‘Either stupidity or racism’: Is Palmetto Bay really trying to ban Cuban ventanitas?
Miami’s walk-up coffee windows have long been the venue for political debate in South Florida — but now ventanitas themselves are the topic of contention in the village of Palmetto Bay.
On Monday, the village voted to codify the procedure to open the walk-up windows that first incorporated Cuban coffee into Miami culture along its busiest corridor, from Southwest 136th Street to 157th along U.S. 1.
The language says “walk-up sales windows shall not be permitted” unless a business gets approval from the village’s Planning and Zoning department.
That means businesses can still add the windows that are as much a feature of Miami culture as Cuban coffee or fresh-baked pastelitos, but they will have to submit plans to get approved.
A political committee known for criticizing Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham sent an email blast and tweets in English and Spanish slamming the council’s decision to “ban walk-up windows,” saying the vote “targets an iconic staple enjoyed by so many in South Florida’s diverse community.”
“The latest act speaks directly to Palmetto Bay’s escalating policy of political insensitivity towards cultural diversity,” the email from A Better Palmetto Bay reads.
David Singer, a former council member and incendiary figure around the village, said their decision is “either stupidity or racism.”
“They have never been prohibited, and they are not prohibited now,” Community and Economic Development Director Maria Pineda told the Miami Herald. “We just have to take a look at parameters, just like we look at parameters for outdoor seating.”
Ventanitas can be pivotal to Latin bakeries’ success.
About 25-30% of a bakery’s business comes from the walk-up window, said Vicky Bakery CEO Pedro Cao, who has a franchise in Palmetto Bay. Often the window is a major draw for people driving by who see it and decide to pop in for a quick coffee or pastry.
“Having a ventanita brings people in,” he said.
Vicky Bakery had to work around a Palmetto Bay rule that didn’t allow for a walk-up window when it opened its village store two years ago. The owners had to build a window 2 feet inside the building, behind double doors, hurting visibility from the street, Cao said.
During COVID restrictions, the window allowed third-party delivery app drivers to pick up from the window, without having to go inside the store — both a convenience and safety feature, Cao said.
Pineda said now, businesses who want to sling coladas and croquetas from a ventanita will just have to provide additional information to satisfy all the requirements for the use, like appropriate sidewalk width.
Any business with an existing walk-up window can keep it without submitting any plans.
But Singer is unconvinced. “It leaves it to the hands of five people who are sitting on a council who will either approve it or not approve it, depending on which way the wind blows,” he said. A Better Palmetto Bay “calls me for input” but he is not involved in the political committee, Singer said.
He declined to tell a Herald reporter who it is that calls him.
The committee’s messaging spurred the village council to ask Pineda and her team to return in December and clarify language for residents that no, ventanitas aren’t gone for good.
“We can’t always be reactive to these press releases from a developer PAC,” Mayor Cunningham said Friday. “I find it sensationalist.”
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 1:00 PM.
