Glenn Terry wrote up an excellent report on what went on at the North Grove meeting the other night, which neighbor Marika de Nie Puyana set up at her house. About 36 people showed up to voice their concerns, including Commissioner Sarnoff and Ron Nelson, his chief of staff. The meeting was mostly about the Grove's parks and the neighbors questions and concerns.
The Glass House, the mangroves, Kennedy Park, Peacock Park, Scotty's, etc. It was all brought up at the meeting. You can read what Glenn had to say here.
Plans are in the works for Scotty's and that area, I believe that today there are presentations taking place downtown, so I don't believe anything the neighbors might come up with are going to change that and the same for the Expo Center, which is going to be knocked down after Burn Notice vacates in October or November, and a Community Center is not going to ever be put in that location, even though that is a clever concept that should be looked into.
I found the fact that astroturf is being added west of the Glass House interesting, rather nauseating, actually. I mean we are in Florida, everything grows without effort, why put fake grass in like they did in the Blanche dog park?
The mangroves were to have windows cut in years ago, and yet nothing has been done. Commissioner Sarnoff said at the meeting, "I know we need the views [of the bay]. I spent four years and $100,000 trying to make this happen in Peacock Park. We finally got permission to cut 'windows' in the park's wall of mangroves and we began trimming them back. When the state officials said, 'Stop,' we still could not see the bay. It was all for naught. It was very frustrating."
I can 't help but think that if Sarnoff's house was facing these mangroves, he would have found a way to open up the windows. But DERM, the Department of Environment and Resource Management is tough to deal with, so maybe not.
I think the simple solution would have been to just open the freaking windows and then use the $100,000 as the state fine for doing so. You know, just do it and then apologize later. It would have been done and the $100,000 would have been spent anyway, but we would have had a bay view. And that $100,000 might just have been the cost of mitigation, you know, replacing the harmed mangroves with other plantings elsewhere in the area.
I have a feeling that when a restaurant is finally ready to move into the Glass House, a bay view will be important to that enterprise and something will happen to open it up then.
The thing that really riles me up is that fact that neighbors who are taxpayers, have no say in what goes on in our own neighborhoods. And we never have. Elected officials forget who hired them.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Party to celebrate Simpson Park's 100th year
From 6 to 8 pm, local eco-historian Frank Schena, will give a brief talk on the history of the area and its ecology, followed by a walk in the park, literally. Refreshments will be provided by Vino's in the Grove and PM Buenos Aires, with music by RutiCelli.
Charles Torrey Simpson (1846-1932) was known as the "Sage of Biscayne Bay" and "the Patriarch of South Florida's Naturalists". Come learn about this pioneering iconoclast and our native landscape which he fought to preserve, right in our own backyard.
"Into [this hammock] I can retire alone from the strife, the cares and worries of this world; here it seems to me, I can mingle with the very life of the forest ... here I become a part, however small, of the Great Scheme of Things." -- Florida Wild Life, by Charles Torrey Simpson
Special Crime Watch Meeting this week
The Golden Pines Neighborhood Association is hosting a Crime Watch meeting on Tuesday, June 4 at 7 pm. The association would like me to remind everyone that crime is happening on both sides of US1. Mayor Regalado, Commissioner Sarnoff and the police will be attending this meeting, so many of your questions may be answered right on the spot.
Further, Commissioner Sarnoff started a petition here to get more police on the streets in the City of Miami.
Further, Commissioner Sarnoff started a petition here to get more police on the streets in the City of Miami.
Neighbors meet to discuss Grove parks
A group of concerned neighbors met last night in the North Grove at one neighbor's house. I was invited but did not attend, I'll report here what I hear from people that did attend.
The purpose of the meeting was the Glass House and the Coconut Grove waterfront. Basically people want the waterfront opened up, they want a community center, but surprisingly, not at the Glass House, but at the Expo Center, which is slated for demolition in November, after Burn Notice vacates the building.
The Friends of Peacock Park group was also present at last night's meeting. The bottom line is that neighbors want what Coral Gables and other areas have -- a large community center where children and adults can partake of activities. They want games, computers, activities, etc. They don't want to have to drive their kids to the Gables when we should have the same amenities here.
The Friends of Peacock Park would like the park reclaimed as a park and not have it turn commercial.
Of course the mangrove wall is always a concern, as people would like the promised "windows" to be cut into them to allow the water view; this is at Peacock Park. It's been in talks for years, but DEP and DERM have other ideas about the mangroves. They want they left alone.
Speaking of Burn Notice, I had to laugh, a lady emailed me from somewhere outside the state, she is coming to town and wanted to know if the Expo Center gives tours like Warner Brothers and Universal do in Hollywood, CA. I guess the Expo Center is throwing off illusions of grandeur. I had to inform her of what it really is.
There was a special on The Doors last week, I was excited to see film from the infamous concert at the Expo Center (Dinner Key Auditorium) where Jim Morrison exposed himself in 1969. They didn't show the exposing part, but it was just interesting to see the building and the time and the people there and just get a feel for the whole place in 1969.
Anyway, the neighbors are serious and threatened to protest if they have to.
The purpose of the meeting was the Glass House and the Coconut Grove waterfront. Basically people want the waterfront opened up, they want a community center, but surprisingly, not at the Glass House, but at the Expo Center, which is slated for demolition in November, after Burn Notice vacates the building.
The Friends of Peacock Park group was also present at last night's meeting. The bottom line is that neighbors want what Coral Gables and other areas have -- a large community center where children and adults can partake of activities. They want games, computers, activities, etc. They don't want to have to drive their kids to the Gables when we should have the same amenities here.
The Friends of Peacock Park would like the park reclaimed as a park and not have it turn commercial.
Of course the mangrove wall is always a concern, as people would like the promised "windows" to be cut into them to allow the water view; this is at Peacock Park. It's been in talks for years, but DEP and DERM have other ideas about the mangroves. They want they left alone.
Speaking of Burn Notice, I had to laugh, a lady emailed me from somewhere outside the state, she is coming to town and wanted to know if the Expo Center gives tours like Warner Brothers and Universal do in Hollywood, CA. I guess the Expo Center is throwing off illusions of grandeur. I had to inform her of what it really is.
There was a special on The Doors last week, I was excited to see film from the infamous concert at the Expo Center (Dinner Key Auditorium) where Jim Morrison exposed himself in 1969. They didn't show the exposing part, but it was just interesting to see the building and the time and the people there and just get a feel for the whole place in 1969.
Anyway, the neighbors are serious and threatened to protest if they have to.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Funny comments
A lot of you don't like the anonymous comments, you email me and ask me to stop allowing them, but when I change the format to where you have to sign in to leave a comment, people have trouble with that and we don't get comments, which is fine by me, but the anonymous comments seem to be so much fun.
So many people leave nasty comments, mostly about not coming back to the Grove and things like that and I find that hilarious because first off, why are they reading the Grapevine if they don't like the Grove and secondly, what's that saying? Oh yea, "Me thinks thou doest protest too much," in other words, they are saying the opposite of what they really feel.
So let's mock a few of these comments. Here are some comments left this week, I'm sure the people are nice people and they just get riled up when they read certain things:
We got a lot of comments regarding the story on the Parking Meter advertising. These two were so funny I had to share:
"This is a horrible idea..i will never go back to the grove."
I'm not sure we want this person back, do we? If this person is so upset over an ad on a parking meter, I hate to think what else would get them upset. I mean to not come back to just because they don't like ads on the meters, that's a bit extreme, isn't it?
"Im so tired of the things going on in the grove i cant wait to move out next month. this little town has been taken over by the crooks on the streets and crooks in city hall. bye bye grove hello miami lakes"
This person obviously loves cows and crickets and no parking meters. I guess they don't need parking meters in Miami Lakes since no one goes there and there is no need for parking. This is another mental giant, as my father would say.
This next comment was left on the City Double Dipping story, this person found time to leave the comment rather than just skip over an actual news story. This person maybe be proof of why our society is in a total mess. Probably doesn't vote either, then complains about the outcome. I wonder if this person circles every story they don't like in the Miami Herald and then calls the editor to tell them. Nah, probably doesn't read the paper. So I guess I should be honored that he/she reads us.
"I think i speak for everybody when i say we are tired of hearing these kinds of stories. one they are to long and two theres really nothing we can do so why bother reporting them."
Another person left a comment under this comment, praising the story and putting down the community events I post, sort of a back handed compliment.
"Truth to tell, I prefer these types of Grapevine articles to the fluff advertising pieces written as stories."
Ironically, those fluff pieces are what most people want posted because they have told me that they want to know what is going on around town. By the way, they aren't advertising. I personally prefer news to the so called puff pieces. I find them boring to write, but I think it's important to let people know what's going on around town.
The other comments left on these posts, while Anonymous, make sense and even though people may not like Anonymous comments, they do make some good and interesting points.
This piece was neither puff nor news, sort of an observation piece or maybe just filler on a slow Sunday.
So many people leave nasty comments, mostly about not coming back to the Grove and things like that and I find that hilarious because first off, why are they reading the Grapevine if they don't like the Grove and secondly, what's that saying? Oh yea, "Me thinks thou doest protest too much," in other words, they are saying the opposite of what they really feel.
So let's mock a few of these comments. Here are some comments left this week, I'm sure the people are nice people and they just get riled up when they read certain things:
We got a lot of comments regarding the story on the Parking Meter advertising. These two were so funny I had to share:
"This is a horrible idea..i will never go back to the grove."
I'm not sure we want this person back, do we? If this person is so upset over an ad on a parking meter, I hate to think what else would get them upset. I mean to not come back to just because they don't like ads on the meters, that's a bit extreme, isn't it?
"Im so tired of the things going on in the grove i cant wait to move out next month. this little town has been taken over by the crooks on the streets and crooks in city hall. bye bye grove hello miami lakes"
This person obviously loves cows and crickets and no parking meters. I guess they don't need parking meters in Miami Lakes since no one goes there and there is no need for parking. This is another mental giant, as my father would say.
This next comment was left on the City Double Dipping story, this person found time to leave the comment rather than just skip over an actual news story. This person maybe be proof of why our society is in a total mess. Probably doesn't vote either, then complains about the outcome. I wonder if this person circles every story they don't like in the Miami Herald and then calls the editor to tell them. Nah, probably doesn't read the paper. So I guess I should be honored that he/she reads us.
"I think i speak for everybody when i say we are tired of hearing these kinds of stories. one they are to long and two theres really nothing we can do so why bother reporting them."
Another person left a comment under this comment, praising the story and putting down the community events I post, sort of a back handed compliment.
"Truth to tell, I prefer these types of Grapevine articles to the fluff advertising pieces written as stories."
Ironically, those fluff pieces are what most people want posted because they have told me that they want to know what is going on around town. By the way, they aren't advertising. I personally prefer news to the so called puff pieces. I find them boring to write, but I think it's important to let people know what's going on around town.
The other comments left on these posts, while Anonymous, make sense and even though people may not like Anonymous comments, they do make some good and interesting points.
This piece was neither puff nor news, sort of an observation piece or maybe just filler on a slow Sunday.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Coconut Grove Gallery Walk is Saturday night
Featured this month: Barbara Tejada and Pilar Gray Benitez at FrameWorks; Matachos Art at Vinos in the Grove; Final Show of the Season at Boswell Mourot Fine Art; Ray Lopez at the Ccoonut Grove Arts Festival Gallery.
While out and about you may stop in at the Improv where Tone Bell, one of the stars of NBC's "Whitney" will be peforming.
Parklets coming to Miami
Remember Park(ing) Days that we had a few years back? Where we turned parking spaces in the street into mini parks? Well, the Miami Parking Authority (MPA) apparently loved the idea because they have a new concept called Parklets, that they are offering businesses, namely restaurants. The Miami City Commission has agreed to the plan. Parklets are used in San Francisco often.
Restaurants would be able to put tables and seating in the spaces in areas that don't have much sidewalk space, like Wynwood and downtown. The MPA would be paid a fee for use of the spaces.
The commissioners like the idea of adding green space and amenities. Some are kind of overkill, as you can see from the image above from San Francisco. Others are more green-y and calm as you see below.
Good news is that it's clever and something new. Bad news -- less parking.
Here's what we did with Park(ing) Day in Coconut Grove one year. It only lasted for the day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)