Coral Gables Public Hearing: UM Proposes 25 Amendments to its Master Plan

January 8, 2007 Leave a comment

On January 10 the City of Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board will take up many, many changes in the UM Master Plan that will certainly affect the community through the construction of parking garages, demolition of buildings, additions to buidlings, the construction of housing on the Granada Blvd “park”, reduction of the university setback on Ponce de Leon, and many other elements to be changed that cannot be listed here as well as contemplating the enormous increase in traffic that will accompany these changes. The meeting will take place on January 10 at 6:00 p.m. and the Citiy Commission will take up the changes on January 23 and February 13.

The City of Coral Gables Planning Staff Recommendations can be found on the Internet at http://www.coralgables.com/NR/rdonlyres/DF4B2E7C-0413-465E-8F39-6F78868A95F3/804/011007UMCAD2006StaffReport.pdf

Filed under Community, Coral Gables

Miami-Dade Watershed Plan: Prescription for Future Development

January 8, 2007 1 Comment

The recent editorial of the Miami Herald summarizes the background and some of the major conclusions of the outstanding study on Miam-Dade Watershed Plan.

An obvious conclusion of policies to restrict the westward development of the county is to intensify development existing towns, especially along the areas close to the Metro. This will lead to considerable vertical development along Dixie Highway from Miami south through Coral Gables, Kendall (see the start of that process around Dadeland Mall) and further south.

Based on population projections and available developable land, the county should not expand the Urban Development Boundary until after 2025

The density along U.S. 1 in several South Miami-Dade cities should be increased to promote infill projects and increase the number of residents to support mass transit — Metrorail — along the corridor to alleviate traffic congestion.

The study determined how much open land is needed to buffer Biscayne park

Reverse the concurrency process. In other words, rather than wait for completed projects to create the demand for sewer and water lines, roads, etc., use the planning process to anticipate where future growth will be and build infrastructure before construction begins.

Link to MiamiHerald.com | 01/07/2007 | Future is now: Sprawl or smart growth?

Filed under Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County

Citrus-Leaf-Eating Butterfly

January 7, 2007 Leave a comment

Not all butterflies are beautiful.

An Asian butterfly known for ravaging the leaves of young citrus trees has spread from the Dominican Republic to other Caribbean islands and could soon strike fruit producers in Florida, agriculture experts said.
The lime swallowtail butterfly was spotted in the Dominican Republic three years ago

Source: Fla. Fears Citrus-Leaf-Eating Butterfly

Filed under Florida

Where is the "City Beautiful"

January 7, 2007 Leave a comment

Miami Today reports on the possible conflict among the “Cities’ Beautiful”:

Orlando’s application to federally trademark longtime slogan The City Beautiful is in the initial stages of approval, leaving Coral Gables, which also uses the name, about a month to negotiate shared usage before a formal objection period begins.
Coral Gables, which has called itself The City Beautiful since the 1930s, also was seeking the trademark but applied almost two months after Orlando filed its application.
The cities, officials say, will work together for shared use of the name.
“We’re now negotiating a joint-use agreement so everybody wins,” said David Brown, Coral Gables city manager.
City attorney Elizabeth Hernandez said lodging an official objection is Plan B.
“The cities are working to get the benefit of the usage of the names,” she said in an e-mail.Ý”Unless we come to agreement, we will object to each other’s applications.ÝI know we are all working toward resolution of this matter.”Ý
Attorney David Rogero, handling the process for Coral Gables, said representatives of both cities will begin negotiations soon for concurrent use of the slogan.

Filed under Coral Gables

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