Why Did Three South Miami Commissioners Reject Over $300MM in Community Investment?

This opinion piece is in response to the City of South Miami’s Annexation Request, found here.

Leslie DeBauge
Leslie DeBauge

Dear Mayor Stoddard:

As a Ponce Davis resident and homeowner, I received your November 3rd letter asking me to consider joining the incorporated City of South Miami via annexation.  My family moved to Miami five years ago and chose to live near the intersection of Red Road and Sunset Drive, given the central location and conveniences such as Sunset Place and its bookstore and movie theater, grocery stores, pharmacies, schools and restaurants.  While Sunset Place itself was clearly struggling to retain tenants, we knew the property was too valuable to fail over time, given its premier location and spectacular potential.  Everyone we met relied upon the area for daily errands, and we could not understand what was hindering the development of the mall, leaving so many failed and shuttered storefronts like Brother Jimmy’s, a family favorite.  As you note in your letter, “South Miami’s downtown is your downtown,” and we are there every single day of the week.

We were thrilled to learn last year that deeply experienced and locally-partnered investors were planning to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the mall, opening up the outdated architecture and creating more pedestrian-friendly access.  What wonderful news for neighboring residents in so many municipalities, and South Miami in particular.  We trusted that the South Miami planning and zoning board would make sure the development was safe and appropriate for the area, given their fabulous experience and qualifications, and that all the surrounding residents would reap the benefits of a thriving South Miami downtown.

While residents of Ponce Davis and High Pines consider your request for City of South Miami inclusion via annexation, can you please explain why this week your City Commission vetoed the Sunset Place redevelopment proposal that South Miami’s planning board recommended for approval?  Was Commissioner Josh Liebman implying that the city’s zoning entity is corrupt in his criticism of their unanimous decision?  According to the Miami Herald’s November 7th article written by Andres Viglucci, Commissioner Liebman “suggested it looked like a set-up…He complained bitterly about a last-minute barrage of emails and derided people in the audience wearing what he termed “cute” buttons in support of the plan.”  How does this response from a City Commissioner gel with the contention in your letter that “Commissioners of South Miami and our department directors make their email and cell phone contacts available to residents, and we pride ourselves in our high level of responsiveness to our community”?

If I were a current City of South Miami resident, I would insist on holding the City Commissioners accountable for their votes depriving the community of invaluable investment to revive what currently looks like a dying and neglected downtown on Sunset Drive between US 1 and Red Road.  If Commissioner Liebman intends to question the integrity of the city zoning board, perhaps the entire City Commission should be questioned.  I certainly would not trust your municipality with “improvements to the neglected parts of your neighborhood, such as SW 76th Street and SW 54th Avenue” that you suggest in your letter, when your City Commission has likely destroyed the chance of Sunset Place receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of desperately-needed improvements.  How could such an arbitrary and fiscally irresponsible decision make me want to be a part of the City of South Miami?

Leslie DeBauge has been a resident in the High Pines and Ponce Davis area for over 5 years.


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