Miami Beach Parking Problems

In yesterday's Miami Herald, Daniel Shoer Roth wrote about the parking shortage on Miami Beach and the impact on the Beach's residents. He quoted activist and longtime friend of the Urban Environment League, Frank Del Vecchio:

"The problem is not development but the failure to regulate development."

The article says:

One culprit for the decline in quality of life is what urban planners call "intensity of use.'' Take, for example, a 150-room hotel. By Miami Beach code, it must have one parking space per room. But one day, looking for additional revenue, the hotel opens a nightclub with a capacity of hundreds of customers. The hotel has no obligation to provide more parking.

Dinner to Honor William Cary, Head of the Department of Preservation of Miami Beach

A group of Miami Beach preservationists have organized a dinner to honor William Cary to be held on January 19. Details are in the invitation below. Please join us!

William's most recent significant accomplishment is providing leadership for the recently approved Morris Lapidus Historic District, which includes the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc Hotels. The story needs to be told:without William's dedication, persistence, and courage, these iconic landmarks would have been demolished or severely altered.

Since William's arrival in Miami Beach, he has definitely been the most important "preservationist" in town. Through his efforts-and the efforts of the members of the very excellent Planning Department of Miami Beach, such as Jorge Gomez, Tom Mooney, Joyce Meyers, Deborah Tackett, Katia Hirsh and Gary Held, numerous other historic districts such as the North Shore Resort District, the Collins Avenue Waterfront District have been created.

Most recently, the City of Miami Beach Planning Department got approval for two new Federal Register Historic Districts-the North Shore Historic District and Normandy Isles Historic District. These districts, which are both in North Beach, predominantly feature MiMo residential architecture. The Districts collectively include 676 structures, and rival in size the Deco District of South Beach.

It is sometimes easy to criticize government. But when good things are done by hard working people, we should recognize that. Please join us to celebrate William's outstanding achievements.

Former UEL Board Member, Gabrielle Redfern, Makes the Miami Beach Runoff.

We are proud to announce that one of our former Board Members is in a run-off for the Group 3 race in Miami Beach against Michael Gongora. We wish them both luck in the election that will be held on November 17th. Redfern did receive the Miami Herald endorsement.

Enjoy some culture with "Sleepless Night" in Miami Beach

From 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2009, until 7:00 a.m. the next morning, Miami Beach will stay up all night with more than 150 free arts and entertainment events presented at 80 different locations throughout the city. It is called Sleepless Night. You can find all the activities at this link.

Over 100,000 people of all ages will enjoy free museum admissions, indoor and outdoor art installations and performances, architectural tours, dance (and dancing,) theater, music, slam poetry, film, video, fashion, acrobatics, comedy and more, including several unique collaborations and South Florida and world premieres. The City of Miami Beach collaborates with every cultural institution in the city, and with numerous other organizations, businesses and individuals to ensure that Audi Sleepless Night includes all aspects and points of view of what we collectively call “the arts.” Free shuttle buses with onboard arts programming connect the four zones of activity and remote parking for the full 13-hour night.

Miami Beach Residents will get Public Access to Baywalk

In a stunning victory for public access, the Flamingo Condominium has agreed to provide access to its baywalk. Miami Herald reporter Andres Viglucci said:

What does it take to open a two-block stretch of public baywalk in Miami Beach? Apparently a battalion of attorneys, a convoluted and costly court case that alleges fibbing by a well-known architect and a prominent lawyer, and a peeved federal judge.

Twelve years after the developers of the Flamingo South Beach residential complex on Biscayne Bay seemingly promised Beach residents a public baywalk in exchange for permits to build a massive tower, they have finally agreed to open it.

But it took more than a year of litigation, with at least seven lawyers on each side, after the developers balked at opening the baywalk, contending they thought the city wanted a private promenade. The Flamingo then failed to produce the documents that would have cleared up the question in court, claiming they were missing.

Only some of the records weren't really lost, prompting U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga to call the developers and their attorneys ``obstructionist and careless'' in a strongly worded order.

The case put Flamingo architect Bernard Zyscovich and lawyer Lucia Dougherty under the microscope. The city found e-mails between Zyscovich and Dougherty that its attorneys contend show the two concocting a scheme to avoid acknowledging they knew the baywalk was to be public.

We at the Urban Environment League thank the City of Miami Beach for pursuing this on behalf of the public.

UEL Member Has Book Release: "Sunshine, Stone Crabs and Cheesecake"

The History Press (www.historypress.net) of Charleston announced that it’s newest book, SUNSHINE, STONE CRABS AND CHEESECAKE:  THE STORY OF MIAMI BEACH, written by noted Miami-area author and historian Seth H. Bramson, will be available for purchase beginning August 31st, 2009. With a full color cover, 160 pages and 199 photographs, SUNSHINE, STONE CRABS AND CHEESECAKE is only the fourth Miami Beach book ever written by somebody who grew up on, lived on, went to school on and worked on Miami Beach and is Bramson’s second dealing with his hometown. Unlike most books on the famous resort city, more than 90%of the photographs in SUNSHINE, STONE CRABS AND CHEESECAKE have never before been published and the information that Bramson brings forth for the first time on various individuals, events and places on Miami Beach will prove to be revelations to the serious local or American resort historian.