Spotlight 97-250422

Good morning. In today’s Spotlight:

The Rise and Fall of a Grove Art Gallery.
A Housing Fix that Critics Fear.
Trees on Leafy Way Under Threat

From Visionary to Indicted: Grove Art Dealer’s Stunning Fall from Grace

A string of lawsuits, a federal raid, a grand jury indictment and now an arrest have pulled the curtain on Grove gallery owner Leslie Roberts.

By Izzy Kapnick

When federal agents swarmed into Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove this month, some members of the Miami art community had a muted reaction.

Those who knew the owner, Leslie Roberts, and the allegations against him, weren’t particularly shocked to see FBI agents pitching blue-canopied tents and hauling off artwork from the pop-art showroom.

Indeed, claims had been piling up that Roberts had bilked clients by selling them counterfeits of works by Warhol and the video-game-themed artist Invader. Three fraud lawsuits remain open against Roberts in Miami-Dade circuit court, accusing him of dealing in fake art and failing to deliver works despite receiving payment.

The day of the raid, April 9, Roberts was arrested on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A grand jury indictment charged him with selling phony Warhol pieces and deploying two associates posing as New York auction-house appraisers to vouch for the works in an elaborate coverup.

Miami Eyes ADUs as Housing Solution

A proposed City of Miami zoning change would allow more single-family homeowners to add a rental unit to their property. Critics fear the new rules will be abused by developers and homeowners alike.

By Don Finefrock and Ethan Mannello

A proposed change to Miami’s zoning code that would allow single-family homeowners to add a rental unit to their property – by carving out space inside their home, adding an addition, or building a cottage – could win final approval this week from the Miami City Commission.

In a city with 36,000 single-family lots, the change would apply to an estimated 27,000 properties, including those in Coconut Grove. Homeowners would be able to add an ancillary dwelling unit (ADU) if they had enough room and met certain conditions.

The proposed change, which the City Commission passed unanimously on first reading in February, hasn’t generated much discussion among commissioners. Critics say the measure deserves more attention, and more debate.

“The ADU ordinance will effectively end single-family residential zoning in the City of Miami, which few people saw coming,” Elvis Cruz, a resident of Morningside and a frequent critic of Miami city government, told the Spotlight.

Leafy, No Way

The former home and garden of the founder of a century-old South Grove enclave – named for its verdant landscape and since the 1970s preserved by city decree – may go the way of the wrecking ball and chainsaw.

By David Villano

South Grove’s Leafy Way is a quiet, winding dead-end street of single-family homes hidden behind vine-covered walls, towering hardwoods and lush vegetation. Its name is no accident.

Platted more than a century ago as an alternative to the vast land clearances that characterized real estate developments of that era, Leafy Way’s 23 homesites were surgically carved from the dense hardwood hammock that covered much of Coconut Grove, leaving the canopy nearly intact.

In 1975 the neighborhood was named an Environmental Preservation District – a City of Miami zoning designation that provides added layers of public oversight and protection.

But like much of Coconut Grove, this sliver of paradise is in peril, insist nearby residents.

A Leafy Way property owner is requesting city permission to demolish a 100-year-old home and cut down 75 trees – reducing the lot’s tree canopy by an estimated 90 percent – to make way for a 9,000 square-foot mansion.