Coral Gables commission opts for public workshop on Miracle Mile, zoning revisions
Besieged with questions over the impact of zoning-code changes on iconic but troubled Miracle Mile, Coral Gables commissioners on Monday opted to hold a public workshop on the issue in January, effectively putting off a vote on a broad update of city regulations governing development.
That means the commission won’t vote until late January at the earliest on a much-debated plan that would foster redevelopment along the Mile by essentially lifting parking requirements for new construction along the street. No date for the workshop has been set.
The parking measure, which all five commissioners back, is meant to ease the way for redevelopment along the Mile, increasingly plagued by vacancies and a lack of foot traffic. But sharp differences have emerged among commissioners over how best to limit the scope of any new construction to protect the street’s historic look and low-scale feel.
The 5-0 vote to hold the workshop, proposed by VIce Mayor Vince Lago, came a week after around 280 people watched a virtual special commission meeting on the zoning-code update. Several attendees complained they didn’t know about the undertaking, in the works for two years. Some claimed the city intentionally kept the zoning-code revisions “under wraps,” as one critic put it — something city officials strongly deny.
City officials documented nearly 25 public meetings and hearings on the zoning-code revisions, most of which are uncontroversial, but residents complained they were not notified of the effort. As a result, commissioners on Monday also unanimously backed a proposal by commissioner Jorge Fors to notify residents of all city public hearings by email through the city’s e-News service.
Though most of the zoning update is limited to reorganizing and clarifying the voluminous code book, the Miracle Mile parking measure has spurred intense debate about the future of the historic shopping street. The zoning tweak would make it far easier for developers of new buildings along the Mile to provide “remote parking” elsewhere in the downtown Gables.
Shallow lots along the street make it unfeasible for new buildings to meet current on-site parking requirements, one reason nothing new has been built on the Mile in 15 years. The hope is that property owners will use remote parking to expand or replace the one-story buildings that predominate on the street to provide housing and offices upstairs, boosting Miracle Mile foot traffic.
But commissioners differ on whether limits that cap heights at 70 feet and require buildings to “step back” from the street front at 45 feet will be enough to protect the street’s intimate feel, or whether further restrictions are needed to prevent what some critics have said would be a uniform “canyon” of new six-story buildings. City planners and consultants say the zoning limits mean new construction would likely vary widely in height and mass depending on lot sizes.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Coral Gables commission opts for public workshop on Miracle Mile, zoning revisions."