County, City Spar Over Coral Gate Wall
MIAMI (CBS4) - Most homeowners would be upset if the city put a 10-foot concrete wall right through their backyard, but David Graydon and others who live in Miami's Coral Gate neighborhood pushed to have a wall like that, built last summer.
It stretches nearly a half mile and cost city taxpayers a million and a half dollars.
The wall keeps down the noise and Graydon says it's helped cut down on crime.
"It's easy now 'cause you don't have to worry about people jumping fences, getting into your backyards, stealing stuff," Graydon told CBS4's Natalia Zea.
But Miami-Dade County officials now say the wall is illegal, because it blocks pedestrian access to public streets. In January, a County official sent a letter to the City of Miami ordering the City to take down at least parts of the wall within thirty days.
Six months later, the wall remains untouched.
"We're exploring our options internally and we'll work with the County...but certainly our goal is to keep the wall in place," said Alice Bravo, Director of Miami's Capital Improvements Department. Bravo says city leaders didn't know they were breaking any law.
"I don't think there was an awareness that there was an issue with constructing something like that now," she said.
Miami isn't alone; the County has also ordered the Village of Miami Shores to take down fencing that requires a pedestrian to know a special access code to cross the street.
Bravo points out anyone against the wall could have intervened long before it was built.
"There was public discussion and an opportunity for public feedback, so I think it was an issue that was very well-vetted in the community.
City officials are hoping to find a solution to prevent the wall from being reduced to rubble.
Graydon hopes they're successful, for the sake of his neighborhood.
"I think they ought to leave (the wall) there. I think this issue should go away."
Miami officials are now looking into the idea of changing the zoning to allow for the wall. County managers say they raised this issue only after someone complained to them. That person was concerned about Miami's Belle Meade neighborhood putting in similar fencing.
