Limiting high-rises helps Morningside

The following item was submitted by Elvis Cruz and Michael Sastre on behalf of the Morningside Civic Association. For information, e-mail ElvisCruz@mac.com:

Morningside is Miami's first nationally recognized historic district. With some recent decisions from the City of Miami Commission, we have great cause to celebrate.

Over the past three years, Morningside neighbors have been fervently fighting several proposed Biscayne Boulevard high-rise projects. These projects back up to, or abut, the single-family homes in the neighborhood, and therefore threaten this sensitive enclave of historic homes.

The neighbors' reaction to the proposed development was at first emotional, but then as we started to pursue the planning, zoning and legal process before the city of Miami, we developed substantial legal evidence and zoning authority to support our contention that the proper scale, and height limits for this section of the Biscayne Corridor is three stories, or a roughly 35-foot height limit.

This evidence we relied upon came from Miami-Dade County planning and zoning codes and treatises, Florida appellate decisions, expert opinions of architects and urban planners and the city of Miami itself. As recognized by City Commissioner Johnny Winton, the evidence for height limits and proper scale of buildings to their surroundings was also a matter of ``common sense.''

At the March 10 Miami City Commission meeting, in which the commission heard legal arguments against two such proposed projects on the boulevard, Commissioner Winton recognized that neighborhoods like Morningside are the heart and soul of Miami and must be protected from overdevelopment.

Certainly that is not to say the residents of Morningside are against improvement and new development on the boulevard, but rather that such development should be reasonable and in proper scale and context with the surrounding neighborhoods.

At the meeting Winton, pointed to a picture of a single-family house at 5700 NE Sixth Ave. adjacent to a 95-foot-tall condo and said, ``This ruins single-family homes.''

He added, ``Morningside is an historic neighborhood -- a lot like The Roads . . . beautiful single-family neighborhood, great tree canopy, really cool architecture all over the place.''

Morningsiders are thrilled that Commissioner Winton moved to reopen the zoning ordinance in the hope of finally setting a height limit along the lines of three stories in proper context with the neighborhood and this area of Biscayne Boulevard in particular.

We favor and support more sensible, low-rise development as is already happening along Biscayne: The former Red Cross building, OLA, ArgenTango Grill, Blue Dog Bakery, Burger King, the Soyka complex, Andiamo Pizza, Starbucks, Uva, Shoppes at Belle Meade, Yao Animal Clinic, Empire Plaza, Antiques Mall and many others, all of which validate the reasoning that smaller can be better!

Moreover, one needs to look no farther than 39th and Biscayne to find Tivoli, a proposed Mediterranean-styled condominium project with steeped terraces which stands as proof that reasonable low-rise development can be both economically beneficial to developers and aesthetically pleasing to the neighborhood.

The 55,000 condo units being planned and built in Miami may soon result in the Great Condo Market Crash of 2006.

The commission's actions, and particularly Commissioner Winton's, will not only save Morningside from high-rise overdevelopment but may also save some developers and buyers from big losses in the current speculation frenzy taking place in Miami, and recently documented by Wall Street.

Neighborhood Views is a weekly column allowing neighborhood, homeowners' and condominium associations to tell readers what's happening in their corner of South Florida. News of meetings, issues and events is welcome. Pictures in jpeg format are also welcome. Submissions should be about 200 to 300 words, and will run as space is available. Send items and pictures to jmurphy@herald.com.

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