A shared outcome? In Miami, household garbage and recyclable materials like cans and bottles often end up together in landfills.

Spotlight 240903 Trash Live Local

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In the Spotlight,

  • Recycling in the dumps
  • State law threatens local zoning
  • Pardo rebuts Spotlight

The Spotlight digs deep into Miami’s trash while eyeing a growing skyline. Business and government leaders add insights to–and rebut–Spotlight coverage. The Spotlight encourages alternative views through comments, letters and editorials, and you can always find them on our website. Its search tool excels at finding the news you seek.

Miami’s recycling program is a hit with residents but with the industry in turmoil city officials are struggling to justify its existence. 

by Francisco Alvarado

Recycling and trash bins in Coconut Grove

Like thousands of residents across Coconut Grove and the rest of Miami, Fabio Iannelli dutifully performs his twice-a-month, Earth-conscious ritual of transferring his accumulation of bottles, cans, cardboard and other recyclable material to his city-issued blue garbage bin and rolls it to the curb.

What happens next is not exactly clear.

On occasion, says the 50-year-old information technology director, the city’s solid waste crews cruising down Poinciana Avenue in the South Grove have mixed the contents of his blue recycling bin with garbage from his and his neighbors’ green bins. A video he captured backs up the claim.

A local land use attorney assured Grove residents that they have little to fear from the Live Local Act. Not everyone was so sure.

by Don Finefrock

Coconut Grove residents concerned about overdevelopment attended a community meeting on Saturday on the Live Local Act, a new state law that preempts local restrictions on the height and density of multifamily housing projects. (Photo courtesy of Harry E. Gottlieb)

A local land use attorney who helps developers supersize their projects under a new state law told Grove residents on Saturday they have little to fear from the Live Local Act that critics contend will overwhelm communities statewide.

“I have projects that are very tall, that are Live Local. I can’t do them here,” Anthony De Yurre, a partner at Bilzin Sumberg in Miami, told a crowd of about 60 people. “You guys have layers and layers of protection.”

Not everyone who attended the meeting at Vizcaya Village Garage was convinced, however. The meeting was organized to address concerns about the law, which neuters the ability of local government to restrict the height and density of multifamily housing projects, if those developments include rent caps on 40% of the units

The Live Local Act (SB 102) seeks to address Florida’s housing crisis with good intentions but without professional precision and foresight.

By Juan Mullerat

When my son gets hurt, I console him with the phrase “sana, sana, colita de rana,” which loosely translates to “heal, heal, little frog’s tail.” It makes no real sense, but it always makes him feel better. However, when he’s genuinely injured, we seek professional help.

Similarly, the Live Local Act (SB 102 and the subsequent cleanup bill, SB 328), enacted with minimal input from city planners and architects, seeks to address Florida’s housing crisis with good intentions but without professional precision and foresight.

This law will reshape our cities by streamlining development and promoting higher-density housing in commercial and industrial areas without the expert insight to understand its impact on our communities and the essential services required for healthy urban strategic growth. It’s akin to saying, “Sana, sana, SB 102 de rana,” hoping the housing crisis will be resolved without side effects.

Commissioner Damian Pardo responds to the Spotlight’s coverage of Big Hill Park in a Letter to the Editor.

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