A rendering of the proposed Eastside Ridge project that will span 22.5 acres on the southeast corner of Northeast 54th Street and Second Avenue near Little Haiti. Courtesy rendering

The developer of the proposed Eastside Ridge sued Miami over a city planning board's repeatedly delayed vote on the controversial project near Little Haiti.

SPV Realty LC asked the court to compel the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board to vote on a final land-use change. The developer argued in its one-count Miami-Dade Circuit Court complaint that the Miami 21 zoning code requires the board to vote, regardless of whether it's to approve or deny.

SPV doesn't need the board's approval — just a vote — to move on to the City Commission. The planning board serves an advisory role to the commission, which has the final say and can reject board recommendations. But the lack of a vote equates to a pocket veto.

Eastside Ridge would have 3,157 residential units, 418 hotel rooms, 97,103 square feet of offices, 283,798 square feet of other commercial space and 5,246 parking spaces in 14 buildings on  22 acres southeast of Northeast 54th Street and Second Avenue.

The developer submitted its proposal in summer 2016, and the city planning staff recommended approval. The project moved to the planning board  in July 2018, and the board delayed decisions five times since then.

SPV considers the inaction a "deliberate refusal to approve or deny the application, despite the requirements of Miami 21 that it do just that," Lydecker Diaz partner Stephen Johnson wrote in the Nov. 1 complaint. He declined additional comment.

City Attorney Victoria Mendez said the city will address the issue in court, but she didn't address lawsuit specifics.

"We look forward to resolving this matter in court," she said by email.

The Eastside Ridge developer plans no affordable housing even though opponents say the project will gentrify the area.

It's asking for a special area plan, or SAP, that under Miami 21 allows developers of over 9 acres to build bigger projects in exchange for providing public benefits such as affordable housing and parks.

Eastside applied for the SAP and a comprehensive plan amendment to allow the land-use change.

The planning board reached a tie vote May 15 on the SAP. The board postponed voting on the land-use change until Oct. 16 and then deferred again until February.

The vote timing was on the minds of planning board members at May and October meetings.

"I don't know whether we should deny this or defer it," board member Anthony Parrish said in May. "If we defer it, they've already waited three years. But if we deny it it could go to the commission and the commission may say, 'This looks like a pretty good plan. Let's approve it.' "

Board member Miguel Soliman at the same meeting questioned emergency response issues, arguing the developer should designate space for a fire station. He also questioned community outreach, but  SPV said it held 37 community meetings.

" I will never vote for this, and what you'll get out of me is a deferral for three months, six months, eight months. You are certainly not going to get a denial out of me. I am not going to let this go to commission," Soliman said. "I am going to keep it around until these good folks here get what they deserve. I cannot allow for our communities to be raped in this manner."

The May meeting was a "sham" proving the board has no intention of moving the project forward, Johnson said in the complaint.

 

Controversy

The project would wipe out the Design Place apartments south of Little Haiti. It's known for cheaper rents for moderate-income tenants.

The Eastside developer has vowed 10% of the apartments, or over 300 units, will be workforce housing, but opponents say it's not enough.

The developer maintains Eastside would help alleviate the affordable housing crisis by favorably tipping the supply-and-demand balance.

Attorney A. Vicky Leiva, who represents Eastside in front of the city but not in the lawsuit, urged the board to vote in May, saying the developer's due process rights were at stake.

"We implore you. Three years. It's necessary," sad Leiva, a partner at Bilzin Sumberg in Miami.

The lawsuit notes Assistant City Attorney Amber Ketterer, who advises the planning board, cautioned the board that the code calls for a vote "without unreasonable and unnecessary delay."

SAPs Overhaul

The lawsuit comes amid mounting criticism of SAPs as a whole.

Miami activist attorney David Winker in a Daily Business Review opinion piece said SAPs increasingly are targeting struggling communities where developers can accumulate inexpensive property. This results in displacement of residents, especially from neighborhoods that sit on higher ground and are more protected from sea-level rise.

The Magic City Innovation District in Little Haiti is another controversial SAP that commissioners approved this summer despite neighborhood opposition.

Another approved SAP in the area is the expansion of Miami Jewish Health Systems' campus across from Eastside.

Critics have called for a SAPs overhaul,  and the planning board may be on a path to look at changes.

Planning board member Adam Gersten put a SAP discussion item on Wednesday's agenda.

Parrish in May said the city shouldn't be looking at SAP applications individually as they come up, especially since many affect the same area near Little Haiti.

"You must consider the effect of all SAPs that are impacting the neighborhood. You can't look at them in isolation," he said. Some of the approved SAPs "are all squeezing the neighborhood beyond belief."

Related stories: 

Proposal for Miami's Eastside Ridge Project Delayed — Again