, for example, either at the Virginia Key Beach Trust, or at the North Point. Also, under Miami 21 - the zoning atlas actually zones the Marine Stadium basin edge as T-6-8, which is defined as urban core, one of the highest and most dense uses in the city. This would pave the way for intensive commercial development around the basin. There are still no answers about EDSA's original proposed system of governance for the island (read developers and realtors). UEL will attempt to find answers to these questions and others, and will post them here. Stay tuned.

The Miami Herald says:

 Gone are the proposed mountain-bike and BMX trails, along with the spa building, the corporate retreat center, the aquatic center and most -- though not all -- of the hulking parking garages that gave critics of the Virginia Key master plan fits.

A significantly pared-down blueprint for the battered but ecologically rich island's makeover is now set for review Monday by the city's waterfront advisory board, before a Thursday vote at the city commission.

The Miami Herald said about our Planning Meeting:

But critics of the plan -- who held an alternative planning session last week in Virginia Key, with 100 people in attendance -- said that the revised version, while greener, still raises numerous concerns.

"I think we've come a long way. They listened, because they had to,'' said parks activist Greg Bush. "But it's still a hodgepodge. It needs to be pulled together better.''