North Miami residents sue to block high-rise development

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Two North Miami residents are suing over a developer’s plan to build in their neighborhood.

The 22-story building with 267 residential units would rise at 12000 N. Bayshore Drive. It’s down the street from Hernando Barreto’s place and he believes it’s at odds with the area’s low-rise residential community, citing impact concerns like infrastructure.

The site is currently occupied by the 45-unit, 1981-built Mariners Bay condominium building, according to Condo Blackbook.

“This area floods very easily; the project will make flooding worse,” Barreto said. “The pipes need to be changed to accommodate more and if they are only doing their part, it is not enough to provide a solution for the entire island. Those draining pipes that need to be changed, that is costly, the city has not done it, and with this project, it could be worse.”

Barreto, one of the residents suing, said his community has no sidewalks, forcing people and families to walk on the street.

“That could be dangerous because adding 500-plus cars to the small narrow road with the new project,” he added.

Project location:

Barreto also explained that the Champlain Towers South collapse, paired with a new report about some buildings sinking, has him worried.

He believes the city is not doing enough regarding a geotechnical engineering evaluation of the waterfront parcel.

“The higher that you go here,” Barreto said, pointing to the sky, “the deeper you need to go here,” pointing to the floor.

“This area, that is going to affect the balance in ground settlement. They (the city) are not willing to do any study about what will be the impact to this (his) building,” he said. “That safety issue, no one can back with a clear analysis. Could this building (his building) be structurally impacted (if a larger tower goes up next to them)? We don’t know, and that is a concern, especially after the Champlain tragedy.”

Read the lawsuit:

Traffic is another concern.

“The traffic through (123rd Street) and this passage through Bal Harbour is increasing, and then all these developments are going to make traffic even worse,” Barreto noted.

Now he’s filing suit. “We are challenging the conditional use permit,” he stated, asking the court to quash the city’s decision to grant a conditional use permit that would allow the developer to build a taller building here with more units than what is typically permissible.

“That is a major change; it is more than double what is usually allowed,” Barreto explained. In this legal complaint, he is citing what he believes have been procedural irregularities. “A questionable process to get this project approved.”

During a November city council meeting, a representative for the developer, attorney Pedro Gassant, talked about the projected tax income directly to the city and the economic impact of increasing the tax base.

He highlighted what the developer believes are community benefits, like stormwater management and streetscape improvements, as well as enhancing the seawall by two feet.

Barreto said, “Oh, we are going to increase the sea wall two more feet, are you going to do it for our property? Or no, it is for their property, then that is not a community benefit.”

Barreto also says the city should have a more holistic view of how all new developments they are reviewing in the area could impact traffic congestion and infrastructure.

Local 10 News reached out to the developer, Continuum Company, for comment.

In a statement, company executive David Fischman said: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment about the on-going litigation. We would state, however, that the conditional use permit approval at issue complies with the City’s land development regulations. Any contrary suggestion by the challengers is simply inaccurate. We wish to further emphasize that this is a great project that will provide meaningful, tangible, and long-lasting benefits to the City of North Miami and its residents.”

Barreto showed Local 10 News a letter he received from the city, letting him know city commissioners and the mayor plan to review the developer’s application and site plan at the next city council meeting.

The agenda for the meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, was not yet posted to the city’s website at the time of publication.