Good for lovers, fishermen: Miami 21 guidelines for city’s waterfront.

When it comes to planning codes, it turns out the City of Miami has created the very model that all Florida communities should follow, according to the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, which just awarded Miami 21 the Award of Excellence in the Best Practices category.

Consider it a kind of "Design Bill of Rights" for the public, which should come in handy when the City puts together plans for reviving the Marine Stadium basin waterfront on Virginia Key.

For example, the best practices that should be followed for public waterfronts, according to Miami 21, ( “Appendix B: Waterfront Design Guidelines”) state that public access waterfront walkways shall:

Feel public: No one should feel as he or she are intruding on private property...
Be usable: Young and old, handicapped and joggers, lovers, fisherman, business and men and women, everyone should find the waterfront usable...
Provide visual access. The attraction is the water...enhance maximum visibility to the water.
Enhance visual quality. Parking and service areas must be completely screened...Materials, color and forms should complement the natural shoreline environment.
Connect to other public areas.
Take advantage of waterfront setting. Where practical, boating and fishing activities should be incorporated into waterfront designs.... Boat access from the water to the land is encouraged.

The guidelines go on to talk about meandering shorelines paths, natural shorelines and borders of native plants. In this idyllic landscape, even the public benches are required to have backs.

Best of all is the recommended signage: “All public access waterfront walks shall be marked with the standard “Public Shore” sign.

Miami 21 represents the “Miami of the 21st Century," according to the City of Miami Planning Department website, which states: "The Miami 21 Zoning Code is a Form-Based Code guided by tenets of New Urbanism and Smart Growth principles. For more info: www.miami21.org.


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On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Drums in the Park Sunday at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

Everyone is welcome at the “Drums in the Park” event this weekend at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park -whether to play or listen - at the open drum circle.

The community gathering takes place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 19 at the dance pavilion just steps away from the sandy shores of the beach park (also every third Sunday of the month).

This is a great opportunity for family and friends to hear some great music and also enjoy the beach park, which features a historic seaside carousel, miniature train, nature boardwalk and a restored sandy beach that has been replanted by volunteers with native dune vegetation.

Attention musicians: drums and other acoustic instruments are welcome. Show your drum at the park entrance, say “Drum Circle,” and voila - you get the park entrance fee ($5) waived.

Directions: This is the historic Virginia Key Beach Park after the Miami Seaquarium (just before the Bear Cut bridge heading south towards Key Biscayne). Turn left at the traffic light.

Resources: Virginia Key Beach Park, http://www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/home.htm; 305-960-4600.

Urban Paradise Guild's Idea of Paradise on Virginia Key

“Recreation through conservation.”

That’s an approach Sam Van Leer, director of the Urban Paradise Guild, an environmental advocacy and volunteer restoration group, would like to see on Virginia Key.

Van Leer has helped craft a tangible plan for just what that would mean on Virginia Key’s North Point. He says this can be accomplished in a short time with just a modest investment of public and private funds plus the sweat equity his organization harnesses so well:

1. A public beach shared by people during the day, nesting sea turtles at night.

2. Mult-use paths enjoyed by all.

3. Native vegetation selected to preserve the stunning views of the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlike Area, Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve and the city skyline.

4. A large area set aside for mountain biking.

5. Picnic areas along the North Point Beach.

6. Walking paths that allow people to explore different native habitants found in coastal and inland areas.

7. A primitive campground on high ground, with exposure to cooling and bug-abating breezes.


The Urban Paradise Guild was founded, in part, to defend Virginia Key from commercial development, Van Leer states.

As a member of the Virginia Key Coalition, he and hundreds of other citizens participated in the September 2009 public planning charrette that took a closer look at each part of the island and crafted sustainable and public recreation-oriented plans for the island.

Which is very much in line with the UPG’s motto: “creating sustainable paradise in South Florida, one Habitat at a Time.”

TO LEARN MORE: http://www.urban-paradise.org/

Photo: Sam Van Leer and UPG volunteers help replant dunes with native vegetation on Virginia Key beach

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On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Not so fast with the bulldozers on North Point of Virginia Key

The North Point of Virginia is not the despoiled wasteland a Sept. 12 Miami Herald story ("Bike Trail Project A lot Tougher Than Expected) would have you believe.

A biological evaluation of the area by Miami Dade County’s Environmental Endangered Lands division completed earlier this year indicates the area contains acres of mangroves, tropical hammock and dune communities, all essential wildlife habitat, replete with endangered species.

Perhaps we shouldn't be so fast with those trail-blazing bulldozers after all...or so cavalier about allowing more dredge material dumping on the island from future Port of Miami projects.


In the northern and eastern portion, beach dune communities include Sea Oats, inkberry, railroad vine and burrowing four o’ clock, the latter of which is a State endangered listed species. The beach areas are essential sea turtle nesting areas.

The surrounding shallow waters along the shoreline are densely lined with seagrass beds, including turtle grass, manatee grass and shoal grass. The healthy and diverse communities support various species of sponges, invertebrates, and algae.

A high quality coastal mangrove community thrives along the west portion of North Point and is part of the state-designated Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area, a 700-acre wildlife preserve created to protect the extraordinary habitat values of the area.

At the northern end of North Point is a mangrove community of red, white, and black mangroves, and green buttonwood created under supervision of the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management as part of a mitigation project.

The EEL report states the restoration project was performed “to resolve a violation that occurred in 1992, when Port of Miami dredging contractors damaged seagrasses, beach dunes and mangrove wetlands without authorization while Government Cut was being deepened.”

The mitigation project created five acres of coastal hammock, four acres of dune, 12 acres of new mangrove forest and new tidal habitat through the creation of new channels that run from Norris Cut to the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area.


Resources: Miami Herald, "Bike Trail Project A Lot Tougher Than Expected," Sept. 12, 2010. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/12/1820390/bike-trail-project-a-lot-tougher.html

Photo: North Point beach.

Will economics "whittle away our heritage" on Virginia Key?

As both Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami mull over proposals for development of Virginia Key, the words of the stadium architect, Hilario Candela, captured in July 1993 in a letter to the Miami-Dade Commission, are prescient.

He was writing to commissioners to save the stadium from demolition at a time the City of Miami was facing economic difficulties and wanted to raze the stadium to make way for commercial development of the area.


In the letter, Candela refers to the "economic equation" that might be used to justify razing the stadium.

That same equation has returned-- with a slight twist. The stadium is not slated for demolition for now but pressure exists to introduce commercial development of public lands surrounding the stadium as a way to both pay for its restoration as well as provide a quick fix to solve budget shortfalls.

How far will it go? And what is the real cost of giving away public lands? In 1993, Candela urged that we not give up what is uniquely ours:

As the architect of the facility, both on a personal and professional level, I would be extremely disappointed to see this landmark razed primarily because the "economic equation" didn't work. It seems to me that there must be other creative ways we can take advantage of this unique facility, ways that could improve the financial picture to the City and its taxpayers as well as enhancing the quality of life of citizens by the concerts, shows and special events which could take place at the Marine Stadium. In a City and County where we have too few civic structures which have been preserved, it would be a shame to lose a facility that has been the center of so many happy memories for so many people.

...(T)he people of Miami and the surrounding communities need a structure like the Marine Stadium. Its very existence celebrates the public assembly of the various cultures that make up our unique community along the waterfront. It is this celebration of the waterfront and its various recreational activities that define us, not only in this community, but in truth throughout the entire world. It is synonymous with Miami and an intrinsic part of our community. It is my belief that the destruction of the Marine Stadium would accomplish the exact opposite of what we are trying to accomplish. We need to accentuate our uniqueness not whittle away our heritage.

Video: Great shots of Miami Marine Stadium, today and in its heyday.

1940: "Virginia Key Filling Slated for This Week"

The arrival of a dredge from Savannah signaled was what supposed to be the beginning of a posh private development on Virginia Key.

The year was 1940 and the imminent filling of “swampy areas” was to transform 600 acres of the island into home sites to be sold exclusively to private club members.

In a news story dated February 18, 1940 headlined “Virginia Key Filling Slated For This Week,” The Miami Daily News even reported on the target market:

The development is expected to attract yachtsmen, since Norris cut, separating Terminal island from Virginia key, will be dredged to a depth of 20 feet and other waterways through the islands to 12 feet.”

Though, as always when it comes to Virginia Key, there were competing plans from the public sector for the land. A joint city-county project was proceeding to purchase the land for a harbor.

Alas - for the proponents - neither project came to pass as. To quote a poet- the “best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry.”

Which brings us to today.

Same waterfront lands coveted both by private development interests and the public.

One difference: this time the land is owned by the public.


Photo: Virginia Key, circa 1963-1973. Note: swampy areas.


from the Poet:
"The best laid schemes of Mice and Men
oft go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"
Robert Burns, To a Mouse (Poem, November, 1785)
Scottish national poet (1759 - 1796)

@2010 All Rights Reserved

Also on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key