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MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION 
c/o Rosenstiel School
4600 Rickenbacker Cswy,
Miami, Fl. 33149
305-361-4850
Fax: 305-361-4755
  e-mail: mrc@rsmas.miami.edu

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The Greenway subcommittee finalized plans to assist the City of Miami in applying for the $1 million Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP) grant application, due May 16, 2003.  Brett Bibeau, Miami River Commission, stated he wrote the application for the City of Miami last year, which resulted in a $1 million grant award for the “East Little Havana Greenway”.  This year the MRC and Trust for Public Land has offered to write the grant application on the City’s behalf, for the Greenway along North River Drive, from NW 7^th Ave to NW 14^th Ave.  Cesar Gonzalez, City of Miami CIP Department, stated he would provide the MRC with the CIP project number, title, and amount for the allocated Spring Garden North River Drive project, which includes all aesthetic enhancements except for decorative lighting and under grounding the Florida Power and Light utilities in the area.  That allocated Greenway project will serve as the match for the TEP application.       

Peter Swartz and Carolyn Weiss, Royal Bay Partners, presented their plans for Phase I of the proposed River House Lofts project, located on both sides of North River Drive, between Flagler and First Street.  Swartz and Weiss stated that the Greenway at this site would consist of two parts.  A publicly accessible Riverwalk will consist of a 5-8 foot wide dock, and an 11-foot wide path in the required building setback.  The setback from the river does not require any variances, because it fits the City Charter formula for properties narrower than 200 feet.  Weiss and Swartz stated the riverwalk will be publicly accessible, even if the person is not a patron of the restaurants, nor has a boat docked at the site.  In addition, the west side of North River Drive will contain an on-road section of the Miami River Greenway.  Swartz asked for the MRC’s assistance with incorporating a few small vacant City and FDOT owned Right of Ways (currently in disrepair) as public greenspaces, located adjacent to Flagler and First Street bridges.  Swartz stated he is asking for the City’s permission to build two decorative fountains along City owned North River Drive, between Flagler and First Street Bridges and also requested MRC support.  The fountains will act as traffic calming devices, in addition to an aesthetic improvement of the on-road Greenway section.  Swartz requested completion of the planned Flagler two-waying, and a clean up of the area beneath First Street Bridge.  The Greenways subcommittee unanimously recommended the MRC support the Phase I River House Loft development proposal, and further support the developer’s request for the City of Miami to grant permission to build two fountains on North River Drive, and support the following Urban Infill Plan recommendations, which are connected to the proposal: two-waying Flagler Street, cleaning, painting and improving beneath the First Street and Flagler Bridges, undergrounding Florida Power and Light utilities, and incorporating the City and FDOT owned Rights of Way as adjacent publicly accessible greenspaces.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the MRC’s Greenway subcommittee was scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month, June 3, 2003, 10 am in the Miami Riverside Center, 444 SW 2^nd Ave, 8^th floor conference room.

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