530 Crandon site could go from dump to passive park

Published in The Islander News October 29, 2009. kjosephsen@islanderews.com

The Village Council will consider turning 530 Crandon Boulevard into a passive public park during its next meeting November 10.

At a Recreation and Open Space/530 Cran­don Boulevard Workshop Tuesday, October 20, the Council put a resolution on its Novem­ber 10 agenda to convert the lot into attractive green space.

The November 10 meeting, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers, will give the Council a chance to get more specific about the use of the park — several members indicated they want it to be senior-friendly — and discuss where to move Public Works equipment cur­rently stored at 530 Crandon so the lot can serve an interim use as a park while the formal park is designed (see related article p. 6).

Council members also discussed their open space concurrency shortage at last week's meeting, and appear to be leaning toward counting existing facilities like bike paths and beaches to reach concurrency, while still look­ing for ways to add new green space.

The Council will schedule a workshop in January 2010 to consider an amendment to its Master Plan that will formally state how the concurrency gap will be closed.

530 Crandon

As for the future of 530 Crandon, it could be decided sooner rather than later. After consultant IBI Group proposed four options — passive park, active park, 17,000­square-foot multiuse building or a hybrid of those uses — most Council members said they favor green space. Ultimately, Council mem­ber Michael Kelly made a motion to turn the lot into a passive park, and his colleagues agreed to put a resolution on the November 10 agenda.

"Even though we're surrounded by green space, the Village itself is congested, and peo­ple don't want more development," Kelly said. "There's a sense of almost claustropho­bia at times. The idea of taking this property and pouring more concrete in there is something I'm not in favor of."

Council member Jorge Mendia agreed, noting the uses mentioned for a multipurpose building — a school, senior center, etc. — could be fulfilled in existing facilities. "You don't want to build in the one open space we have left. It makes sense to be open, and it makes sense to be passive," he said. "You need to do something interesting and visionary that would bring people to this area."

Added Council member Enrique Garcia, "The center, the heart of the city, is full of con­crete. We should take this space, and use it for green space."

Vice Mayor Michael Davey agreed with his colleagues but said he also feels residents who made a pitch for other uses during the meet­ing's public comment period brought up some valid ideas.

For instance, Davey said, comments from three active community members — Dr. Robert Maggs, Ed Stone and former Council member Mort Fried — suggest the Key does not do enough to serve older members of the community. "We have to give more thought to what we can do for seniors — I think the seniors do, unfortunately, get overlooked in a lot of ways," Davey said.

During public comment, Maggs pushed for a senior day care center that would help sen­iors stay on the Key and relieve the burden on caregivers; Stone suggested better offerings for seniors at any facility built at 530 Cran­don; and Fried complained the current senior room in the Community Center offers little more than four-year-old magazines and out­dated books.

Fried suggested that a beautifully-land­scaped 530 Crandon, complete with tables and shade trees, could give seniors a place to gather and play cards. "I would like to see it turned in an eye-catching, beautiful area for the people who deserve it," he remarked.

Fried's line of thinking appeared to be in line with that of the Council, who suggested the park be "senior-friendly," but other members of the public had different ideas.

Angel Martin and Charles Viscito, both ac­tive in the push for a Key Biscayne high school, said a building that could act as a school and community education center would best fill local needs.

Martin noted the more than 3,400 kids under age 18 who live in Key Biscayne have to leave the island to attend high school, and said IBI's survey listed a high school and a multiuse facility as number one and two on a list of residents' unmet needs.

Council members didn't specifically ad­dress the idea of a school, but their desire to avoid putting a building on 530 Crandon ap­pears to more or less eliminate the option.

Summing up his own thoughts and his col­leagues' remarks, Mayor Robert Vernon re­marked, "It is either going to be open passive or open recreational. I don't want to see a 17,000-square-foot building on the property. I think that will defeat the purpose of trying to meet concurrency."

Open Space

As Vernon alluded to, the Village has a parks and open space concurrency deficit —2.8 acres, to be exact — which it needs to sat­isfy to avoid penalties from the state. Consult­ant Richard Durr of IBI Group recommended the Village close the gap by counting existing recreational space that it doesn't currently in­clude in its calculation — such as the acres of local beaches.

"The current inventory doesn't necessarily include everything used as a public recreation facility. Your inventory is sort of partial at this particular point," Durr explained.

That said, he stressed the community's need for specific types of green space — like ball fields — is real and should be addressed. He suggested the Council consider buying land in the Village as it becomes available, and working with outside entities for use of Calusa Park or Virginia Key.

Finally, Dun said, he recognizes that the drive for additional open space is linked to the desire to keep density low. Therefore, he rec­ommends the Village keep its strict develop­ment regulations.

Several Council members said they gener­ally agree with Dun's recommendations.

"There are ways to meet concurrency without acquiring property," Vernon remarked, stressing he doesn't necessarily think beaches should be counted. "I am not opposed to counting things in this Village that we do not currently count, because I believe we will not be able to acquire any existing buildings on this island, unless the community is willing to fund those purchases."

Vernon estimated the Village would have to buy at least $12 million worth of land — and maybe up to $100 million — to fill its shortage, all on the shoulders of taxpayers.

That is unlikely, according to the Mayor: he noted IBI's survey shows residents are not willing to endure a tax increase to pay for land purchases. Furthermore, he said, the idea of buying a lot and converting it to a park is pop­ular only to a point, as no one wants the park next to their home.

Mendia agreed, and said he would be in favor of counting the beach. "We're either going to solve it by counting the beach, or we're going to have to act on purchasing land — there aren't too many other options. It makes sense to count the beach."

That's especially true, Garcia and Council member Robert Gusman remarked, because so many residents rely on the beach for recreation. Garcia said it doesn't make sense to not count the beach "when two-thirds of us are there every weekend;" and Gusman added, "We're surrounded with beaches. Why we've never counted that, I have no clue — I think it needs to be done."

On the flip side, Kelly and Davey argued amending the Master Plan to count the beach does nothing to solve the Key's open space shortage — and could actually undermine solutions, as it removes the sense of urgency caused by having to fulfill the state's requirements.

"I'm absolutely opposed to counting the beach," said Kelly. "Counting the beaches doesn't add green space to the community. I'd like to see us move in a direction where we're working toward resolving the problem by obtaining more green space."

That said, Kelly indicted some spaces that aren't counted should be added to the calcu­lation, like the bike paths on Crandon Boule­vard that came about via the Crandon Boulevard Master Plan. "If we count things that are new, that we added to the Village, that makes sense," he noted.

Vernon added, "Anybody knows the Key has become the biking Mecca of South Florida."

Building, Zoning and Planning Director Jud Kurlancheek indicated adding the bike paths would contribute over an acre to the shortage.

Still, Davey stressed there is a real need to add more park space to the community. He said doing so not only fills a need, it prevents additional development.

Vernon noted the Council already started a land acquisition fund, and could shift more money to the fund from projects it no longer wishes to do. "I think it's time we start using it," he added.

With all those possibilities to consider, Council members agreed to wait a few months before deciding how to amend their Master Plan with a specific statement as to how they will meet their concurrency requirements. Vernon said a workshop will be sched­uled for January 2010.

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