LITTLE HAVANA REVITALIZATION IS A GOOD THING

BUT ANY REZONING MUST PRESERVE CHARACTER AND AUTHENTICITY

Editor's Note: We have known Bill Fuller for more than a decade. He is by far the most responsible developer in Miami. This week, we received an open letter from him, urging Little Havana stakeholders to demand more from the City of Miami before it upzones a portion of the neighborhood. Bill is a visionary who understands preservation, walkability and authenticity. He urges City leaders to slow down and do more to protect the authenticity of Little Havana, so speculators do not build out-of-scale development.  We note that some of our town planning friends support the pending upzoning as is.  Our publishing of Bill Fuller's letter is not a blanket endorsement of everything he is suggesting, but the essence of his ideas is brilliant -- so we are publicizing his careful thoughts here:

Dear fellow stakeholders, 

We are at a critical moment that will forever impact the future of our beloved Little Havana. 

Before we rush into upzoning and historic designation recently initiated by the City of Miami, we should slow down and carefully study all of the impacts on existing and future: residents, buildings, businesses, scale and way of life. 

Any designation of historic preservation or upzoning should come in tandem with a “conservation district” overlay that will prescribe the look and feel of future developments surrounding historic Little Havana.  

As stakeholders who love everything Little Havana is and can be, we must make sure that future developments are consistent with the context and character of the neighborhood.  

An overlay, that will preserve what is good and improve what needs to be enhanced, must include strong guidelines that regulate:

·         The architectural style of new developments 

·         The size, scale, style and character of public spaces

·         Mixed-use development that encourages ground floor retail with residences above

·         Land use in a way that preserves the walkable urban fabric that has served the neighborhood for a century

·         Out of scale uses, such as superblock developments that vacate streets, or supersized retail sites that that destroy the very urban flavor that has made the area so desirable to investors 

Little Havana is a neighborhood known throughout the world.

Locals and visitors alike adore it for arts, culture and authenticity.

Adaptive re-use, properly-scaled infill development and growth that accommodates a healthy range of household incomes are not only welcomed, they should be encouraged by legislation that accommodates them without ruining the neighborhood’s diverse flavor.

While there certainly is room for national retailers, they should not be allowed to destroy Little Havana’s world-renown character by building standard, off the shelf suburban buildings with seas of parking for their drug stores, banks and restaurants.

The City of Miami’s landmark Miami 21 zoning code was passed with the explicit intent of preserving all the wonderful human scale, unique architecture and mainstreet business corridors that make its diverse neighborhoods unique.

Sadly, since Miami 21, the City’s most famous street – Calle Ocho – has been violated by a parade of suburban-style, boring buildings that do nothing to preserve and enhance the beloved historic character of Little Havana. 

Soon, another development by a national company headquartered hundreds of miles from Miami will build a suburban, drive-through monstrosity on Calle Ocho.  This bank, on the corner of SW 12th Avenue and SW 8th street, will have nothing in common with the architectural style and scale that made Calle Ocho the spiritual heart of the city.

These suburban developments destroy the very authenticity that draws artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, startup restaurants and visitors to Little Havana.

A well-crafted overlay must be created within Miami 21 and it must have teeth enough to prevent the remaining good city blocks from being destroyed.  

Several established media sources have reported that a group that operates car dealerships has assembled a lot of land in the part of Little Havana that the City of Miami is fast tracking for an upzoning.

Car dealerships create jobs and commerce. They have their place in greater Miami. No one is saying otherwise.

But can you imagine a huge car dealership -- with its sea of asphalt to display cars and accommodate customers, street trees savagely clear cut to open a view to the giant showroom and architecturally obscene compound of repair bays, body shop and more – taking up several blocks in our newly-minted residential historic district?

This is not a case of wanting to impose Coral Gables-like zoning and beautification standards on the proud working class neighborhoods of Little Havana.

This is simply a matter of drawing the line and demanding that horrifically out of scale superblock developments do not destroy our neighborhood.

City leaders would not dare allow a giant auto dealership, or super warehouse club retailer in any of the dozens of historic and significant neighborhoods that define our diverse Miami.

So why should Little Havana’s people get second- or third-class treatment by imposing a monstrosity that would destroy livability for several blocks in every direction?

But a car dealership or other quality-of-life crushing superblock development will soon be a reality if we do not push the City of Miami to place a use restriction on developments that endanger the vision have for our preserved and re-energized neighborhood.  

We support logical progress. But we must ask our city to slow down, so we stakeholders can determine exactly what the strategy is being considered. We must determine whether it is a holistic approach for the neighborhood, or tweak to benefit only a few deep-pocketed investors.

I have not seen one developer or champion of the upzoning come forward to explain its holistic benefit to our community.

I strongly support historic preservation. But I fear a proposed historic district, without considering the entire neighborhood, is a smoke screen created to placate skeptics while deflecting our attention from the true core issue of a city rushing to upzone a neighborhood coveted by speculators.

As stakeholders that have worked hard to preserve Little Havana’s authenticity, I do not believe we can support a rush to upzone.

I urge you to stand united in our demand for a holistic rezoning plan that preserves the character of the neighborhood we so dearly love.

Sincerely,

Bill Fuller

Miami native, preservationist, investor in adaptive re-use buildings and vigilant activist to preserve the heritage and authenticity of Little Havana

                                                                       Bill Fuller