Coconut Grove’s single-family neighborhoods are under assault. Tree canopy is shrinking, architectural variety is disappearing, lot sizes are being diminished, homes are being demolished and the building sites left empty, and historic homes are being razed and replaced with white canyons of concrete forever altering the Grove’s subtropical village character.

Blame lies squarely with a City of Miami zoning code that allows the largest homes, relative to lot size, of any municipality in Miami-Dade.

We demand changes to the City of Miami zoning code that reduce the allowable interior square footage of new homes built in Coconut Grove to 50% of the lot size, down from the current rate of 80%. (example: under the proposed change, a new home built on an 8,000-sq-ft lot could not exceed 4,000 square feet of living space). Such a reduction in the Floor-Area-Ratio (FAR) will bring us in line with other nearby municipalities, such as Coral Gables’ 48%, South Miami’s 55% and Miami Shores 50%. This disparity unfairly incentivizes redevelopment in our neighborhoods, thereby driving up our housing costs, increasing our flood risk, and destroying the Grove’s historic village character that our zoning laws are written to protect.

By way of this petition we urge City of Miami District 2 Commissioner Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and City of Miami Planning & Zoning Director Francisco Garcia, to submit legislation to the City Commission to establish a 50% FAR limit for all new single-family construction in Coconut Grove.