Spotlight 191-260317

Good morning. What we’re covering in today’s Spotlight:

The Future of Fuller Street
The Legacy of Old Smokey
A Zoning Reversal by the City
The Charles Barber Shop

The Great Fuller Street Table Takeover

With café seating spreading along a Grove public pedestrian-only promenade in Center Grove, a looming redesign is raising questions about public access, permits and who decides how the space will be used.

By Francisco Alvarado

On a typical ArtWalk afternoon, the pedestrian block of Fuller Street filled with painters, musicians and visitors from near and far drifting between easels and artists booths in the heart of Coconut Grove’s commercial district.

But in December, GroveHouseArtists pulled the plug on its recurring showcase of local artists along the one-block promenade, ending a small but lively arts presence on the street.

In a Facebook post, the group said it was “unable to proceed” with its monthly event because of the growing spread of outdoor café seating.

Grove Residents Testify About Old Smokey’s Harmful Effects

“It was bad. It was extremely bad,” one resident said when testifying in court about the smoke and ash that choked her neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s before the City of Miami closed its Old Smokey incinerator on Jefferson Street.

By Jenny Jacoby

As the long-awaited Old Smokey class-action hearing got underway last week in a downtown courtroom, nearly three dozen current and former West Grove residents leaned in as three of their neighbors took the witness stand.

The hearing, which continues this week, will determine whether a lawsuit filed against the City of Miami over the potential harm caused by the Old Smokey incinerator can proceed as a class action, with thousands of potential claimants.

City Drops Coconut Grove Carve-Out from Density Transfer Program

Miami officials cite a largely untested state law as they back away from a promise by District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo to block Grove properties from buying or selling housing density tied to affordable housing construction.

By David Villano

Coconut Grove will not be exempt from a controversial City of Miami zoning provision that allows developers to transfer housing density from affordable housing projects to market-rate and luxury developments elsewhere in the city, enabling projects such as The WELL and other high-end condominiums to build up to 50% more units than allowed under base zoning.

The proposed exemption — negotiated with residents by Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo after public outcry last month over plans to expand the city’s so-called “density transfer” program — would have barred Coconut Grove developments from buying or selling housing density linked to affordable housing projects.