Voters sank Miami Beach Marina referendum. Developer changes plan, seeks new vote.
Much like supporters of President-elect Joe Biden, voters who defeated a proposal to redevelop the Miami Beach Marina are ready to move on from the Nov. 3 election.
They won. The developer lost.
But the City Commission — at the request of developer David Martin — will consider calling for a new election following a split vote on the Marina Park referendum package. It’s a move some residents find unfair, and even Trumpian.
“We already had an election on this, and the people spoke,” said Valerie Navarrete, chair of Miami Beach’s Committee on the Homeless, in a community Facebook group. “Is the commission pulling a ‘Trump’ and ignoring the votes until they get the results they want?”
A majority of voters rejected the ballot question related to the sale of air rights and public land at the Miami Beach Marina for the construction of a condo tower. But voters also signaled their interest in parts of the deal by approving a new lease for the operation of the marina in exchange for the construction of a public park and marina improvements.
The split vote killed the package-deal proposal, which required approval on both questions for passage.
Martin, who leads the Marina Park project, has proposed a new version of the project that would scrap the 385-foot residential tower but include renovations to the upland retail center and marina, along with the construction of a one-acre park. Under the new 99-year lease, which voters approved, the city estimates it would receive more money in annual lease payments than it currently does.
“I’ve always said that I was going to build as much or as little as the community wants,” Martin said.
The modified Marina Park project would still need voter approval in a citywide referendum. On Wednesday, commissioners will discuss the new proposal and whether to wait until Nov. 2, 2021, or foot the estimated $380,000 bill to hold a special election much sooner.
Martin, the CEO of Miami-based development firm Terra Group, said the alternate retail complex would be “similar in scope and scale to what’s there now” and not include the residential tower. He said it would be “indefensible” for opponents of the original proposal to argue against the new version.
“We’re proposing to move forward without the residential option,” Martin said. “Someone not wanting to explore that option is something that I don’t understand.”
Martin’s firm spent $410,000 on the referendum campaign, which included an advertising blitz from Mayor Dan Gelber, former Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Commissioner David Richardson. To sway voters, Terra Group hired local state Rep. Michael Grieco as an adviser.
Opponents of the project, including former Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, spoke out against the sale of public land for the construction of a condo and the displacement of the restaurant Monty’s Sunset from the marina’s retail complex.
Beach resident Andrea Spiridonakos, who remains opposed to the project, formed the political committee Save Monty’s after noticing how the developer and the city downplayed the condo tower in private advertisements and the city voter guide. The committee raised over $13,000 and released ads of its own, including one featuring Rosen Gonzalez.
Spiridonakos said residents will “fight” the new proposal, but besting a deep-pocketed developer twice won’t be easy.
“I think it’s subverting the will of the people,” she said. “They’re trying to force something down our throats that people already said no to.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 5:39 PM.
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