Coconut Grove Spotlight

07/10/2026

Miami-Dade County is moving to redevelop another public housing site in the West Grove — a plan that would add at least 300 more units to a stretch of Douglas Road where more than 1,200 new units are already planned or under development.

The county is seeking a developer to demolish and redevelop the 24-unit Stirrup Plaza Family public housing property at 3707 Percival Ave on the west side of Douglas Road. The new project would include at least 300 residential units, described in the solicitation as affordable and workforce housing, with a maximum height of six stories.

The county’s request for proposals (RFP) represents its latest effort to replace low-rise public housing in the West Grove with larger mixed-income developments, a process the county says will expand the supply of affordable housing.

But West Grove residents say the county’s plans don’t account for their concerns about the pace and scale of development — including how those plans could displace residents and erode the character of the Grove’s historically Black neighborhood.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/10/05/more-development-coming-to-douglas-road/

06/10/2026

Just days after adopting a $3.7 billion budget for the year that began Oct. 1, Miami commissioners are being asked to move nearly $1 million out of a citywide tree-planting program.

A capital budget amendment scheduled to go before the City Commission on Thursday would move $996,000 from Citywide Tree Planting into three other capital projects. But where it goes from there — and whether it is actually used to plant trees, as required under city code — is less easy to decipher.

The proposed transfer highlights a broader issue with Miami’s Tree Trust Fund, which uses fines and fees collected when trees are removed to pay for new plantings: The city reports planting thousands of trees with millions of dollars from the fund, but it can be difficult for the public to trace those dollars to where trees are ultimately planted and what they cost.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/10/05/miami-is-moving-nearly-1-million-in-tree-money-where-is-it-going/

06/10/2026

Less than two years after workers damaged a protected stretch of the Silver Bluff — a rare geological formation — during construction of Coconut Grove developer David Martin’s sprawling North Grove mansion, new construction is planned along the same ancient limestone formation next door.

The 2.7-acre waterfront property, at 3029 Brickell Avenue near Alice C. Wainwright Park, includes an 8,584-square-foot mansion once owned by the pop star Madonna. The site lies within Environmental Preservation District No. 49, established by the city in 1975 to protect environmentally significant areas and features, including natural rock outcroppings.

Proposed improvements on the site include new buildings, a swimming pool, a redesigned motor court, a koi pond, a Zen garden, an orchard lawn and seating areas, along with extensive new landscaping, pathways, stone walls and other hardscape. The plans also call for removal or relocation of dozens of existing trees.

Under city rules, development within city-designated environmental preservation districts requires review by the city’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB). When the board reviews the proposal on Tuesday, city preservation officials will recommend approval — but with conditions intended to protect both the Silver Bluff and archaeological deposits beneath the property, city records show.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/10/05/after-silver-bluff-damage-next-door-madonnas-former-estate-faces-scrutiny/

02/10/2026

For decades, Ellen Kanner, a resident of the Silver Bluff neighborhood, could look out her window and see a giant live oak on the lot across the street.

Then, on Aug. 1, she saw a crew begin cutting it down.

Kanner rushed over and asked to see a permit. A worker told her the crew had one, she said, but never showed it. Kanner called 311 and the City of Miami’s Code Compliance Department, but no one answered.

Kanner also sent an email and the message got through. Five days later, the property was cited for illegally removing the tree without a permit.

The property owner, Epic Investments, was issued a $1,000 fine. The city also ordered the company to obtain an after-the-fact permit for the removal.

The case illustrates an issue that has emerged as Miami residents, city officials and the newly appointed Tree Ordinance Advisory Committee rethink the rules protecting the city’s tree canopy: whether the cost of illegally removing a protected tree is enough to deter a developer who might otherwise have to seek a permit that could be denied or require changes to a development plan.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/10/01/a-giant-oak-an-illegal-removal-and-a-not-so-giant-fine/

01/10/2026

A Coconut Grove lawyer is challenging Miami-Dade County’s plans for a massive marina development at the former Seaquarium on Virginia Key, saying he will take the county to court if voters aren’t allowed to approve – or reject – the marina.

Gregory Frankel and a second individual – Aaron Stauber – put Miami-Dade County officials on notice Wednesday that they intend to file suit unless the county agrees to hold a countywide referendum on the proposed marina.

The county is negotiating a long-term lease with an affiliate of Coconut Grove-based Terra Group to redevelop the Seaquarium site with a marina that would extend into Biscayne Bay. The marina would include slips for 325 boats and a dry stack capable of racking 552 more vessels.

In challenging the county, Frankel and Stauber invoked the county’s own charter, saying Article 7 of the charter gives voters the right to decide whether the waterfront site and offshore submerged lands should be leased to a private developer for commercial use.

“We are not against developing the Seaquarium,” Frankel said in a statement to the Spotlight. “We are for the Charter.” Added Stauber: “The question is whether the voters get to decide, and the Charter says they do.”

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/10/01/lawsuit-threatened-over-seaquarium-redevelopment/

29/09/2026

Miami commissioners gave final approval Thursday to a record $3.7 billion city budget, keeping the property tax rate unchanged while adopting last-minute changes that shifted millions of dollars in spending.

Among them: additional money for festivals and special events, the distribution of $10.5 million in previously unexplained personnel savings across city departments and nearly $1 million in additional revenue expected from city marinas.

The final hearing lasted just 53 minutes, with much of the commissioners’ discussion focused on one of the biggest last-minute changes: funding for festivals and special events.

The proposed budget had reduced citywide festival funding from about $3.43 million this year to $1.99 million, eliminating individual allocations for dozens of events. The amendment introduced Thursday restored the overall funding to roughly its current level.

But unlike in previous city budgets, the final amendment does not identify which individual festivals will receive money or how much they will receive, leaving commissioners to decide how their district allocations are distributed.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/09/28/miami-approves-3-7-billion-budget-after-last-minute-changes/

29/09/2026

The Miami City Commission voted Thursday to advance new legislation that would restrict how and where electric bikes and motorized scooters could be ridden within the city, but not before raising questions about how the new rules would be enforced.

The legislation would ban e-bikes and motorized scooters from city sidewalks and impose a maximum speed limit of 20 miles per hour when those devices are ridden on city streets. It would also impose a blanket ban on anyone under the age of 16 from operating an e-bike or motorized scooter on city sidewalks, streets or rights-of-way.

The commission voted unanimously to advance the legislation while acknowledging that the measure will need to be amended, to address enforcement issues and the need for a public education campaign. It was not immediately clear when the measure will return for a second, final vote.

Read more updates from the commission: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/09/24/a-vote-for-tougher-e-bike-rules-in-miami/

28/09/2026

After months of uncertainty over its future, the Miami City Commission voted this month to keep City Hall at the historic Pan Am terminal in Dinner Key.

Now, the Museum of Miami is proposing a public-private partnership it says would preserve the city’s ownership, expand the site’s uses and shield the public waterfront from future privatization.

The museum’s plan reimagines the terminal as a civic commons, with a new museum building, public spaces and a coastal park with protected water views.

The proposal comes as questions about the future of Miami’s public waterfront are playing out elsewhere in the city.

In November, voters will decide whether to approve an $80-million marina redevelopment project on Virginia Key. Referendum 3 would allow the city to lease nearly 28 acres of public waterfront property to private developers for an initial 45-year term, with options extending the lease to as long as 75 years.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/09/24/despite-vote-to-stay-miami-urged-to-rethink-city-halls-future/

25/09/2026

The city’s new Directives to Administration Dashboard promises to let residents track if and when City Hall follows through on a commission directive.

But a Spotlight review found just two of 13 measures requiring action by the city administration had appeared two weeks later.

Read more:

The city’s new dashboard promises to let residents track if and when City Hall follows through on a commission directive. But a Spotlight review found just two of 13 measures requiring action by the city administration had appeared two weeks later.

24/09/2026

Greater St. Paul A.M.E. Church is now accepting applications for its affordable housing units, while the City of Miami considers additional funding to help cover construction cost overruns.

Seven affordable units are now available at the Hibiscus-William Project, according to Greater St. Paul Rev. Dr. Eddy Moise, who welcomed tenant applications this month at the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance meeting.

“We definitely want it to be open to everyone in the community,” he said.

Moise said one - and two-bedroom units will be available for as little as $1,500 per month — a rate he described as “unheard of” in the Grove, where rising housing costs and a wave of luxury development have fueled gentrification and fears of displacement among residents.

Read more: https://coconutgrovespotlight.com/2026/09/21/west-grove-affordable-housing-project-nears-completion/