Bayshore Par 3 / Youth Center Expansion
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December 4th, 2007: On behalf of the BHOA, Louise R. Caro, ESQ filed a Complaint for Injunctive
Relief in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. In this Complaint, the BHOA is asking the
Court to enforce the Settlement Agreement that was made between the Bayshore Residents and the
City on October 17, 1995. In this Agreement, the City was to reconfigure the Par 3 to have 9 holes.
The BHOA will seek that the City honor its agreement without further delay.
November 26, 2007: About 30 residents attended the annual Bayshore Homeowners Association
meeting. Two commissioners also attended our meeting: Commissioner Gross and
Commissioner Gongora. The first order of business was the re-election of the current Board of
Directors. The membership approved that motion.
By far the most controversial issue was the Par 3 and the City's desire to take land for a play area for
the Scott Rakow Youth Center and exchange the lost land for the small traffic island at 28th and
Prairie Avenue. The City has proposed and funded realigning the intersection in order to attach that
green space to the Par 3. The neighborhood was divided to this proposal as it would affect traffic
flows. Finally a motion was made to hire an attorney to look at our options. Did the BHOA have to
take the City's deal? Did the old Settlement Agreement allow this trade? Could residents say no to
all deals and just have the Par 3 restored? Perhaps the $750,000 that has already been allocated
for the Prairie Avenue re-alignment could be used toward the restoration of the Par 3.
The Board of Directors hires Louise Caro, ESQ to represent the BHOA and to look into these
matters. Bear in mind that her retainer fee was $2500 and the Board of Directors and a few
neighbors each pitched in between $200 and $300 for this effort. Thank you. The quick report back
from the attorney was that the Settlement Agreement was still in affect and that the City had an
obligation to restore the Par 3. On December 4th the BHOA filed a Complaint for Injunctive Relief in
the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
► October 2, 2007. At the second DRB Hearing the City proposed two site plans for the
playground. One plan was supported by the community (rectangular playground closer to Pine Tree)
and the other was offered by the architects. The DRB initially approved the architects version at the
September DRB. This was done erroneously as the community was notified NOT to show up at that
hearing. The DRB reaffirmed it's stance to approve the inferior architect site plan. Commissioner
Saul Gross was instrumental in getting the City Manager's office to appeal the decision and bring it
back in front of the City Commission in December on grounds that the DRB made it's decision
based on incomplete facts. We will notify our residents as that hearing gets closer.
► September 19, 2007. Capital Improvement Projects Office is hosting a meeting on Wednesday,
September 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM in the Commission Chambers to discuss and review proposed
improvements to the Scott Rakow Youth Center. These plans will be presented for approval at the
upcoming Design Review Board Meeting on October 2, 2007 at City Hall. Attached is the design for
these improvements as well as a conceptual plan of the Par 3 Golf Course.
City's Master Plan for Par 3
City's Site Plan for Youth Center including Playground
► September 4, 2007. After many correspondences with the City, the BHOA was assured that the
City would ask for a continuance at the September 4th DRB hearing for the Youth Center until the
HOA had sufficient time to analyze and discuss the Site Plan for the Youth Center as well as a Master
Plan for the Par 3. The City did go forth and presented the plans and broke their promise. The BHOA
objected and the City has agreed to come before the neighborhood on September 19th to discuss
plans and then be reheard at the October DRB Meeting.
► August 3, 2007. A meeting was held at the Youth Center between the BHOA and the City to
discuss the revised plans for the Youth Center playground. The architects did little to accommodate
the requests for the HOA. It was a disappointment, but through the leadership of Commissioner
Gross an agreement was reached. Basically, have a smaller playground area just south of the
Youth Center (not in the second hole area), subject to the CIty producing a real plan for the Par 3 re-
configuration that works together with the agreed upon layout for the play field. The City still will need
to go before the Design Review Board which is scheduled for September 4th at 8:30am. A
continuance might be needed in order for the City to get all it's plans together. The BHOA will post
the new site plan for the Youth Center and the Par 3 as soon as they are available. Please stay
tuned.
► July 20, 2007. Arthur Hill has been retained by the CMB to plan the rehabilitation of the Par 3. The
new plans are being drawn up with hole number 1 starting from the Youth Center. All Par 3 parking
will be removed from the Prairie Avenue side to the Pine Tree Drive side. Funding for the Par 3
improvements have not been identified yet.
Plantings on the Par 3 will begin soon. The City, as part of it's Reforestation Plan, will plant a total of
72 trees around the Par 3 including: 26 Live Oaks, and 21 Shortleaf Figs along the chain link fence
between the High School and the golf course.
A meeting has been requested between the BHOA, the City's Parks Department, and the City's CIP
Office to discuss the latest proposal for the Youth Center site plan.
► June 5th, 2007. The city asked for an additional continuance to the August DRB hearing. The
BHOA assumes the city will go back and redraw the Youth Center Site Plan without taking the
second hole for the playfield.
► May 24, 2007. Members of the BHOA Board of Directors attended the Youth Center Advisory
Board meeting that was held in the Youth Center. There was much resistance to moving the
additional parking between Mikvah and the Hebrew Academy. The BHOA policy is to preserve and
restore the Par 3 and our Board felt that by moving the parking and the playfield along Pine Tree
versus 28th Street, it was also help the adjacent neighborhood. From this meeting, an idea was put
forth of adding additional parking for the Youth Center in the same proposed location as the original
city proposal, but then add the playfield adjacent to that. Basically, the field will be to the east of the
additional parking and south of the Youth Center preserving the second hole in its entirety. This
proposal will be analyzed by the BHOA and a comments and mitigation measures will be offered to
the city. When the new site plan is available, we will post it.
► May 22, 2007. Taking these issues into consideration, the following proposal was presented to
the City. Members of the BHOA Board of Directors met with the City Manager et. al. to explain how the
city's proposal for the Youth Center Parking Lot and playground violate the Settlement Agreement.
The meeting was contentious, but one idea that came out was to place any additional parking along
Pine Tree between the Mikvah and the Hebrew Academy. The playfield was to be placed directly east
of the current parking lot. The BHOA did not agree to these changes, as they still violate the
Settlement Agreement. We will wait to comment until the city redraws it's site plan for the Youth
Center. Please see the Powerpoint presentation below...
BHOA Presentation on the Original Youth Center Proposal
► May 1, 2007. There was a DRB Hearing on Tuesday May 1st, but a continuance was granted to
the City in order to allow more time to discuss the plans with the neighborhood.
Here is where the BHOA stands now:
1) The Architects (& City) did not incorporate any of our comments, or sketches.
2) The SRYC envelope is unchanged from the City's plans above:
a. The play area shown in the plans is the second hole (towards the neighborhood)
b. Additional parking into the Golf Course right behind the existing parking lot.
c. No sidewalk connecting to the neighborhood.
d. No landscape buffer anywhere.
3) Additionally, the City is planning to use the second hole as a STAGING AREA FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION WITH TRUCKS DUMPING ON 28TH STREET.
4) The City is going to reconfigure the Par 3 Golf Course. (BHOA member noted that we were
never contacted by the consultant and the truth finally came out: THE CONSULTANT has NOT BEEN
HIRED, because there is no money allocated)
5) Community Information Coordinator, Humberto Cabanas asked for comments, was told that
the Community submitted a plan and met with Ellen Vargas and Commissioner Gross with the idea
of:
a. Keeping all public uses and expansion of the SRYC on Pine Tree Drive side since the Church
on 28th, the SRYC, Mikveh, Hebrew Academy and Fire Station are all lined up on Pine Tree Drive
making that Street have more of a Public-Civic character
b. Avoid Future expansion of the SRYC towards the Neighborhood to preserve the residential
character .
c. The building was designed originally to hold uses on the third floor (Tennis Courts): Why is the
roof not considered as part of the new design : Possible Green Roof to add insulation value and/or
needed open space. Also, possible solar panel installation.
d. The Gym area has no natural light (windows would help cut operating costs and save energy)
e. Coordination with Bond Project for Sidewalk on the North Side of SRYC, especially now that
they want to make 28th St wider to include Bike path on the road. There is no room for sidewalk
(desired by community).
f. Add landscape buffer all around especially on 28th street.
g. Absolutely no staging area on Par 3 (use monument land, maybe close Sheridan Avenue as
a test).
h. Cabanas was informed that the BHOA requested a meeting with the Architects, the SRYC
advisory board, etc and we were never contacted.
i. And that BHOA requested the CIP to include the Sheridan Proposal in a traffic study, since the
City is conducting one for the Bond Project. It is very apparent that our request was ignored.
Since the hearing was continued, the BHOA will present our ideas regarding the Youth Center's
expansion to Jorge Chartrand from the City's CIP office.
► April 2007. The BHOA has communicated with Commissioner Gross regarding the Youth Center
Expansion. Apparently the Youth Center project is ticking along, but some more traffic studies are to
be completed to see if all the parking is necessary. We shared some of our preliminary design
ideas with Gross which were passed to CIP.
► March 6, 2007. For the past few weeks, residents of Bayshore have noticed small flags all over
the Par 3. This is utility surveying work that is taking place by the CMB. The survey also includes the
Par 3 and Youth Center boundaries. Since there is a proposal showing the second hole of the Par 3
being replaced with a play field for the Youth Center, the BHOA will remain very active with this project.
► Late 2006. The City of Miami Beach proposes a Scott Rakow Youth Center Expansion plan that
takes the second hole of the Par 3 for use as a play area, screen the area with a 40' high fence along
28th Street and takes another chunk of the Par 3 for additional parking. These plans are in direct
conflict with the Settlement Agreement that was reached between the City and Citizens for
Greenspace, Inc. (now part of the BHOA) in October 1995. The proposal also contains several
design flaws that are immediately apparent and are a direct reflection that the adjacent residential
neighborhood was never consulted in the design phase. Here is the proposed Master Plan from
City of Miami Beach for Youth Center Expansion (PDF file).
Relief in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. In this Complaint, the BHOA is asking the
Court to enforce the Settlement Agreement that was made between the Bayshore Residents and the
City on October 17, 1995. In this Agreement, the City was to reconfigure the Par 3 to have 9 holes.
The BHOA will seek that the City honor its agreement without further delay.
November 26, 2007: About 30 residents attended the annual Bayshore Homeowners Association
meeting. Two commissioners also attended our meeting: Commissioner Gross and
Commissioner Gongora. The first order of business was the re-election of the current Board of
Directors. The membership approved that motion.
By far the most controversial issue was the Par 3 and the City's desire to take land for a play area for
the Scott Rakow Youth Center and exchange the lost land for the small traffic island at 28th and
Prairie Avenue. The City has proposed and funded realigning the intersection in order to attach that
green space to the Par 3. The neighborhood was divided to this proposal as it would affect traffic
flows. Finally a motion was made to hire an attorney to look at our options. Did the BHOA have to
take the City's deal? Did the old Settlement Agreement allow this trade? Could residents say no to
all deals and just have the Par 3 restored? Perhaps the $750,000 that has already been allocated
for the Prairie Avenue re-alignment could be used toward the restoration of the Par 3.
The Board of Directors hires Louise Caro, ESQ to represent the BHOA and to look into these
matters. Bear in mind that her retainer fee was $2500 and the Board of Directors and a few
neighbors each pitched in between $200 and $300 for this effort. Thank you. The quick report back
from the attorney was that the Settlement Agreement was still in affect and that the City had an
obligation to restore the Par 3. On December 4th the BHOA filed a Complaint for Injunctive Relief in
the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
► October 2, 2007. At the second DRB Hearing the City proposed two site plans for the
playground. One plan was supported by the community (rectangular playground closer to Pine Tree)
and the other was offered by the architects. The DRB initially approved the architects version at the
September DRB. This was done erroneously as the community was notified NOT to show up at that
hearing. The DRB reaffirmed it's stance to approve the inferior architect site plan. Commissioner
Saul Gross was instrumental in getting the City Manager's office to appeal the decision and bring it
back in front of the City Commission in December on grounds that the DRB made it's decision
based on incomplete facts. We will notify our residents as that hearing gets closer.
► September 19, 2007. Capital Improvement Projects Office is hosting a meeting on Wednesday,
September 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM in the Commission Chambers to discuss and review proposed
improvements to the Scott Rakow Youth Center. These plans will be presented for approval at the
upcoming Design Review Board Meeting on October 2, 2007 at City Hall. Attached is the design for
these improvements as well as a conceptual plan of the Par 3 Golf Course.
City's Master Plan for Par 3
City's Site Plan for Youth Center including Playground
► September 4, 2007. After many correspondences with the City, the BHOA was assured that the
City would ask for a continuance at the September 4th DRB hearing for the Youth Center until the
HOA had sufficient time to analyze and discuss the Site Plan for the Youth Center as well as a Master
Plan for the Par 3. The City did go forth and presented the plans and broke their promise. The BHOA
objected and the City has agreed to come before the neighborhood on September 19th to discuss
plans and then be reheard at the October DRB Meeting.
► August 3, 2007. A meeting was held at the Youth Center between the BHOA and the City to
discuss the revised plans for the Youth Center playground. The architects did little to accommodate
the requests for the HOA. It was a disappointment, but through the leadership of Commissioner
Gross an agreement was reached. Basically, have a smaller playground area just south of the
Youth Center (not in the second hole area), subject to the CIty producing a real plan for the Par 3 re-
configuration that works together with the agreed upon layout for the play field. The City still will need
to go before the Design Review Board which is scheduled for September 4th at 8:30am. A
continuance might be needed in order for the City to get all it's plans together. The BHOA will post
the new site plan for the Youth Center and the Par 3 as soon as they are available. Please stay
tuned.
► July 20, 2007. Arthur Hill has been retained by the CMB to plan the rehabilitation of the Par 3. The
new plans are being drawn up with hole number 1 starting from the Youth Center. All Par 3 parking
will be removed from the Prairie Avenue side to the Pine Tree Drive side. Funding for the Par 3
improvements have not been identified yet.
Plantings on the Par 3 will begin soon. The City, as part of it's Reforestation Plan, will plant a total of
72 trees around the Par 3 including: 26 Live Oaks, and 21 Shortleaf Figs along the chain link fence
between the High School and the golf course.
A meeting has been requested between the BHOA, the City's Parks Department, and the City's CIP
Office to discuss the latest proposal for the Youth Center site plan.
► June 5th, 2007. The city asked for an additional continuance to the August DRB hearing. The
BHOA assumes the city will go back and redraw the Youth Center Site Plan without taking the
second hole for the playfield.
► May 24, 2007. Members of the BHOA Board of Directors attended the Youth Center Advisory
Board meeting that was held in the Youth Center. There was much resistance to moving the
additional parking between Mikvah and the Hebrew Academy. The BHOA policy is to preserve and
restore the Par 3 and our Board felt that by moving the parking and the playfield along Pine Tree
versus 28th Street, it was also help the adjacent neighborhood. From this meeting, an idea was put
forth of adding additional parking for the Youth Center in the same proposed location as the original
city proposal, but then add the playfield adjacent to that. Basically, the field will be to the east of the
additional parking and south of the Youth Center preserving the second hole in its entirety. This
proposal will be analyzed by the BHOA and a comments and mitigation measures will be offered to
the city. When the new site plan is available, we will post it.
► May 22, 2007. Taking these issues into consideration, the following proposal was presented to
the City. Members of the BHOA Board of Directors met with the City Manager et. al. to explain how the
city's proposal for the Youth Center Parking Lot and playground violate the Settlement Agreement.
The meeting was contentious, but one idea that came out was to place any additional parking along
Pine Tree between the Mikvah and the Hebrew Academy. The playfield was to be placed directly east
of the current parking lot. The BHOA did not agree to these changes, as they still violate the
Settlement Agreement. We will wait to comment until the city redraws it's site plan for the Youth
Center. Please see the Powerpoint presentation below...
BHOA Presentation on the Original Youth Center Proposal
► May 1, 2007. There was a DRB Hearing on Tuesday May 1st, but a continuance was granted to
the City in order to allow more time to discuss the plans with the neighborhood.
Here is where the BHOA stands now:
1) The Architects (& City) did not incorporate any of our comments, or sketches.
2) The SRYC envelope is unchanged from the City's plans above:
a. The play area shown in the plans is the second hole (towards the neighborhood)
b. Additional parking into the Golf Course right behind the existing parking lot.
c. No sidewalk connecting to the neighborhood.
d. No landscape buffer anywhere.
3) Additionally, the City is planning to use the second hole as a STAGING AREA FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION WITH TRUCKS DUMPING ON 28TH STREET.
4) The City is going to reconfigure the Par 3 Golf Course. (BHOA member noted that we were
never contacted by the consultant and the truth finally came out: THE CONSULTANT has NOT BEEN
HIRED, because there is no money allocated)
5) Community Information Coordinator, Humberto Cabanas asked for comments, was told that
the Community submitted a plan and met with Ellen Vargas and Commissioner Gross with the idea
of:
a. Keeping all public uses and expansion of the SRYC on Pine Tree Drive side since the Church
on 28th, the SRYC, Mikveh, Hebrew Academy and Fire Station are all lined up on Pine Tree Drive
making that Street have more of a Public-Civic character
b. Avoid Future expansion of the SRYC towards the Neighborhood to preserve the residential
character .
c. The building was designed originally to hold uses on the third floor (Tennis Courts): Why is the
roof not considered as part of the new design : Possible Green Roof to add insulation value and/or
needed open space. Also, possible solar panel installation.
d. The Gym area has no natural light (windows would help cut operating costs and save energy)
e. Coordination with Bond Project for Sidewalk on the North Side of SRYC, especially now that
they want to make 28th St wider to include Bike path on the road. There is no room for sidewalk
(desired by community).
f. Add landscape buffer all around especially on 28th street.
g. Absolutely no staging area on Par 3 (use monument land, maybe close Sheridan Avenue as
a test).
h. Cabanas was informed that the BHOA requested a meeting with the Architects, the SRYC
advisory board, etc and we were never contacted.
i. And that BHOA requested the CIP to include the Sheridan Proposal in a traffic study, since the
City is conducting one for the Bond Project. It is very apparent that our request was ignored.
Since the hearing was continued, the BHOA will present our ideas regarding the Youth Center's
expansion to Jorge Chartrand from the City's CIP office.
► April 2007. The BHOA has communicated with Commissioner Gross regarding the Youth Center
Expansion. Apparently the Youth Center project is ticking along, but some more traffic studies are to
be completed to see if all the parking is necessary. We shared some of our preliminary design
ideas with Gross which were passed to CIP.
► March 6, 2007. For the past few weeks, residents of Bayshore have noticed small flags all over
the Par 3. This is utility surveying work that is taking place by the CMB. The survey also includes the
Par 3 and Youth Center boundaries. Since there is a proposal showing the second hole of the Par 3
being replaced with a play field for the Youth Center, the BHOA will remain very active with this project.
► Late 2006. The City of Miami Beach proposes a Scott Rakow Youth Center Expansion plan that
takes the second hole of the Par 3 for use as a play area, screen the area with a 40' high fence along
28th Street and takes another chunk of the Par 3 for additional parking. These plans are in direct
conflict with the Settlement Agreement that was reached between the City and Citizens for
Greenspace, Inc. (now part of the BHOA) in October 1995. The proposal also contains several
design flaws that are immediately apparent and are a direct reflection that the adjacent residential
neighborhood was never consulted in the design phase. Here is the proposed Master Plan from
City of Miami Beach for Youth Center Expansion (PDF file).
