Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Friends of The Ludlam Trail … by gimleteye

On Dec. 4th, the Miami Dade County Commission will re-open a public hearing on the zoning change sought by a major property owner, Flagler Development, for an abandoned rail right-of-way that local activists aspire to convert to an important purpose: a bike-path and community asset.

Click here to view the website of Friends of The Ludlam Trail.

In an attenuated hearing over a week ago, it was clear from the leadership of chairwoman Rebeca Sosa that the preference of commissioners was to do what the developer wanted. On Dec. 4th, a new chairman of the commission, Jean Monestine, will have the gavel. (Correction: the gavel remains with Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa.)

What the county commission ought to do, is to defer, delay or reject the application. Commissioners ought to recognize that this property has been abandoned for decades. The rezoning sought by Flagler Development would instantly increase the property value and make it far more difficult for a deserving community to achieve what it needs.

There is nothing lost and everything to gain by a commission decision that pushes the developer to work closely with the Friends of the Ludlam Trail to find the funding necessary to place this property in public ownership.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

New neighbors of the Ludlam trail- FIU, UM, Baptist Health?
http://www.lrstructural.com/portfolio-view/red-road-commons/#

Anonymous said...

FIVE (5) STORIES IN HEIGHT
South Miami City of "Zoning changes Granted" anything else you need Developer?
Special City Commission Meeting
Meeting date: April 9, 2005 - Time: 9:30 AM
ORDINANCE (S) SECOND READING PUBLIC HEARING (S)
3. AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, RELATING TO A REQUEST TO
AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE BY CHANGING THE ZONING USE DISTRICT FROM “TODD(MU-4)”, TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (MIXED USE-4) TO “PUD-M” PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT MIXED USE FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 6600-6640 SW 57 AVENUE AND 5757 SW 68 STREET; THE PURPOSE OF THE ZONE CHANGE IS TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION OF A MIXED USE PROJECT CONSISTING OF MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS, RETAIL USES AND A PARKING GARAGE; SETTING FORTH CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL RELATED TO THE DETERMINATION OF CONCURRENCY; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 4/5
(Deferred 11/16/04;03/07/05;04/04/05 Tabled 3/28/05)
(City Manager)
4. AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA ADOPTING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATE STATUE 163.3221 FOR A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT-MIXED USE PROJECT KNOWN AS RED ROAD COMMONS LOCATED AT 6600-6640 SW 57 AVENUE AND
5757 SW 68 STREET; THE DEVELOPMENT WILL INCLUDE BUILDINGS OF UP TO FIVE (5) STORIES IN HEIGHT AND THE
FOLLOWING USES: UP TO 409 MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS, RETAIL USES, OFFICE USES AND A PARKING GARAGE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 3/5
(Deferred 04/04/05)

Too Little Too Late and Only if the Non UM students benefit ie CRA residents.
ORDINANCE(S) FIRST READING PUBLIC HEARING(S)
13. AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, RELATING TO ZONING; ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON NEW APPLICATIONS FOR ALL
DEVELOPMENT ORDERS, APPROVALS AND PERMITS FOR BUILDINGS IN EXCESS OF FOUR STORIES AND ANY AND ALL
RELATED APPLICATIONS FOR VARIANCE, SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS OR OTHER ZONING CHANGES; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS;
PROVIDING FOR ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT, CODIFICATION, SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 4/5
(Commissioner Sherar)
14. AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, RELATING TO ZONING; ESTABLISHING A NINE-MONTH TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE
ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS FOR BUILDINGS THAT EXCEED A BUILDING HEIGHT OF TWO STORIES AND 25 FEET
WITHIN A DISTANCE OF 50 FEET, AND TWO STORIES AND 30 FEET WITHIN A DISTANCE OF 100 FEET OF A SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL ZONED PROPERTY LINE; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS; PROVIDING FOR ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT,
CODIFICATION, SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 4/5
(Commissioner Sherar) SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION
AGENDA – April 9, 2005

One more
143 proposed multi-family units (Current TODD Zoning allows for 266 residential units. Developers is proposing 409 residental units, thus generating a net density increase of 143 units)

Dave said...

New? Red Road Commons has been open for several years. The zoning change you are posting happened 9 years ago.

But on the actual subject, would it be too difficult to break up the trail into multiple parcels? For example, if they want higher density near Dadeland and the Blue Lagoon area, let them replat those as separate properties with separate higher zoning rather than having one huge property with a single zoning designation for the whole trail. Of course the reason for not doing this is that they want to County to eventually buy it and having a higher zoning designation through out means the County is required to pay them much more.

Anonymous said...

Flagler plans separate zoning for each section, as the previous commenter suggests.

Anonymous said...

I'm not 100% sure, but I think new chair gets the gavel in January.

Anonymous said...


Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of the “Ludlam Trail”? If you raised your hand, you should probably thank the Friends of the “Ludlam Trail” for educating you of the trail’s theoretical existence. We say theoretical because there is no such thing as the Ludlam Trail today.