MIAMI'S LEADERS MUST PROTECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S SCALE AND HISTORY, THEN IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSIT BEFORE UPZONING FOR MORE DEVELOPMENT
The city of Miami’s recent proposal to rezone part of East Little
Havana has caused great concern among citizens and preservationists.
City
officials argue that the buildings in the area do not conform to the
existing zoning, and that zoning changes are needed to encourage
development more in tune with the existing character of the area.
Activists are afraid more density will reduce affordability, displace
existing residents and destroy its unique character and the remaining
historic buildings.
To objectively analyze the proposed changes,
we must answer two simple questions: 1.What makes Little Havana special?
2. Does the proposal support or detract from the character that makes
the neighborhood unique? This rational approach to the upzoning should
guarantee that land-use changes will truly improve East Little Havana
and the city as a whole.
Little Havana
is as historic as
Miami gets. Located across the Miami River, adjacent to downtown and
the city’s Financial District, its heritage dates back to the early
1900s. It has always been the heart of Miami’s immigration waves: first
as “RiverSide“ and “RiverView” for southerners and Jewish migrants.
It became “Little Havana” when it served as the Ellis Island for the
thousands of Cubans fleeing the Castro regime. The most recent
immigration wave has been Central and South Americans drawn to it by its
affordability and central location. Many of these recent immigrants
inhabit iconic 1920s three-story apartment buildings such as the
Woodward and the Belmont, which are excellent examples of early
20th-century development in Miami, as are the architecturally
significant ’20s and ’30s bungalows.
East Little Havana’s
Mediterranean and Art Deco buildings rival those in Miami Beach’s
Historic District. Before any upzoning is enacted, we must catalog,
protect and repair these buildings.
East Little Havana’s density
has grown over time as additional homes were wedged into small lots,
apartments subdivided and garages converted into new homes by people’s
need to house more family members arriving each day. This has created
high density without towering buildings.
The approximate
0.25-square-mile planned for upzoning is home to almost 12,000 people,
making it one of the densest in the United States. The neighborhood’s
population density is far higher than the existing zoning or the city’s
65-units-per-acre proposed upzoning. Density is in Little Havana’s DNA.
It is supported by transit and in close proximity to jobs Downtown and
in the Financial and Health Districts.
Little Havana’s small, affordable apartments must remain the norm, not the exception.
East
Little Havana’s new zoning must preserve the neighborhood’s low-scale
character. Little to no parking should be required to prevent
out-of-scale development while preserving the pedestrian character of
the neighborhood. The use of public transportation should be reinforced.
Many cities have successfully preserved authentic neighborhoods
from super-block redevelopment by creating centralized parking garages
while crafting zoning codes that discourage developers from building
garages within their buildings. European cities have protected their
iconic historic neighborhoods by limiting parking and selling spaces
separately from apartments as a bonus amenity. New zoning regulations —
that encourage affordable development and transportation solutions such
as biking, walking and car sharing — can preserve character while
encouraging re-investment in Little Havana.
This is one of the
most diverse neighborhoods in the country. Calle Ocho, one of the most
visited streets in Florida, is experiencing a renaissance because of a
few visionary developers who have preserved great buildings and
retrofitted them with unique restaurants, shops and apartments.
Little
Havana deserves visionary zoning that preserves its historic buildings,
embraces new modes of transportation and provides affordable,
low-scale, dense housing that enhances the character of the
neighborhood. Miami city leaders must steer Little Havana’s rebirth by
enacting new zoning that preserves the neighborhood’s scale and prevents
the parking podium and tower, block-wide development that would destroy
its character.
Juan Mullerat and Steve Wright are part of the collaborative team at PlusUrbia, an award-winning design firm in Coconut Grove. WWW.PLUSURBIA.COM
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