FYI Miami: July 16, 2015

RACE DROPS MIAMI: Miami isn’t a host for the second season of the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first electric racing series. On Friday, the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the calendar for the second season and first-season venues Miami and Monaco aren’t included, while Paris was added. This was confirmed via an email exchange Tuesday between Miami Today and City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff’s office, which had inquired about the matter. Chuck M. Martinez, Miami ePrix general manager, wrote: “The 2016 FE schedule is indeed out and Miami is not on it. This may change, but we won’t know for certain until September…. I’ll keep you posted on any developments.” The news is contrary to what city officials agreed to just before Miami hosted the electric cars March 14. City commissioners on Feb. 26 approved a pact to host the race yearly through 2019. The race was held on stretches of Biscayne Boulevard and wrapped around AmericanAirlines Arena along the waterfront, in Mr. Sarnoff’s district.

DISTRICT FOR WORLDCENTER: County commissioners unanimously approved creation of a Community Development District for Miami Worldcenter on Tuesday despite the number of residents who spoke against the developers as well as the proposed project on 24 acres of mostly vacant land in Park West. The construction, bounded by Northeast Sixth and 11th streets and between North Miami and Northeast Second avenues, is to include residential, retail, office, hotel, retail, restaurant and entertainment uses. A community development district is a special taxing district that may levy taxes and assessments and issue bonds. The taxes and assessments are added to the tax bill for the payment of the infrastructure including design, construction, acquisition and maintenance of roadway improvements, streetlights, water distribution systems, sewers, storm water management and landscape buffers.

OFF HOURS: The Miami-Dade Transit and Mobility Services committee last week unanimously recommended that the county commission require that work affecting arterial county roadways be performed during non-peak traffic periods and encourage other government agencies and municipalities in Miami-Dade to adopt similar measures to address traffic congestion. Bruno A. Barreiro said that at some point the committee will have to look at deliveries in the urban core, such as an 18-wheeler stopping in the middle of a road to make a delivery as traffic piles up behind. Major cities, he said, require companies to deliver at night.