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An Ordinance by the City of Miami Commission to Re-open Bicentennial Park as a
Public Park after 31 years of incomplete planning; creating an open public
planning process forpark design and bringing greater focus and civic leadership to overall waterfront planning for the City of Miami, including sites for cultural facilities.
WHEREAS, in 2000 a resolution was passed by the City Commission authorizing a
process to create a "premier public park" for Bicentennial Park that was
followed up by thecreation of a Bicentennial Park/Waterfront Renewal Committee consisting of dozens of volunteers; and whereas that committee was never formally dissolved but effectively ignored by 2002; and
WHEREAS, an unprecedented charrette was held in 2001 that fully examined
Bicentennial Park. As an exercise in local democracy and following upon the
successful charrette held for Virginia Key Beach, it was important that this exercise produce a final product reflecting the expressed desires of the participants. The outcome of that design workshop presented multiple concerns and ideas but under the guidance of Dover Kohl, three alternative visions for the park were developed that simplified the complex array of opinions held by participants and ultimately
skewed the results towards a plan dominated by and renamed Museum Park; and
WHEREAS, disputes over the "will" of the participants have been obscured since
then due to the fact that city staff lost the drawings and other materials from that charrette that would show far more sensitivity to the need for greater amount of park space and public amenities; and
WHEREAS, a videotape of the entire 2001 charrette proceedings was taken by the
Urban Environment League. Said videotape has never been reviewed by city staff,
the museums or other officials that would help determine whether the final results
presented to the Commission comported with the concerns of the participants; and
WHEREAS, after the museums continued to promote the idea that that they had
received a "mandate" to have up to eight acres each of the park, the commission
authorized use of only four acres each; subsequently two referendums were held (by city and county) to help fund development of the park with generally unspecified language and under the condition that matching funds would be secured before construction would begin; and
WHEREAS, the Cooper Robertson plan for the park has been completed but only one
full public hearing held to assess its utility for Miami residents; and
WHEREAS, there has been continuing conflicting evidence concerning the scope of
building footprint in the park; and
WHEREAS, the matching funds from the museums have not yet been met after three
years of fundraising efforts and serious discrepancies in financial reporting; and
WHEREAS, the property tax situation of the city and the population base of nearby residents has changed dramatically, leading to economic uncertainty in the market and from the state level resulting in changing sets of priorities for city funding; and
WHEREAS, a Memorandum of Understanding, a Proposed Cooperative Agreement
between the city and the Museums, nor a lease agreement have yet been completed
for the park land by the City and County nor adequately provided safeguards constructed for public funding and use of what is estimated to be valued at more than $200 million in city land; and
WHEREAS, the city of Miami has frequently been cited for its deficit of public
park space, notably in its downtown area, and whereas the city has been
finalizing a Master Plan for its park system; and
WHEREAS, until May 24, 2007, there has been no appreciation expressed about the
legal requirement to address the Carollo Waterfront Charter Amendment which
mandates that a public referendum on public waterfront land is needed that has not been bid by three entities, with specific language exceptions related to non-profits;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. The city commission shall continue to defer action on supporting
the appropriations of the Homeland Security Bond funds to the two museums until
all legal and financial and contractual arrangements have been completed.
Section 2. A newly constituted Waterfront Planning Commission will hereby be
empowered to complete the work initiated by the original Bicentennial
Park/Waterfront Renewal Committee created in 2000, to assess and make recommendations to integrate Miami's waterfront spaces, including the Master Plan Effort for Virginia Key as well as Coconut Grove, Bayside, the Bay Walk, and the Miami River will all be included in this planning effort. The Commission will meet at least monthly or more frequently if needed in televised hearings, and include a wide number of park professionals, representatives of non-profits, business leaders and
environmental groups from city, county and other nearby municipalities.
Section 3. City staff and outside experts be instructed to examine the Urban
Environment League footage to determine the range of opinion in relation the
2001 Charrette and whether the outcome fits with the shape of opinion expressed by the Museum Park plan.
Section 4. A comprehensive website be constructed that provides a wide array
of ongoing information about public comment, past and present ideas for the
waterfront.
Section 5. New modes of increasing public input will be significantly enhanced
in all future meetings, so that the public (including students, the elderly,
nearby residents and underserved residents) will be conceived as prime city stakeholders' and accorded a primary interest heretofore ignored in the planning of our waterfront.
Section 6. Local consultants will be hired to assist the Cooper Robertson team
to make the best possible plan in promoting native plants and sensitivity to
local environmental conditions and to assess the overall integration of Miami?s overall waterfront and its relationship to nearby neighborhoods.
Section 7. The city commission authorizes that up to [$ ] million be provided
(from General funds, private fundraising efforts and/or from Homeland Security
bond funds) to reopen Bicentennial Park within ninety days as a public sports field and intergenerational recreational area, including food kiosks, limited temporary parking, public/community gardens, and areas where people can fish, enjoy the waterfront, and play non-professional recreational sports.
Section 8. Any resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with the
provisions of this Resolution are hereby repealed.
PASSED, ADOPTED, AND APPROVED by the Mayor and Commissioners, of the City of
Miami,
Florida, this ____ day of _____, 2007.
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