North Beach plan

Miami Beach hired Dover Kohl to develop the national prize-winning North Beach Master Plan, which was embraced by the community and adopted unanimously by the Miami Beach Commission.

However, it’s systematically being dismantled by those same elected officials, most recently with the proposed demolition of North Beach's 1930's Log Cabin on the site of the (also-community-embraced) North Beach Yard.

Exceptionally rare, this log structure built in 1934 was a family home until the city bought it in 1972, repurposed it until 2011, and then neglectfully let it fall into woeful disrepair ever since.

Residents seek to keep the Log Cabin, a key element of Plan NoBe. But in Friday’s Finance Committee meeting, Commissioners furtively sought to demolish it without community input, claiming restoration costs of $500K, and falsely placing it below sea level rather than its actual 4 feet above sea level.

Interesting that they rush to demolish irreplaceable Miami Beach history, hoping nobody notices, instead of embracing this unique opportunity.

There are many who would think creatively to restore/replicate this structure for functional use as a centerpiece in historic North Beach…are any of them sitting Miami Beach Commissioners?

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 1:40 AM with the headline "North Beach plan."