Friday, June 21, 2013

UM Dean of Architecture Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk who aims high, to step down ... by gimleteye

Yesterday, the Herald reported on a changing of the guard at the UM School of Architecture. The article glossed over Ms. Plater-Zyberk's contribution to this era of Miami-Dade's growth.

Plater-Zyberk has been one of the only "insiders" linked up to "outsiders" who advocated, mostly to no avail, for sound and sensible planning both in the urban core and the suburban fringe of Florida's most populous county.

The Miami Herald never reports on this dynamic; how civic and citizen activists press up against the organized, well-funded cogs of the Growth Machine. It is not a simple David versus Goliath story, however.

As a practicing architect and planner, while dean of the School of Architecture, Plater-Zyberk stood up and helped design a new zoning code for the city of Miami during the Diaz term, opposed by many civic activists who feared it would lead to greater densification and sacrificed quality of life. Although DPZ -- Duany Plater Zyberk -- has been the nation's pre-eminent advocate for new urbanism, its efforts to create examples in Miami-Dade also met neighbors' resistance as in the case of Salamanca, a "traditional neighborhood development" once planned for West Dade.

Throughout, Ms. Plater Zyberk demonstrated an amazing sense of calm and centered-ness.

The Herald story noted Plater-Zyberk's contribution to the rebuilding after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It missed the key point: Plater-Zyberk lead a team of architects and planners who offered a major re-thinking of the Florida City and Homestead city core, including the US 1 corridor to the Florida Keys. It was thoroughly rejected by the Growth Machine.

A few years later, Plater-Zyberk and then county commissioner Katy Sorenson gained the support of the county commission to design a plan to save agriculture in South Dade. The Growth Machine soundly throttled and then bottled up the results, condemning Plater-Zyberk's involvement. (For that, thank Bill Losner.)

Notwithstanding minor skirmishes at the periphery of new urbanism, Plater-Zyberk's example illustrates how common sense in land use planning to protect neighborhoods for the long-term places a distant second to the financial arrangements of suburban sprawl; tangling elected officials in the chase for campaign contributions outside their district boundaries.

The South Dade agriculture study -- and, later, the fiasco of the Homestead Air Force Base redevelopment plan -- lead to yet another study: the South Dade Watershed Study that re-cycled on paper the key tenets of Plater-Zyberk's concept of land use planning. At the time, the Watershed Study was the most extensive and expensive ever undertaken in the United States and pointed in the direction of reforming infrastructure in already developed areas; a key concern as more and more American cities suffered under the fiscal weight of decaying bridges, roads, and built environments.

In Miami, too few in positions of power listened to Plater-Zyberk's reasoning and those who did listen, like the lobbyists and beneficiaries of the Growth Machine, made small fortunes marginalizing the precepts of new urbanism. (They are still at it, of course!)

Importantly -- on a week where the national magazine Rolling Stone features a report on Miami and sea level rise, "Goodbye, Miami" -- it bears emphasis that for more than twenty years, Elizabeth Plater Zyberk advocated for sustainable development, protecting wetlands and watersheds and concentrating development around walkable, livable neighborhoods with clear public spaces, that dovetail with climate change mitigation strategies.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Say it. The assholes who won will be the first to abandon Miami when the going gets tough with sea level rise. They will decamp to North Carolina and enter the next round of skirmishes: for food.

Geniusofdespair said...

Love Liz and her logical mind. She is a kind, gentle but a very persuasive woman. Her husband is always interesting a little volatile, never a bore. We are so lucky this couple calls South Florida home.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk made a $3+ Mil fee for the sale of the flawed new Zoning Code at the City of Miami. The taxpayers at the City of Miami got screwed. Every step of the permitting, renovating, building and zoning process cost more in time and money. Every month the new flawed code gets repaired. It should never have been approved. Another black eye for disgraced ex-Mayor Manny Diaz.

Gifted said...

LPZ is a visionary, but arrogant.

Miami 21 (in her iteration) was opposed by Miami Neighborhood United, American Institute of Architects, and other institutes.

In her (and Manny's) mind you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. But we are talking about people lives and homes.

That being said I am sad to see her go. It's always nice to have opposing views to give you a new perspective.

Anonymous said...

LPZ's form based zoning code is great for farmland BUT it was never going to work for an existing city. Hence its failure in Miami.

HectorinMiami said...

Miami 21 is by and large a disaster. I will add that it would be perfect like in an agrarian community when 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. Back to Miami 21, unfortunately, we have an aggressive developer class in the City of Miami and low involvement from the common class in issues of urban planning. I am saddened by the loss of even one new urbanism (urban planning) activist.

I'm going to write a follow up on my experience with Miami 21 on my blog http://opengovernmentmiami.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Miami 21 is a total disaster. Land Use Attorneys and lobbyists have figured out loopholes in the flawed code and they are building whatever they want wherever they want. Special Area Plans are just tricks to let developers avoid creating open space and to allow them to build monster towers adjacent to single family homes. So many loopholes, so little time. LPZ was old her code was flawed but she wanted the Benjamin's.

Anonymous said...

To focus on Miami 21 is a disservice to the talent that is EPZ. She has so many triumphs on her resume. She and her husband are visionaries. When visions are turned into reality, the outcomes don't always work out. For instance, I'm still trying to figure out the thinking behind facing the benches away from the street on Grand Avenue. We don't always have to agree, but we should respect that Elizabeth is a very talented woman. She has been the driving force behind many of our beautiful buildings and their design. She is not only a Miami girl, she is world renowned!

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk is one of the great corruptors who was behind the Palmer Trinity expansion in Palmetto Bay. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth P-Z deserves the blame for Miami 21. Everyone with an once of experience told her it was a dog and she, and her sales staff, kept selling it until finally under investigation (SEC) Manny Diaz corralled three votes to get it passed. (SEC should hand out indictments this year.)

HectorinMiami said...

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

http://opengovernmentmiami.blogspot.com/2013/06/what-urban-planning-means-to-me-and-my.html

I'm going to be writing a series on the effects of Miami 21 in a series of stories (probably 3 more) and how politics is really deciding urban planning rather than actual urban planning techniques. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Miami 21 was a mistake and Miami paid a significant amount of money for a document that is ineffective. One should ask the question, why is she leaving the University in July, only two weeks notice after being Dean for 12 years? Why did her staff, fellow professors only find out about it the day the Herald story was published? Typically when persons in such roles leave, there is ample notice, pomp and circumstance. Something is amiss here

Anonymous said...

The total contract for Miami 21 was barely over 2 million dollars and that was split among MANY consultants. Liz certainly lost money on the endeavor but kept it up because she thought it was a needed project for the City she loves. I guarantee every detractor in this comment section knows next to nothing about the code or the previous code and is just listening to recycled complaints from others. If you have read it and know what it replaced, you would clearly see the benefits.

Anonymous said...

One need only review the usual suspects on the University's Board of Trustees to speculate why Plater-Zyberk stepped down as Dean. Listed on the Board include the likes of Leonard Abess, Stuart Miller, Paul DiMare, Victor Clarke and Alfonso Fanjul.

HectorinMiami said...

To the last anonymous, you are part of the problem if you think we haven't read at least M21 but to think you'd have all of have us read 11,000 too. Why don't you look at what impact M21 has had on neighborhoods - high density next to single family homes.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk fault is not so much with Miami 21, but her inability to reform the political and administrative system in Miami. Indeed an impossible task for the genteel at hart.

Anonymous said...

Is it just the photo, or does she look like Jody Foster?

Anonymous said...

Miami21 cost the taxpayers direct fees of $2.7 mil to Elizabeth Plater-Zyberks firm DPZ plus fees to the consultants Michelle Spence-Jones forced the City to hire. Think usual suspects. Plus $4+ mil in consultants, overtime, lawyer and employee time to squeeze a square peg in a round hole. The taxpayers have lost well over $10 Mil on Liz's folly.

Barbara said...

Thank you for this thoughtful evaluation of Liz's contribution - often a sane lone voice in the wilderness.

I hope she stays active on the Miami scene and wish she would have decided to join us in the fight against overwhelming electronic LED billboards.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth was dishonest throughout the entire Miami 21 process. She caved in and Miami 21's final draft looked nothing like her original proposal. Now, it allows much more, in size and height, than the old code did. It addressed none, that is NONE, of the infrastructure issues it promised to: transit, homelessness, traffic, the environment. In fact, her upzoning without addressing them, means the city will be worse off because of their plan. it just will take so long to see, that all the consultants will be long paid for their poor efforts; elected officials, pockets lined; developers smiling. She did a huge disservice to the city and fine, she might be a pleasant person to have coffee with.