Florida City: Mega-Development Approved by County Commissioners

New affordable housing moves one step closer
The Miami-Dade Commission approved three controversial applications to amend the county's Comprehensive Development Master Plan in deep South Miami-Dade.

BY REBECCA DELLAGLORIA
rdellagloria@MiamiHerald.com
A planned megadevelopment of 940 homes west of Florida City won preliminary approval from the Miami-Dade Commission Wednesday, when the group voted unanimously to amend its Comprehensive Development Master Plan to allow the project.
The approved development is a scaled-down version of a project that the commission previously had rejected.
Last year, the commission upheld the Redland Community Council's denial of a land-use designation change from estate density to residential on the big, 119-acre project and a separate, similar one on 10 acres. Both are located between Southwest 336th and 344th streets and 192nd and 197th avenues.
But this time the commission approved land-use changes for both applications with some modifications, allowing no more than 420 homes on the acreage west of Southwest 194th Avenue and no more than 520 homes on the land to the east. That is roughly seven units per acre less than the developers initially requested.
The plans also include a set-aside of 10 percent, about 90, of the homes for so-called workforce housing to be priced between $160,000 and $225,000.
''This is kind of a bitter pill, but I'm swallowing it because it's better than the alternative,'' said Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who represents the area.
Sorenson initially moved to deny the request but changed her motion after receiving support from only one other commissioner, Dennis Moss, who also represents South Miami-Dade. The approval went against recommendations from county planners.
Still, the applicant, Q2 Florida City LLC, must apply for zoning approval from the Redland Council before shovel can be put to ground. Actual construction would likely be years off, said the applicant's attorney, Juan Mayol.
The State Department of Community Affairs also must sign off on the land use changes.
Also approved on the second go-round by the commission was an application amending the master plan for a similar, single family/town house project on 20 acres, also at Southwest 344th Street and 192nd Avenue.
That property, owned by Palm & Tower Investors, falls within Moss' commission district, and this time he was supportive -- though for a lower density than requested.
Mayol, who represented the applicant, initially proposed setting aside 20 percent of the project for workforce housing under a new, voluntary zoning classification.
Known as ''inclusionary zoning,'' developers would be given a ''density bonus'' for setting aside homes for people earning 65 percent to 140 percent of median household income. That group includes working professionals such as nurses, teachers and firefighters.
About 100 residents, gathered by Princeton activist Ken Forbes, came in support of the project, saying it would make homeownership attainable for lower-income residents in Florida City.
The city, Mayol said, wants to annex that property and the 119-acre and 10-acre properties west of its boundaries.
But Moss was not swayed.
''I just don't want folks to come down here thinking that if the application is approved, folks from Florida City can come lining up and afford these places, and that's not the case,'' he said. ``I don't want people to be used in this process.''
The commission approved amending the master plan to allow a slightly less-dense project, with no more than 8 ½ units per acre, provided the site plan follows certain ''urban design'' standards such as no walls surrounding the development, lots of open space and pedestrian-friendly streets. Sorenson was the lone dissenter.
The developer agreed to keep the workforce housing element but cut it to 10 percent as a result of the reduced density.
A handful of residents, including Robert Moehling, owner of the popular Robert Is Here fruit stand, opposed all three applications, saying they were too dense.
''We're bordering on being annexed to Florida City without being able to vote on it,'' said Moehling, whose home and business is just yards from the sites. It is ``putting more people in where they shouldn't be.''

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