Remarks by Luis Prieto y Muñoz
433 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 13 of 18
“So, I mean, here we are. We've gone through it. I think the applicant's gotten a sense of the sort of feedback. There is a lot of feedback that's come through. And I think, I mean, I can only speak for myself in saying that I feel like this does fall short as to what I would see as an approvable property for Charles Avenue, which I think has been very correctly characterized as a profoundly historic street in a very historic part of the city. I would think... At this stage, certainly my preference, and I don't know where the board lands, would be that you take all of this guidance that you've…”
“I will pause my soliloquy. Do you want to say while they confer? Sure. Go on, Bob.”
“Am I not speaking loud enough? I really don't want to say that out loud, but no. Oh, my goodness.”
“First off, it would lower the profile of the house.”
“Ken, have your deliberations been fruitful?”
“Okay, all right. So the guidance remains as read in. Thank you. And that's a lot of feedback. Out of curiosity, just... No, no, actually, we've addressed this previously. I don't need to go down that road. What's the will of the board? Do we feel like you are comfortable? I am inclined to agree with you, Bob. I think there's a lot here, and I would hate to try to, as we said earlier, capture a bunch of visual concepts in narrative form. It's always difficult. So you've had a lot of input.”
“If we deny you, you don't do anything else. It just goes to the planning department for the planning director to determine, correct?”
“No, but I think it's important that you understand the bifurcation of what a zoning allowance means and what all the other layers of city police powers imply. The historic districts of the city and all the many other layers that create nuances in the various neighborhoods are what make Miami a unique place and are what make places like Coconut Grove valuable and sought after. There are innumerable swathes of the city of Miami where you can build to the absolute extent of Miami 21 zoning without any restriction whatsoever. There are parts that are not, and that's what makes those parts…”
“If you look at the Mariah Brown house, if you look at another historic one that's just down the street from you, they're all very much more forward. They're more prominently on the frontage. So I think I would be very inclined to approve something that's much more pushed forward to the greatest extent possible with more dramatic porches, which would give you more room in the back for your pool. Also, you have a notch cut out on one side. You can maybe take that up. I think creating a more uniform structure rather than the articulated volumes can give you more square footage and make it more…”
“Just to soften this a little bit. I mean, also keep in mind, you've now got two items in front of us. I imagine you're going to be coming back a lot more. So it's good that we all get to work together and learn how to work through this process. Because getting it right, and this is a great source of... you know, work for you. And the better you understand this, the better it's going to be for us in the future because you'll be able to bring these projects forward to us in a language that is, that the board, I mean, you can tell, the board is generally very aligned on these things because…”
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
“So I'll ask you a question, and maybe this will give you an opportunity to comment, which is, do you think your client would be amenable to a deferral? Do you think your client, and either of you can answer this question, would your client be amenable, would your client be okay deferring the item?”
“You need to give us your name and address.”
“It's kind of houses and project. That's precisely the problem. I mean, what you're articulating is the reason this is at this board now.”
“Permit me to finish. This city, so Charles Avenue is a very historic street. It was designated as such. And control over that has passed between various city departments. And precisely because there was a perception that previous regulatory bodies were not treating Charles Avenue correctly, that it ended up at this board only very recently. So while things may have been approved in the past, the only prism through which we're looking at this is through the prism of the island design guidelines or the Village West design guidelines. And that's what's being applied here.”
“No, they're entitled by right of zoning, but that's one right. There are many other rights. You've got to comply with all the regulations of the code. And that is zoning as well as many others. So yes, by right, by zoning right, you can build a certain thing, but there are other layers. And so what I'm telling you now, and I don't think we need to get into the merits of this, is that based on the design guidelines, which is what has empowered this board to oversee this neighborhood through, this board, by my general sense of it, and we haven't put anything to vote yet, is that the... I'm…”
“No one said that. No one has said that. And if you want to mischaracterize this board, you're very welcome to, but now you're starting to waste our time. So I'll ask if you don't have anything further to answer. That will be all.”
“No, well, it's starting to get a little bit negative, your comments. So if you have anything further, otherwise, I think the intent is either to defer this item and give you an opportunity to take this to your client and add... Additional details and take the advice of this board into consideration or you can have us take action tonight Which I suspect won't be a positive one It's up to you guys We can't defer without you guys agreeing to defer”
“I can't tell you I can't answer how long it's gonna take you guys to take the feedback that we gave you redesign speak to your client find something that works for you but that's the media controlling factor as you now well know this September maybe You come back here and if you capture the feedback well and what you give us is good. And as I will point out, as staff pointed out, there's one deferral. So please do your best to capture this as much as possible. We don't want to deny your client their ability to build their house. We don't want to cause difficulties. We just want to make sure…”
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
“And speak to the neighbors. That's an enormous resource right there. So, in fact, I would suggest for your purposes, exchange information on your way out. And I think that's going to be your easiest way to capture what it is, because it's the neighborhoods that very much contributed to the intent of creating this district in the first place. That's, you know, many years ago when the NCDs were built, it was because the neighbors wanted more protections to preserve the neighborhood that they live in. And I think that matters a lot. And I think that's something that would be very helpful for you…”
“Oh, that's a good idea, Ken. So... Are you comfortable with it being September? Yes. Is that your preference?”
“Me. Are you comfortable with amending to a date certain of September 1st? I am. Thank you. And the second?”
“Thank you. Any discussion on the motion? Okay. Roll call vote, please.”
“Before we do, the applicant, you're all good. You don't have to stay for this part of it.”