What urban planning means to me and my Miami 21 experience (so far)

Roos Lane

I keep hearing that “Miami 21 is a disaster.” I remember campaigning in the City of Miami in 2009 when the commission approved the Miami 21 zoning ordinance right before that November election. It sounded strange then and as it has taken me 4 years to catch up to what the new zoning code actually allows.

Miami 21 had a lot of critics and cheerleaders. One such cheerleader and respected urban planning expert UM Dean of Architecture Elizabeth Plater-Zyber is now stepping down. What this means going forward is unclear to me. I always thought the “New Urbanism” movement in urban planning circles was meant to provide more protection for local neighborhoods from aggressive developers. I can’t see that Miami 21 does anything of the sort. Every land use activist (aka neighborhood protectionist) from Coral Way to Coconut Grove all have horror stories to share of how Miami 21 is being used as a way to develop urban in-fill spaces in residential communities, which is parlance referring to allowing high-rise, residential/commercial structures (mixed-use) adjacent to single family homes (talk about encouraging peeping toms).

From the EyeOnMiami article, I read an interesting comment that makes the case that zoning codes like Miami 21 are more suited to agrarian communities where you have a lot of community input in development. My dad built a lot in Delaware and everyone had a say in what he eventually built there... they named a street after him. 

Roos Lane and Kenton, Delaware

Returning to Miami 21, the only reason why real estate development in the City of Miami is so difficult compared to easy Delaware is because there is so much more secrecy and backdoor politics. Unfortunately, we have an aggressive developer-class in the City of Miami (not to mention the rest of South Florida) and low involvement from the common class in issues of urban planning. So I am saddened by the loss of even one New Urbanism (urban planning) activist like Elizabeth Plater-Zyber (whether you liked her or not).

I will share my personal, horror stories regarding Miami 21 throughout this week and why it negatively impacts jobs and the livability of Miami. One story discusses the fiasco of T6-8-O zoning designation all along Coral Way that is leading to enormous building constructions. Another story is the trouble with no restrictions to allowing Transit-Oriented Developments around the Metrorail stations along US1 going out a half-mile radius. My last story is what I think about the destruction of the traditional commercial spaces like the Coconut Grove entertainment district and the Wynwood Art District (with accompanying industrial area) because of the over-development at Midtown.

Horror, destruction and zoning… Only in the City of Miami do these words together make any sense.