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The South Dade Municipal Coalition (SMDC) recently issued a report concerning a 2021 Rapid Transit Zone (RTZ) draft ordinance written by a member of the Miami-Dade County Commission, vice chair Oliver G. Gilbert III of District 1.
The coalition, founded in 2007, is made up of the municipalies of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Homestead and Florida City which lie along the route of the South Dade Transitway.
The draft ordinance would give Miami-Dade County control over zoning and apply a blanket approach to mixed-use residential density and intensity along the Bus Rapid Transit route, parallel to S. Dixie Highway.
The SDMC report delineates how each municipality can have control of its identity and character, while providing opportunity for mixed-use residential development at transit hubs that extend the length of S. Dixie Highway, starting at the Dadeland North Metrorail Station and south into Florida City. The report shows what each municipality is doing to encourage Transit Oriented Development (TOD) to ensure compliance with the county’s land use objectives to encourage TOD. In South Dade, this would generally affect all properties within a quarter-mile radius of stations, as well as all properties a half-mile on either side of the South Dade Transitway
The county has a history of trying to increase residential development along the S. Dixie Highway. corridor to increase Metrorail ridership and revenue to cover costs.
Joseph M. Corradino, Mayor of the Village of Pinecrest, explained his view of the SDMC report.
“The South Dade Municipal Coalition is a group of South Dade municipal elected officials and community organizations like the South Dade Chamber, the South Dade Economic Development Council, and Chamber South,” Mayor Corradino said. “We meet regularly to discuss the issues that we all face as South Daders particularly along the US1 corridor. We’ve been meeting for close to 15 years.
“We typically are not an advocacy group. We discuss a variety of topics with the goal of getting an understanding of the basic facts. Each decision maker can then go back and make the best choices for their community and constituents. Each city has differing ways we would handle each issue, but it’s good to have a common understanding and debate it amongst each other as we form opinions.
“Overall I believe the county’s goals are closely aligned with the municipal goals. We need to deal with traffic, we need rapid transit, we have an affordable housing crisis, we have environmental concerns and we have issues related to economic development. Each city would address these differently and that’s why it’s important to have the quality leadership we now have at the county level. The conversation over the RTZ was difficult but productive,” Mayor Corradino said.
“We all recognize the need to support rapid transit but can all do it in different but meaningful ways and do it well on a corridor wide basis. Our county commissioners have done a very good job in leading the discussion. We all know doing nothing is not an option.
Together we can have a real positive impact on our quality of life going forward.”
Palmetto Bay MayorKaryn Cunningham said that a workable plan is the best for residents.
“Zoning our communities is really the reason each municipality incorporated,” Mayor Cunningham said. “Palmetto Bay has spent years collaborating with our residents and stakeholders in the community to carve out zoning that we believe is the best fit for our village. The South Dade Municipal Coalition has worked to provide the county with a unified document that highlights the work each municipality is doing to meet the needs of transit while maintaining the vibe of our individual communities.
“There is no one size fits all, but I believe the document highlights how working together we can provide a roadmap of the work we are doing individually, while working collaboratively to face the challenges and opportunities of South Dade,” she said.
Cutler Bay Mayor Tim Meerbott agrees that each community should have a say in the zoning decisions.
“Cutler Bay has been committed to supporting transit going back to its founding in 2005,” Mayor Meerbott said. “Our current zoning exceeds the guidelines proposed by the draft ordinance. I believe the local elected officials have a much greater knowledge of our area to make zoning decisions to maintain the character of our community while supporting mass transit.
