Government of the people, by the arrogant, for the developers: It is tempting to blame the developers of the 50-story Onyx 2, Willy Bermello and Gustavo Miculitzki, for the travesty soon to be visited upon NE 28th Street, as reported by Forrest Norman in "The Ultimate Nasty Neighbor" (March 31). But the real culprit is the City of Miami, and especially the city commission.

Developers develop, as quickly, as big, and as profitably as possible -- that's their job. The city's job is to regulate growth and protect the neighborhoods. For some reason, however, City of Miami officials, both the elected and appointed kind, feel that fast-track development is also their job, maybe even their main job. At meetings of the city's planning board, slick attorneys requesting zoning variances or other favors are routinely addressed by their first names, which makes the cozy relationship between the city and the development community pretty obvious. And at city commission meetings, elected officials make it very clear how little they care about the wishes and needs of ordinary citizens. Will traffic be a problem? Tough. Will the developer be given a strip of land collectively owned by the neighbors? Yes. Will anything at all stand in the way of Bermello and Miculitzki -- or for that matter, will anyone at all stand up for the neighbors? No.

The fact that Onyx 2, a huge condominium project, was approved with virtually no debate is hardly an anomaly. In the City of Miami, developers rule, the people count for nothing, and the commissioners never apologize.

Michael Carlebach

©2005 New Times