The Grove First - Coconut Grove, Miami's Online Stakeholder Community

E-mail exchange between Liliana Dones and Miami City Commissioner Joe Arriola

Subject: Arriola response to Considerations for March 24, March 17, 2005
From: Joe Arriola, Joe" <JArriola@ci.miami.fl.us>

We won’t allow a 130 M plus facility at that location, I’m very sorry for all the misinformation that has been circulated but rest assure that under the administration of Mayor Diaz that will never happen

From: Liliana Dones
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 3:24 PM
To: Winton, John L. (Commissioner); Gonzalez, Juan A.; jlsanchez@ci.miami.fl.us; Regalado, Tomas (Commissioner); jallen@ci.miami.fl.us; HeraldEd@herald.com
Cc: Diaz, Manuel A. (Mayor); Arriola, Joe; Balzebre, Frank; Walker, Jason
Subject: Considerations for March 24

Dear City of Miami Commissioners:

I was part of an overwhelming turnout of Coconut Grove residents who crammed into City Hall last night as the City of Miami’s Planning Advisory board considered arguments for and against the passage of a big-box limitation as part of our city’s Neighborhood Conservation District.

Several residents were allowed to speak for the majority of us in the audience in favor of the passing of the big box limitation. We are not against Home Depot in particular, but against any big box that would disrupt the neighborhood, and currently Home Depot happens to be the one that is threatening to do just that.

Those who argued before the board against passing the big box limitation were a handful of lawyers and HD representatives. For all of us in the audience, this was the first time we heard anyone representing Home Depot. Here is what I heard them claim:

1. They claim that a big-box limitation would be "depriving" Coconut Grove of a Home Depot, similar to the "plight" faced by residents of Missoula, Montana, where there supposedly is an anti big-box ordinance in place, thus "forcing" residents to drive all the way to Spokane, Washington to shop at HD. In our case, we would be "forced" to have to drive 2 miles to 8th street. (For the record there's been a Home Depot in Missoula, since summer of 2000).

2. They also claim that the same anti big-box ordinance in Missoula consequently deprived that city of revenue, and the same would occur here.   According to a fiscal impact analysis in Barnstable, Massachusetts, big-box retail cost taxpayers more than they produce in revenue. The study found that big box retail generates a net annual deficit of $468 per 1,000 square feet. (See article below or [http://www.newrules.org/hta/hta0203.htm] [http://www.tischlerassociates.com/]).

3. They claim that there will not be a traffic problem, but they did not explain exactly how an additional 5,000 daily visits to that shopping center Home Depot would bring, (compared to the 700 or so to the former Kmart) would not result in such. Yet, they also claimed that in limiting the size to 70,000 sq. ft. we risk that anything else that would go there instead of HD might create an even bigger traffic increase.

4. They claim that they have listened to what the community wants, when in fact, they have ignored us. After HD representatives met with city officials on January 10th, some of us received an email directly from HD Senior Manager of External Affairs, Diana Garza, stating that "Our representatives assured the city officials that we intend to earn the support of the local community and will do our utmost to properly address all of the issues identified thus far." At the top of her list: "General conditions of the exterior of The Home Depot on SW 8th Street..." (which, to this date they continue to do nothing about, in fact I am sure Commissioner Regalado can elaborate on the latest complaint from the neighbors, that HD is now renting the parking lot on Sundays to a "tent church.")

Ms. Garza also said "As shortly thereafter (their meeting with city officials on 1/10) as possible, we would like to meet with interested local residents and business owners to present our preliminary plans and secure feed-back. This will likely be the first of a series of such meetings." Our response was immediate, in the form of invitations to One Grove Alliance and Village Council meeting, both of these venues are formidable and highly recognized. Those invitations and subsequent ones were ignored. On January 31st, I personally wrote Ms. Garza, inviting them yet again and asking why we had not heard from her regarding the earlier invitations. Her response was, "We are unfortunately not available to meet at the upcoming meeting. We will keep you posted on any meeting we do arrange. Thank you again for your message."   We have not heard from them since. Please note how "any meeting we do arrange" is way different from the earlier "This will likely be the first of a series of such meetings."

5. They admit that their original intent was to build a regular big-box, 133,000 sq. ft. Home Depot. But they claim that having listened to what the community wants, (apparently through this series of meetings that never took place), "they understand that Coconut Grove is different," (from what, Little Havana? North Miami?) and that they would tailor their Home Depot to this community. They then proceeded to use words such as "mezzanine" and throw around glamorous brand names as "Sub Zero" and "Kitchen Aid," as if we were such a vapid community that hearing luxury brand names would make our toes wiggle in our Ferragamos and dazzle us enough to forget the greater good of the community. Which brings me to:

6. They claim that if forced to limit its size, they would deprive the community of jobs. The average, full-sized Home Depot employs about 150. Milams alone, at Grove Gate, employs 178. Add Walgreens, Payless, plus the venue at the 70,000 sq. ft. site and you can probably double the amount of jobs to the community, without Home Depot.

7. They claim that with their new Grove-tailored plan, there "may even be" room for a grocery store. This phrase, "may even be," sounds a little too much like Ms. Garza’s "we will do our utmost to properly address general conditions of the exterior of The Home Depot on SW 8th Street."    Which brings me to the credibility factor:

Why would Home Depot all of a sudden decide to treat the Grove differently from North Miami, or our neighbors on SW 8th Street when they clearly admitted last night that it was never their original intent? Did they make the same promises to North Miami or to Little Havana? Are they a less deserving customer base?

If it thinks the customers in the Grove vicinity will react favorably to a posh-looking Home Depot, why don’t they start by cleaning up the mess on 8th Street? That is, after, all where the Grove shops now. They can start with the little things, you know, like rounding up the carts and seeing about those code violations on the parking lot. Then, maybe, they can head inside and rename the Customer Service Desk "Concierge," as they did in New York City.

I urge the commissioners to remember that approving the recommendation of the advisory board in NCD-3 is in keeping with the much-discussed Miami 21 Plan.

Respectfully yours,

Liliana Dones
Miami, FL 33133

BIG BOX STORES DRAIN CITY REVENUE, STUDY FINDS

Big box retail, shopping centers, and fast-food restaurants cost taxpayers more than they produce in revenue, according to a fiscal impact analysis in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

The study, conducted by Tischler & Associates, compares the tax revenue generated by different kinds of residential and commercial development with the actual cost of providing public services for each land use. Barnstable is a community of 48,000 people on Cape Cod.

The study found that big box retail generates a net annual deficit of $468 per 1,000 square feet. Shopping centers likewise produce an annual drain of $314 per 1,000 square feet. By far the most costly type of development, according to the study, are fast-food restaurants, which have a net annual cost of $5,168 per 1,000 square feet.

In contrast, specialty retail, a category that includes small-scale Main Street businesses, has a positive impact on pubic revenue (i.e., it generates more tax revenue than it costs to service). Specialty retail produces a net annual return of $326 per 1,000 square feet. Other commercial land uses that are revenue winners include business parks, offices, and hotels.

"This study shatters the common misperception that any sort of growth creates revenue," says Christopher Cullinan of Tischler & Associates, a fiscal, economic, and planning consulting firm. "Communities often talk about development in terms of the new revenue it will bring, but they rarely give serious considerations to the on-going costs of servicing that development."

The two main factors behind the higher costs for big box stores, shopping centers, and fast-food outlets, compared to specialty retail shops, are higher road maintenance costs (due to a much greater number of car trips per 1,000 square feet) and greater demand for public safety services.