After you return from the Thanksgiving Holiday, there will be a couple of important public hearings for a rezoning request for vacant property adjacent to the developed Fair Havens property now operating as “Miami Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.”
- DECEMBER 2, 6:30PM
MIAMI SPRINGS ZONING & PLANNING BOARD
Miami Springs Senior Center - DECEMBER 8, 7:00PM
MIAMI SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Miami Springs Recreation Center
Below you’ll see a map of the properties in question. The areas highlighted in purple are currently zoned as Medical / Residential. The area highlighted in yellow is currently vacant land zoned for single family residential. This area currently acts as a buffer area between the nursing home and the single family residential homes along Morningside Drive.
As you can see below, the green area below is currently owned by the folks at Fair Havens. However, today this area can only be developed to build single family homes.
However, the owners don’t want to build single family homes. They want to build a three story annexation to the existing complex. Below you’ll see a rendering of the project that turns the existing green space into a three story building and parking lots.
Opinion
If I lived on Pinecrest, I’d probably want to keep the green space buffer. But I don’t live on Pinecrest so I leave it to those who do live there to share their opinions.
Street Access – In my humble opinion, there shouldn’t be any ingress or egress access from Pinecrest. All entrances should be from the existing side streets.
Foliage / Site Views – The project should be required to plant Live Oaks all along Pinecrest to add constant tall foliage that would block the view of the building from its neighbors.
Furthermore, the opinions of the immediate neighbors (espcially along Pinecrest) should be carefully considered as this impacts their investment more than anyone else.
One More Concern
We DO NOT agree with changing the use of the property on the north side of Morningside and west side of Reinette Drive from Residential to Medical Residential. As you can see, the property (shown below, next to the stop sign) is an oddly shaped lot immediately adjacent to other single family homes. According to Miami-Dade Property Records, the rare vacant lot has 10,768 square feet of space. We see nothing positive that can happen by making this small parcel of land next to somebody’s home a “Medical Residential” zone. What we see is a future land owner turning the property into a medical office of some kind in the middle of our residential neighborhood if we accept this change.
Our recommendation is to leave the smaller 10,768 square foot lot zoned for residential. The land owner can sell it for the creation of a future home or keep it as open green space. But changing the zoning on such a small lot creates more questions than answers. Let’s leave that parcel just the way it is. Approve the large parcel, but leave the smaller parcel as residential use only.
Council Action
The Miami Springs City Council voted unanimously in the first reading of the ordinance to allow this change for both lots. To complete the project, all they need is a zoning change for the one large lot. They don’t need to change both lots.
Your Thoughts?
What do you think? Do you agree with this land use change? Do you like the idea of expanding the physical building at Fair Havens / Miami Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center?
Next Steps
The change will not become permanent until the second hearing on the matter in a couple of weeks. If you disagree with the changes, now’s the time to let City Council know what you think. Attend the meeting on Tuesday, December 2nd and the meeting on Monday, December 8th.
