Another bite at Coconut Groves’ Playhouse apple<\/a><\/p>\nThose conditions are meant to address neighborhood concerns about the commercial components of the project, the possibility of spillover traffic, local job opportunities, access to programming, and the loss of the historically Black neighborhood\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
Whether those conditions deliver the protections sought by residents remains to be seen, however. The project has been delayed for years by litigation, and critics say there may be more to come.<\/p>\n
The conditions, described verbally by Pardo, will require: a traffic study and mitigation plan, a buffer between the project and the West Grove, access to job opportunities and programming, and tangible recognition of the history and significance of the formerly segregated neighborhood to the west of the playhouse.<\/p>\n
To advance the project, the City Commission approved five zoning exceptions and four waivers so the county can restore the playhouse\u2019s 1926 facade, construct a new 310-seat theater behind it, and build a 289-space parking garage next door.<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s zoning request was previously heard \u2014 and rejected \u2013 by the city\u2019s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board (PZAB) in May, setting up Thursday\u2019s showdown before the City Commission.<\/p>\n
In an email sent to county officials on the eve of Thursday\u2019s vote, representatives of Preserve the West Grove urged the county to make a binding commitment to address neighborhood concerns before moving forward with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all would like to see this project move ahead, and we continue to be hopeful that this project may move ahead in a way that not only returns great theater to Coconut Grove, but also protects and supports Historic Village West,\u201d the email said.<\/p>\n
More than two dozen people \u2014 evenly divided on the merits of the project \u2014 addressed the commission before the vote, with critics asking the city to reject the county\u2019s plan unless and until the county made a binding commitment to West Grove neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have grave concerns about the commercial nature of this project,\u201d Courtney Berrien told commissioners. \u201cWhat is promised by the county isn\u2019t binding.\u201d<\/p>\n
County officials have promised publicly to address neighborhood concerns about commercial intrusion and traffic, but neighbors aren\u2019t convinced that will happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not oppose the playhouse,\u201d West Grove resident Mamie Armbrister said. \u201cWe just don\u2019t want our neighborhood to be invaded, intruded as part of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporters, including members of the South Florida theater community and Coconut Grove business interests, urged the city to allow the county to move forward with the project and reopen the theater.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s move this forward. It has been way too long,\u201d Mark Burns, executive director of the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District (BID), told commissioners.<\/p>\n
As part of its plan, the county wants to place the new theater at the center of a development with 2,600 square feet of retail space, 3,800 square feet of food and beverage space, 28,000 square feet of office space, and 2,600 square feet of educational space.<\/p>\n
An interior plaza in front of the theater would connect to the neighborhood behind it via a pedestrian walkway \u2014 a design element meant to address past discrimination but which residents say will result in commercial intrusion and unwanted traffic.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published in the\u00a0Coconut Grove Spotlight<\/a>, a WLRN News partner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami City Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to greenlight Miami-Dade County\u2019s plan to rebuild the Coconut Grove…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-336594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}