[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Applause] [Music] down [Music] he [Music] a [Applause] [Music] he [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning everyone woo thank you for supporting the Arts okay where you going to put your Pur okay I don't know yeah right good morning good morning welcome to the city of Miami commission meeting for May 23rd 2024 we are going to begin our meeting with recognitions City of Miami mayor Suarez is here to do our proclamations good morning my colleagues joining me are commissioner Miguel gabella commissioner Manolo Rees commissioner Damien Paro we are looking forward to serving you and with us today is state representative Vicky Lopez thank you for being here so let's get started thank you madam chair good morning good morning all right uh today well we have several proclamations today but we kick it off today commending our city of Miami Department of fire rescue for City of Miami Department of fire rescue day in the city of Miami yes so today we proudly celebrate the 50th anniversary of Emergency Medical Services week the city of Miami firefighters became the nation's first formerly trained firefighter paramedics supported by dedicated physician instructors communication experts and a Forward Thinking fire chief their pioneering efforts significantly Advanced paramedicine laying the foundation for modern Paramedic Services and greatly enhancing community health and safety under Eugene Nagel's Visionary leadership at the University of Miami the city of Miami firefighters pioneered groundbreaking resuscitation techniques like closed chest cardiac massage dror n Nel Train Early paramedic innovators including Manuel padon Randy Boaz and Charlie Matthews under his mentorship these firefighter paramedics became some of the first to administer Advanced life support including intravenous fluids medications and intubations in the field and under the direction of Jim hman who combined a lifelong knowledge of radio and a distinguished career as a cardiologist devised the Telemetry system with the help of Ben demley obtain an experimental EKG machine in 1965 they became the first in the nation to make radio contact between hospitals and firefighters on the field in 1969 they became the first Department in the united stat to successfully revive a lifeless patient in the field through defur relation today we continue to commend the unwavering commitment dedication and Leadership of our Frontline fire rescue professionals who are responsible for delivering exceptional service to more than half a million residents and the transient population of the city of Miami which is increasing to more than a million2 200,000 visitors during the course of a business day responding to over a 100,000 emergency alarms yearly tirelessly serving our community with courage and compassion thank [Applause] you very uh very briefly a little bit EMS week is celebrated in the whole country so all over the US us we're celebrating 50 years of EMS and the phrase for this year is honoring the past and forging the future that's what the nation is celebrating I want to tell you a quick story about honoring the past back in the early 60s there was a anesthesiologist at the University of Miami that lived in a high-rise back there was about 12 stories on biscan Boulevard and uh he's on the 12th or 13th story there's open balconies and he hears screaming somewhere in the building and he says oh there's someone's in Cardiac Arrest he goes down to the floor Eugene Nagel and he meets a rescue a fire Rescue Unit rescue one and there's a lieutenant there by the name of Ken McCulla who later becomes a chief they try to resuscitate this gentleman and they're unsuccessful and Gan angle looks at the lieutenant Lieutenant says yeah this is what happens we come every time and they always die well at that time in Ireland there was a cardiologist who is beginning a program of sending cardiologists out in Lor's ambulances out in Ireland with nurses to start training them how to do CPR in the field and there was a couple of places in the United States and Los Angeles in Seattle in Ohio and St Vincent's Hospital in in New York that had the same model that would use cardiology fellows doctors that were training to become cardiologists and nurses if a cardiac incident occurred they would send them out but Gene Nagel had foresight he said well we can train firefighters to do medical care and not just for Cardiology reasons for anything and think of it like a mobile ICU so he told that Lieutenant that Saturday I'll meet you at the fire station on Saturday uh he told that that Lieutenant I'll meet you on the fire station on Saturday and met Lieutenant Mulla at station one that exists today still is a working fire station on Northeast fif Street and First Avenue in downtown met that first crew and began the conversation of what modern EMS looks like in the United States our department here in the city of Miami were the first firefighter in the world ever to be trained as medical technicians they coined the term paramedic that name paramedic was created here because Gene Nagel said well they have parat Troopers and paramedics in the military and that worked for the fire department because we say we're a paramilitary organization so wherever you go in the world anywhere in the world and you see a firefighter who's a paramedic know that it's started here in the city of Miami the first person to be defibrillated was here the first EKG transmission was here we're honoring the past and if you look all the the the men and women that are here that continues we still are a model of innovation we still have dedicated servants and you'll see a proclamation that's going to follow this one the competency and the level of care that we provide is unparal so I congratulate all these men and women we couldn't have done it throughout all these years without the support of many city managers many mayors many elected officials who have supported us we thank them we thank you the community thank you for honoring this this week [Applause] I think this is for so City of Miami Proclamation there's another one for you guys and uh whereas the city of Miami firefighters exemplified exceptional bravery and quick thinking during a critical incident utilizing their extensive training to save the life of one of their own and whereas the city of Miami fire rescue Medics sprang into action to rescue ree Blake a fellow firefighter who suffered cardiac arrest and had no pulse or heartbeat for 5 minutes during a training exercise on the ricken back in Causeway in March and whereas despite the initial loss of Reese Blake his Father Paul Blake expressed both sadness and joy over his son's miraculous recovery thanks to the heroic efforts of of his colleagues and whereas the whereas ree Blake a 23-year-old firefighter was immediately attended by his fellow First Responders who utilized their Advanced Training and equipment to revive him demonstrating that the critical importance of the life saving skills and whereas ree Blake's last memory was passing the city of Miami Fire Station Number Four and from that moment his survival depend depended entirely on the Swift and professional actions of of his fellow paramedics his fellow Medics and whereas the vi Victor Coan of the city of Miami fire and rescue highlighted the importance of preparedness and training expressing gratitude that their immediate response and the use of available equipment led to a successful outcome and whereas it proclaimed that The Bravery skill and unwavering commitment of the city of Miami fire Rescuers are hereby recognized and commended their heroic actions not only saved their life but after reinforced the vital impact of their work in our community and now therefore of I of Fran Suarez May the city May Florida Commissioner Mig I do hereby honor and and commend firefighter Kenneth sabata in observation thereof I call upon the good people of City of Miami and honorable City commission to join me in honoring and celebrating firefighter Kenneth sabath [Applause] firef Jon firefighter Jonathan Asen firefighter Victor copian fir fire Juan Ramirez Lieutenant Eddie keron firefighter Joshua SRA [Applause] officer wiling [Applause] Torres officer Christian [Applause] serus officer Jonathan Vasquez [Applause] officer Pedro [Applause] Moreno officer Alexander [Applause] dorta officer Carlos Gano [Applause] Lieutenant Ricky [Applause] Lopez and firefighter Daniel Sanchez [Applause] K good morning everyone just real quick just to kind of give you an idea of the caliber of individuals that you have up here so the the men that were there that day that were able to save their co-workers life were all already firefighters but they were going through the Miami Police SWAT school and the program that we have here takes firefighters turns them into auxiliary police officers and we turn them into SWAT Medics which by the way not to let the firefighters have all the glory but we were the first in the nation to have a swap medic program so congratulations to all thank you [Applause] [Applause] and we yeah he does he one more what spe so I want to start by we're going to give this proclamation to this uh group of uh young ladies and gentlemen and uh this is for the work that you do um I came to this country when I was six years old so this touches my heart because I know you guys are leading the fight um against uh uh the U dictatorship that there is in Cuba and for someday we may have a free Cuba so thank you but uh whereas on the 20th day of May 1902 Cuba triumphantly emerged as an independent nation following 34 years of arus conflict during during which the Cuban people Valiant sacrificed their lives labor and Fortunes in pursuit of freedom and whereas over the ensuing 57 years the Republic of of Cuba achieved remarkable advancements in human economic and social spheres earned recognition as one of the world's most Progressive Nations and whereas in 1959 Cuba fell victim to a totalitarian Communist Regime which systematically spped away the freedoms human rights and progress attained by the Cuban populace resorting to violence imprisonment and exile to maintain power thereby perpetrating ongoing atrocities and suppressing descent through repression State terrorism and organized crime and whereas despite enduring Decades of Oppression the indominable spirit of the Cuban people has never wavered in their pursuit of Freedom democracy and human rights with steadfast determination exhibited both within within the island and across the globe by exiled communities who unite in various organizations and movements to realize the noble and patriotic aspiration of our liberated Cuba and whereas the city of Miami Florida stands as as a Beacon of Hope and ref refuge for many of these organizations and individuals dedicated to the noble cause of Cuba of the Cuban freedom and now therefore I uh miguelangel GAA commissioner Miguel GAA on this momentous occasion of Cuba's Independence Day proudly salute and honor all individuals and groups tirelessly devoted to advancing the principles of Freedom democracy and human rights in Cuba and recognize May 20th as the Cuba Independence Day in observance thereof I call upon the good people of the city of Miami the honoral city commission to join me in honoring and celebrating Carlos corales in [Applause] Cuban independ you're audible man got to give me heads up next time I got you this is him that's him yeah I think we did finish this yeah so Cuba independent state and I call upon the good people City of Miami and the honorable City commission join me in honoring and celebrating car corales can Cuba Independence Day I'm sorry I apologize okay thank you so much on behalf of the Cuban American Community that's still very involved today in fighting for the freedom and human rights of our brothers and sisters inside of Island we have several organizations present here the Assembly of the Cuban resistance gu the the Cuban American National Foundation generations of Cubans that continue to support this cause we currently have over a thousand political prisoners inside of the island uh as well as 60% of Miami Dade County is comprised of Cuban Exiles with our families still inside of the island affected by an inability to have fa freedoms freedom of assembly freedom of expression Freedom uh economic freedom that's why we continue to do this work the Castro regime also affects our own National Security here in the United States uh speaking on this day of Cuban Independence May 20th we had regime agents going into secure parts of our local airport here in Miami where this Exile Community resides there's still an active threat and we can never forget that so this honor this Proclamation is extremely appreciated and we will continue to do our work for our community inside and outside of the island thank you congratulations to all of you and for those that believe that we Cubans have forgotten and the fight stopped you are an example that the Fight Continues and Cuba will be free because of you guys [Applause] [Applause] so th this one was a surprise I'm G to try to say this one in English and Spanish he was not here with the expectation that he was going to receive any recognition but he's a fixture I love you yeah think I can't say that word on the on the microphone can oh you can say that I can't say that but it's okay h let the record reflect that the Miami heral photographer said that he's old not I um but thank you Al we're you're duly noted duly noted your Proclamation is coming soon and and this was to excep to ex we want to we want to L your your exceptional efforts and work and and the work that you've done for our community on top of that the most important thing is that he's a good human being and a likeable person and someone that we always enjoy having around City Hall thank you Carlos you want to say anything more [Applause] spe let me say something you we are not getting old we're getting historic now they're going to declare us historic yeah so they can't tear us down that's right that's right they cannot destroy us thank you all so much oh my no you don't this is a big teacher okay o [Applause] we have some really exceptional people today that we are recognizing and among them is one of our alumni who has her own fan club here with her uh stand up if you're in the Diana or thiaga fan club there you go yes yes sunless Sun fo is in the Diana arag uh fan club Diana is was not only an exceptional employee of the city of Miami but in her new role and it's not that new but in her in her current role at Coca-Cola beverages she has gone above and beyond to serve our community to create linkages to help those in the community Through Community initiatives and we're very grateful for her work we're very grateful for her productivity some people you know wait to called Diana is not one of those people Diana is calling us constantly asking us how she can be helpful how the company that she works for can be more involved and that's really the spirit that we appreciate and that we hope that all miamians embody so Diana thank you for being an example for miamians and thanks for all the work that you do and all the good that you [Applause] do um it's good to be home um thank you mayor for uh exhibiting excellent judgment in uh choosing me for today I know you do uh very few of these so I appreciate the the recognition and thank you to all the Commissioners here for your partnership um and the city staff uh many of who are familiar faces and and I still consider friends um so for me this is like coming home um the city of Miami I spent uh four years of my professional career here um and I truly love the city um I love our our Representatives um and the city staff who are all public servants and exhibit so much time and and professionalism in the services that they provide to residents of the city and also our First Responders as well um I really want to thank the mayor for taking the time to recognize me I'm usually the one behind the camera behind the scenes um making things happen for the residents of the city and it's truly a joy and self-fulfilling just to do that um and you know it's wonderful for me to now come full circle and work for a company Coca-Cola beverages Florida um who truly cares um about the communities where live work and play um and many of the organizations that uh I've had the privilege of working with and leaders of those organizations in the audience that I now consider friends um provide tremendous services to your children in the city to the Youth of the city and also to uh adults with uh special needs and challenges in transitional housing and other services so thank you very much for your time I hope you have a wonderful commission meeting today and thank you again Mr Mayor [Applause] thank you so we have a couple of icons we have several icons in the building uh one of the ones that were R Monty of course who's who's in the front row but one of the ones that we're recognizing one of our icons is a restaurant tour um Steve paracone is an icon in Miami not just because he embodies what it is to be a successful restaurant tour in our city uh creating an iconic restaurant an iconic place that many of us have gone to for decades in our city it's not just a culinary experience it's the way he treated you it's the way you felt when you were there and it's his continued commitment to Excellence and the fact that we continue to have local homegrown restaurants that are created in our community and create incredible memories and so today I want to recognize the efforts of Steve paracon one of my heroes [Applause] I just really want to thank Miami for an amazing 28 years thank you so very much for your support and allowing me to make a difference thank you [Applause] we make it a habit and this is important habit of recognizing our employees that have reached certain service Milestones it's important because it's important for us to thank them for their service to recognize their dedication and in many cases when you think about the time period involved and you think about time being our most precious asset the one asset that once it passes you don't get back you're talking about a lifetime a choice to dedicate your life to an institution and for that there really isn't enough praise that you can give someone so today we are commemorating 30 years of service 30 years of service so I want to call up Norma vew Seymour placed Sha roela Sha [Applause] Larry colie and Jason [Applause] Smith Seymour Norma good morning everyone um H Sana director of residance and Public Works um these four individuals and and unfortunately our fifth 30 plus year employee is not with us today she's still in the department and working hard every day um it just goes to show that this is not a day by day or week by week this is a a year-long passion multi-year Endeavor that these folks dedicate their time when um when these storms arise all of these folks answer the call of duty um and we are very fortunate to have them as part of not only our department but as part of our city and I am uh honored to to call them my my colleagues [Applause] don't go too far buddy last certainly not least this week is National Public Works week and so not only do we want to commend your tenured employees but we want to commend the work that you do as you said people sometimes don't understand all of the intricacies of how the city of Miami operates right Elvis and Public Works plays a critical role because every time there's a building that's built Public Works is a component of making sure that the public areas are built properly flooding Paving all of these things that are done in the public uh are done by our public works department either completely or through some sort of coordination and uh our city wouldn't function if it wasn't for our public works department so we want to commend their work we want to commend your leadership hu Al and we want to commend all of you guys and all the employees of Public Works for keeping our city going every day thank you [Applause] and at this time we are going to have the meeting blessed with prayer Pastor susette Anderson from St Paul am church is going to bless us bless this meeting today stay right here stay right here how pretty is thank you good morning everyone um thank you commissioner for inviting me to do the prayer this morning as we go to the Lord in prayer please bow your head to our wise loving holy God thank you for another day of your abundant blessing on each of Our Lives thank you for health strength and another Another Day of Service to your community bless our mayor the chair the vice chair and the entire city commission continue to give them wisdom in decision making give them patience to hear and listen to the people they serve and to continue to walk in justice for all we acknowledge this month is of May as mental health awareness month God remind us to take care of our mental and emotional health like we do our physical health together with your guidance our city will become better and stronger but bless the agenda that is put before us today let everything be done in decency and in order and unity in Jesus name we pray amen thank you Senator rep Lopez would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance I would like to thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank good morning Vice chair at this time Mr City attorney would you please read your statement for the record yes thank you madam Chair George weisong City attorney detailed information about the processes order of business rules of procedure and scheduling or rescheduling of City commission meetings can be found in Chapter 2 Article 2 of the city code a copy of which is available online at ww. municode.com any person who is a Lobby is pursuant to chapter 2 article 6 of the city code must register with the city clerk and comply with related City requirements for lobbyist before appearing before the city commission a person may not Lobby a city official board member or staff member until registering a copy of the code section about lobbyist is available in the city clerk's office or online at www.mo.com any person making a presentation formal request or petition to the city Commission concerning real property must make the disclosures required by the city code in writing a copy of the city code sections available at this office of the city clerk or online at ww. munico the city of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the city commission must disclose before the hearing any consideration provided or committed to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action pursuant to city code section 2-8 any documents offered to the city commission that have not been provided 7 days before the meeting as part of the uh agenda materials will be entered into the record at the city commission's discretion in accordance with Section 2-33 f and g of the city code the agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the city clerk's office and online 24 hours a day at www.miamigov.com any person may be heard by the city commission through the chair for not more than 2 minutes on any proposition before the chair unless Modified by the chair public comment will begin at approximately uh 10ish a.m. and remain open until public comment is closed by the chairperson members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form please visit www.miamigov.com meting instructions for detailed instructions on how to provide public comment using the online public comment form the comments submitted through the comment form have been and will be distributed to the elected officials their staff and City Administration throughout the day so that elected officials may consider the comments prior to taking any action additionally the online comment form will remain open during bring the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the elected officials their staff and the city Administration up until the chairperson closes public comment public comment may also be provided live here at City Hall located at 3500 panamer Drive Miami Florida subject to any and all City Rules as they may be amended if the proposition is being continued or rescheduled the opportunity to be heard may be such at such later date before the city commission takes action on such proposition when addressing the city commission the member of the public must first state their name their address and what item will be spoken about any person with the disability requiring assistance auxiliary AIDS and services for this meeting May notify the city clerk the city has provided different public common methods to indicate among other things of public support opposition or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the city commission meeting in compliance with Section 28601 one4 parentheses 4 C Florida Statutes the public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting and within reasonable proximity and time before the meeting please note Commissioners have generally been briefed by City staff and City attorney's office items on items on the agenda today anyone wishing a ver a Verbatim record of any item considered at this meeting May requested at the office of communications or view it online at www.mo.com planning and zoning items shall proceed according to section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 zoning ordinance parties for any pz items including any applicant appellant appal City staff and any person recognized by the decision-making body as a qualified intervenor as well as the applicants representatives and any experts testifying on behalf of the applicant appellant or appal may be physically present at City Hall to be sworn in by oath or affirmation by the city clerk the members of the city commission shall disclose any ex parte Communications to remove the presumption of prejudice pursuant to Florida statute section 286 0115 and section 7.1.4 point5 of the Miami 21 zoning ordinance the order of presentation shall be set forth in Miami 21 and in the city code staff will briefly present each item to be heard the applicant will present its application or request to the city Comm commission if the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation the city commission may proceed to its deliberation and decision the applicant may also wave the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record for appeals the appellant will present its appeal to the city commission followed by the appal staff will be allowed to make any recommendation they may have please silence all cell phones and other noise making devices access to the meeting this meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV the city's Facebook page the city's Twitter page and the city's YouTube channel and Comcast channel 77 the broadcast will also have caption thank you madam chair thank you Mr City attorney Mr city clerk would you please read your statement in for the record thank you chair the procedures for individuals will be providing testimony to be swor in for planning zoning items and any qual judicial items on today's City commission AG agenda will be as follows the members of City staff or any other individuals required to be sworn who are currently president City Hall will be sworn by me the city clerk immediately after I finished explaining these procedures those individuals who are appearing remotely may be sworn in now at any time prior to the individ providing testimony for planning zoning items and Inter requ digal items Commissioners are you comfortable with all notice provision set forth in these uniform rules procedures we have established for this meeting yes chair May administer the Y for planning Z the items please thank you chair good morning ladies and gentlemen if you will be speaking on any of today's Planning and Zoning items the pz items May please have you stand and raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give at the this hearing is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and your response is thank you chair thank you Mr city manager at this time do you have any items on the agenda that will be withdrawn or deferred good morning Madam chair uh Commissioners uh Mr City attorney Mr city clerk this time the administration would like to defer and or withdraw the following items re4 to be in to be deferred to June 13th R5 to be deferred to June 13th re7 to be deferred to June 13th re9 to be withdrawn F fr1 to be deferred to June 13th F fr3 to be deferred to June 27th and di4 to be deferred to June 13th on the Planning and Zoning agenda pz1 to be indefinitely deferred pz2 to be indefinitely deferred pz3 to be indefinitely deferred pz5 to be indefinitely deferred pz6 to be indefinitely deferred pz14 to be deferred to the Dune June 27th meeting pz 15 to be deferred to the June 27th meeting pz1 16 to be indefinitely deferred and pz1 17 to be indefinitely deferred that concludes the items could M chair for the chair could you Mr manager go through again not on the PC Items on the regular agenda who wants you to Bur sure um re4 to be deferred to June 13th re5 to be deferred to June 13th re7 to be deferred to June 13th re9 to be withdrawn F fr1 to be deferred to June 13 fr3 to be deferred to June 27th and di4 to be deferred to June 13th thank you Mr Vice chair do you have any items that you would like to have withdrawn or deferred chair not at this point in time but I'm might uh bring one or two up uh later okay commissioner gabella no I'm good commissioner Paro no I'm good commissioner Reyes okay I understand my apologies um just so we have this during the order of the day uh commissioner Rees has a pocket item um pertaining to uh and I can just read the title if that's okay yeah um if that's okay Mr City attorney I'll just read the title of the the resolution a a resolution of the Miami city commission expressing its vement condemnation of the visit by Cuban officials to the Miami International Airport report on May 20th 2024 directing the city clerk to transmit a copy of this resolution to the official stated hearing providing for an effective date and the mayor would like to co-sponsor this resolution second do we have any other pocket items no that's the only one no we don't have we I believe we have one for Mo park that's the only SEC the only pocket item I I believe the chair has indicated she has only um authorized this one pocket item it's my understanding that yeah the one for the Cuban one because for the sensitive and it has a fiscal impact so we can put that on the regular agenda no we'll just you'll just get it on the next agenda correct okay am uh I mean if there's a some uh addition subtractions or modifications that have to be made and I I throw this out so we can give some order okay okay and uh this is going to be uh for the next okay there's the District Five pocket item um if I I'm sorry I do not have that resolution chair if I just may ask for the purpose of uh moving forward can we leave old pocket items towards the later part of the meeting sure the more Park pocket item isn't way we can move the meeting forward more yes um so do I have a motion to set the agenda motion do I have a second second all in favor I agenda is a set and chair my apologies I have a brief statement I need to read into the record pursuant to section 62-22 of the city code an inde deply deferred action initiated by the city will cost the city mail noticing advertising and posting of uh properties as applicable thank you chair thank you and at this time we are going to open the floor for public comments first wait wait wait a second we have a personal appearance by state representative Vicky Lopez going to allow her to go make her presentation first good morning good morning Madam chair members of the commission thank you so much for the privilege to address you on one of your items today as you all know my name is Vicki Lopez and I represent uh District 113 in the state legislature I'm here today because of the growing concern about digital signs in the urban core of my district the weeks leading up to today has seen an uptick of concerns by residents and businesses alike regarding the Pam sign I represent parts of the districts of commissioner Reyes and parto and the complete District of commissioner garoo I have enjoyed a good working relationship with each commissioner and have partnered with each of them when there were concerns with our mutual constituencies in this case I have worked closely with commissioner parto given that this issue is confined to his district and thus I defer to him as it relates to the city's role in this situation and hope that all of you will as well I'm not here to argue the merits of the of either side of this I do however want to set the record straight as to the state's position based on chapter 479 it should be noted that this statute was created long before digital signs were ever invented and it's an important distinction given that digital signs allow for multiple messages to be displayed periodically on a sign let me reiterate what F office of RightWay has already shared in a letter to Orange Barrel media dated October 11th 2022 I'm sure that this has probably been relayed to you as well in its response regarding the proposed plan to construct signs at the Perez Art Museum of Miami fot determined that the sign would not be subject to the fot permitting requirements it considers the sign on premises and as such not rental income from the displays may not be received from The Entity that owns Pam which in this case is the city of Miami therefore any Revenue derived from the sign may be shared with Pam but not with the city in addition the permitting exemption will apply as long as any commercial advertisement to be displayed is for the business conducted or products Services Brands activities foods and bever available to purchase at a retail shop gift shop restaurant self-service to Commerce kiosk both or other method of sales or sales inquiry let me give you examples because there's been great confusion about this if Coke is sold in the restaurant they may advertise Coca-Cola on the sign if it sells Chanel products in the gift shop it may advertise Chanel and I just learned yesterday from fot uh I tried to use the example of Mercedes-Benz and I said could they could they just advertise Mercedes-Benz and I was told that in the casaya center there is a kiosk that allows you to purchase a mercedesbenz so if in fact that is the case on this property it can as well um advertise mercedesbenz this is the extent of the state's jurisdiction over the sign in question with what fot can and will do is investigate all complaints regarding the sign's compliance with the permitting exemptions and if found to have Merit will enforce the statutory Provisions therefore I suggest everyone govern themselves accordingly since the sign is exempt from permitting requirements as set forth in chapter 479 the city has jurisdiction over the sign and in fact has an ordinance that provides for the use and support of public space through digital advertising content that said I want to be very clear I would be remiss if I didn't sound a general alarm about the city's sign ordinance many different signs whether they be murals or digital signs are being permitted in the urban core many of which are much larger than the Pam sign which is 18800 Square ft and 1,000 ft from the nearest Residential Building there are illumin ated advertising murals that are 10,000 square ft while the casayas center sign is 3,400 Square ft many are even closer to the residential buildings than the Pam sign I'm going to urge you all to revisit your ordinance to ensure that the same modifications offered in the proposed amendment apply to all signs moving forward it only makes sense to regulate hours of operations modulation and ambient lighting and expressively prohibit adult content in addition to many other regulations that will strike the delicate balance between signage and the peaceful living conditions of residents who live in the urban core sadly the repeal of any ordinance would grandfather this Pam sign and allow them to operate a legally non-conforming sign without any operation concessions the last thing we need in Miami is for Miami to become Time Square thank you I just tell you this I will be watching very closely what happens here today um and I will base my next legislative steps on whatever you decide today I want to say how much I appreciate all of your work on behalf of all the citizens of Miami date of the city of Miami and I'm grateful to represent a vast proportion of that city thank you thank you thank you good morning um hold on chair I was just ask to make an appre statement if we could just have um five people uh in line for the podium at at a time um it would help with uh keeping these these things clear for the fire department good morning good morning uh my name is Holly Kashi and I yield my time to Mark Rosen Bloom um because there's so many public speakers I'm not going to yield time today I'm not going to I'm not going to do the yielding of time because we have so many public speakers and I'm sorry can I get the speaker's name ma'am just one more I didn't hear your if I just get your name for the record since you spoke Holly Kachi thank you good morning and happy Thursday my name is Mark Rosen Bloom Chief Operating Officer Perez Art Museum Miami 1103 biscane Boulevard Miami Florida 33132 I'm here to speak on sr2 and chairwoman King's Amendment I stand you before you today in neon yellow to deliver and highlight a very important message thank you for supporting the Arts the brightly dressed folks and others behind me wave your hands are here to Echo this statement we are also proud of the city's hard work over the past 40 years to develop Miami from a cultural Wasteland to a vibrant art scene recognized worldwide for its endless talent and quality offerings from art to science from ballet to Opera from music to history from animals to Gardens the list goes on and on and the progress and commitment are center stage on our worldclass stages again thank you for supporting the Arts thank you for lisening to our needs many needs over the many months we have joined you thank for thank you for being caring and thoughtful City commissioners it obviously takes time and energy to lead such a great city thank you for being willing and committed your public service is a blessing to this Dynamic diverse and growing community so challenging to bring people together almost impossible to make everyone happy the majority of you have done a stellar job creating a compromise finding a fair solution you have repeatedly heard the concerns you have taken action to build a bridge that brings this conversation to a conclusion Your solution limits future signage Your solution controls content Your solution minimizes light levels Your solution defines operating hours how Fant fantastic that this commission has found a way to bring us all together this does not need to be a close vote that's ban together and show full support five votes yes this is a moment we all celebrate a path forward a time to channel our energies in new and positive directions a tame not to just to support the Arts but amplify the Arts thank you good morning Elvis good morning chair Elvis Cruz 631 Northeast 57 Street regard regarding sr2 the LED Billboards the amendment is supposed to be a compromise but it's actually capitulation the behind the scenes political engineering does not pass a smell test you are being pressured by Big Money lobbyists to give special deals to well-connected people none of you like it when a commissioner crosses your District boundary to serve their special interest but that's what you're doing here this is just another Money Motivated manipulation at Miami city hall if you support Billboards it will reflect badly on you and it will likely be used against you please serve the voters not the lobbyists do the right thing and pass commissioner paro's original version on a different topic it is reprehensible that the city is closing the biscane bay picnic islands for Memorial Day weekend you just announced the leave no Trace policy last Saturday but instead of initiating a Boer education program you've closed the islands ahead of a popular boating weekend by having garbage cans on those islands for decades you told the Boating public they could leave garbage and it would be picked up you should start with positive energy with Outreach education and recruitment programs instead you immediately went to negative energy by closing the islands with no public meetings no public hearings you want to punish everyone for the sins of a few be advised you are jeopardizing future find money by prohibiting public voting access to Waterfront public land find has money available for spoil Island maintenance and management don't take the easy way out please open the islands and in closing I'd like everyone here who's in favor of stopping the LED Billboards to please stand and be recognized thank you commissioner Paro you may want to take account of those that are here today opposed to the Billboards thank you thank you thank you Elvis good morning for the record between 25 to 30 people good hello hello hey hey hey hey hey hey hey I don't I don't want to have to clear the chambers again I don't want to have that is not necessary thank you good morning hi good morning everybody um thank you very much for having me here today uh my name is j mikica and I'm the senior director of digital engagement at the Perez Art Museum Miami I'm here today to speak in support of chairwoman King's compromise amendment to section 2- 779 of the code I'm here not today not only as a Pam employee but as a proud constituent of District 2 I've been working in museums for over a decade now and I'm familiar with the unpredictable nature of Arts funding the digital sign will provide Pam with a source of income to buffer the institution in difficult times and bolster its efforts in arts education and community outreach we all remember the difficult time nonprofits had during the pandemic Pam was unable to sell tickets and like many nonprofits had to make the difficult choice to furlough employees the sign will help prevent such measures in the future um I am incredibly excited about our City's renewed efforts to root out uh ition in City Hall but I appeal to you all today to appreciate the Nuance in this matter and see that with this sign we have the chance to fortify one of our City's most vital providers of Arts education and Community programming please support chairwoman King's amendment to section 2779 of the city code thank you thank you good morning good morning everyone Yan shman 900 B Boulevard I'm here today and I would like to talk about um agenda item pz7 um I would like to ask you to uphold the decision taken by the planning zoning and appeals board on November 15th revoking the warrant for the outdoor gym in Maurice F Park which was done by a vote of 5 to2 by the way please mind that this is not about people liking the gym or even using the gym I could pour concrete over the entire park there and build a skate park and I would find enough people that would say oh I love the skate park it's great it's not about it it's about following the right procedures and here are my three reasons number one the city and park management completely disregarded the master plan there have been dog parks built planted trees wherever the park management felt like it now the gym and who knows what comes next all of this is not in the master plan a plan that I trusted in when I bought my apartment so this Master Plan cost a lot of money to the city of Miami and now it's just going to waste why even spending money on plans if they're completely disregarded we might as well just stop planning all together now number two no public Outreach the park and City fail to alert involve and consult the community the park is there for everyone absolutely but let's don't disregard the reality and the reality is that 80 to 90% of the people using the park on an everyday basis are the residents of the neighboring buildings and we the residents in those buildings do not want the gym we have come here to protest um to make our voices heard and we need to stop wasting funds and the third reason that my last one I know I have to hurry up the one was issued disregarding the right procedure there was a 5-2 vote by the planning zoning appeals board and just using the words of one of the board members who is a lawyer by the way and he said this was done procedurally deficient and they did it wrong in addition to that I'm against the Billboards thank you very much thank you good morning hi Commissioners good morning uh Charles Walter 1901 brickl Avenue and I'm still confused why we're we're still discussing this issue uh we have so many important issues facing our city and this continues to be a topic when the residents continue to oppose the Billboards uh we have tremendous showing people providing their support for for keeping Billboards out of the district and we continue down this path and I I it's not clear why I see people here from Pam and they should be working with residents of the community to come to a compromise if that's really what they're trying to do instead of lobbying this body we have the residents of the district the commissioner trying to move forward and we continue down this path um I think that any Commissioners who might be receiving money from entities behind the Billboards should recuse themselves from this vote and we should really look to just focus on what the residents of the district are asking for and if again if Pam wants to try to find a compromise they should be speaking with the residents of the district instead of coming here so I hope we can put an end to this and move on to more important issues for the city thank you thank you good morning good morning all my name is Claudia rousel I live at a building called 10 Museum park at 10 40 biscane Boulevard I'm here in my role as a board member for 10 Museum Park and as a representative for the DNA for my building the residents asked item Sr to to revert to the original D2 Amendment and reject the most recent D5 Amendment or revoke the permit I also would like to make a quick comment on pz7 the famous gym furthermore my community ask for the removal of the outdoor gym at the Maurice Ferry Park my building is right across I go there all the time I have a dog it is an absolute isore and was built without any input of the downtown community wouldn't be there if we would have been ask thank you very much thank you good morning hi I'm Nancy Lee live in Coconut Grove um uh commissioner carolo I remember you when you were mayor and when you were a commissioner before and you were nice and I'm surprised today um this is for commissioner's chairwoman King and for Miguel gabella commissioner uh there's a lot of fives in this room and you know that that and it's not your fives it's someone else's fives and you know what a five is I'm I'm sure a what a five a a five is someone that vote voted in the last five elections those are what you go for in an election yeah likely voters okay so we have our fives of the commissioner to your left and you have to think about his fives because he has to think about yours and this is a very important issue for our district and you see CU we're all here all 25 of us and I really think that you should reconsider your vote and as you chairwoman as well because this is very important to a new commissioner and this issue is important to everyone in our district I don't live near the built these stupid things but I don't want them in my neighborhood because I want to sleep at night and I'd like to be sleeping now too but anyway I I just think that you can do the right thing here for your fellow commissioner who is trying so hard to make us happy because he's not getting another term if he doesn't make us happy thank you okay than you understood good morning good morning chairwoman Kristen brow 888 pascan Boulevard uh in the heart of District 2 here to urge you to support Damen pto's original resolution and I'm the building representative to the downtown neighborhood association and I'm speaking also on behalf of the downtown neighborhood association commissioner um and Madam chair what's going to come out from right now is going to sound personal but commissioner Coro I assure you it is not I want to let you know just how upset the people of downtown are about these signs both at the south end and the new one by the Pam we want to support the Arts but we don't want to destroy our neighborhood and the people are so upset that there is now a petition with over a thousand signatures being circulated by the downtown neighborhood association asking for your removal from the battery from the uh Park trust because we want local control the gym the signs the various things the cutting down of trees the damage to the park the damage to our neighborhood in the recent past has got us to the point that we can no longer tolerate having someone from outside the district controlling what's going on inside our district someone who is not accountable to the voters of our district doing this so we're not just urging you to stick to Damian paro's original resolution we are asking you to fundamentally change the way this park is being run to put our commissioner the one who is accountable to our district in charge we urge you to do this without delay it's not personal commissioner but it is recognition that the mistakes that have been made are having a negative effect on everyone in our district and on the visitors to our city right now you walk into the park and you're greeted by signs at either end it's not right it's not the image we want of Miami thank you thank you my apologies morning may have the speaker's name chair chair I'm sorry the speak we I wasn't able to capture the speaker's name I apologize maam name your name again Kristen Browdy B R wde thank you good morning good morning Madam chair members of the commission my name is Jay salowski I reside at 2127 Brickle Avenue I am here in support of sr2 with the modifications from the last meeting I am here individually and as vice president and on behalf of brickl homeowners association on behalf of brickl homeowners association we want to thank you for supporting the amendment to commissioner paro's repeal of 2779 preserving the rights of Pam and AR to have the media installations to support their missions we are eager for projects that enhance downtown and this compromise amendment is the perfect solution allowing cultural institutions to find new creative ways of funding while putting in place now reasonable time and manner restrictions that is what the amendment as modified does and we urge your support this is not strictly a district 2 issue we have in the district we have the arena you have Pam you have Arch you have Bayfront Park you have Frost science you have all the entertainment on 11th Street there's a city-wide impact to that it doesn't relate solely to District 2 we urge you to maintain your steadfast support for the three Commissioners who move this forward and ask the other two Commissioners to consider a evaluating their positions and looking at where people are coming from on the other side because they don't want it in their backyard but this is the backyard they moved into with all of this present at that time this is an evolution of that area we urge your support and we thank you thank you good morning good morning commission uh my name is John chair my apologies would you mind just pulling the microphone up closer to how to where you're speaking okay okay okay my name is John ell I'm a resident here in the State of Florida uh when you United States veteran I'm a retired businessman I'm a retired businessman here in the State of Florida my complaint is uh discre uh the condition of the streets where the construction is supposed to be done I notied from 79th Street all the way to 95th no one they have tore up the streets the streets look bad people cars getting tore up people been complain um my vehicle was tore up back in November of last year I haven't tried to go through all the liit to that I possibly can speaking to the director and everything in the Commission office have send pictures and everything of my vehicle have did everything that I possibly can I come here today because I felt that this is the only way I can get this resol is by coming to see y'all today because I have voted most of y'all in office um but um my problem is that I'm not getting no help to get this resolved this has been going on since November of last year my vehicle has been tow up since then I have brought have brought all type of documents papers and everything uh no one is doing nothing about it so I'm here today to try to see if I can get some help from y'all I'm going to have the city manager have someone come and speak is the commissioner in my area I've been trying to get to him for the longest but I've been speaking to people people up under him and they have not been doing nothing to resolve so the manager is going to have someone speak to you okay thank you thank you very much good morning good morning Commissioners my name is Danielle Rivera and I live at 629 Southwest 10th Avenue Miami Florida 33130 I am against any LED billboard advertising because due to my medical conditions I am extremely light sensitive and these types of ads can cause everything from severe headaches to seizures and would make it very dangerous for me to go out at night more to the point of my public comments I'm also a campaign Finance reform Advocate and track political contributions in Miami day County the company orange Barrel media exploited legal loopholes and campaign Finance law to Curry favor with the electeds who must approve their invasive Billboards without having any of their company Nam show up on their campaign Treasurer reports former lobbyists for orange Barrel media include Mark sov and Miguel Diaz DEA Portia brother to indicted former commissioner Alex Diaz de Portia Mark sof is also the chairperson of the political committee truth is the daughter of time PC since that PC was founded in 2017 orange Barrel media has contributed $672,000 70% of all contributions through 2023 from 2021 through 2023 orange Barrel media accounted for over 97% of all contributions to truth is daughter of time PC truth is the daughter of time PC in turn contributed to City of Miami and Miami dat electeds candidates and their mded 28 PCS top recipients of these contributions were Alex Diaz de la Portilla and two of his MD ed28 political committees with a total of 200 $76,500 others who received contributions include but are not limited to Mayor Francis Suarez District three commissioner Joe Coro 2023 D1 commission candidate Mercedes Rodriguez former D2 commissioner Sabina kovo and D2 special election candidate Mar zeler thank you thank you good morning how are you I'm great how are you good good to see you good to see you as well um my name is Magie Ramos I reside in Morningside um anyways I have a PowerPoint I know you're really excited about it right I always come with my PowerPoints I wanted first before I got into this topic on the LED Billboards I wanted to thank everybody for voting okay for closing these Parks it's just been I mean I can't even tell you how how relieved and happy we are and it was as a result of our leave no Trace kickoff on Sunday where the uh government officials went out to these islands and they saw how trash they were after 3 days we had just cleaned them 3 days prior so thank you thank you for hearing us and okay so now on to the vote no for Led Billboards uh I'm here on behalf of wildlife it does not have a voice so I'm here to speak on its behalf we are a direct path a migratory path from the Northeast in Canada down to South America it goes directly over downtown Miami right where these Billboards are located it's very very serious you can see here this Map Ottawa is up there you see the the Red Dot that's where the Pam is Pam um where where you know the B the billboard supposed to be all the way down to Costa Rica Guatemala and elsewhere these right now we are in migratory season they migrate in the summer and in the fall uh there's a rookery on kis Gan that will be affected as well okay there's a recent studies on light and light pollution and how it affects Birds adversely and it's very serious um the effects of light pollution on migrating birds basically they can't see the difference they don't understand they fly at night and they do that because it's so hot during the day that they they try to conserve their energy to fly at night also they kind of want to avoid getting eaten by hawks and predatory Birds it is also Turtle nesting season okay um I I mean the glows are very very disorient oring for Turtles thank you okay thank you thank you for listening good morning hi June Savage I live in Coconut Grove I was born at Mercy Hospital so I'm one of your oldtime Floridians uh I am a real estate agent of 25 years and when Xavier Suarez sat up here in the commission he had an open door policy in his office I went into that office when it was on Douglas and he had these beautiful drawings of what he envisioned Central Park and um Time Square of the city of Miami and Time Square was supposed to be Flagler Street which is why it's closed off that's where the Billboards were originally planned to go Central Park is where Museum Park is now we're here talking about billionaire George poor poor billionaire George Perez but we have our typical paid supporters with the t-shirts who will get CV s or Visa cards when they leave okay if someone there can show me how this man can erect such an item as tall as this ceiling without a permit and everybody showing a blind eye I'm I'm shocked because he shouldn't be allowed to do that he should be fined every single day that thing is there okay he's no different than any one of us as a matter of fact he should be donating more money to everyone of the city our police our homeless the Lotus house and down the board because he's a billionaire thank you and just remember there is no property value that is increased by this at all and no quality of life thank you good morning good morning Albert Gomez uh District 2 Resident um I just want to I want to make a a point that um the LED billboard I have a weird Connection in that I Supply the industry I Supply aluminum I Supply wire harnesses I do a lot of different things for the industry I also know that when something's created or built it's built for a reason it's built for a use case it's built for a place this is not the place for Led Billboards we're also starting to lean in on understanding the value propositions of things in the city like our nature and what we have like biscane Bay I think you guys did a big move by closing the islands I disagree with our my friend delvis um I'd take him on a cleanup anytime he wants so he can understand the scale and scope of the problem uh like uh our city manager said it's a five minute decision if you just go there and do it yourself but the reality is is the value of nature we have migratory Birds we have rookeries being formed right on the bay we don't need LED Billboards upsetting uh rearing young and birds that are endangered we want to put value where it's where it's due and moreover the AR the Pam they need money consider it a Clarion call from this commission to find more creative ways to find money for them but not put Billboards and put sacrifice the well-being of not only our Wildlife but our civilians I think you guys are making a good move right now I want to close by saying so so please support Damen parto and his push to stop this action I really it's the right move from this commission I want to close by saying the closure was necessary of the the spoil Islands but closure alone is not enough education is obviously needed but that's not enough we need enforcement we need enforcement dollars from you we need inter agency agreements to allow for Code Compliance on on the parks please let's creative thank you good morning good morning my name is Katarina Jimenez and I'm here today to oppose the oversized neon Billboards Des signs have profound negative effects on both our health and the environment they disturb our sleep patterns they dampen our moods and endanger our eyesight furthermore they disturb our nervous systems they increase the likelihood of accidents and contribute to the rising cost of health care and living and it's already kind of expensive here in Miami the light pollution emitted by these Billboards worsens the situation disturbing Wildlife behavior and disrupting the delicate ecosystems of our biscan Bay it's crucial we reduce the prevailance of oversized neon Billboards in Miami by doing so we not only protect Miami's delicate ecosystems but also Safeguard the health and well-being of all of our of all of us and our future Generations including my twins that are coming soon this ensures that Miami maintains its unique tropical character setting it apart from other cities in the US as a preferred Global tourist destination thank you for your time and for listening to all of us who are here to oppose those signs thank you good morning good morning I'm Jeff King my Mi resident 546 Northeast 57 street I'm against these led Billboards this scheme by a company from Ohio found a vulnerable spot in our Urban landscape and exploited it with Artful distractions they talk about Community Support content but I say that is a trojan horse for Endless advertising this is not about supporting Arts I think their idea is to keep the public hooked with a trickle of shared Kickbacks while they rake in the real dough I get that you all have to make decisions that do not please everyone roads and bridges get built lives are changed in the name of progress but this isn't progress 60 years ago we knew Billboards were eyesores back then first lady Ladybird Johnson tried to beautify our highways by eliminating billboards these parasitic monstrosities disturb the residents living around them residents drawn to downtown homes by magnificent views of our city and Bay local government encouraged housing downtown and now is punishing the folks that took them up on it and moved in why would anyone want Times Square Billboards in Miami One Time Square 12200 miles away is enough thank you thank you good morning good morning my name isus Manuel V I am speaking on item sr2 I'm a Miami artist public art educator and Resident at 5261 Southwest Third Street Coro Gus Florida 33134 I support the arts and culture in myami by bringing artists together to collaborate on projects by and for for the community I am supportive of the digital science at the Pam and Arch and the legislative amendment that is currently before the commission proposed by chairwoman kin art and culture brings immeasurable value to the Miami community and it is part of the reason Miami is such a great place to live work and play I ask for your support in passing the amended ordinance for media and art installations at Miami art institutions and I assure you I am not getting any CVS cards or Visa cards if you know where they are please do let me know thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Glenn Patron Ventura Avenue Coconut Grove and I'm here to share some research done by activist Danny Rivera with you um it's regarding orange Barrel media and small City who are both promoting this led uh billboard project and they have contributed great amounts of money to elected officials who have decisionmaking power about this this project using loopholes and current campaign Finance laws they've moved hundreds of thousands of dollars through political committees mostly connected to Mark s sov and who is the chairman of a group a company called Truth is the daughter of time um orange Barrel has committed has contributed up till the end of last year 6 $72,000 to this PC that's 97% of the money that they've received according to the the papers they filed the top recipient was Alex Diaz de la Portilla a number to 276,000 number two was Joe carollo but only 58,000 third I I could go on and on but I only have two minutes what her point is is that orange Barrel media and their former lobbyist mark sov have been able to use current campaign Finance laws to move large sums of money to the control of the very same people for whom they need approval to me this is a dirty business and we need to shine a light on it they already have the money let's not let them have our city thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Chris Mily I'm a longtime resident of the city of Miami and for most of my career I worked in public service for the taxpayers just like you I am here to ask that this commission please vote for the original D2 Amendment concerning the Billboards these Billboards are massive illuminated and exceed all accepted standards for Billboards each of your votes requires you to answer some important questions number one who will you stand for will you stand for the residents who live in that Community who are telling you they feel overwhelmed and intruded upon and that they are being treated as if they do not matter or will you stand for the sign company that will handsomely profit from this exception to all the standards that have been in place to date number two do you think it is okay that this billboard company was a top donor to one of your former colleagues on this commission who championed this exception to the standards for Billboards if you vote Yes um for the Billboards to proceed as planned you're endorsing a pay-to-play system which we all know will benefit you in your re-election campaigns we know this if you vote no you are standing for the Integrity of the process and how this commission makes decisions three orange Barrel media and the Pam have promised that these signs will be creative and artistic we know what that means they demand our attention they will cause automobile accidents people will be injured so what you must decide will you vote to protect drivers from this eye catching distraction we have enough distractions already thank last let me acknowledge that the only positive here is supporting of the Arts but it's at the cost of the frost science museum that is not right thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is adfa delit I live at 1060 brickl Avenue I also work downtown I'm here in support of chairwoman King's compromised Amendment sr2 and preserving the digital signs as is on the property I completely understand the desire to not have any digital signs and Parks or close proximity to the resident the residential buildings but I don't believe these signs quite fall into that category the compromise amendment allows for brightness regulations to exist and that's responsive to the community's concerns while still preserving the rights of the Arts to find funding in inventive ways I think it impacts the neighborhood in a positive light more than negative one and I think we should stick to the new Amendment and frankly there are other concerns that are probably more pressing at this time such as the city's homelessness issue traffic congestion sea level rise Etc and therefore the time used for these signs should move on to more pressing topics thank you thank you good morning good morning good morning Madam chair Commissioners uh staff and members of the community my name is Harens decastro um I'm representing the Venetian Wayne neighborhood alliance which is an association of the five Venetian Islands as such as you may well know that it's a Ab banding of a very forward thinking residents and as being Forward Thinking residents we are completely against the uh LED lights and support commissioner paro's initiative instead there are three reasons for that I'll begin firstly with the fact that Miami is not a second rate Time Square I'm a New Yorker and as such I Love My Time Square in Time Square I don't need it here in Miami instead what I like is a signage of blue blue everywhere from top to bottom why don't we make that our sign AG instead a bless of Miami filled with palm trees that's the first reason secondly it is an a migratory path um please note that the national trend is to have buildings turn their lights off this is by the Aon Society the lights off program so that birds can actually migrate in peace so I propose that we give nature a break instead of breaking it as we've been doing so well with our Bay let's continue to please support our nature and create a path for them to migrate thirdly The Architects Herzog and demiran did not Envision something like what we're doing with LED lights they created a pristine structure this building the Pam building is fabulous how could they did a seamless Union of Nature and and architecture they used stiltsville as their model how could we then destroy that image of a be beautiful museum with a blighted sight that we we do not want thank you very much for listening I appreciate your attention thank you good morning uh good morning commissioner good morning chairwoman I just want to say that I'm in support of commissioner Damian original original offer as relates to the LD um lights so it's nothing much I can say to add to what anybody else has said but I just want to say this to you commissioner like you like a bre the fresh air man we've been waiting for somebody like you for a very long time man and I just hope our community continue to support you and rally around you man you know we just want you to stay firm you know stay committed stay grounded stay about the people like you're doing so I just want to encourage you to let you know what you doing man is good for our community and we need more of you like that man continue to be successful man and great man thank you chair if I just have the speaker's name sir Leroy Jones thank you sir thank you good morning good morning my name is Adam Roberty 3621 Southwest 3rd Avenue I'm the executive director of the Xavier corta Foundation but I'm here speaking on behalf of myself as a resident of the city of Miami who is concerned about the massive LED Billboards as is evident today there is overwhelming opposition to these signs most people who live in District 2 who have been asked about this issue don't want the Billboards they're not just a visual nuisance they detract from the Beauty and character of our city our Urban environment filled with culture and history is at risk of becoming cluttered with oversized intrusive ads now we of course deeply value our cultural institutions like Pam and the arst and appreciate everything they do for our community but that doesn't mean we should disregard the concerns of all of the residents who will be affected by these incredibly bright Billboards it's very possible to support our cultural institutions without compromising the quality of life for the people who live here what's most troubling though is the sense that our city government really isn't listening to its residents we need our representatives to be responsive to our concerns and act in the best interest of the community that's the biggest reason why I'm here today it's about ensuring that our voices are heard and our wishes respected it's about preserving the Integrity of our neighborhoods and preventing the undue influence of money over the public good I you to support the original D2 Amendment and reject any new amendments that don't align with the interests of the residents let's please prioritize the needs and desires of the people who live here and protect the aesthetic and cultural values of our city thank you thank you good morning good morning everyone my name is Brandon Jones the address that I'll put for the record is 5120 Northwest 24th Avenue I also stand in support of commissioner Damian without any offered amendments the bright lights of giant LED signs May Dazzle our eyes but they're dimming our planets and our community's future so as you consider the proposal to install large LED signs in our community or the proposal to not do so which we stand for I want to share with you some concerns that has been raised by hundred of the residents and stakeholders in this community while the benefits of these signs may seem appealing I strongly believe we strongly believe that the negative impact they'll have on our community and its residents and the environment far outweighs any potential benefits recent data has shown that large LED signs can have a significant negative impact on our environment and our communities for example a study by the international Commission of illumination found that excessive lights uh pollution can lead to increased energy consumption reduce biodiversity and disrupt our ecosystem the constant flickering and flashing of LED lights can cause visual discomfort sleep disorder and deprivation and even contribute to Stress and Anxiety which we need no more in this community furthermore these signs can have a significant impact on our community and its quality research has shown that exposure to Bright Lights and noise can increase stress levels decrease property property value and negatively impact mental health so in the midst of our bustling neighborhoods let us not forget the beauty of Simplicity and the quiet strength of community for in the end it's not the size of the sign that matters but the size of our hearts thank you thank you good morning good morning Madam chair my name is Jerome Cohen I live at 111th in biscane Boulevard I am a miam day resident since 1946 a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law class of 1951 and a member of the Florida bar for 68 years although I have not practiced law I've worked in real estate construction and development for over 69 years including 35 years of SE CEO of two public companies I have developed and built countless residential and Commercial properties across the country including many in the Miami area I'm a longtime supporter of the AR Center for 10 years I served on the board of the Performing Arts Center Foundation which was responsible for raising the private funds to build the center I also served on the construction committee and the audit committee I'm a proud that my name and that of my late wife Rita is engraved on the wall of the zif B Opera House my enduring love for the r Center is based in part on its unique architectural design by the late Caesar P I believe that the Perez art museum is another architectural Gem and is as is the frost Museum the lead Billboards are an app absolute eyesore they are totally out of character and inconsistent with the international renowned beauty of these extraordinary buildings I have spent decades advocating and supporting responsible development to build up our community I hope you all take whatever action in your power to prevent any of these Billboards from being erected commissioner debella please do the right thing thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Sharon Kirby and I live at 801 North Venetian Drive on biscane island I am the vice president of the Venetian Way neighborhood alliance we on the Venetian Causeway are just as impacted by these Billboards as the residences downtown Miami we are one mile from the billboard the building on our two islands and we can see the light coming in through our windows we have to close our blinds at night when when we want to look at our view to look at this beautiful skyline of Miami all you see is a white blob it's the Billboards it's right there in your face you just wipes out the entire view that we have we PID a lot of money we pay a lot of property taxes for living where we live and we choose to keep it that way we do not need this visual pollution looking back at the city of Miami that's not we be paid for so please support Damen Paro with sr2 in the original form in the original form without any amendments as he presented it before thank you very much uh good morning uh my morning uh my name is Franchesco dle uh 1111 briol Bay Drive I'm here supporting sr2 and I've been a resident of Brickle for many years and I work in downtown and I've been working in town for many years so as you can tell I spend big part of my life in this geographical area and through the time I see uh the many many issues that are taking place and are decreasing the quality of life of people like me that spent basically all my life in these areas and um what it comes to my mind when I see so many things and so many important issues taking place in that area is why are we moving forward to support something that is going to even decrease more our quality of life so I'm here talking as a citizen of Miami as a resident of this area asking you begging you to please put attention to very important issues that really matters and not to pay and approve or not supporting these type of uh issues or these type of projects that will impact us negatively so I ask you to support uh daman's uh part item and to please uh help us to increase our quality of life thank you thank you good morning morning my name is Bailey Spade 2039 South 60th Court uh I work here on Flagler Street downtown and frequent the area I think it's important that the city continue to amplify the the public arts and support these Innovative strategies for these uh premier institutions to promote their programming um I think the signs with the time and manner restrictions of the um amendment to sr2 are more than reasonable and I speak in support of the amendment thank you good morning good morning uh my name is Amy Patricia Morales and I'm the policy and advocacy manager at uh engage Miami but I'm here as a uh resident uh in support of plaintiff's map 5 res uh re6 uh the Miami city commission holds the responsibility to ensure that all Miami residents have a fair representation and a voice in their local communities for Generations flawed redistricting policies have led to racial gerrymandering that harms um communities of color limiting their political power plaintiff's map 5 truly unifies key neighborhoods that the commission's maps previously divided like Coconut Grove Overtown Al p and Edgewater and that is why I urge the commission to vote Yes on this resolution thank you thank you good morning hi good morning uh my name is Ryan Wallace I live in the Mary brickl Village uh part of downtown thank you for having me this morning and thank you everyone for your time um it's actually pretty incredible to see the turnout uh from the community on sr2 um you know we wear these shirts and we because the answer is clear um the impact uh you know that this proposal will have in our community um you know I'm hear it to speak in opposition of sr2 um but I am in support of the amended compromise from chairwoman king um you know Miami is built on the Arts you go to Windwood walls you see it everywhere um that's what this community is about uh and no one would deny that Miami is a city of creative people um and that's what this uh proposal will do and this amendment um and find finding compromise in the community specifically with these regulations where we could tailor certain uh brightness um and you know certain operational hours and that's what is a good compromise and a good solution to this issue um and we feel that supporting the Arts the answer is clear as shown by these t-shirts and the support from the community of of of what this will lead to so we thank you for your time uh the answer is absolutely clear uh and we thank you for all your efforts including uh chairwoman King for your proposal as well uh thank you so much for your time thank you thank you good morning good morning Commissioners um this is in support of sr2 uh with no amendments this was in The Herald this week two questions heard often throughout Miami Dade County are why don't more people vote and why don't our elected officials listen to us the answers to both are related the less our elected of servants serve the best interest of the public the fewer people vote due to sheer discouragement all too often our elected officials do listen but not to the discouraged non voting public instead they listen to those who pay for their re-elections developers and all the other players making up this most important segment of our local economy what must change is the negative impact that developer campaign funding has on ridding us of quote bad incumbents that is is those who are consistently self-serving how do bad politicians stay in office through fear they use their votes to kill the projects of those who don't support them not only does this Insidious fear keep dollars rolling their way but even more important it prevents dollars from flowing to those trying to unseat them any new person running for office will tell you the dice are loaded in favor of all incumbents the good the bad and even the terrible how can we level the election playing field even a little term limits could be shortened but don't we want to keep our good elected officials campaigns need money to get the word out more disclosure of anonymous funding would help but might not help fund more Challengers of incumbents just as voter apathy has taken years to get us to we fewer than 15% of registered voters vote in local elections it will take time and effort to get people back to voting other than in presidential elections thank you very much so this is sr2 but a lot more thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Julia Bruna and I'm I'm sorry chair can you pull this yes pull the microphone down and restate your name if you can pull down a little further there you go good morning my name is Julet Bruna and I work at 150 West black I'm here in opposition to sr2 however I am also here in supporting the chairwoman king's compromise amendment that preserves these digital signs and Premier cultural institutions in the Pam and our Center I entirely understand the the desire not to have these signs in city parks or in close proximity to residential buildings however these signs don't fit into these categories in fact this compromise will actually allow us to um regulate the brightness and the operational hours which responses which is in response to most of the concerns that are being heard here today these projects positively impact the neighborhood and positively impact public art promote the programming in the art institutions and also generate Revenue that fund arts and cultures please vote to support the institutions that make our city great and Revitalize the Arts programs here thank you good morning good morning Commissioners thank you for your patience thank you for your courtesy my name is Lucian fer I live in the South Grove I've lived there for 40 years I'm here to support the part of position and opposition to these Billboards it's hard not to repeat what's been so well said here this morning so let me go to the fundamentals what's an issue here is not Billboards what's an issue here is the heart and soul soul of our community who makes decisions and on what business what basis money talks and it corrupts and it makes ugly and that's what's happening here today there are three classes of people who have spoken here this morning there are people who have a moneyed interest in this project I respect their position but they're fungible they'll go away and make money somewhere else they have no real dog in this fight other than their next yacht the second class of people are folks from the Arts God bless them this city needs Arts the Arts need support I urge you to support the Arts I urge the donor class to get involved the tech Bros that are moving to my Miami put some money on the table for the Arts the billionaires that live on the bay support the Arts and the third class of people are the people and they have real concerns the visual ugliness the V the pollution the birds these are all issues that are a quality of life and that's what really counts finally let me say this may make no mistake this billboard issue is the thin edge of the wedge next will be B Billboards on Jackson Hospital the courthouse wherever thank you thank you for your attention thank you good morning good morning honorable members of the city commission I'm Todd Schaefer from frost Science Museum and I'd like to introduce a video from one of our Board of trustee members and our namesake at the Museum ago during the second world war my two older brothers who were in the Army were home for a 2-day leave I was 7 years old and what did they decide to do with through two days on one of them they took me to visit the science museum in Philadelphia the Franklin Institute a beautiful place classical architecture wide open spaces around it to this day I remember the experience not only because of the importance of the day for my brothers but because of what I saw inside of the museum I truly believe that that very experience was what inspired me to pursue a life like medicine and science so it's easy to imagine that when many years later Dan an old friend who at the time was the chairman of the board of what was to become the science museum here came to me and said they need some help to finish the museum furthermore he said that this museum is going to be part of what will become the cultural center for the Miami I was sold immediately for two accounts one that was going to be a science museum which I thought would be great to inspire young people in the way that I had been inspired when I was 7 years old and two to help contribute to what will become a cultural center for what I always considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world now this thank you madam chair if you would allow my colleague Miss espanosa behind me she will have the rest video play we we're not donating time all right thank you ma'am thank you madam chair could we make an exception in this case only because it is my name is Maria espanosa okay external Affairs manager at Frost science and I would like to continue to play the video business of commercial signs coming into the area is anatha to me can you imagine electronic signs 100 ft tall or whatever Dimension near the L or the Metropolitan Museum in New York or near any great cultural institution I don't think you can I know I can't and why would you want the city of Miami which people come to because of its beauty to be despoiled by putting up Mammoth signs I don't think the people who are making decisions to that might permit this really want that I really believe that they feel like I do that Miami is a special place and deserves to be treated like any great City would be and that is to leave their cultural institutions unspoiled by their surroundings thank you thank you many years ago good morning good morning Madam chairwoman uh my name is Dr Jeffrey Dorfman I live 2020 North Bayshore Drive in Miami I support commissioner Damen paro's efforts uh I believe I'm I am an art supporter and lover but this is not about art this is purely about money I've been spending a lot of time speaking with one of the top forensic accountants in New York City about what is going on here and I believe that if a 100,000 citizens presented to you in opposition to these Billboards the decisions that could be made by these Commissioners is based upon money and contributions so what I suggest is that for commissioner Reyes and commissioner uh Coro and commissioner King and commissioner gabella and our city manager that if one does not actually consider the possibility of the federal government stepping in and launching a forensic investigation of what is going on with the Miami City commissioners look around and listen to how many people are actually in opposition to what you are doing and if you want a federal investigation looking at the finances of all the Commissioners then then ignore the wishes of the citizens thank you very much thank you good morning thank you and good morning my name is Richard feniger my address is 760 Valencia Avenue in Coral Gables and I serve as the vice chair of the Board of Trustees of France Science Museum my comments relate to item sr2 Frost science is strongly opposed to large LED signs particularly the sign being erected by orange Barrel media on the Pam property this sign is extraordinarily offensive and will be especially harmful to frost science the intense bright lights will interfere with our outdoor nighttime activities and the intense lights represent a threat to the well-being of the over 7,000 animals that live in the fragile ecosystem that we maintain at the Museum as well in entioned as the proposed legislation being considered a maybe it is badly misguided and it's so favors orange Barrel media that it seems it could have been written by one of its lobbyists the restrictions on use of the sign are trivial and leave orange Barrel media's business model fully intact the legislation would sanction orange Barrel's misconduct by expressly authorizing its plainly illegal sign to continue and lastly and maybe most stunningly the legislation would convey an enormous Financial benefit to Orange Barrel media by reducing its annual permit fee for the sign at Pam by $370,000 per year an over 85% reduction this is clearly not a solution to a problem I urge you to reject this legislation Frost science is strongly opposed to this large LED sign and we fully support commissioner part's efforts to correct this problem thank you thank you good morning hi good morning my name is Pedro Amos I am uh Miami native born and raised the uh founder of U Public Service Arts a nonprofit that works in uh teaching uh underserved communities and providing public artworks and underserved communities uh founder of Miami's Best graffiti guide and owner uh in 2016 a tour company only artist owned and operated tour company that provides tours uh to the neighborhood and to uh tourism uh tourists that come to visit the Windwood neighborhood um I I stand here today in support of sr2 the amended version being that um you know this the billboard serves as a platform for our community our um our ecosystem thrives on having people know about the services that we provide whether they're um you know public arts or whether they're anything else I mean it's something that's imp pivotal to the growth of our business in terms of the the lack of visibility and the you know ugliness that it's going to create uh and Visually um you know I remember the copper tone ad you know as a little kid and then that brings me fond memory so maybe there's some fun in that in that memory for us uh but I don't see a real you know big issue with this and I actually see many Pros uh and I thank you for your time thank you good morning good morning kiss Commissioners good morning chairwoman thank you for this opportunity to speak good morning commissioner PARTA um my name is James Weller I'm the director of life support and water quality for the frost Museum of Science at 1101 biscane Boulevard um I've uh prepared a statement here if you don't mind me reading from it um I've been employed in zoos in a public Aquaria for 10 years six years in the United States Navy where I managed the discharge of water and oily waste on board an East Coast aircraft carrier was a full-time volunteer for a maror where I was an environmental educator on the Atlantic coast in Delaware and I'm married to a Wildlife veterinarian so as you can see my passion for the Atlantic Ocean and its supporting bodies is quite long and deep um the artificial light produced by an LED billboard can disrupt the natural behavior of aquatic Aven and insect species a statement that's echoed on fwc's literature and their website on artificial lighting disruptions can affect migration feeding attraction repulsion and others that we may not even have considered and as a new Resident to the area I can tell you I was first a inspired reaction was to the beauty of the bay and the coastline the biscane bay is a wealth of biodiversity and a beautiful natural feature in this wonderful City to absent this balance of this designated Aquatic Park and Conservation Area with an LED billboard is an injustice to the South Florida residents that are unable to speak before you today in this meeting from elegant moths to protected manatees and I would be re remiss if I ended my plea for Creatures Great and Small there the west facing side of the billboard the Pam projects onto all Frost Museum Science Open Water living collection exhibits exhibits that are home to some of the most critically endangered species the lighting plan for these exhibits is meticulously curated to mimic natural environments for exotic species Quality quality of life an introduction of end determined wavelength light at unscheduled intervals will have an impact on the Museum's living collection a grouping of animals that are unable to swim fly or crawl away as well as a grouping that I've made a commitment to be a VI and Steward for I commit I support commissioner paro's original plan to remove the billboard thank you very much thank you good morning hi good morning my name is Jackie Kellogg um I've also been a m a Miami native since 1975 um my concerns and why I'm here and not at work um basically please protect our city celebrate our big blue skies our sunsets the ocean the reason why every body wants to move to Miami don't fill our skies with Las Vegas style lights and cheapen our city our city is a passage as you've heard from millions of migratory Birds um it's what I've devoted my career to nesting Turtles which need darkness and stars and actually so do humans so once again don't sell out our city thank you very much thank you good morning good morning Denise Calvis tour 2130 SouthWest 20th Street it's too bad commissioner gabella and commissioner reers aren't here because I wanted to address them first of all based on sr1 I want to thank commissioner gabella for finally working to reverse all the ordinances that were written by joer Royal in retaliation to a lot of the small businesses in Little Havana um I know it doesn't get the attention the LED lights are getting but a lot of those ordinances affected not only dozens of small business but hundreds of hundreds of properties historic properties that have been demolished so thank you commissioner gabella for finally working to restore some of those the damages created by the ordinances written by Joe caryo um I also want to say that I'm wondering when the city attorney is going to ask Mr Coral to recuse himself from some of the discussion including the shade meetings again after Friday's Revelations of how he directed The Grand to put his house in District 3 illegally which led to all of these lawsuits that are costing us now Millions I'm wondering why the City attorney doesn't direct him to recuse himself from those meetings and any negotiations regarding lawsuits where he obviously is directly related and financially is at risk so I know the previous City attorney never did it we know why now I'm we asking why the current City attorney isn't doing the same now thank you thank you you chairwoman good morning this has been going on every meeting with this woman she's a spokesperson uh for those that are suing the city are suing City employee besides me they're upset and she's upset because in one of the lawsuits that she'sa party to they lost in court two weeks ago to try to throw me out of office and they've been losing uh hearing after hearing in suit after suit is getting thrown out of uh from the different courts with judges good morning good morning Madame chair Mr co-chair and City commissioners my name is terl Fritz I'm a resident at 111 East Flagler Street in downtown Miami and executive director for the Flagler business improvement district on behalf of the board of the Flagler District bid I'm here to support both sr2 and fr4 regarding sr2 outdoor advertis ing an LED signage we support the repeal ordinance in its original form before the April amendments uh which uh kind of turned the discussion on its head and reintroduced the opportunity for signage on the historic Olympia Theater when we first spoke to this issue in January we thought we were being preemptive and we thought we were in good shape in April the second reading but the new amendments now make us fearful that the Flagler District is going to face the same lack of community process that is currently taking place at Pam and the r Center regarding fr4 we support the Code Compliance Department assuming the authority to administer the city's graffiti mitigation program and extending the 10 days for the period for owners to remove or efficiently um obscure such graffiti we're very excited about something that our police Commander Diaz has brought to our attention he believes that the city the the police downtown now have the capacity if we can report incidents of graffiti to actually apprehend the offenders and we look forward to working with them on that therefore we join the Miami Downtown Development Authority in urging the city to adopt a policy waving finds that innocent Property Owners incur if there is a city of Miami police report documenting that vandalism thank you very much thank you good morning good morning uh um Commissioners uh I I come here again i' uh uh I've been here several times to uh talk about the LED signs I appreciate your time and on this I know it's a complicated topic and when I read through the legislation even my head starts spinning and I have a PhD so um I know it's it's a difficult thing to to work through um I I do want to say a couple things uh reiterating what I said before about the sympathy for our cultural U brothers and sisters in in the area and the need for funding uh 100% that's I I love museums I'm a museum person by by forens a kid and and actually heard from Dr Frost when he mentioned museums inspire people and that's such an important thing as we try to be as we are a great city um but I have to say that I've been in the museum field for about 25 years and this sign these signs this scale are out of scale with any other Museum in the world and if you if you uh don't believe me I I'm I'm bringing my phone with chat GPT and I asked the question will you tell me if any major Museum in the United States with a large billboard uh showing commercial advertisements and this is its response there are no major museums in the United States known for prominently displaying commercial advertisements on large LED Billboards museums typically focus on Art culture and educational content and while they may use digital screens for information and exhibition purposes commercial advertisements are not a common feature just to reiterate that this is totally out of character with what museum do how they work and it would be a total shame if Miami begins this trend and um it would be it would be a real um disaster for the cultural Community Thank You Cher If I got the speaker's name sir sir Roberts good morning jeta good morning I'm Jackie Collier um and I work at the historic Hampton house and I want you to know that thank you for the signs that say supporting the Arts but I also think that a part of what we really really need to look at is that I support number one I support the issue with with Daman Paro excuse me commissioner Paro as it relates to um sr2 because I think it's critical for us to look at what's happening this is not just a district 2 issue this is a Citywide issue this is happening to all of us everything that we as the people of this community want somehow our commissioners figure out a way to dally around and put together ISS proposals that don't make any sense to us as residents of this community so people don't want it birds don't want it Turtles don't want it and you all shouldn't want it thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Carolyn Donaldson and I'm I am a representative of grow rights and Community Equity Inc which is Grace and I know that we've been negotiating with you now for months uh and got to the point of a final settlement that was on the agenda for the last meeting and there was not a vote on it uh it's on the agenda again today and so we are looking forward hopefully to finalizing this issue and putting behind us the redistricting concerns that have lingered with us for the past couple of years and I also um as an advocate for district 2 uh want to State for the record that we also support uh commissioner Paro uh in the effort of voting no uh for these giant billboard signs in downtown Miami thank you thank you good morning good morning Cecilia Tava to gral drive 1405 Coconut Grove I'm speaking on item sr2 in support of commissioner Paro by the way I was going to dress in black but then I thought I was going to be confused by the lobes so a change so I am against the oversized LED board Billboards and I'm asking all the Commissioners Please Mr Gaba specifically to you I'm asking you to listen to the residents that we we our interest is the well-being I can't believe that you as Commissioners won't be looking for our well-being instead of the money people the lobbyist please I think this commission is changing for the better of your residents of our residents please think of us before voting thank you I I promise I will ma'am thank you thank you chairwoman could we get some of those lights turned off I and I'm getting concerned with what a lot of people have said here I don't know if I'm getting traumatized but good start to bother my eyes good morning good morning sorry my name is Marley Shotz I am in favor of the amendment proposed by chairwoman King I live in Edgewater at 488 Northeast 18th Street I'm in the downtown area and on the Venetian Causeway almost every day the Pam sign is beautiful vibrant and a welcome addition to our amazing City people are moving to our city every single day the Arts are a major reason not only does the sign ads to the city but it will help support the Pam in the Arts Miss Community please do the right thing thank you thank you good morning good morning morning my name is ly house and I live at 2843 South bore Drive closer is that better good okay I've come to City Hall to stand in front of I'm sorry if you could put it closer to your mouth is that better yeah a lot better can you hear me yes ma'am perfect thank you okay I've come to Miami city hall to stand in front of you our elected Commissioners to ask you to do the right thing to support the original ordinance from commissioner Paro our neighbors downtown have spoken we must have their backs we the taxpayers must fight the lobbyists the special interests we the people must fight for what's right Miami is not for sale our quality of life is Paramount please Commissioners we elected you to do the right thing thank you thank you good morning good morning chairwoman Commissioners my name is Mercedes Rodriguez I live at 1510 Northwest 19th Avenue I was born and raised in District 1 and the reason why I'm here is regarding two issues one of them has to do with the Billboards commissioner Paro I was the member on paap that second the motion not to approve these digital um signage it's not about being against ad M it's about putting them in the right place maybe a charette should have taken place district one borders with District 5 we have been trying to bring up alapata the area with a lot of the young professionals which are moving in to some of the new developments along Northwest 36th Street and we want to keep them there we don't have the same beautiful canopies and sidewalks that other districts actually have having said that we have a settlement agreement today regarding the districts district one Still Remains being the Forgotten District district one Still Remains being the district for the junk yards the towing companies the recycling plants the trash collection and so on the most important decision you have today for the next 10 years is regarding the composition of the Districts The Districts were made because we didn't have enough representation regarding the minority groups we have surpassed that if anything I thought based on the comment at the federal court made back in January we were going to have an increase we all ran as candidates believing that the term will be cut short and what happens now is the plaintiffs took their case and they won which is great the African-American neighborhoods and District to got what they wanted but it doesn't have to stop there but they are not going to be able to behold until 2027 so what happens in the meantime the next 3 years so we need to maybe have a meeting regarding the districts and the boundaries and have a full discussion not today packed with a bunch of items on the agenda so we can really analyze the situation I understand thank you thank you good morning good morning Commissioners good to see you all thank you for everything you do every day boy my name is Franklin sermans I am the CEO the Perez Art Museum Miami located at 1103 B Boulevard I'm here to today to express my support for the current Amendment for sr2 and to voice my strong support for chairwoman King's Amendment to the ordinance which safeguards the rights for the digital sign currently installed on Pam's campus the digital sign designed by architect Tonica a firm that has known to be defining the Miami Skyline for decades exemplifies our dedication to Innovation and creativity serves as a beacon for the arts and culture throughout the city of Miami from downtown the place all miamians go for cultural and sporting entertainment our building is small on the outside big on the inside unlike so many of those surrounding us thus the sign will be an extension of all we do as a gallery to display works of art giving the community a glimpse inside the Museum from outside even to those who may not be familiar with museums additionally we plan to use utilize the screen to promote exhibitions and events attracting new visitors to Miami to Pam and downtown the financial support generated by the sign will be instrumental to the future of Miami's Museum helping us fulfill our mission for generations to come inspir thank you I'm good joining me today are several supporters identified by their yellow shirts who share my sentiments we deeply appreciate your your support for the Arts and together we are the reason Miami is a vibrant and thriving cultural Hub a city of the Future Let's embrace it let's not be like other places thank you for your time and your support on this important matter thank you thank you good morning good morning Madame chair and distinguished Commissioners my name is mar Loro I live on 600 Northeast 27 Street thanks for the opportunity to speak with you this morning about sr2 I support District 2 request to revert the original D2 Amendment as is and reject most D5 amendments I must express my deep frustration with Madame chair motion which seem to disregard the concerns and numerous residents including myself who voiced their opposition to any Amendment today is an excellent opportunity to review the state's Florida guidelines which requires a maximum of 950 ft of area and maximum of 65 of height pan bbard is almost double in area and height for that reason alone should be uh rejected large Billboards reminds me of Las Vegas and or Times Square place that I I love to visit not to live in furthermore we have been in area for many years and this billboard is UN a we are here first for the potential danger it posed to drivers on I3 95 Expressway in route to Miami Beach to increase the risk of car accidents on distracted drivers in conclusion I urge you to support sr2 Asis and reject any changes this is crucial decision that will shape the future of our city and once again thank you for your time thank you good morning good morning my name is MAA SEO and I'm the director of HR at bur Art Museum 1103 biscan biscan Boulevard Miami Florida 33132 I'm here to express my opposition to the agenda item asr2 as it stands while strongly supporting chairwoman's King's compromise which permits the sign a Pam with thoughtful regulations on brightness and hours of operation despite the sign being over a th000 ft from the nearest residential building and despite many downtown residential buildings hosting their own large illuminated Advertising Signs will still face opposition um is advertising in the city of Miami reserved solely for commercial Brands and sports teams does Pam not deserve the same opportunity to promote itself I believe we are all weary of the this ongoing issue but the fact remains we relied on the on or on on the ordinance passed in 2023 and approved on first reading with a seating District 2 commissioner to create something exceptional on our campus we depend on the revenue it would generate for our Museum which gives so much back to the community we greatly appreciate that the majority of the city commission has recognized this facts allowing chairwoman King's amendment to passed on first reading just weeks ago please vote in support of Pam and all that we do for this great city thank you thank you good morning morning chairwoman good morning Commissioners good morning residents of Miami I want to say how happy it makes me every time to come into a full chamber full of residents wanting to voice their needs and their concerns with this city um with that being said um I think we lose sight residents we lose sight of what's actually happening here uh yes we're talking about Led Billboards uh today other times it's it's other matters but what's really happening is this is a battle between public interest and and special interests um and that's what I'm that's what I stand for I feel like every time I'm up here I say the same thing and I think that you have the opportunity time and time again to choose between special interest and the Public's interest you guys uh as Commissioners why the reason why we ran commissioner gabella and myself the reason why we ran is to put the people first no no disrespect uh Damian uh commissioner Damen Paro but it's not about the the uh part's uh resolution or Amendment it's the people's if the people are asking for something this is what we this is what you should be taking into account what the people want uh not the amount of money you're getting paid not who's telling you but the the residents that's why you're up here and that's something that I uphold very true to my heart um and I just want to say that I just want to keep it simple everyone else has said exactly why LED B boards should or should not be put up um but I I just wanted to say uh commissioner Coral it's it's really you should be embarrassed that instead of listening to your residents you're mocking them you're up here mocking the residents instead of listening to them I don't you you're not up there to to speak you're here to you're up there to listen you shouldn't be mocking your residence you should be embarrassed about that that's all I wanted to say thank you good morning good morning my name is Robert T I'm the chief Financial Officer of the Perez Art Museum Miami 1103 biscan Boulevard I'm speaking in support of item sr2 with chairwoman King's Amendment we firmly believe that Pam is an integral part of the downtown community our staff of over 200 employees and contractors work daily enriching the city's cultural landscape through diverse programming and events the initiatives we offer contribute to making Pam and Miami a vibrant and appealing place to both live and visit our capital expenditure budget for this 2024 year relies on the revenue generated by the sign at Pam this funding enables us to sustain and hopefully expand the valuable work we do in the community including providing free programming for Miami date schools these funds will also contribute to our efforts to maintain and recertify the facility in to the future I ask you to stand with us in support of the arts and culture by supporting chairwoman King's Amendment which will allow Pam to continue with our forward momentum thank you thank you good morning good morning my name is Neil Perry I live at 2801 Florida AV in Coconut Grove and I'm here to speak in opposition of the electronic Billboards uh I look at this Pro this problem with winners and losers and who are the winners and who are the losers downtown Miami beautiful Shoreline winner or loser loser um the light pollution offered by these signs will just diminish the signs will cheapen downtown Miami I look at the residents winners or losers losers light pollution alone we've seen the pictures of what it look like at night and uh finally businesses uh are they be attracted to Miami because with the signs or you know or put off you know I would say put off I don't see where these signs are going to create any tax revenue looks like the only winners are the special interests and that should be a giant red billboard size flag when you cast your vote so please vote not to allow these signs into the city thank you thank you good morning my name is Grant Stern I live at 425 Northeast 22nd Street in District 2 I'm I'm here today to ask the commission to support commissioner paro's Amendment uh regarding the Billboards and also to ask the commission to approve the settlement with Grace Inc to end this ignominious period of racial gerrymandering in the city of Miami which has caused a pervasive damage to the voters of this city but I want to start with the Billboards look at how many residents are here begging this commission to respect their District commissioner this commission used to have something called collegiality I remember it Back when Mark snof was a commissioner and not a lobbyist for Billboards Mark sof actually fought Billboards and you know it's funny because he won a first battle before becoming a lobbyist of course and then he lost up at the state he gave the power away to the state with what he did and here we are a decade later and we have our state legislature uh a state legislator representing this area threatening to take everything away from the city if they make the wrong decision to export our decision- making up to the state that's why commissioner paro's amendment is so important to retain local control over what happens here this commission has the power of the purse it can give money to Pam all of these people asking the city to give away our quality of life worth a million dollar a year or more to Pam should just ask for money this is a commission that's spending $10 million defending one Rogue commissioner this is a commission that's spending $3 million defending a horrifically horrifically deficient racial gerrymandering case the city has the money and I expected the two new Commissioners both United brand new Commissioners to bring more of a pro business approach and stop appropriating public resources in and just appropriate the money thank you thank you good morning good morning Madam chair esteem Commissioners uh soon to be good afternoon uh my name is Rick Madan I'm the president of the bisc neighborhoods Association and I live at 2900 Northeast 7th Avenue I'm a resident of District 2 and I'm here today to urge you to support sr2 these giant Billboards going up downtown they're a big problem for our community they're much bigger than what was previously allowed and they don't fit in with the character of our neighborhoods the good news is there is a solution sr2 is a common sense ordinance that simply rolls back the changes made last year and stops these huge Billboards from being built in the future it's about protecting our quality of life now some folks are saying these signs bring in revenue for museums but here's the thing the signs are illegal under State guidelines because they're too big and they're meant for commercial advertising Not museum promotions this isn't about hurting cultural institutions it's about following the rules and respecting our neighborhoods District 2 residents have spoken loud and clear we overwhelmingly oppose these oversized Signs Now we chose you as elected officials you owe it to us to be good we put our trust in you and you shouldn't be swayed by fancy promises of big money we deserve leaders who fight for what's right for all of us not just a select few you should listen to our voices and make decisions with our best interests at heart that's what it means to be truly representing the people thank you thank you good morning good morning Rick Shotz former chair of the Adrien AR Center Foundation true or false the leaders of the opposition of the Pam sign are rep are repeatedly and knowingly providing false and misleading information to the public this commission and the press and are deliberately and disingenuously choosing not to correct the wrong Impressions they create true as an example their continued use of the photo of the onetime glitch during the testing of the sign where it was illuminated only for a short while at far far brighter intensity than will ever be in reality and providing that photo to the press and speaking about it during interviews is as if that's what the residents would be seeing every night and not correcting this rock wrong impression the moral of the story you can't pretend to ride a white horse and not then not be accurate and truthful about the facts true or false the Pam sign is in the midst of Fay Park interfering with the use of green space is in the face of the residents false the Pam sign is thoughtfully placed in an industrial far Corner surrounded by a concrete building asphalt and Highway and has no impact whatsoever on people's use of the park it is another of the company signs which are on the park Green Space facing the residence true or false the compromise ordinance the chairwoman King has proposed is far more restrictions on the Pam sign than the proposal by commissioner parto and Pam has agreed to those restrictions on hours of operation brightness levels and content true then what are we fighting about it's it's a win-win and the proposal by chairwoman King should Prevail thank you for your support of the Arts thank you good morning good morning Mike yente LSN law 3800 Northeast 1 Avenue representing out front good morning Madam chair Commissioners uh I'm here once again to talk about signs uh as you all know I represent an outdoor advertising company I'm not in the habit of speaking publicly against Outdoor advertising but this is not normal what's what's happened here is not normal last year the city of Miami did something no other city in America has done think about that no other city in America has passed legislation allowing for Standalone digital Mega signs on the highway three times almost three times the size of standard Billboards no one else has done it yet somehow now last year it appears that a company from Ohio convinced the city of Miami that this was a good idea here well clearly it was not it was not a good idea and as the first signs started rising from the ground earlier this year the community I think very predictably and understandably was outraged because this is not normal the city commission has an opportunity today to revisit the legislation that that spawned this whole mess and to fix it to rain it in and we urge you to do so because these Standalone digital Mega signs which don't exist anywhere else in the country are not good for the city they're not good for the community and frankly they're not good for the industry thank you all very much thank you good morning uh hello good morning um my name is Ernesto gavada and I'm coming from fountain in blue um I'm here to speak against the LED billboard lights um I'm here to remind everyone that Miami is also part of the Everglades it is part of the greater Everglades and is known to be a sanctuary for birds and I believe that this is a threat to both um the ecosystem of the people that live in this city as well as our animal friends and as well as as the stars at night let me ask you all how many of you have gone to the everage and seen the stars and then compare it when you come back here into Miami you'll see the Stark uh contrast between here and in the Everglades so it is very important for me to speak out against this issue because the amount of stores that we see and are decreasing this affects the birds the the turtles as well as as human health um the amount of light pollution that we accumulate in the city affects uh rates of cancer as well as reproductive problems as well as diabetes so it's very important to um vote against this Bill thank you thank you good morning I'm John Dolson 4205 lenux Drive Coconut Grove I want to show a everybody remembers that movie Cool Hand Luke oh my God I'm old there's a line in there I saw I know you can do it there I says what we have here is a failure to communicate well I don't think in this room we have a failure to communicate the problem is you don't listen Okay that's the second that's the problem now I'm here to support number one re6 do the right thing accept the redistricting settlement map put that disgusting personal Jerry mandering that got you in trouble in the first place two years put it to bed all right secondly sr2 I don't need to go I was going to go through the corruption thing but I'm so tired of hearing that today I'm going to toss that out and just say I support Damien Paro who was not there when Alex De poras snuck that thing under the wire when there was no commissioner all right now another we 100% uh were opposed to that redistricting map and were overwhelmingly opposed to the the science commissioner Reyes this is for you during your last meeting you worried that redistricting ma would lack diversity on the commission respectfully sir I love your opinion I always loved hearing your opinion that's not the problem the problem is is a good representation let me get some stats of the top 100 cities by population in the country we are at the bottom eight in Florida we're at the bottom having a 100,000 people that you're responsible for by each commissioner is way out of whack nationally where there average is about 35,000 per commissioner so we need more seats we need better representation and we need ears to get listened to all right you're here for us and do the right thing all right one last thing all you people in the yellow thanks for your support for the Arts but you're wrong on a sign good morning good morning Madam chair thank you very much Commissioners I'm here today as a board member and chair of the quality of life Committee of your Downtown Development Authority the mission of the Miami DDA is to grow strengthen and promote the economic health and vitality of downtown Miami these oversight billboards boards do none of that in fact they deteriorate the quality of life for residents offend businesses and negatively affect neighboring cultural institutions for these reasons on February 23rd the Miami DDA P passed a resolution 005 d202 4 opposing oversight Billboards and supporting commissioner paro's original legislation and specifically asking that the Olympia be removed from the list of cultural institutions which may be advertise on with these giant Billboards thank you for your time chair I'm sorry can I have your name for the the record Gary wrestler 169 East Flagler Street thank you good morning good morning um my name is Carol Smith 30001 Southwest 27th Avenue cic Grove um regarding sr2 please revert to the original D2 Amendment reject the D5 Amendment and please support the D2 commissioner thank you thank you good morning I had to double check the definition of commissioner Commissioners are responsible for representing County interests at the state and federal level because I thought when all my neighbors showed up last time protesting the Billboards that this would be more than enough for you to defend our County's best interests the community felt that you were toned deaf you should not want these oversighted led Billboards at Pam that were erected illegally commissioner gabella you said that you take issue with the fact that nobody said anything until now none of us residents on biscane Boulevard knew anything until now when the Pam sign was finally turned on as orange Barrel media was very very sneaky working exclusively in the middle of the night they were sneak again when they and their lobbyists were able to use current campaign Finance laws to move large sums of money to control people they need approval from while obscuring where the money came from they had no permit as commissioner Paro pointed out they had no permit to erect the sign therefore the sign should not have been put there in the first place sorry commissioner King but to say that there are there so live with it is not a good solution it's not appropriate and the government should not allow for orange Barrel media to do whatever the hell they want and then afterwards say oh I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry they did this without permission from any of you and they did it in the middle of the night when our guard was down and when we didn't even know we were asleep trust Comm commissioner Paro Commissioners what if it was your District this is a district 2 issue and this is commissioner paro's wheelhouse we are united with commissioner parto and with all the residents of downtown thank you chair if I could have the speaker's name ma'am your name Brit Sager good morning good morning Debbie Dolson 4205 Lennox Drive Coconut Grove I'm speaking on sr2 and re6 in recent years residents have lined up out the door uh for a lot of important issues and two critically important issues are on the agenda today redistricting and billboards over two years ago I participated in a rally opposing the redistricting map and I made two signs support your constituents and respect our voices so last weekend I was in at another rally opposing Billboards and guess what same signs because this is something we keep asking for over and over and over again please please listen to the residents um both the redistricting map and the giant LED sign ordinances were overwhelming are overwhelmingly opposed by residents your constituents and the people that you represent we ask over and over again to have our voices heard please respect respect the residents do not bow to the influence of money and special interests or bullies that threaten to sue the city please approve re6 today uh and sr2 I'm sorry it's not about supporting the Arts and I hope that the people here don't feel that I'm not supporting the Arts because I'm not supporting the billboard those are completely separate issues um the Billboards are about money so please revert to the original D2 Amendment reject the most recent D5 Amendment and finally my last sign please support your D2 colleague because when you want their his support I I think you'll you'll understand how important that is thank you thank you hi gang Billy Corbin box 40343 313 9 on sr2 the LED Billboards this is a referendum on the Miami Mafia and the old corrupt way this city used to do business when a well-funded special interest lobbyist would pay Alex di La Portia a bunch of money cater flanigans and try to force a thing through that nobody wants it's basically what happened with bis Kane Park the stiners and their lobbyist Bill Riley commissioner gabella you represent A New Hope for the city and its long-suffering people you you have to decide which side you're on the people or the mafia you do not have to do what the lobbyists tell you to do we all know how that worked out for the last district one commissioner and we don't want to see the same thing happen again on R6 that legal settlement in the racial gerrymandering case it includes over $1 million in attorney's fees that the taxpayers are now responsible for for the plaintiff's attorneys I would ask you to amend or offer a pocket item to ask the uh or order the City attorney congratulations getting that job nobody wanted uh to instruct Miguel de Grandy the Grandy was supposed to be your redistricting consultant he was instead your unconstitutional racial jury M mandering consultant notified the gry to notify his malpractice carrier and put them on notice that the city is coming for not only the million dollars in attorney's fees but for all the costs associated with fighting that litigation and his fee on that matter as well why should the taxpayers continue to pay the corruption tax and I submit to you madam chair and the City attorney that under city ordinances section 2-33 C2 you do not have the authority to unilaterally ban public speakers from yielding our time it is a violation of city laws and exposes the taxpayers to further litigation and commissioner Coro if you want to count who supports it let let the item go to referendum let the people vote and decide I know you had some trouble counting today but the only number you need to count to is 635 million thank you good morning uh good afternoon yes um I I may put in for a second on this very important debate on the um Billboards I'm here for uh bz 121 15936 uh which uh in the name of my tenant I uh oppose on the grounds that we don't fully understand what the end game of this change would mean to their lives and how it will impact them um my name is Jose Morales and I'm for 2601 Southwest 27 ter um Street Miami uh thank you so much for your time thank you good morning good morning everyone um I'm here to speak on opposing for Sr chapter 2 um my name is Nick Bill I'm also known as the native guy I'm a local beekeeper here in South Florida I started with the frost Science Museum 7 years ago when they brought me in to help them relocate some plant material I'm proud to say that I'm still there today and I maintain all seven exhibitions that connect our community with the importance of our Everglades and our protective animals yesterday I was called over to work on the fourth floor and what stood out the most was this big screen that was right next to the serpentarium tank where all the snakes are kept in front of that is where they house all the spoon spoon Bill uh birds and other birds that they hold in there right now those spoon uh spoon Bill birds are currently nesting um I know that the museum has special lighting for it to help them replicate the Natural Area but the billboard right behind it will definitely shine a lot more light than what the birds are used to granted there is fireworks granted cruise ships Ultra you name it I get it but it's not a consistent light shining onto these birds as I walk to the roof the roof is usually rented out in support of the science museum that's how they get funds they put out for parties it's what I'm assuming the billboard oversees that entire roof I would not pay them a dollar to rent that roof if that sign is on during a $20,000 party that I paid for so I'm here to support commissioner Damen parto and I'm against the Billboards for the Pam Museum thank you for your time thank you good morning good afternoon good afternoon Sherman King Commissioners Peter erck live at 243 Northeast 59 Terrace in lemon City it's in District 5 I'm here to speak on sr2 I'm a co-founder of Scenic Miami and affiliate of Scenic America the organization that supported President lynon Johnson and Ladybird Johnson in creating the highway beautification act 1965 please vote to oppose Billboards especially LED Billboards the proposed LED B billboard adjacent to Pam on Fay Park is a district 2 issue please support commissioner parau please ignore the campaign contributions that have been funded by the billboard company proposing the LED billboard that everybody's here to protest please vote to withdraw any dubious permits issued for the LED billboard proposed at Pam we thank you very much for your attention thank you good afternoon good afternoon my name is Richard quadri and I'm here to speak about Maurice far Park um I actually was here for the CRA I wasn't going to speak but I heard someone say a couple of things and uh 70% of Americans are overweight 30% of those are uh morbidly obese I think that someone who comes in here and tries to remove something that is good for the general benefit of the human race is is it's incorrect I don't think we should do that uh this park helps people bring Community together you can't they won't let you bring food they won't let you bring water they won't let you sleep there you can't bring chairs you can't have a picnic with your nephew you can't do anything there I think we should open up the park I think we should open up the gym I think we should build more parks and more gyms to help our community not fight over something because we lost a little bit of green space or it doesn't look the way you want it to look that's it thank you thank you good morning good morning chairwoman King nice to CE you uh Commissioners it's a great to be here with you there's a lot to talk about uh the topic of the day is is obviously this light pollution issue with the billboard so I'm going to go ahead and talk about it and I want to commend you chairwoman for proactively seeking Solutions the problems that the community is bringing in front of you so I also want to commend that and I want to support commissioner part in some of the work that you're doing and the suggestions that you have I want to take a step back to talk about something beyond the Billboards for a minute though and sort of put on my my economics hat um as somebody that's active on the economics resilience I mean the climate resilience committee to talk about um something that's known as ecosystem services and so things like birds believe it or not actually provide a lot of services to Residents um to our community to food security and helping biodiversity and in fact there might be money here one potential solution and not necessarily to pick on the billboard uh but more so where we're at in terms of light pollution on that intersection of the water and you know maybe the billboard is not an issue uh but I think we need more time to really think through this I can for sure say that the Autobon Society has something called the lights out campaign the lights out campaign has influenced um a number of federal bills to protect bird species at the federal government level as well that we can look at as examples to adopt here and really all that does is say hey after a certain time and in certain Heights you should turn the lights off or dim them earlier to consider um you know supporting both species and this could increase bird migration species by as much as 80% increasing our food security by 80% as well uh moreover I want to say that this could also save us money on our electricity bill um and uh support the greenhouse gas transition plan that we have in place so do consider that you know if you do move forward in any capacity you absolutely need to consider times of the year where migratory species are coming in I'm going I know I'm going over just a couple more seconds a there's two times of the year that you should definitely not have any lights on and those um uh those definitely should be considered and amended if they're not already thank you thank you good morning good afternoon good afternoon my name's Bob JZ I've been a resident of District 2 for 54 years live uh at the end of 15th Road right on the bay the sounds of the ppus wake me up in the morning that's my only concern um I I'm here to support uh um The Honorable Damian Paro and I use that word uh I'm hay happy to say that word honorable and I hope uh I hope everyone else uh in the commission is able to sleep comfortably after what they decide tonight today thank you very much thank you good morning good afternoon my name is Chanel tanuri I live in the South Grove in District 2 and I'm here to support my commissioner in District 2 Damen Paro and his attempt with sr2 to support the residents of the city of Miami his dog in on this issue doesn't benefit him obviously he's outside of that Loop it benefits the rest of us and it's something that will hopefully spread in the future I also want to say there's there's a lot of cynicism in the room today I think it's clear that there were more than 25 to 30 people opposed to these Billboards in this room today I think that's clear I agree with the gentleman earlier who mention that mocking the residents of the city of Miami is not a great look and I'd also like to say that there are so many ways there are a myriad of ways to support the Arts that don't include dirty back room deals right and and things that are put up without a permit illegally let's support the Arts let's support uh sr2 and make sure that everyone can sleep at night thanks thank you good morning good morning Madam chair Jose Felix Diaz to alhamra Plaza Coral Gables Florida I am here today representing orang Barrel media and to speak on agenda item sr2 uh thank you again for the opportunity to share a few words uh chairwoman King's proposed amendment uh for the repeal of 2779 demonstrates a commendable effort towards compromise these adjustments including brightness standards reduce operating hours and content regulation reflect a response to the community's concerns and provide much needed Clarity regarding the city's oversight of these signs it's essential to recognize the implications of repealing 2- 779 entirety doing so would effectively grandfather in the sign of the pan exempting it from the critical operational concessions which have been made in this amendment regarding Lighting hours and content we understand the community has a concern and we think that these amendments actually address some of these concerns right now we heard a gentleman talking about the birds and the hours this amendment will actually limit the hours to 11:00 p.m. without it there is no limitation while the opposition does an admirable job and they do of voicing their concerns passionately it is crucial to knowe that we've heard a lot of people say that they would be affected in their apartments and in their homes by these signs yet um a quick mapping that that you know we've done shows that just in the last hearing uh 91% of the opposition came from people that did not live uh directly near the sign um some came from as far away as pompo Beach so you know I I want to address the elephant in the room there's been so much talk about these signs yeah there's other signs thank you thank you ma' thank you good afternoon good afternoon good afternoon Madam chair Commissioners uh we all work to serve someone we sometimes serve others we sometimes serve ourselves today's Pam and redistricting votes is an excellent opportunity to and presents crystal crystal clear opportunity to decide who we serve but how will we tell the Apostle John said don't look at the words and the speeches look at the deeds and the actions my mother said actions speak louder than words FBI associate director uh felt said follow the money all for the same purpose and the answer is here in fr2 the Pam matter let serve our neighbors adopt commissioner paro's unamended proposal keep that simple on redistricting matter six I ask that you follow commissioner coro's good advice here and for the record note the number of people that stood we already have that information from the clk's archives the hundreds of people neighborhoods associations and Civic leaders that stood trying to unify the neighborhoods of Miami this commission negotiated a settlement now standing before you I most highly recommend that you adopt it as is and without amendments serve Miami's neighbors our neighbors your neighbors actions do speak louder than words will be watching to see who you serve thank you my name is Mel mhart 3075 Virginia Street thank you good afternoon good afternoon um my name is Risa Fernandez I am a District 3 um homeowner and I support um commissioner apo's um resolution um I believe that it's very important for all of us to be here all our commissioners represent the city in total right and so yes I do not live in your District but I do live in District 3 which is across the river I have I love the park I had my baby shower there when the park opens I think it's a beautiful Park and the pollution in lights not only in the lights but noise is a very big thing that all of us in this city have to take in part when we continue to do policies or we act with contracts because this does not provide good things for our city we cannot have these billboard signs that take over the light of our city so please vote no against the Billboards and I do want to make sure that I do love the Arts so I see the shirts and I see the fights and I hope that we can find solutions to all these things and thank you so much thank you good afternoon afternoon good afternoon members of the commission uh foran Mii I live in the South Grove I'm a resident of D2 speaking in support of sr2 uh really the main reason I'm in favor of this is because even though it doesn't impact the southg of I live it does impact our district and there was an election that took place in 2022 that elected both of you and I think you all know very clearly that you were elected to represent the interest of the residents over the interest of the special interests and I know that for you commissioner Paro the reason you've championed this issue from almost day want in office is because you have been hounded by an overwhelming majority of residents saying they do not want these signs that is the issue the issue is not support for the Arts I think it's a false Choice a little bit shameful by some of our members of the Arts Community to present it as a choice of support in arts I am a massive supporter of the Arts I also against these Billboards one and two are not the same so that's a false Choice thing presented but commissioner Gab want to address you because I think the other issue is you have appropriately and correctly stated over and over again we need to defer to what the interest in the districts are when a district commissioner brings up when that happens in your District I expect everyone else here to support you in this case I'm asking you to please consider supporting the District 2 commissioner that has to be held accountable to the residents and the voters in that District as you all do as well thank you for your time thank you for your service and I trust you all will see the voice here of the many hundreds hundreds hundreds who have come out and spoken a microcosm of the community at large thank you all thank you good afternoon commissioner Sten light 1130 102nd Street I represent the Sierra Club in South Florida and kudos to this commission and the City of Miami for protecting our spoiled islands in the bay check out your Instagram feed the the feedback that I've seen has been marvelous exceptional overwhelming in Kudos again to you Sierra Club supports commissioner Paro without exception without amendments in his legislation thank you thank you good afternoon good afternoon commission my name is Samuel Blum I live at 2843 South Bayshore Drive across the street I've been a member been a resident in the city of Miami for over 50 years I take great pride in living here I appreciate all your efforts as a commission on behalf of us I'm here to support Damen paro's resolution I am diametrically opposed to these Billboards you know if the Pam Museum feels they don't have a re enough Revenue to close their budget they have to look for other sources the city of Miami in the past has been very short on funds why don't we put a big b digital billboard on this city of course we're not going to do it we live on biscane Bay it's our largest natural park Park it's our biggest resource in this community and it would be Shameless to allow this billboard to continue to exist I thank you for your time thank you good afternoon hello Nicole desiderio 900 bis g bay I'm here speaking on item pz7 regarding the outdoor gym at Fay Park I'll give you guys a little break from the Billboards I have some information that has not yet been presented at any PAB meeting or city hall meeting Manolo rearry commissioner as you were very concerned about whether or not this gym was actually done properly I have been very busy emailing Miguel lemis the senior building inspector for the City of Miami he said in his response the permit is final at this time it was finaled back on October 23rd with only a public works inspection the scope of the permit was not correct it was issued as an outdoor sport court and needs also playground equipment also default table of inspections was not correct it was lacking a minimum inspections required as follows and there is the screenshot of what he sent me now last time this item was heard outside city council claimed that everything was done correctly it clearly was not and I just wanted to bring that to your attention outside city council also stated that there is a 2023 comprehensive neighborhood plan saying that there should be a gym in a park that is not the master plan for this park that is a comprehensive neighborhood plan created by Parks and Recreation Fay Park is not governed by Parks and Recreation it's governed by the Bayfront Park management trust therefore that is irrelevant I also want to show that this is the design that was proposed for the gym and this was the actual pour of the concrete you cannot just go and pour concrete wherever you want I also just want to play a little clip from Savon Steiner the assistant director of the planning department uh sorry I don't know the volume is not like you can't hear it right thank you that's it okay thank you thank you good afternoon good afternoon Commissioners uh Manny Pras 4000 Malaga Avenue Miami Florida 33133 I'm here on behalf of the Hort on Watson Island and Mr Paul Dudley um my bad commissioner Paro for not uh being a little bit more diligent and and getting a hold of you and talking to you about this issue I'm here on behalf of re12 that's sponsored by uh commissioner Paro um first and foremost let me just say that uh Paul Dudley the Hort myself we 100% support paddleball 100% support it and supported last year when a resolution was passed by the city commission uh granting uh an extension for a special use permit for the for the for the tournament um but what we were very diligent in asking was for there not to be helicopter activity at the SE plane base and the resolution that passed last year had clear language there that there could not be uh uh Landings and taking off of helicopters because it's inherently dangerous Paul Dudley is an aviation expert he runs a an airport in New Jersey he understands this better than most people he's a certified pilot he he he flies helicopters so when your resolution came up and that language was not a part of it it obviously brought us back to what happened last year so I believe the resolution is identical to what they did last year except for that language so I'm here to ask the commission to please uh amend the resolution so that it includes that language so that we can have a safe uh environment and you know let's let the Hort be the Hort and let's let the C plane base be the C plane base if they want to do a paddo tournament we support it so I ask you for for your Indulgence in that matter it is a life safety issue thank you very very very much thank you good afternoon good afternoon my name is TZ vento general counsel of the Perez Art Museum Miami 1103 biscan Boulevard I'm here today in support of agenda sr2 as currently worded I want to dispel some confusion about the Pam lease first I want to emphasize that Pam has maintained complete transparency throughout the entire process with the city this includes the amendment to section 2779 of the code and the subsequent permitting process it is deeply disheartening to see consent under the lease being weaponized against us in commission meetings and media discussions we have always considered the city of Miami a supportive partner and friend and are saddened by the current narrative extensive research has been conducted on this issue and a detailed memo has been provided to City attorney weong we are confident that the city's consent to construct the sign was not required under the lease and the construction is in accordance with permitted uses encompassing primary and ancillary uses which do not necessitate consent but even if the city's consent is required it has been granted in its proprietary capacity section 2779 subf which was amended in January 2023 to include Pam exclusively states that quote any sign permit issued under this section constitutes the exercise by the city of its proprietary Authority close quote as a landlord the city enacted 2779 of the code thereby consenting to the sign in its proprietary capacity further the city approved all necessary permit zoning and Licensing the ability to enter into the license agreement has and the signs construction has been approved by the city in its proprietary and Municipal capacities to prevent any potential litigation as belts and suspenders we'd like to make a formal request chairwoman King commissioner gabella commissioner coroo commissioner Paro and commissioner Reyes on behalf of Pam I respectfully request that you direct the city manager to sign the consent form approved by the city legal department in March 2023 thank you thank you good afternoon good afternoon Madam chair Commissioners I had prepared a brilliant state statement but I forgot my reading classes uh my name is Elena Maria Li I lived in New York for 50 years and I've been a resident of uh the VIS visc towers for the past couple of years I must say that in New York I live on a very residential area on the upper west side no Billboards there all the Billboards in Time Square where they have no residents hotels shops restaurants and of course tourists on the next show I want our strongly would like to request to revoke the sr2 Le Billboards ordinance we leave our is a residential area those huge Billboards not only present a dangerous destruction to drive us but they are also disturbance to the downtown community and now I just heard that they are also harming the birds this is terrible I just heard it today this is not about art the P museum is a beautiful place I'm very fun of it but that that bbard has nothing to do with art is about money thank you so much thank you good afternoon good afternoon M chair um my name is Alexandria L Desma I'm the vice president of the downtown neighbors Alliance and also the president of met1 condo um I'm here as um you've heard many residents and I've come here over and over like many other people I hope today will be the final decision and the decision will be to revoke all amendments the Pam billboard and to support commissioner paro's um his his non billboard oppos um request also um we hear a lot about the amount of people that show up well I have over a thousand signatures for all the residents in District 2 that Unfortunately they could not come because they work for a living so we could pay for the homes that we live in in the district so I like to present this for the record and also you know it just seems like we continue on and on about the Billboards and I hope again you've heard it you guys must be exhausted how many meetings how many hours have you guys heard over and over and it's time to now say listen to the people listen to to the voice that the voices that live in your community or the people of the city so again we hope that you support and and say no Billboards in District 2 or in Miami and I'm saying for the large Bill boards thank you thank you good afternoon good afternoon chairwoman Commissioners my name is James Torres president of downtown neighbors Alliance I want to start out with a question chairwoman King does your item remove the Pam sign no commissioner parle does your initiative remove the Pam sign no so let's be very clear everyone's been up here asking to remove you don't want to ask me I got an I got an amendment too but you can't go against my time I mean if we're going to play Commissioners here just want to be clear goad so the facts are clear the Pam billboard approved rre of shady back room deals corporate money swindling decision making exploitations during a vacant seat that was provided here in District 2 yet no one wants to look at the improprieties that are happening here what is happening here a lot of Commissioners were paid off at the fact of the district 2 let's be very clear there are options available here commissioner King ordinance allows these Billboards to ex then with a carv out despite its impari commissioner Paro originally flawed ordinance that fails to revoke the Pam billboard or the right path is to revoke to revoke to revoke and I'm going to keep repeating that because no one's talking about that we must send an unmistakable message our City's landmark and quality of life are not Commodities to be auctioned off to the highest bidder orange barrel and highest biders that Corrupt Practices revoking the permits removed these Billboards and uphold the Integrity of the public process and the chance to give our quality of life a better situation look at the pictures enjoy the view because I don't want it thank you thank you is there anyone else here for public comment good afternoon Mr Monte I feel like I'm at home when I come here I remember when I opened up mon in 1969 I used to spend half my time over trying to get permits so but it's always uh it's always fun to be here to see everybody that I know and and respect I'm supporting my commissioner from District 2 on the revocation of the Billboards I don't think uh a little history the way we got the $5 million isario Kennedy and uh Rodney BR myself took my boat up to Washington we met with uh Claude pepper uh Bill Leman Larry Smith our whole delegation and the boat stayed up there for 2 weeks until we got $5 million to finance the park so uh that's why it's named Claude Peppa park because he put up that 5 million and I don't think when we were talking his vision was Billboards we were talking about arts and culture and entertainment and a People's Park and much like a people's Lake uh we do on New Year's Eve in the big Park trust we um have 100,000 people to come down when they had the orange bow parade no place to go we opened up Bayfront Park and that's that's where 100,000 people didn't have to go to restaurants to they got in free and then of course the parks and the and uh and I have to say something about our Parks cuz uh we've got a couple of directors Andrew and Chris we go from St Stevens all the way down Waterfront Park and at the Art Festival everybody all the artists comment on the fact that it's a waterfront park for Art Festival so we we have to take advantage of that and we do all the time and that's the most important thing is our water our Waterfront is what we're selling we sell it all all our advertising going out is the water in our Parks Bayfront Park is a jewel all our parks along the bay are Jewels all we have to do is protect these jewels and we can't do it with Billboards and I Thanks to be here thank you Todd thanks for that buzzer you got the buzzer boy we you used to be Buddies thank you I appreciate everybody it's been a long day now I know why I didn't run for commission after to sit here the whole time thank you seeing no one else for public comment the comment the public comment period is now closed it is 12:40 I'm going to ask ask my colleagues would you like to take a break we have the southeast Overtown Park West CRA meeting to directly follow and after that we'll take a lunch break so yes it's quick quick quick quick meeting suppos to break at 12 but it will be five minutes I could say five more minutes but yes I have to go so the city of Miami Commission meeting for May 23rd 2024 is now in recess and the southeast Overtown Park West can I just bring something else up real quick sure that's important as long as it doesn't cut into your five minutes of the C Mee like that uh pull your mics yeah I I respect that everyone's opinion here and I always do whether we agree or disagree however um when I believe it was Mr Elvis Cruz talked about all the people that were supporting not having the billboard stand up I thought it was being helpful to him by acknowledging what it seemed to me was to count about 25 to 30 that stood up uh certainly whatever the video that we took doesn't lie now I'm sorry if there were some here that are upset uh and those that were the people who stood up probably there were another 10 15 people uh that came in supporting it afterwards maybe even 20 uh but you know those were the numbers don't take it out at me because that's who stood up furthermore there's only you know there were statements made that there were hundreds of people here we only have 132 seats and even now if you look around around you see how many are empty uh just like before so don't take it out of man on something that uh was a effect uh and I certainly uh did not uh acknowledge how many people there were here to try to belittle anyone or disrespect anyone that was certainly not the intention now and and and something else and look many of the statements that have been made in billb uh I agree with with most of you uh that's not the issue when we get to that I'll explain to you what I see the issue is now but and I'm not doing this just for this year but for a lot of this stuff that we hear all the time that there are petitions that are signed it's a petition that was just given that said that there were a thousand people neighbors that couldn't come to oppose the uh Billboards but let me tell you where they're from here's one New York Hollywood Florida Florida Wellington Florida Bion I don't know never heard of it New York you could keep going on uh Atlanta Georgia uh it goes sun and on from Miami Beach West pal Beach New York Wellington Florida Odessa Florida Cory Gables Miami Beach anadel Virginia Miami Beach Dallas Texas Wellington uh Florida you have Los Angeles for Lauderdale San Antonio Texas Brooklyn New York kibis G Chicago for Lauderdale kibis G cor Gables kis G kis G for laderdale kis G as on parway uh Portland Oregon uh there's so many that I could go on here Newport Beach California uh Richmond Texas Los Angeles California you have New York again Santa Domingo again Dallas Texas Los Angeles Frisco uh Texas claran Florida kisc Chicago again Rochester New York delr Beach Tampa Miami Beach Dolan toown Pennsylvania Miami Beach for Wayne Indiana uh huntingon Beach California New York New York Tacoma Washington Grover Beach California San Diego California Charleston Indiana dro I don't know where that's at in the US Tampa Florida Brooklyn uh Wakefield Massachusetts Orange Park Florida roachester Minnesota Katy Texas emiro Texas Atlanta Georgia uh for Dan Bill California Houston Texas y Belinda California I I could go on in on9 and this is why when you hear people tell you they got this petitions and stuff ma' sit down so many are not our local people and I respect everyone's opinion here uh and as I stated I I think many of the things that I've heard here and others that I haven't heard were legitimate reasons to be against the Billboards Madam chair hold on a second hold on a second Mr um it's uh you know it's a oneway street for some it's you know I've been respectful for all this time hearing people and you know uh I just needed to bring this up so if we can move on to the meeting now commissioner par would like to Madam chair the only thing I wanted to say is I encourage everyone to have a copy for themselves it's largely filled with City of Miami overwhelmingly so you know I understand so so can we move on to the sior business at this point the city of Miami commission meeting is in recess we will return wait let me ask my colleagues we have a shade meeting do you want to take the shade meeting right after lunch or do you want to come back to the commission meeting and meet after shade meeting after the lunch we do have a Time certain item the supervisor of elections will be here at 3:00 okay to we might be finished we might not excuse me can can I inter your commiss can we get the the redistricting business put to bed we we will do it in order to me that we're going to have a long day today with you know we will do it in due course so where we at so I'm trying to do we want to do the shade meeting right after lunch yes yes yes yes okay so we're going to go into the CRA meeting we're going to break for lunch after lunch we'll go right into the shade meeting and then 3 p.m. 3 p.m. to the shade meeting no uhuh um we at one o00 now okay yes okay all right so we should be back at 3 p.m. after lunch because it's 1 it's almost 1:00 now for the shade meeting the 3 p.m. meeting for the shade meeting yes okay thank you all have you flipped the tape we had to wait for the meeting to recess we're flipping it right now okay ch King yes are we ready what do you mean you said everything a at this time we're going to start the southeast Overtown Park West CRA meeting hi hello are you at this time we shall begin the southeast Overtown Park West CR meeting thank you Ma Madam chair yes we have eight items uh prepared for this meeting and attorney Brown will read those into the record thank you thank you you guys go ahead item one is a resolution by 4 fth vote authorized allocation of Grant funds for the exterior painting and honing replacement at Carver apartments and shops located at 801 Northwest 3rd Avenue Miami Florida 33136 I'm reading that out over I'm sorry item one is a resolution uh with attachments a and Incorporated herein authorized executed a professional service agreement with hood design for landscape architecture service at the Northwest L Street Pedestrian Mall item number for an amount not to exceed $295,000 uh this item has to be modified and that there was some track changes in the item that was uploaded item number two is a resolution with attachment exhibit A and B accept exeutive executive director's recommendation to allow the Southeast overdown Park West to issue non-recourse bonds for the Redevelopment projects attached on exibit B and an amount not to exceed $ 60 million Item B has been updated to include language uh that specifically says that the the projects can be funded at a lesser amount item number three is a resolution by forfeits vote with attachment authorizing additional funding near Mount ntic SE 3,960 483 for the completion of town park North Redevelopment project item number four is a resolution with attachment exhibits A and B Incorporated herein retroactive approved the executive director's decision to enter into a purchase sale agreement further authorized exective to engage we Ser Roa for the acquisition real estate property located at 457 Northwest 8th Street 813 Northwest 5th Avenue 7 21 and 729 Northwest 6th Avenue 444 and 432 Northwest 7th Street in Miami Florida tolling 79,000 Square ft for a price not exceed 6 milon $515,000 the appraised value this item has been modified from the from the final version that's been uploaded that version had highlights in it item number six is a resolution by fourth fth vote authorizing allocation of Grant funds in an amount not to exceed $50,000 for painting an awning replacement at Carver apartments and shops located 801 Northwest 3rd Avenue item number six is a resolution attachments Incorporated here in authorizing a housing subsidy agreement with art Avante art grand for affordable housing rental units for a fixed fee of $615,000 for a 5year period with onee one five option to renews as attaching exhibit B and to disperse funds deriv from City resolution r- 24- 0109 that's exhibit B and then item number two which is a pocket item is a resolution approving the city of Miami general service Administration reimbursement for buildout in an amount of $200,000 for 1490 Northwest 3rd Avenue Unit 1112b Miami Florida approximately 2286 Square ft and item number three item eight okay item 8 right item8 a resolution with attachments a and Incorporated herein retr approving and ratifying the executive decision decision I got these things authorizing the purchase and sale of a property located at 14.90 Northwest fourth Court Unit number three approximately 1100 square ft for $288,000 and chair just for the record that'll be shown as pocket item number two okay at this time we'll open up the floor for public comments if there's anyone present that would like to speak on behalf of any of the items for the southeast Overtown Park westc agenda seeing none public comment period is now closed yes I will move all the items I have a motion to move all I have a second a motion and a second all in favor I motion carries unanimously with items agenda items 1 2 and four being amended as amended thank you all this concludes the southeast Overtown Park West CRA meeting for May 23rd 2022 2024 [Music]