The Miami City Commission advanced an affordable housing project on Thursday in the West Grove while also taking up “lifetime” term limits and redistricting reform.
The Miami City Commission approved a zoning change on Thursday that will allow a proposed affordable housing project to move forward in the West Grove.
Collaborative Development Corporation is seeking to build a mixed-used project on Douglas Road south of Grand Avenue with 70 apartments for rent and for sale, 90% of which would be priced within reach of low and moderate-income families.
The City Commission previously committed $7.2 million in public funds for the project known as 3710 Grove Landing. The funding will allow the developer to acquire seven parcels of privately-held land – all vacant – on Douglas Road near Grand Avenue.
The zoning change was critical to the project’s success.
On Thursday the commission agreed to change the zoning on five properties – two on Douglas Road, two on Washington Avenue, and one on Thomas Avenue – from single family residential (T3-O) to mixed-use residential (T4-O).
The change will allow Collaborative to build a three-story mixed-use residential project on those contiguous properties just north of Francis S. Tucker K-8 Center. A second five-story building is planned for the southwest corner of Douglas Road and Grand Avenue.
The project was endorsed by West Grove community members on Thursday including Reynold Martin, chairman of GRACE, an organization that advocates for fair housing and economic development in the West Grove.
“It’s an answer to a prayer,” Martin told commissioners.
In other business, the City Commission:
- Indefinitely deferred District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo’s proposed changes to the City of Miami’s noise ordinance. Pardo asked for the deferral after receiving strong pushback from constituents this week. The ordinance, as proposed, would allow construction crews to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., an hour earlier and an hour later than currently allowed. Read more about Pardo’s proposal on construction noise here.
- Deferred a proposal by Pardo asking voters to impose “lifetime” term limits on city commissioners and the mayor. Pardo asked for a deferral to the April 24 meeting after Commission Chair Christine King, the swing vote, said she would vote against the proposal as written. “I don’t support lifetime term limits,” she said. Commissioner Manolo Reyes was absent from the meeting after being hospitalized earlier in the week. (Reyes’ family announced his death on Friday.) If approved by voters, Pardo’s proposal would bar Commissioner Joe Carollo from holding office again as a city commissioner or as mayor. Read more about Pardo’s proposal on term limits here.
- Directed the City Attorney to prepare a charter amendment for voters in November that would prohibit future gerrymandering by the City of Miami and create a Citizens Redistricting Committee. Those measures were mandated by a federal court settlement earlier this year that ended a lawsuit challenging the 2022 voting map drawn by the City Commission. A court found the 2022 map, which split Coconut Grove, to be an illegal racial gerrymander. Read more about the redistricting settlement here.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to note the absence of Commissioner Manolo Reyes on Thursday. Reyes’ family announced his death on Friday.
