Miami River group wins another round

Miami River group wins another round An alliance of Miami River marine businesses and area residents has won another court challenge in its battle to prevent large-scale condominium developments on land historically used for marine operations.
   For the second time in August, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed a City of Miami approval for a condo development. The city had approved a zoning change from industrial to restricted commercial for a proposed development known as Coastal on the River, which would have allowed a 633-dwelling unit project on the south bank of the Miami River at 22nd Avenue.
   The Miami River Marine Group, the Durham Park Neighborhood Association and river pilot Capt. Herbert 'Beau' Payne filed a suit against the city and project developer Riverside Investments LLC. The suit said the land use amendment and the development were contrary to state plans that mandated the protection of the port terminal and shipping operations on the Miami River, which generates enough cargo to allow the river to rank as the fourth-busiest port in the state of Florida.
   Unlike traditional ports, which are owned by local government entities, the Miami River operations are conducted by private terminal owners and shipping companies that are not part of a single, formal entity.
   The city ruling had been upheld last year by an administrative law judge from the state Division of Administrative Hearings. But opponents of the development took the case to the Court of Appeals, which ruled that the administrative law judge had 'erred by refusing to apply this court's definition of the Port of Miami River, failed to consider the Port of Miami River Sub-element and critical areas of the Coastal Management and Future Land Use sections of the Comprehensive Plan, failed to consider sections of the River Master Plan, and made findings that were unsupported by the evidence,' justifying a reversal.
   Earlier this month, the same court ruled against city and administrative law judge decisions to authorize a proposed 1,073-unit residential development known as Hurricane Cove at 18th Avenue and North River Drive.
   In the most recent decision, the court noted that approval of small-scale, individual development project along the river, taken as a whole, change the nature of the Miami River waterfront without considering the long-range impacts on Miami River land use needs as a whole.