The City Council and Law Firm Continue their Neglect and Failure to Address the 3-Year Canal Street Closure and Lost Parking Spots. The City Clerk officially states there are no documents to show otherwise.

City management’s ongoing failures of the downtown development continue to be exposed. Here, I am again focusing on the closure of Canal Street. We have already established that Canal Street was closed down illegally.

Broken Promise: Canal Street Remains Closed

Our code calls for 60 days max and we are now over 3 years.

Amid Downtown Development Scandals and Failures, Accountability and Change Must Be Demanded

The project is stalled and the loss of Canal Street and its couple dozen much-needed parking spots continues. So I wondered what measures had been taken up to now to protect the community from this abuse by the developer.

Does the city have any violations or liens on the property? Have they served any warnings? Have they addressed it and gotten any information at all?

I tried to do a fairly thorough public records request as documented below.

The City Clerk’s terse response; “There are no records responsive to your request, thank you.

Nothing.

The official city response is that Nothing has been done to alleviate or even address the illegal takeover of OUR public street and critical parking spots for 3 years and counting. Nothing.

I’ve been very critical of city management over the downtown development debacle. Especially the law firm and outgoing City Manager and recently fired City Planner.

City Planner Chris Heid Terminated

But other than newly elected Councilman Santin the rest of the council has been around for a couple of years or more. They heard all the uproar about these failures. Is it really possible that they have officially ignored Canal Street and meekly accepted that its closure is indefinite and nothing can be done about it?

That’s pretty much it according to the City Clerk. I don’t want to unfairly criticize anyone. I just want facts and the truth. If the City Clerk’s response does not match reality I sincerely invite a city official to publicly clarify and answer the questions below. Otherwise, it looks like another failure of council oversight. The community suffers as the council inconceivably lavishes praise and votes of confidence on failed administrators while neglecting oversight and accountability. 

– Jim Llewellyn

(Letter and Public Records Request Sent to Council and Staff)

Dear Mayor, Council, and Staff

The development of 1 Curtiss Parkway has been going on now for years and appears to be stalled. Canal Street and its parking spots have been eliminated from public use for years. Please provide answers to the following questions regarding the City’s position in this case.

  1. Are there any ongoing fines for the development or for the ongoing closure of Canal Street?
  2. Are there any liens against the property for any reason?
  3. Does the City have any legal documents that could subject 1 Curtiss Parkway to fines or other adverse consequences based on any time limits or deadlines on construction progress and completion?
    • If so please provide copies of legal documents as per Florida Statutes Chapter 119, public records request.
  4. Does the City have any legal documents or other legal avenues to challenge the ongoing closure of Canal Street?
    • If so please provide copies of legal documents as per Florida Statutes Chapter 119, public records request
  5. Does the City have any plans to address the ongoing Canal Street closure and ongoing delay in construction?
    • If so please provide copies of documents as per Florida Statutes Chapter 119, public records request
  6. To the best of the City’s knowledge, what are the present circumstances of 1 Curtiss Parkway regarding reasons for the delay, any changes of ownership, foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings, etc?

Thank you,

Jim Llewellyn
Miami Springs


SUBMIT YOUR LETTER

You can submit letters to the editor to Editor@MiamiSprings.com.

3 COMMENTS

  1. #1-Stop promoting City Managers from within and hire an outside COMPETENT manager.
    #2-Fire the law firm presently representing the city and hire a COMPETENT city attorney.
    #3- REMEMBER WHO YOU WORK FOR; THE PEOPLE, NOT THE BUSINESS OR THE DEVELOPERS.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here