To Save Biscayne Bay Again

To save Biscayne Bay, Lloyd Miller battled oil magnates, rapacious developers, causeway proponents, chambers of commerce, newspaper editorial boards and lots of politicians touting progress.

In the course of things, his dog was poisoned, his job was threatened and, looking at the odds, it’s no doubt he also had to face down the fear that he would lose. And southern Biscayne Bay - which he knew as the most beautiful, serene, productive gem - would be forever ruined.

Fortunately, Miller won. He won on behalf of all of us who today gaze over the tranquil, vibrant waters of Biscayne Bay, and sigh with relief there’s not an oil refinery in the distance or causeways criss-crossing the emerald green islands of what is today Biscayne National Park.

In case anyone doesn’t believe just how close it all almost came to ruin, Miller, the “father” of Biscayne National Park, documented it in his book. “Biscayne National Park: It Almost Wasn’t.”

Fortunately, all schemes to pave over, dig up, channelize and fill in South Biscayne Bay fizzled for one reason or another but mostly because none of the promoters found a way to finance their projects. That our beautiful bay survived as well as it did for as long is part miracle, part bungled development schemes and partly because it remains a little remote. It certainly hadn’t been saved by an official awareness and concern for its fantastic value as a marine resource, economic engine and recreational wonderland for our ever-expanding population.

But Miller isn’t content just creating Biscayne National Park (and saving Biscayne Bay), Nowadays, this South Dade resident who is in his eighties, continues to fight for his beloved park. This time, his quest is to find a way to increase visitors to what is arguably one of America’s most beautiful and unique parks, but also one that is virtually inaccessible, especially to those without a boat. With the main visitor center near Homstead, few Miami residents even know Biscayne National Park exists.

Biscayne National Park is virtually unknown to our many visitors from across the nation and the world. Many who are aware of Biscayne Bay don’t know that the south half IS Biscayne National Park. This beautiful treasure should be made known and available...There are no mountains, no valleys, no geysers, no elk nor wolves. There are mangroves, beautiful barrier islands, clear water, sea life that doesn’t exist in any of our other parks and tranquility, blessed tranquility, and America’s only coral reef at our front door.

Miller’s fix: bring Biscayne National Park closer to Miami by opening a northern visitor center on Virginia Key.

Miller has been circulating a proposal for more than five years, hoping the political leadership will emerge to champion his vision.

Several sites have been identified, including the keyhole boat basin west of the Miami Seaquarium. Another site would be next to the Miami Marine Stadium, where Biscayne National Park tour boats could start their tour of Biscayne Bay at historic Stiltsville. Boca Chita, with its little lighthouse, would also be within easy reach.

Miller’s dream is not just about promoting Biscayne National Park - - it’s also about sharing our ecological and historic bounty with future generations.

“It is so important that we all learn of the magnificent heritage the National Park Services provides,” Miller writes in his proposal for a new visitor center on Virginia Key. “Our system is the envy of and the model for park systems around the world - and it belongs to the people.

2010 Copyright.@ All Rights Reserved
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Happy Birthday Jimbo!

Jimbo's on Virginia Key invites everyone to help celebrate his 83rd birthday party today, Sunday, April 11th. Beer, barbecue and smoked fish plus the chance to volunteer to clean up and restore colorful shacks used in filming.

Famous and infamous films and videos shot at Jimbo's, according to City of Miami's Film Office director Harry Gottlieb include: Island Claws, Blood and Wine, Wild Things, Porky's II, Ace Ventura, True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious TV: Flipper, Gentle Ben, Miami Vice, Glades, Going To California, Karen Sisco, CSI Miami, Burn Notice Videos: Ziggy Marley, JayLo, Who Let The Dogs Out, Sugar Ray Photos: Maria Carey's first album cover, Jisel, Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell.


Resources and more info:
http://www.jimbosplace.com/
-Miami Herald story:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/10/1573567/jimbos-legendary-watering-hole.html
-New Times interview with Robert Burr - Jimbo's "unofficial" spokeman: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/04/party_to_save_jimbos_place_thi.php

Deed Restrictions: North Point of Virginia Key

Some people feel the North Point is such an environmental gem that the entire peninsula should become a wildlife refuge. Others want to pave over the beach for a public dock or a ferry launch to Fisher Island. Previous city master plan proposals had placed a corporate retreat center with overnight lodging in the area. And still others envision public beaches, primitive camping and hiking and biking trails.

But what will ulitmately happen may be decided by the State of Florida, which originally conveyed the land to the City of Miami during World War Two.

A latter deed for the area dated February 20, 1953 between the State of Florida (“Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund”) and the City of Miami for the North Point, including uplands, submerged bay lands and tidal flats, stated:

“This conveyance is made on the condition that the area above described is to be used by said City of Miami for harbors and airport constructions and development and should any of said area be used for purposes other than that of harbor and airport constructions and development the title to said land is automatically reverted and becomes the property of the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund of the State of Florida, the grantors herein.”

The public records shows that in 1994, the City of Miami sought to have this deed restriction lifted. A project review by State Agencies ensued. The following comments were made in a memo dated December 9, 1994 from Gary Cochran, Planning Manager, Bureau of Land Management Services, Florida Department of Environmental Protection:

“All lands administered by the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Trustees) are lands held in the public trust. The Public Trust Doctrine imposes a governmental “servitude” upon certain lands and water areas that are to be held in trust by the government for the benefit of all the people. (Their) impairment or disposal is not done without the utmost discretion. The City of Miami is under the false assumption that because the Trustees specifically stated that these lands could be used only for either a harbor or airport that because they were never used for the stated purpose the lands should now be relinquished by the Trustees to the City for other uses......
....The control of the State over this property for the purpose of the trust was never lost.....These lands should not be relinquished by the Trustees to the City of Miami as to do so would impair the public trust and the intent that it was provided by the Trustees....The City of Miami and Dade County are presently in violation of the covenant of the deed as the site is now used as an dredge material disposal area. This was clearly not the areas intended use expressed by the Trustees and the land should revert to State control.”

Indeed. Let's see if the next set of proposals by the City of Miami pass muster with state officials- or maybe we'll be looking at the next State Park. Which wouldn't be such a bad outcome really, considering some of the alternatives.

2010 Copyright. @All Rights Reserved
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Deed Restrictions: Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

In 1945, it was known as the beach created for blacks only.

By 1982, it was simply known as the "Old County Park," every vestige of its past obliterated in the official deed dated April 5, 1982 when Miami Dade County conveyed the 82-acre park to the City of Miami.

The deed states:

The COUNTY grants all the real property noted in this Deed to the City as long as the City utilizes the said property for public park purposes only. The City agrees to keep the property open to the public, provide maintenance and a level of service equal to or exceeding that which was provided by the County.

....In the event the City does not use the property as a public park, or conveys or attempts to convey all or a portion of the property, then the property described herein will revert back to the County or its successors or assigns at the option of the County....”

After getting the park, the City of Miami promptly closed it. More than a decade later, the City floated the idea of developing a private resort on the land.

Thanks in part to an intrepid community activist who dug up the 1982 deed, those particular development plans began to unravel.

Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of more activists, a public park reopened on the site.

Today, it is known as the historic Virginia Key Beach and Civil Rights Park. And it definitely exceeds what the county had originally provided.

2010 Copyright. @All Rights Reserved
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Deed Restrictions: Marine Stadium and Basin lands

What has kept Virginia Key’s vast open spaces and waterfront lands from being turned into hotel rows or Bayside Marketplaces?

The answer may lie in the deed restrictions set when the lands were conveyed to the City of Miami from the State of Florida or Miami-Dade County. Consider it a kind of people’s bill of public property rights.

Three key parcels - the Marine Stadium and surrounding basin, the historic Virginia Key Beach Park (“Old County Park”) and the secluded North Point -- come with restrictions that limit uses.

Let's take a look at the Marine Stadium Basin first.

A deed dated March 12, 1963 between “Dade County”  and the “City of Miami” states:

This deed of conveyance is made upon the express condition that the land hereby conveyed shall be perpetually used and maintained for the operation of a Marine Stadium and allied purposes only, and in the event the use of said land for such purposes shall be abandoned, then in such event the title to said land shall revert to the grantor herein.”

The “grantor” in this case is Miami-Dade County, which theoretically could demand all the land back. Afterall, it could be argued the City of Miami “abandoned” the operation of the Marine Stadium when it shuttered it after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

But with the Miami-Dade County Commission voting April 6 to provide $3 million in seed money towards restoration of the stadium, maybe all the intervening years of neglect will be forgiven and forgotten when the stadium hosts its first comeback concert.

As to the surrounding land, what constitutes “allied purposes” is apparently still up for discussion, as the City of Miami’s previously proposed master plan called for shopping areas, expanded marina and boat storage operations and new restaurants.

Some city officials are hoping that as long as it has the name "marine" appended to it, it fits the bill, as in a "marine-themed" shopping center. Who knows, maybe there's even a "marine-themed" dog park proposal out there.

2010 Copyright. @All Rights Reserved
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key
 

Principles for a "New" Virginia Key Master Plan

When the City of Miami commission voted in October 2009 to defer approval of the proposed Virginia Key Master Plan to 2010, it gave community groups time to create alternatives.

There were lots of ideas aired during the on/off again public planning process, culled from various public meetings and design charrettes.“Less is more” become a refrain of citizens and various civic, enviornmental and preservation groups.

A early Miami Herald editorial chimed in:

“....A place to walk through nature preserves, hang out at the beach or take the family on a spin along a biking trail. .. These are what the master plan should emphasize.

In September, the City of Miami Waterfront Advisory Board set this criteria:

Construction of a Virginia Key “Welcome Center,” restoration of the marine stadium, no hotels, a comprehensive transportation plan, bike trails, public boat ramp, clean up contaminated landfill, increase native tree buffer areas around playing fields anc continue restoration of the Virginia Key Beach areas.

Now the Urban Environment League, working with a coalition of concerned citizens and community groups, has offered a series of “principles” to guide planning:

Free and clear public access to the beach and all public property
Public participation should be insured throughout the process
Public access should not be inhibited by parking restrictions or inadequate public transportation.
Restoration of the Marine Stadium, uninterrupted access to the basin waterfront, and non-structured parking accommodations.
(Northpoint) The area of Virginia Key north of the causeway should be largely treated as a natural area and not developed into the category of traditional parks found elsewhere in the city.
Development of a public recreation area in the middle of the landfill surrounded by restored native landscaped buffers. Not to exceed 20 acres or less than 20 percent of the available landfill area.
Public parkland should be used to enhance the appreciation of nature through walking trails, public campgrounds. There is a paramount value to keep all activity small scale.
Commercial eating facilities should minimal, and limited to small-scale operations.
Provide recreation within the most natural setting possible.
Tie in bike/hiking path masterplan for VK (including a main perimeter path around VK with connections throughout).
Provide for safe and expanded bicycle and pedestrian accommodations within the Rickenbacker Causeway, including expanded bike lanes, pedestrian friendly intersections, and traffic calming measures.

The goal, they say, is to build consensus for a new master plan - but a plan that is “sensitive to recreational needs, local history and the environment, within a context that preserves and enhances the natural world.”

What would you like to see or not see on Virginia Key?

The UEL is asking for public input. Comments can be sent to: uel@bellsouth.net or posted here to View from Virginia Key or the UEL blogspot, which also includes a survey, http://urbanenvironmentleague.blogspot.com/2010/03/virginia-key-planning-meeting-saturday.html.

Photo Friday: Details

Japanese photographer Nobuyuki Nishihara captured these detailed images of Virginia Key Beach.
What he was thinking:

"I was visiting Key Biscayne to do lifestyle/fashion shoot with models.
It is right in Miami, yet the beach was serene and secluded.
It provided a fantastic, picturesque background.
I was really impressed with the abundance of greenery and wildlife."