A controversial $24,000-a-year preschool got the green light to open in Miami after city commissioners shot down opposing neighbors who feared more traffic and carbon monoxide generated from an underground drop-off and pick-up area.

Centner Academy missed its original August opening date after failing to obtain a certificate of occupancy and also being slammed with a challenge by residents of nearby Buena Vista.

Residents appealed a Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board vote June 5 granting a zoning exception allowing the school.

The City Commission on Thursday voted 3-1 to deny residents' appeal and uphold the lower board's vote. Commissioner Joe Carollo was the dissenting vote.

Opponents' attorney David Winker said it wasn't a total loss for his clients, as the commission still imposed requirements based on resident concerns.

The city required studies of CO levels at the underground drop-off and pick-up area and for the fire marshal to inspect the results before renewing the school's annual certificate of use. Also, the school is to put signs directing parent drivers away from residential streets. The city also fixed documents that incorrectly said there will be 195 students to say there will be up to 120.

Center Academy is the brainchild of David Centner, a Miami native who recently came back after a career in the tech field in New York, and his wife, Leila. They have touted an educational approach that prioritizes mindfulness, emotional intelligence and happiness, saying those are the keys to success and not the other way around. There also will be Spanish and Mandarin Chinese classes.

The academy will be at a three-story blue and white building on the southwest corner of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 42nd Street at 4136 N. Miami Ave.

Winker on Thursday tried to convince commissioners the school fails to meet Miami 21 zoning requirements in large part because of CO emissions.

The building originally was supposed to have offices and retail, meaning cars would park in the underground garage. The preschool will use the garage for drop off and pick up, meaning cars will be idling in a largely closed, poorly ventilated area for at least six and a half hours a day, Winker said.

Winker also argued the high tuition shuts out Buena Vista residents from enrolling their children, leaving them to deal with the traffic generated by wealthy parents coming from other areas.

School attorney William Riley Jr. replied the school will enforce a strict traffic plan including mandating parents exit by turning right on North Miami Avenue to prevent them from cutting through the busy street to make a left.

Riley also argued Winker isn't an expert to make his CO emissions case. When Winker tried to read an expert's letter, Riley objected, saying he hasn't seen the testimony.

The Centners have vowed to provide scholarships to half of the 18 students in the first year. Those nine will attend for free, and three of them are from Buena Vista, Riley said.

Commission Chairman Ken Russell said at the meeting that whether the academy is too expensive and unattainable for Buena Vista residents is beyond the commission's scope of review.

Winker made a case for a better pick-up and drop-off area but failed to show how the school zoning exception violates city code, Russell said. 

Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who represents the area where the school will open, agreed.

It's the Centners who have the burden to show they comply with the code, Winker replied.

At the meeting, seven people, including the Centners, spoke in favor, and five spoke against the academy.

Opponents also are members of the Buena Vista East Historic Neighborhood Association and Buena Vista Heights Neighborhood Association.

Some opponents said the issue goes beyond meeting the city code, to the way the Centners have done business, often bypassing residents and not communicating with them.

"We have tried working with them to have meetings with us. They have done the opposite," said Rosa Ramos, one of the appellants. "The people who show up to their meetings are people who don't live in the neighborhood."

The school is widely supported by the neighborhood, citing over 80 residents who signed petitions in favor, Leila Centner said at the hearing.

"This isn't about traffic. This is about egos that were bruised because we didn't ask permission the way certain people in the association wanted us to ask," she said.

Centner Academy has been controversial beyond code compliance.

The Centners held an open house without having an occupancy certificate, and opponents received a text from a Connecticut attorney threatening legal action unless they dropped the appeal, Winker said.

The attorney,  Wiggin and Dana partner John Doroghazi in New Haven, declined to comment.

"The Centners are used to getting what they want and want to achieve their goals through threats, intimidation and political muscle," Winker told commissioners. "Why did the Centners choose this path rather than community engagement?"

The Centners made accusations of their own at the meeting, saying one of the opponents asked for $3 million to pull out his appeal. Winker and the opponent's mother who also is an appellant denied this.

"One would think it would be a no-brainer that a school promises to uplift humanity that we would have such obstacles," David Centner said. "It's discouraging."

It's unclear when Centner Academy will open, as it's still waiting for a certificate of occupancy, Riley said.

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