STOP THE $100 MILLION GARAGE IN NORTH BEACH

Update!

• The price tag is now over $100 Million! 

• North Shore Library & Other Public Properties to be Sold!

We strongly oppose spending up to $100 MILLION public money to build a parking garage and swimming pool on Miami Beach park land at Collins and 72nd Street. Land in the heart of North Beach is a precious commodity that should not be wasted on facilities that are not needed. At a time when the City lacks money for infrastructure, sea walls, climate resiliency, and the Byron Carlyle, we should not spend $100 million for a project that is not needed. And public lands should not be sold to pay for cost overruns.

• Parking Yes, there is a problem with parking in North Beach. But NOT in the area where the garage is planned. The surface parking lot there is usually half empty. Instead, there is lack of parking in key residential areas, where people live, that won't be solved by building a massive garage far away, too far to walk. And developers must be required to provide garages for residential development in the Town Center. A 21-story building is scheduled for construction on the Post Office site, but the City has not required the developer to build a garage. Why not? Public land should not be used to accommodate private residential construction.

• Swimming Pool The parking garage will have an Olympic size pool on top, ostensibly for the Beach High swim team. But there are plenty of places closer to the school where a pool could be built that are much more convenient, and would cost far less than $100 million. North Beach already has a community pool close by on Normandy Isle. And the ocean is just a block away.

• The referendum. Voters approved the project in a Go Bond referendum. This does not mean that the bonds have to be issued. It is still taxpayer money – OUR MONEY AND OUR CHILDREN'S MONEY – that will pay off these bonds. The referendum does not force the City to spend taxpayer money on a facility that is simply not needed.

• Sale of Public Lands. But it gets worse. With the price tag now at $100 million, Miami Beach is planning to sell valuable public lands, including the oceanfront North Shore Library site, one of North Beach's most beautiful and valuable properties, to cover the ballooning costs. The Go Bond referendum did not mention selling off public lands, and no one voted to sell city owned land to pay for the garage.


For More Information: savenobe@gmail.com

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