Last night, the Village Council met and for the first time in a long time, all nine members were present. It was quite a long meeting, most was taken up by the Mercy Hospital issue.
Lucia Dougherty, the attorney for Mercy, was present, she wasn't as prepared as she could be and the hospital didn't see fit to send anyone else to answer questions. After Lucia left, members of the Council seemed perturbed that Mercy didn't care enough to send someone with drawings and plans and an actual presentation, especially since many neighbors showed up to talk about the issue. (The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board voted against the project the night before. Details here).
The word being put out by Mercy Hospital is that the neighbors in the area were all consulted and are being heard. This is not the case. Not one person at the meeting last night has met with Mercy and many are on condo boards in the area. Mercy Hospital did this with their first fiasco, the 300 Bay Residences plan -- they picked a select few, paid them off and had them speak for everyone. In this case, there is going to be a major effort to not allow this to happen.
Lucia explained to those present that there will be two phases. The first will be started in about three years if approved, the second phase in 10 to 15 years. It's basically a modernization of the facilities and parking. Two towers, 14 stories each, are planned, plus new parking garages. Traffic of course is the major concern of neighbors in the area.
The Village Council held off on preparing a resolution until they can hear more on the plans. Presently, many are confused as to what is going on. Mercy is asking for an old Major Use Special Permit (MUSP) from 1973 to be amended, most feel so that they do not have to comply with current Miami 21 rules. This is not sitting well with many people.
More to come.
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