Order

Client

Grant Stern

Ref #

Walmart Midtown

Order #

TC0769898371

Audio
File URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4nnh2QmQfk

Length

16 min

Audio Quality

(Very Good)

Transcriptionist

Stephanie B.

How did Stephanie do?

If you rate this transcript 3 or below, Stephanie B will not

see your future orders

Need Help? mailto:support@rev.com

F. Garcia:

... Quickly is to respond to them in writing also. That will

create the record that you can then base any further if you
want.

G. Stern:

Absolutely. There have been two written dispatches sent.

F. Garcia:

Correct.

G. Stern:

And you have acknowledged them.

F. Garcia:

Correct.

G. Stern:

There has not been any reply by any party.

F. Garcia:

Right.

G. Stern:

Nor have there been any changes.

F. Garcia:

Well there will be. There will be either a reply that pleased
to our satisfaction, because ultimately we are charged with
issuing the approval that ... to our satisfaction, in response
to your concerns and your comments ... Or there will be, as
you point out, changes to the plans to correct any mistakes
that have been made. There's no question about that.

G. Stern:

So is it normal course for your office to issue an applicant a

conditional approval when there are known variances?

F. Garcia:

No ...

G. Stern:

Has that ever happened before?

F. Garcia:

No. Nor can it happen.

G. Stern:

Okay there's no precedent?

F. Garcia:

No. Nor can it happen. Let me make this clear. If there are
any variances required, then the class two special permit
can not be issued and can not stand on it's own. If a
variance is required, there is a separate process for a
variance, and that too is a public hearing process.

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 2 of 10

G. Stern:

Does the department take into account the tax

ramifications of these proposals? For example, the free
parking garage siting next to the city-owned parking
garage.

F. Garcia:

No, tax ramifications are not within our scope of review.

G. Stern:

Okay.

F. Garcia:

We are in charge to make it as clear as I possibly can ... I

think you actually said it close to accurately if not perfectly
accurately, let me just begin to say this clearly as I can. We
are charged, as part of the class two special permit
process, to do mainly two things. One is certainly to insure
that the project is presented in compliance with the
applicable regulations continuum, [inaudible 00:01:45] in
city code. That's a minimal requirement. This is what
[inaudible 00:01:51] to conduct design review to ensure
that the project is presented ... is generally speaking, in
compliance with the character of the area. Are you aware
[02:00] that these issues represent the same exact text ...
This portion of this project is affected by the portion that
did not pass. Are you aware of that? Did you review the
meeting last year? The Planning and Zoning Board
meeting.

G. Stern:

I did, I was present.

F. Garcia:

No you weren't, it was Carmen Sanchez. [crosstalk

00:02:19] The appeal meeting, you were present for
everything but the final appeal meeting. Sanchez presents
his own behalf of the department [inaudible 00:02:27].

G. Stern:

I differ ... I think you were present, so if I wasn't present, I

wasn't present. Then yes, I'm not fully familiar with the full
record of this application. Ultimately again ... I'm actually
requesting that you convey to us all these comments in
writing, and we will address them one by one thouroughly.

F. Garcia:

Absolutely, I'd like to share something with you and then

we can adjourn.

G. Stern:

Please.

F. Garcia:

This is Mr. [Schevich's 00:02:54] speech at that meeting.

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 3 of 10

G. Stern:

Very well. That is [Bernard Schecich 00:02:58] A & E

architect.

Female:

[inaudible 00:03:00] are sent to all the known associations

in the area, and they're posted on the website. There's
plenty of notice on that. So you have to clarify that for the
website.

Schevich (sp?):

Yes, but there's no public reading in a Class 2 allowance,

this is what this is saying, that the planning director can
make that decision. That's my point.

G. Stern:

This is- that's the part of the amendment.

Schevich (sp?):

Next one, 31st and 32nd streets minimum 60 foot right of

way. They're inserting the word minimum. What that
means is you can make the street any size you want.
Which means that the character of the street could be
changed by the planning director. Guidelines, where actual
parking is provided a one foot wide gutter should, where
parallel parking is provided. That means you can remove
the parallel parking. That means-

G. Stern:

That's what the [crosstalk 00:00:00]

Schevich (sp?):

The cars that are parked on the street can now become
more roadway. So now you have roadway next to sidewalk
which is not the character of midtown. The whole point is
that it's a pedestrian friendly environment and that [04:00]
gives this individual or the city the ability to do that
because they want to. Travel lanes have a minimum width
of 10 feet. That's inserted. Why did they insert a minimum
width of 10 feet? Because they want to add more travel
lanes. It's not designed, 31st Street is not designed for four
lanes, it's designed for two lanes.
Medians. Stone or concrete medians may be placed within
the right of way where appropriate to provide a pedestrian
[crosstalk 00:00:00]

G. Stern:

That's right here.

Schevich (sp?):

For street crossings to optimize vehicular travel. They're

going to need a refuge because that's what the street will
become. Okay, closing. I write these codes, I write them all

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 4 of 10

over the country just like others do. Typically a text

amendment is to correct text that has some kind of
incidental impact where the language of the code might be
confused or possibly need some amendment. I think you
have to ask yourself this question. Why are you changing
the code through text amendment without seeing the
project, without seeing the drawing, and the impact of it is
not just that it's a text amendment, the impact of it is that
the way the code was written, which is why midtown is
there so fast, is that if you abide by the rules you get to
build your project without a public hearing.
So when you change the text amendment what you're
really doing is you're eliminating any public hearing
process other than an appeal after it's done. And that's
why I am alarmed. This is a very big project, I have nothing
against WalMart personally, that's not my issue. My issue is
that the impact of these text amendments are giving all
the authority to a single person in the city without public
hearing. That effects so many people, whether pro or con
[06:00]. It seems to fly in the face of the intention of why
we wrote the code.
We wrote the code to say one thing; if you abide by the
rules this is what you get. If you don't want to abide by the
rules make your project public, let it be vetted and then if
you win, you win. Thank you.
Man:

I have one question Mr. Schevich.

G. Stern:

I think he says it more eloquently than either of us.

F. Garcia:

Valid points all, and I think worth noting for those who may
be listening. Bernard [Siscovich 06:32] and his cadre were
the original drafters of the actual master plan that
presently governs the development in midtown. So, credit
where credit is due. I think it is also fair to add the code
and the regulations as written are simply memorialized in
this movement. They do provide in certain instances,
discretion to the planning and zoning department and
ultimately to planning and zoning director so that on a case
by case basis judgement calls can be made as to what the
best design is. It has to be part and parcel of every design
review process because one cannot, as a drafter of
ordinances, and Mr. Shiscovich is a very capable drafter of

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 5 of 10

ordinances, one cannot possibly foresee every possible

aspect of every possible development that takes place
within that district.
Because one cannot do that, what are then set forth are in
some instances, standards and guidelines. Not necessarily
requirements, but standards and guidelines to provide
guidance to the planning and zoning department in
reviewing these projects. So to get back to your point, to
the extent that any of the items here can be adjusted
through administrative review, these standards and
guidelines, that's fair game. You are, however, positive that
in certain instances in this particular project aspects of the
project that you requiring [08:00] bearings and are not
subject to the administrative discretion of the planning and
zoning director. I understand that that is the point you are
making, I understand it loud and clear and I accept it fully.
We certainly are charged with making a case.
Demonstrating, hopefully to your satisfaction, that either
those aspects of the project are within our discretion to
approve or are not in that case and then would require a
variance. That's very well accepted.
G. Stern:

I'll get out the charts and validation. The bottom line is
WalMart's plan does not match the north side of midtown.
That is the worst offense of this plan. Not to mention the
disjointed 2 plans within a plan concept which, as the
UDRB noted, has never been executed before within the
city of Miami. It's just an unprecedented de-acceptance by
your office, using your administrative powers which are
duly reserved. But, this will simply not match the existing
midtown Miami district to the North and if you look at it this
side of their elevation, the north Miami side, in the north
block of midtown, there is a second floor and third level of
active use offices with a 10 foot set-back that provides for
pedestrian access from the street and that's very
important to note. Okay? This is not what midtown north
looks like.
There's no way the city should allow this district to look like
it was designed by two or even three different architects.
Walmart's plan does not fit. We cannot let them mismatch
the city's newest district and frankly, a budding gem. And if
you look across the street in midtown Miami their [10:00]

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 6 of 10

attorney said at the UTRB meeting, they said nobody has

activated Miami avenue. Well I go there all the time and
there's a row of restaurants that's sprung up across the
street from midtown Miami already and some art galleries
as well, retail stores. It's actually been a double bonus for
this city.
It's greatly improved the city's tax base by installing in
midtown with the current design and sticking to the code. If
we have a WalMart there it may condemn swathes of that
area to inactivity and create a desert where pedestrians
fear to cross due to dodging trucks and cars and a terrible
decision now would be that the WalMart would embed a
terrible decision today, concrete for decades to come. Just
like the OmniMall.
F. Garcia:

Okay, and the only point I wanted to add in there and I

know you're familiar with this but I just wanted to make
this clear, whether this particular project is approved or not
is something that I cannot-

G. Stern:

Of course, there's no-

F. Garcia:

Nor can I- I'll just make the statement, just again to note it
on the record. So whether it's a WalMart or a JC Penney's or
a Sears or any other large retail merchandiser such as
WalMart is immaterial to us. It's not something that is
subject to pour review and is not under our discretion.

G. Stern:

Absolutely.

F. Garcia:

The question before us, and I know you know this, but just
to make it clear the question before us is whether this
particular development, regardless of what brand it is, is
inappropriate. And you're bringing up points that we would
do well to consider as to why it may not be appropriate and
so we will certainly peruse that.

G. Stern:

I urge you to decline this application promptly for not

meeting midtown Miami's master plan.

F. Garcia:

The only way I would be able to actually deny the

application is if it did not meet the regulations set forth in
the [12:00] midtown Miami master plan.

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 7 of 10

G. Stern:

Absolutely. They're entirely welcome to apply for a major

use special permit. It would be appropriate for the changes
that they're required. I believe that one is required for each
variance, correct?

F. Garcia:

Again, happy to have you-

G. Stern:

Is that correct?

F. Garcia:

I-

G. Stern:

One per variance?

Man 2:

A variance is processed through a major [crosstalk

00:00:00]

F. Garcia:

Through a class with a special permit-

G. Stern:

Yes.

F. Garcia:

For everyone's knowledge a major use special permit

would require a public hearing. It has to be approved
ultimately by- is it [crosstalk 00:00:00] where actually the
city com-

G. Stern:

The city commission and as well requires traffic studies to

the area.

F. Garcia:

Absolutely.

G. Stern:

Which would tell residents exactly what's coming when

WalMart arrives, which right now residents have no idea
how much traffic a WalMart would generate. There's been
no traffic study provided nor requested by the city.

F. Garcia:

All right, let me clarify that just for a moment. Mr. Stern is
correct. No traffic study has been requested because the
application has been proposed in a manner, so says the
applicant, for us to verify. For us, the planning and zoning
department to verify. The applicant has posited that this
application as proposed complies with the entitlement
parameters of the original permit that encompasses all of
the midtown district. So, midtown was approved roughly
about 10 years ago, give or take a year, and at that point
in time a thorough traffic and all sorts of studies were

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 8 of 10

prepared and presented to the city commission in a public

hearing which were accepted and adopted as an
amendment to the zoning board ordinance.
G. Stern:

And if I may?

F. Garcia:

Sure.

G. Stern:

The CRA was created to tax all of the tax income from that
area to pay for bonds that the city issued. If those bonds
are not paid, if they're underpaid, if the parking garage
under performs then there will be a special assessment on
all residents of midtown Miami, we would call it a WalMart
tax on midtown Miami to cover any shortfalls from parking
revenue. Which means [14:00] if this experiment
destroying the district guidelines, allowing a retailer to
build a project that's 40%-50% larger than can be actually
supported under the guidelines of the district fails, then
there will be a tax in the area. So, if there's a failure it will
not be a small failure, it will be a spectacular failure
because it will raise the cost of doing business in midtown
for everybody but WalMart simultaneously depressing the
property values.

F. Garcia:

All right. So, I'm not going to [crosstalk 00:00:00] don't

know how to respond to that.

G. Stern:

Of course.

F. Garcia:

What I can say however is, and for everyone who is here in
this room and possibly watching this from elsewhere-

G. Stern:

[crosstalk 00:00:00] the gravity of the situation.

F. Garcia:

Perfect, but what we are also doing and please be mindful

of this, is conveying a very critical point of view regarding
this particular development complication. We do-

G. Stern:

I'm simply providing facts and a worst case scenario that's

realistic and very possible.

F. Garcia:

I'd like to make a really quick statement because I think it's

fair to do so. I-

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 9 of 10

How did Stephanie do?

If you rate this transcript 3 or below, Stephanie B will not

see your future orders

Meeting with City of Miami Planning Director about Walmart's flawed pl...

Page 10 of 10