Miami Beach hypes aesthetics, residents just want the parking

“Less about landscaping, and more about commercial revitalization and added parking” is what residents of Miami Beach echoed at a meeting for the 41st Street Corridor Revitalization, as the city presented a final concept design recommendation for the $15 million general obligation bond project.

The capital improvement project to revitalize the 41st Street Corridor, from Alton Road to Pine Tree Drive, with landscaping and minimal infrastructure improvements for better pedestrian mobility, is slated to begin construction in late 2024 or early 2025 and end by July 2026, according to documents from the Miami Beach general obligation (G.O.) bond, passed in 2018. To date, $575,863 has been spent for its planning and design, and the construction cost is expected to be $9.2 million.

Urban design company Brooks & Scarpa presented to the city a schematic design concept for the corridor Feb. 9. According to G.O. Bond documents, submittal of the 30% construction documents is scheduled for May, and presentation to the Design Review Board (DRB) for advisory review is expected in September.

“First, and foremost, this is a project to enhance the aesthetics, but also to look at traffic issues, at walkability issues, and safety issues, along the street,” said Jeff Huber, principal and director of planning, landscaping, architecture, and urban design at Brooks & Scarpa.

Some of the existing challenges through the 41st Street corridor, he said, include tripping hazards, such as loose paving, and other accessibility issues; broken and outdated lighting, “and other inappropriate landscape that’s happening through the corridor.”

In March 2020, the city commissioned construction and engineering company AECOM to produce a conceptual streetscape design that would be undertaken in four years under four funding trenches. The Brooks & Scarpa design builds upon that study, focusing on fewer infrastructure changes and more landscaping and spacing enhancements.

“We are looking at removing up to a certain amount of parking spaces,” said Mr. Huber. “You have, in some cases, only about four feet of width to walk by in the pavement. That’s creating some of these conditions that we call “choke points.” By removing some parking spaces, we’re going to be able to open up that sidewalk, expand it, [with] branded paving and planting elements.”

Although the AECOM plan stated it would “reprogram on-street parking and consider mixed-use garage to supplement,” the new concept looks at permanently removing at least five parking spaces – not on the west side from Biscayne Waterway to Alton Road, as stipulated by a city commission resolution, but from the east of Biscayne Waterway – after construction, said Mr. Huber in his presentation to the city.

Elements proposed to enhance 41st Street include the incorporation of more Florida royal palms “extensively throughout the corridor,” Mr. Huber said. But for 80% of the area’s landscape, the project would maintain the trees that are already there. “We aren’t really able at this point to put a lot of other shade trees in there, so, we are just looking at enhancing and maintaining the existing trees we have.”

Some low-maintenance landscape features that are planned could be including more perennial groundcover, which is already in certain areas of the 41st Street.

But the bulk of the construction work would be the repaving and beautification of the sidewalks. Brooks & Scarpa proposed branded concrete pavement along the corridor with different finishes and textures, the integration of a seat wall and landscaping features. “What we have done is advance the AECOM plan to look into what we can get into budget, based on current funding,” said Mr. Huber.

Current elements of the street, like the strings of lights along trees, which are temporary and might present a hurricane hazard, would be implemented “at the standard of a streetlamp, making it a light garden” with dimmable strings of light, he explained.

Similarly, specific intersections, such as Park Avenue at 41st Street, and the mid-block crossing east of Prairie Avenue, would get enhancements with new “crosswalk paving strategies,” such as painting the pavement “Miami Beach red,” which looks like a soft pink, and integrating shade trees. “We’re looking at how to take the budget that we have and create almost a plaza-like feel, an oasis,” said Mr. Huber.

The plan would also reuse and maintain current furniture along the street where it is appropriate, aside from the seat wall, and to remodel existing bus stops.

The pavement replacements would be porous concrete with rock-salt finish, “characteristic of the oolite limestone, indicative of the South Florida region,” he said.

“That would brand [the street] from building edge to building edge to create almost a living room for the residents and for the businesses to spill out in these zones (with outdoor cafes, for example). The priority in these areas would become the pedestrian over the vehicle.”

Residents, however, were dissatisfied with the concept. Former Miami Beach Mayor Norman Ciment said, “I’m sure you’re aware that the city commission, many years ago, spent a lot of money to put trees up and down 41st Street, and tiles on the sidewalks. It didn’t bring any new business to 41st Street. If you’re thinking of spending $15 million to beautify 41st Street, it’s going to bring no one back.”

He pointed out that there are several vacancies in the street, as well as no supermarkets and no garages in which to park. Residents echoed his comments.

One resident said she doesn’t go to the street anymore. “How are we going to attract customers to the businesses if there is no place to park?”

“You own two tremendous pieces of land in either side of 41st Street,” said Mr. Ciment. “You have to put out a bid, on a turnkey basis, for a supermarket to come in there and build. And they can build – like we have on Prairie Avenue – tremendous parking at the bottom of the building to replace the parking that you have right now. [This] will bring back life and businesses to 41st Street.”