To the Editor:
Commissioner Pardo’s outreach to Coconut Grove residents asking for support in opposing the settlement over the PAMM billboard is absolutely dumbfounding.
The District 2 office has turned its face on the most salient issues affecting Coconut Grove residents. At best they have paid us false lip service. We have been fighting for months to keep our community, which is supposed to be an NCD with enhanced zoning protections, from looking like Brickell and continuing to be overdeveloped.
They have been totally absent and worse, silent, and stood by as the City grants waivers to multiple projects on 27th Avenue and Tigertail Avenue that should be limited to five stories. Yet, they want us to care about a billboard in Downtown, which is a dense urban core with existing neighboring lights from Port of Miami, Kaseya Center, etc.? How about they care about an area that is predominantly single family residential that is slowly turning into Brickell.
They also shouldn’t selectively ask residents to come out and support the issues that they want us to get behind as they ignore the rest of what constituents voice is important to them.
As a counterpoint to the flood of waivers that have been granted, somehow Grove residents, HEPB and the City can stop Carrollton from developing an all-boys Catholic school serving Pre-K to 5th Grade when that need is unmet by any other institution in Miami-Dade County on the grounds that it would significantly increase traffic.
However, the City grants waivers left and right to developers that will substantially increase density, which will also increase traffic. How are 400 additional units OK (and that is only in one building – The Well), but a school that would serve ~240 to 300 children not?
Living in the City of Miami with Commissioner Pardo and the rest of our elected (and appointed) officials is akin to finding oneself in a modern day version of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.
Commissioner Pardo or District 2 won’t have my support on this or anything else until the Grove gets some attention – and let’s hope there is a more viable candidate to represent District 2 come November 2027.
Dani Villoch
Coconut Grove
Dani’s comment is spot on.
Thank you for stating my feelings so eloquently. I will not be voting for this commissioner. It’s heart breaking to see the waivers developers are getting approved. The height restrictions are the most concerning. The current commissioner is non-responsive to our development concerns.
Districs 2 and 3 both should find candidates that will openly represent the residents and not the development cartel. Why is this so hard? Ask anyone if they want more traffic and higher density and they will say NO – polling not necessary. Without openly opposing development, a candidate could swear not to approve any changes to an ordinance that have not been made public before the vote. The useless excuse we have for a newspaper (not this one) should investigate and run stories about the rampant disregard for the popular will.
Great letter!
The City of Miami has long favored special interests over the public’s quality of life. We have government of developers, for developers, by developers.
The outdoor advertising industry is another special interest group that Miami favors, as you can plainly see by all the billboards around town, especially the one at the PAMM.
It’s a shame that Commissioner Pardo has failed to read the room. If he truly wanted to represent his Grove constituents, he would fight to keep the downtown creep out of the Village. With waivers apparently being handed out like candy, 27th Avenue should be renamed “Brickell South,” or “Developer Central.”
100 % agree! Well written and on point.