At Monday’s Miami Springs City Council Meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to defer the zoning changes proposed at the Fair Havens property. The City Council also accepted the Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation for the creation of a new zoning district that would only allow the property to be used as a nursing / assisted living facility.
The move protects the city from the possibility that the owners of the property decide to sell and a new owner decides to build office or other commercial development on the property.
We applaud the move as it protects the neighbors from the possibility of something other than a nursing home being developed on the property. We also want to applaud the Miami Springs Planning and Zoning Board for coming up with this recommendation.
That being said, many residents and direct neighbors to Fair Havens spoke up against the zoning changes. Many residents spoke against converting lots currently zoned for single family homes to anything other than single family homes.
A common theme among residents was that the zoning changes did nothing to improve the quality of life for existing residents. Zoning changes should be a net positive to the community not a net negative.
Many questions remain including whether or not certain lots that are currently zoned for residential will be allowed to change to this new zoning district.
Monday’s meeting was the last meeting of the year so the matter won’t come up again until the new year.
Bottom line. Stay tuned.
