Miami 21 a done deal

Yesterday, Miami 21 was finalized and passed by the City Commission, only one Commissioner, Tomás Regalado voted against it.

I guess we'll see if it works, it promises to make every part of Miami a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, protected from over-scaled and intrusive development. But let's see what happens -- when another developer or even Related comes back to the Mercy hospital land, will it be protected under Miami 21? That will be the real test.

When has anyone followed zoning around here? Case in point, The Grovernor House. That building should not be there.

There is talk that a developer or restaurant owner had his eyes on the Expo Center and that is one reason why some parties wanted to see Burn Notice gone. So really, does Miami 21 protect anything that we want protected? Will it save commercial development on the Grove waterfront?

The Grove would be another Brickell if it weren't for the neighbors who fight the developers (and Home Depot, etc.) and now it seems they want the whole City to be like the Grove? For the rest of the city, it's sort of like shutting the barn door after the horse is gone. Brickell and downtown are saturated with empty condos. They are too late for Miami 21.

Just recently a local politician told me that the Grove needs to be opened up to more development. So we honestly don't get the whole premise of Miami 21. Guess it's what you consider intrusive development. It's all relative.