Community mobilizes to save Overtown Historic buildings and prevent eviction of local church

In a heated meeting of The Historic Overtown Folklife District Improvement Association (HOFDIA), this afternoon, members of the community squared off against the City of Miami CRA in an attempt to stay a demolition order for three historic properties located at 1020 NW 2nd Ave, 1024 NW 2nd Ave. and 163 NW 11th St. in the Historic Overtown neighborhood.  The properties, while not officially desgnated historic, have special significance for many in the community.  The NW 2nd Ave site once was the Mitchell Rooming House and Phillip Alan Billiards.  The NW 11th street property once was Moe's Garage.  The destruction of the few remaining historic properties in Overtown has been opposed my many in the community, including Dr. Dorothy Fields, prominent local Preservationist and founder of the Black Archives.

Also at stake is the fate of the Apostolic Revival Temple, at the location for 13 years, and holding service for more than 100 local residents every Sunday.

On Feb 11, the Miami CRA passed ordinance 10-00147 to allocate $46,502 of Community Redevelopment funds to demolish the three buildings.  At the meeting the property owner, Rev Nevins, a prominent local figure who was  co-founder of the St Johns Baptist Church, pleaded with the CRA not to demolish the properties.  "I have been seriously ill for more than a year", he said  "The roof caught on fire and the insurance the City recommended to me wouldn't pay so I need more time to save the buildings".

Last Thursday the Overtown Community Advisory Board (OCAB), the official Representation Board  for the community unanimously resolved to write to City to request a 30 day stay of the demolition order in order to give the Reverend more time to save the buildings.

"We don't know what's going on", said Rev Allen, Pastor of the Apostolic Revival Temple, "a couple of weeks ago, the CRA said that they wouldn't demolish our building and now this morning an inspector came by and said that they were demolishing the building March 1, in less than 5 days.  We have received no legal notice nor offer of relocation assistance from either the City or the CRA", said the Pastor.  The Temple sent an urgent request to Mayor Regalado requesting a stay of the demolition order stating:

"The building is in no way unsafe or unsound. There is electricity, running water, and we hold services at the site on a regular basis. Apart from minor roof leaks, we fail to understand why the City would consider this property an unsafe structure and issue a demolition order". 

QUOTES FROM CRA REDEVELOPMENT PLAN RE:HISTORIC PRESERVATION

I. Community Heritage and Historic Preservation
1. Renovation of Historically Significant Buildings
Overtown: The CRA proposes to build on the historic character of the area by preserving and revitalizing historically significant structures in redevelopment Area. Projects will be implemented following the completion of the designation of the significant historic structures for rehabilitation. The Black Archives, History & Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc.’s Master Plan identifies the following objectives as a guide in the redevelopment process:

CITY OF MIAMI TO DEMOLISH HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND DISPLACE LOCAL CHURCH...

We are very concerned about the plan of the City of Miami, the Collins Center, and the Overtown CRA to demolish two historic properties located at 1020 and 1024 NW 2nd ave. A demolition order has been issued and the City plans to destroy these buildings next week. One of the buildings is occupied by a local church of 13 years, who will then have no location to provide services to the community.

The underlying motivation for this effort are the plans for the Collins Center, who owns nearly all of the properties on the surrounding block through their land trust, to assemble properties for another large new development, as they have done for the past ten years. The Collins Center land trust, created with funding from the Knight foundation, is now the second largest property owner in Overtown, after the City of Miami CRA. The stated purpose of the land trust is to "ensure that current residents aren't dislocated once real revitalization efforts begin"

In 2001, the Knight foundation staff asked leaders of the Collins Center for Public Policy, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and the Trust for Public Land, each of whom had received Knight grants, to collaborate on improving housing, home ownership and the physical character of Overtown. A total of $8.3 million in grants were issued to the three organizations for this purpose. The Foundation's own analysis states:

City of Miami: Please let us participate in Redevelopment plan modifications as required by State law.

OPEN LETTER TO THE CITY OF MIAMI COMMISSION

Dear Commissioners,
Last week we attended the Special CRA meeting in order to comment on the utter lack of public participation in this plan. Even Commissioner Sarnoff, sitting commissioner for the OMNI area, stated on the record that after three years in office, the first time he had seen the new redevelopment plan was at the beginning of last week.
The item was deferred to the October CRA meeting and it was mentioned that a town hall meeting would be held to discuss the plan with the community. We thought the matter was done. You can imagine we were surprised to receive notice, less than 24 hours before this meeting, of the same item. We feel that this is unacceptable and does not constitute proper public notice and would like to put on the record that we formally contest the validity of this meeting.

WHY IS THERE NO REDEVELOPMENT IN THE REDEVELOPMENT AREA?

Downtown Miami is undergoing a renaissance. As reported in The Herald over recent weeks, dozens of new restaurants and businesses have opened in the Central Business District and Biscayne Blvd North of the Omni is undergoing a strong revival.

However, crossing NE 5th street is like crossing the border from a first world to a third world country. Broken sidewalks, overgrown weeds, collapsing fences, dilapidated parking lots, and very few businesses characterize the neighborhood.

You have just entered the City of Miami’s Community Redevelopment area. Created in 1983, the Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (SEOPW CRA) is charged with collecting RE Taxes on properties located within its boundaries to “eradicate slum and blight..stimulating the creation of new job opportunities for residents, and improving the quality of life”. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on “redevelopment” and increased property values have increased the annual income of the SEOPW CRA to $25.5 million in the recently approved 2010 budget. So what is going on? Why is there no redevelopment taking place in the redevelopment area?

The CRA has a troubled past. The original 1982 Redevelopment Plan promised thousands of affordable housing units and a focus on the area surrounding the Metrorail Station, little which has been implemented. A 2003 Internal Audit by Victor Igwe found that the CRA had wasted millions. A 2005 report by the now defunct Oversight Committee appointed by Commissioner Sanchez found that the CRA spending was not true to its mission of reducing slum and blight, did not take into account neighborhood concerns and social issues, and had a very poor process of selecting vendors and awarding contracts. The Committee’s recommendation was a change in the governing structure by placing private citizens with a detailed knowledge of neighborhood issues and concerns on the CRA Board rather than elected officials with political motivations. A Knight Foundation analysis in 2007 found that the CRA followed a “top down” strategy not taking into account the needs and wants of residents, and “a common vision for Overtown’s redevelopment does not exist, most plans are piecemeal, others lack community support”.