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Week of October 12, 2006 |
| Developer scales down plans for project at Grove transit station By Charlotte LibovThe developer of a mixed-use complex proposed for a Coconut Grove transit station has reduced the project's density and height in hopes of gaining approval when it goes before a planning board next month. Gilberto Pastoriza, a lawyer representing developer Charles Rua, said his client has reduced his request to 125 residential units per acre from a previous 300. In addition, the height of the buildings for the 27th Avenue Metrorail development has been reduced, he said. Mr. Pastoriza said he wanted to limit the focus to the issue before the Rapid Transit Development Impact Committee — the standards that would enable the project to be built. "The developer has not filed any plans. We're at the stage of setting the parameters so that with those parameters, you design a project that is consistent with the lease. The parameters are the rules of the game," he said. Earlier reports described the proposal as two 35-story and one 25-story residential towers, designated for high-density projects to provide passengers for the mass-transit station. The proposal will go before the committee at a meeting Nov. 29. The time and location have yet to be determined because the hearing needs to accommodate what is expected to be large numbers of residents opposed to the plan, according to a committee staffer. Among those in opposition is Felice Dubin, chairwoman of neighborhood group 27th Avenue Metrorail Project. "We're a lot more prepared, a lot more adamant in what we're going to present, and we have a lot more information that is going to come to light eventually about the project," she said. The development would be built on a 5.2-acre parcel owned by the county next to the Southwest 27th Avenue Metrorail station. The special transit zones were created without zoning to foster high-density development near mass-transit stations. There is a two-stage review process. First, the proposal goes before Rapid Transit DIC's lower committee, comprised of representatives of the county's Planning and Zoning Department, the school board, the police department, public works and all other designated agencies for review. Then it is sent on with a recommendation to the Rapid Transit DIC's executive committee, which also reviews it and sends it with a recommendation to the Miami City Commission. If the commission approves, the application then goes to the Miami-Dade County Commission for site-plan review and approval. A site plan showing the specific design of the project does not need to be submitted until then. |
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