IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT SCOTTY'S TO BE?

                          ONE OF THE PROPOSALS TO REPLACE  SCOTTY'S 


    City Hall doesn't get it. The City of Miami's attempt to destroy Scotty's Landing feels like a stab in the back.  Grovites are bleeding with anger.  

      I'm a teacher and I ran into my school's principal last Monday.  She was still glowing over the U's football victory, "The game was great and afterwards, we came to the Grove for dinner at Scotty's!".  
      
    When I told her the City of Miami was planning to replace it with a Shula's Steakhouse her smile sank and she asked, "Are you serious?  Why would anyone do that?".

    I hear that a lot.
I told the Kendall resident how our leaders had decided to put another Bayside on the Scotty's site.  It's a bad idea that few people support.  The City doesn't understand this.
      
  After the election they will.  On November 5th voters will be asked,

"SHALL THE CITY BE AUTHORIZED TO LEASE APPROXIMATELY 7 ACRES OF WATERFRONT AND SUBMERGED LANDS IN COCONUT GROVE TO GROVE BAY INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC, PROVIDING FOR 1) A MINIMUM OF $1.4 MILLION IN GUARANTEED ANNUAL RENT AND 2) APPROXIMATELY $17.9 MILLION OF PRIVATELY FUNDED IMPROVEMENTS TO REDEVELOP AN EXISTING MARINA AND PUBLIC BAYWALK, CONSTRUCT RESTAURANTS AND, PARTIALLY FUND A PUBLIC PARKING GARAGE, FOR A 50 YEAR TERM WITH TWO 15 YEAR RENEWAL OPTIONS."

   We must answer with a resounding "No!".

   Giving the Grove Bay developer an 80-year lease to build something as awful as Bayside is an terrible idea.
    The ballot language is so vague.  Look at it again.  Grove Bay is free to fill 7-acres of waterfront with stores, restaurants, and a parking garage.
    Doesn't the Grove have plenty of these already? 
   Shouldn't the Grove's waterfront be more like a park and less like a mall? 
   Can't we leave Bayside downtown?

  Submit your answer in the November 5th election.



WHAT WE MIGHT SEE 
    
   Last spring the City of Miami asked developers to submit  proposals to improve the Scotty's Landing site.  Only two did,  "Grove Bay" and "Veleta".   The renderings from both groups are similar. 

  
 I published Grove Bay's two weeks ago (one of their renderings is above).
 The others are what Veleta had in mind.  

Notice how Scotty's is tranformed into a huge brown shell.  Turtle power!

    Just before the two proposals were to be considered, Veleta withdrew theirs.  There just wasn't enough money in it for them. Now there is no choice, there is just one proposal, "Grove Bay". 
 
    As it turns out the renderings don't mean much anyway.  Look at the referendum language, there are no restrictions on retail space or where the Grove Bay developer will build his stores and restaurants.   
   There's a lot of talk about the development's parking garage.  We've been told it will be everything from 3 to 8 storys tall.     Left, Veleta's garage concept     The footprint being everything from from baby to Bigfoot.

   The proposed garage design keeps changing and again, the developer and the parking authority will choose whatever suits them.

    It's time to stop taking what City Hall is giving us.  Vote "no".  Don't let their greed succeed.