Neighbors challenge the $59 million Playhouse decision
Plus a Charles Avenue fight, your tax bill, and Saturday plans.
A few Grove disputes that looked settled turn out not to be. And one wine bar is about to start pouring coffee at eight in the morning.
The fight over the Coconut Grove Playhouse is not settled. West Grove neighbors are contesting the decision that cleared the county's redevelopment plan for the historic theater.
They say Miami skipped its own zoning rules when commissioners approved the $59 million plan. The objection targets the approval process for a county redevelopment plan, so the next turn is procedural as much as architectural.
A challenge does not undo an approval on its own. It puts the steps behind that approval back under scrutiny. For neighbors following a project that would reshape a historic Grove site, the immediate question is whether the city's decision can withstand that review.
Magie is about to open at eight in the morning
Magie, the Coconut Grove wine bar, is handing its daytime hours to a coffee operator. Imperial Moto is taking over the daytime offering there.
The hours run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and they run daily rather than weekends only. That is early for a room built around wine. It is also a full working day of service in a room built for the evening.
So the room now works two ways. Coffee through the day, the wine list after four. Same address, two different reasons to walk in.
The library puts Perler beads on Saturday morning
Coconut Grove Library hosts Fun with Perler Beads on Saturday, September 5, at 11 a.m. Admission is free, giving families a no-cost late-morning activity at the neighborhood branch.
Perler beads are small plastic beads arranged into a design and fused together, so children can leave with a finished craft rather than only watch a demonstration. The session is one of several community activities running through the Grove this month. Check the calendar link before heading out for any registration requirements or organizer updates.
Storytime brings babies and toddlers to the Grove library
The Coconut Grove Branch hosts Talking is Teaching on Friday, September 4, from 11 a.m. to noon. The in-person storytime combines stories, songs and finger plays for babies, toddlers and their caregivers. It is designed for children from birth through age three.
The session takes place at 2875 McFarlane Road. Families who want to confirm space or other details can call the branch at 305-442-8695. That makes it a short, age-specific morning option with a clear start time, end time and place.
A record budget, a decade of tax growth, and a November bond
Miami's property-tax collections have climbed sharply over the past decade, even after accounting for inflation and population growth. That financial backdrop arrives as commissioners prepare to consider another record budget.
A second decision follows in November, when voters face a $450 million public-safety bond. Grove property owners therefore have two large city-finance questions in view: the annual budget set by commissioners and the borrowing proposal decided at the ballot box. The figures give residents a concrete starting point for judging both.
Another new house, another Charles Avenue argument
A proposed new home on Charles Avenue went before Miami's preservation board on Tuesday, putting another development dispute on one of Coconut Grove's historic streets.
The proposal asks the board to decide whether the new construction fits the neighborhood it would join. That makes the review narrower than a citywide housing debate: the board is weighing one house against the character of one street.
For Charles Avenue residents, the hearing adds another formal checkpoint to a recurring neighborhood argument over what should be allowed to rise beside older homes.