WAvNA Meeting Minutes
September 6, 2016, 6:30pm, The Mirador, 1200 West Ave
Directors attending: Gayle Durham, Shawn Bryant, Travis Copeland, Briane Keane, Corinne Kirkland
Call to order and introductory remarks, Gayle Durham, 6:35pm
I. Thank you to Ben Sarason & KW Property Management for sponsoring refreshments
II. Police Q&A – Officer Deborah Martineau
a. Captain Jones has been promoted, new officer in charge of South Beach is Captain
b. Pedestrian safety on West Ave: Need to find ways to educate drivers; currently focusing on school locations because of the start of the new school year
c. Airport-style flashing crosswalks: Commissioner Grieco spoke – their location will be on West Ave after West Ave road construction completes. He added that the flashing crosswalks coupled with our streetscape design will make West Ave much more pedestrian friendly with calmer traffic
d. Homelessness at construction at the end of 10th Street: Officer Martineau stated there are dedicated homelessness outreach officers, they have been to the location, but to please keep calling with questions or problems
e. How to report street light outages? Use the EGOV app
III. Zika spraying
a. Aerial spraying of NALED was to be done Thursday, Sept 8th
b. Commissioner Grieco strongly opposed to the spraying
c. Emergency town hall meeting called for Wed, Sept 7th, 10am, City Hall
d. [Update: Meeting was held, County agreed to delay spraying by one day, scheduled to commence Friday, September 9th, 5:00am]
IV. Hostels/Hotel Ban update
a. Dozens of buildings in our neighborhood can convert to hostels as-of-right
b. In July Commissioner Malakoff sponsoring a proposal to ban hostels/hotels at Land Use Committee but it was deferred until September 21st meeting
c. Please attend Sept 21st, or at least e-mail, City in favor of ban
V. Alcohol Ordinance
a. Commission passed our ordinance, limiting alcohol sales at new establishments to 2am (outdoor/rooftop to 12am)
b. Mayor Levine also pushing for 2:00am close on Ocean Drive
VI. Code Compliance with George Castell
a. Noise Ordinance is enforced 24/7 – available on Municode.com (see link below)
b. Question about noise Swoops (the extended golf carts blasting music): Code Compliance cannot pull over vehicles, so those have to be called into the police
c. Short-term rentals: Please report violations to Code Enforcement because they can only act if people are actually on the premises: 305.673.7555
VII. Light-Rail Streetcar Proposal
a. Loop from 5th and Alton, down 5th to Washington, up Washington to 17th, back across to Alton and down to 5th
b. Representative from “Stop the train Miami Beach” spoke against plan, calling the loop the “train to nowhere,” criticizing the costs (~$500M), lamenting loss of parking
c. Representative from City of Miami Beach, Winsome Bowen explained the light-rail streetcar.
i. It is only a proposal, not a done deal
ii. Transportation Dept is looking at ways to provide more information to the public, including thorough updates RE technical studies, negotiations, environmental/traffic studies
iii. Public hearings tentatively planned for January and April 2017
iv. Train will be cross-compatible with “Baylink”
v. Bowen will come to October’s WAvNA meeting with a fuller presentation
vi. For more info, please visit keepmbmoving.com
d. Mark Samuelian of Miami Beach United announced there will be a forum about the light-rail streetcar proposal on October 20th, 6:00pm, including officials and experts from all levels, both for and against proposal (see below)
VIII. Adjournment
For more information on topics above:
KW Property Management: https://kwpmc.com/company-profile/who-we-are/
Miami Beach Police – South Beach resource officer Deborah Martineau: [email protected]
Miami Beach EGOV mobile app: http://miamibeachfl.gov/it/mobileapp.aspx
Miami Beach noise ordinance via Municode: https://www.municode.com/library/fl/miami_beach/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=SPAGEOR_CH46EN_ARTIVNO_S46-152NOUNEXPR
Code Compliance phone number: 305.673.7555
Miami Beach streetcar proposal information: www.keepmbmoving.com
Miami Beach United: http://www.miamibeachunited.org/index.html
