Red-light notices up 63%, and the city keeps far more of the money
Camera money, a final UM vote, City Hall bonds, a dog-park court fight and a chamber concert at the museum.
This issue turns on fine print. Coral Gables now keeps nearly a third of its camera money with no explanation for the jump, UM keeps a hand on the park it is deeding to the city, and the city's dog-park defense hinges on what an ordinance didn't do.
Coral Gables kept $712,413 from red-light cameras in the 12 months through June 30, up from $194,628 the prior year, according to the police department's annual survey response to the state. Cameras produced 16,777 notices, 63 percent more than a year earlier, and collections climbed 71 percent to $2.18 million. The city's slice grew to nearly 33 percent, from about 15 percent, though the state Department of Revenue still got the most: $1,086,968. The survey offers no reason for the bigger cut. No commissioner asked about the jump in notices or revenue, and the commission accepted the report 4-0 on Sept. 29 with no public comment. The form names RedSpeed as the camera vendor but doesn't ask what it was paid; last year RedSpeed got $464,278. Another $385,086 isn't accounted for in the survey's two money fields, and the Gazette can't tell whether any of it went to RedSpeed. Police said crashes fell 26, 29 and 62 percent at three intersections but didn't give the comparison periods, and the survey says the city has done no independent analysis of the cameras. The city told the state it plans to keep the cameras running through June 30, 2027. A notice isn't a ticket yet. Owners can contest it, file an affidavit where the law allows, or pay the $158 penalty. Ignore it, and it can become a uniform traffic citation, as 2,853 did in the reporting year.
UM's 30-year campus deal is final, park and all
City staff estimate the new rules could let UM build about 10.5 million square feet during the 30-year agreement, roughly 3.7 million more than the old cap, and Coral Gables gets a park. Commissioners passed all six parts of the 30-year deal 5-0 on Sept. 29. A 1.0 floor-area ratio replaces that 6.8 million-square-foot cap. A hospital of 100 beds or fewer in UM's Multi-Use Area won't need a separate conditional-use review; a bigger one still would. Extra mitigation now kicks in at 17,500 students instead of 13,000, and UM takes over 70 city-metered parking spaces. No specific building is approved yet.
The city's side: UM is to deed its 5.52-acre Lee Lincoln site for Centennial Park and pay $1.025 million a year to start, rising 4 percent annually. The deed says the land must be "perpetually used and maintained for public park purposes only." But UM keeps real say. A nonexclusive permanent easement lets it use the site as a temporary hurricane staging area, restoring it afterward. Physical improvements need its sign-off, and special events other than the city's need its consent. Mayor Vince Lago said the city chose the land over more cash, though no independent appraisal compared the two at the hearing.
$40 million to restore City Hall, plus 114 scooter tickets downtown
Earlier in September, commissioners voted 5-0 to borrow $40 million for City Hall's restoration through capital improvement bonds. The 15-year bonds will run the city $3.6 million annually. Mayor Vince Lago proposed a construction fence with historical photos, an idea from community engagement advisor Lora Lastra.
Three weeks of enforcement in the no-ride zones on Miracle Mile, Giralda Plaza and downtown Ponce brought 114 citations and 8 impounded scooters.
Phillip Park, already getting $6 million in athletic upgrades, picks up another $900,000 after a 5-0 vote, for a gazebo restoration and redone restrooms.
For Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Giralda gets a stage and hundreds of flags, and the city aims to honor a Gables veteran from every branch. One is still missing. "We are looking for a veteran of the Space Force," said Commissioner Richard Lara, who leads the city's effort.
In the dog-park ordinance case, the city says the ordinance approved no park
Coral Gables says neighbors challenging Ordinance 2026-25 are suing over a dog park the ordinance never approved. "Petitioners bring this Petition against a ghost," the city wrote in a 46-page response filed Sept. 22. By its account, the ordinance loosened 1972 rules on the city lot at 520 University Drive so overflow parking is no longer its only allowed use, and the land won't revert to single-family zoning automatically if parking stops. Its Special Use zoning never changed, so nothing was rezoned and, the city says, the spot-zoning claim fails. The dog park plan itself came from a separate resolution last November, which faces its own lawsuit, set for a jury trial Sept. 7, 2027. On Aug. 25, staff said a piece of the War Memorial Youth Center's parking lot is under study as another possible site. Because the ordinance approved no site plan or physical changes, the city argues, whether a dog park fits the Comprehensive Plan isn't before this judge.
The neighbors say the city never did real traffic or parking studies, though the zoning board, in recommending approval 5-2 on May 20, asked for that review first. The city says staff from Parking, Public Works, Community Recreation and the clerk's office took a second look after that May hearing and concluded the lot wasn't needed solely for overflow parking. Its argument in court: Judge Daryl E. Trawick can only ask whether enough evidence existed, not reweigh it.
Trawick's Sept. 22 order saying the city had failed to respond, with a warning of sanctions, is stamped 6:01 p.m.; the city's response is stamped 6:04 p.m. The city says its deadline was that very day, after a weekend and a Yom Kippur court holiday. Florida rules allow e-filing until 11:59 p.m. unless a statute, court order or local rule sets a different time. It wants the order vacated, and the documents the Gazette reviewed showed no ruling on that.
Spanish quartets and Cuban danzas at the museum
- When
- Oct. 11 · 2 p.m.
- Where
- Coral Gables Museum
The South Beach Chamber Ensemble is back at the Coral Gables Museum with a Sunday afternoon concert, "From Spain to Cuba," on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. The program runs from Manuel Canales' D major quartet, Op. 1 (1782), to Joaquín Turina's 1911 D minor quartet, "de la guitarra," plus Ignacio Cervantes' Danzas Cubanas.