Date: Monday, November 9, 2015
Location: Glasgow Hall, University of Miami School of Architecture
1223 Dickinson Drive, Coral Gables, Florida
Time: 6-8 pm
Video Link: The Underline public meeting video is here.

Purpose

The purpose of this meeting was to present the Master Plan for The Underline and to answer questions from the public. James Corner Field Operations from New York is the firm that prepared the Master Plan. Matt Haggman, Miami Program Director for the Knight Foundation introduced each speaker and he moderated the meeting.

This meeting was divided into three parts:
1) Brief comments from Mayors and the Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture
2) Presentation by the Design Team of James Corner Field Operations
3) Q & A with Panelists:Brief Comments from Mayors and the Dean of the School of Architecture

Speaker: Matt Haggman, Program Director for Miami for the Knight Foundation. Matt Haggman welcomed the audience and the officials and thanked those who have supported and funded The Underline. He noted that the Knight Foundation has provided a matching grant to support the Master Plan. He said that The Underline would connect communities across Miami and expand the offering to millions of residents and tourists.

Speaker: Carlos A. Gimenez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County. Mayor Gimenez explained that the Florida chapter of the American Planning Association had named The Friends of the Underline as an “Outstanding Public Interest Group.” The Mayor gave the award to Meg Daly. Meg Daly recognized Ralph Rosado, Chair of the Advocacy Committee for Friends of The Underline for his work on this project. Mayor Gimenez noted that Miami-Dade County has committed $3 million to The Underline. He said that the project would need a great deal more financial support locally and from the state government. He asked the audience to be prepared to help support funding requests from the state government.

Speaker: Jim Cason, Mayor of Coral Gables.Mayor Cason said that he was willing to contribute to this transformational project. He talked about the original plans of George Merrick. Merrick was the developer who planned and built Coral Gables in the 1920s. Merrick also had big plans for this same route that Merrick called the “Grand University Concourse.” Mayor Cayson said that The Underline fits their city plans for bike and pedestrian paths and that he supports this project.

Speaker: Philip K. Stoddard, Mayor of South Miami. Mayor Stoddard rode his bike to the meeting. He spoke about the confluence of events that is leading to a changed cityscape. The M-Path is the current name of the space that will become The Underline. He said that the M-Path is awkward, ugly and sometimes dangerous. The Underline will connect with the Ludlam Trail. He believes that these projects and the connection between the two will be transformational for Miami.

Speaker: Cindy Lerner, Mayor of Pinecrest. Mayor Lerner thanked the organizations that have made an investment in this project. She explained that she served on the Miami Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization committee for Long Term Planning for Transportation. She was the only elected official on this committee. The others were bureaucrats. She felt that their plan needed to include “green mobility” as an important part of the transit concept. She said that Miamians depend too much on cars for transportation. She challenged the audience to incorporate “green mobility” in its thinking.

Speaker: Rodolphe el-Khoury, Dean, University of Miami School of Architecture. Dean el-Khoury welcomed the audience to the University of Miami. He said that the University of Miami loves The Underline. He said that it aligned well with the University’s commitment to community engagement. He thanked Professor Rocco Ceo, a professor in the School of Architecture. Professor Ceo led a studio class Spring of 2014, that created the initial renderings of The Underline.

Presentation of the Master Plan Created by the Design Team of James Corner Field Operations
Speaker: Isabel Castilla, Senior Associate, James Corner Field Operations, New York. Isabel Castilla opened with a video promoting WHEELS, the conference and alternative transportation events happening in Miami this week. She asked the audience to use the cards provided for questions and comments for the subsequent Q and A session.

She illustrated her subsequent comments with a slide presentation. This showed many examples of the before and after look envisioned by the Master Plan.

Recap the Process of Obtaining Public Input for Design
The Underline is a “spine” that will connect 3 municipalities across 8 Metrorail stations in one line, a 10-mile path. James Corner Field Operations worked on the Master Plan for the design. Among various methods to gather input, they held public meetings to understand the needs, wants and concerns of the public and to keep the public informed.

The first round of public meetings were held on April 16th, 17th and 18th, 2015. These initial meetings were collect input from the public. These meetings were only a portion of the extensive work that they did to gather input from the community.

The second round of meetings were held on June 23rd and 25th, 2015. This was at the midpoint of the Master Plan design process. These meetings showed the public the results of the first meetings and the initial design concepts. They also asked for additional input from the public. Minutes from these meetings as well as videos from some meetings are at www.theunderline.org under the “News” tab. Search by date.

Themes and Uses for The Underline. The input gathered showed that there were themes and uses that occurred across all of the neighborhoods. These themes are incorporated into the design. Recurring Themes:

a. Ecology and Habitat
b. Art and Culture
c. Health and Fitness
d. Green Technology and Sustainable Initiatives

Recurring Uses:
a. Native Habitat Corridor
b. Access to Metrorail
c. Enjoy Nature
d. Alternative modes of Transportation
e. Economic Generator

Framework Plan,  the key components of the Framework include:
1) Paths and Intersections
Paths: There will be separate paths dedicated to biking and another dedicated to walking and running. The bike paths will be at least 10 feet wide and the pedestrian path will be at least 8 feet wide. There will be vegetation borders that will serve as a buffer against US 1. The paths are designed to connect with bus and trolley routes so that users can leave their cars behind. Intersections: They have classified the intersections into level of improvement needed and proposed plans as follows:
a. Minor Improvement Needed: Realign paths and widen the crosswalks.
b. Medium Improvement Needed: Construct slightly raised crossings to slow down drivers.
c. Major Improvement Needed: Build elevated crossings, i.e. bridges.

The design includes signs to alert users that an intersection is coming.

2) Planting and Habitats
The design team studied the historic plant communities of South Florida. A team at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden worked with the design team. Historically, South Florida was characterized by hardwood hammocks and pine rocklands. This characterization will serve as a guide for the planting palette for The Underline. The Master Plan also calls for wet prairies where The Underline crosses a canal. This will create a different look for these parts of the route. The plan also includes several butterfly gardens. Existing vegetation along the path is incorporated into the plan.

3) Design Elements
The Master Plan incorporates the same branded graphics used in the The Underline website and material. The design elements include:
a. Bike tire inspired graphics to be imprinted on the path to divide north and southbound traffic.
b. The same style graphics to be used for safety regulations for users and vehicles.
c. Custom signage to identify The Underline as a unique space; cross streets and entry to The Underline will be clearly marked.
d. Using the support columns from the Metrorail for directional signage, art, interpretive signs, mile markers and way finding.
e. Unique marking highlighting direction. This includes bold graphics on the bike path that are suitable for reading while biking.
f. Marking upcoming intersections to alert cyclists. They will be moving at a faster speed than pedestrians and will need time to react before approaching an intersection.
g. Incorporating custom-designed furnishings for seating, trash, picnic sites, etc. These furnishings are inspired by the green “U” logo of The Underline.
h. Nighttime lighting that will shine light primarily downward. This lighting will not add to light pollution and will respect the privacy of the residents of adjacent properties. i. Upward facing lighting on the columns. This will make signage visible.

4) Character Zones The design team envisions four main Character Zones with “punctuations” along the path. About 7 miles of the path will be defined for recreation and nature. The remaining 3 miles would be destination areas that punctuate the path. The Character Zones are:
a. Nature and Play: Brickell area
b. Art and Craft Incubator: Coconut Grove area
c. The Douglas Road/Bird Road area is the halfway point. This area would feature bike amenities like bike repair stations.
d. Green Technology: University of Miami Colonnade area
e. Active Recreation: Southern portion of the trail from Snapper Creek to Kendall.

Demonstration Projects
The two demonstration projects cover 0.75 miles in the Brickell area and 1.0 miles at the University of Miami Colonnade area. Each are organized in a series of thematic “rooms.”

Brickell Area Demonstration Project
“Brickell Backyard” demonstration project begins at the Miami River, northernmost terminus of the trail. The proposed designs for the “Brickell Backyard” from north to south are:
a. The River Room, an area for sitting and enjoying river traffic
b. A picnic pocket
c. A dog park
d. An outdoor gym including regulation basketball and volleyball courts
e. The Metrorail station plaza
f. The Oolite Room, an outdoor climbing wall inspired by nearby oolite outcroppings
g. The Meadow Arc
h. Hammock Play Zone.

University Colonnade Demonstration Project
This demonstration project facilitates interaction between UM students and the community. The Master Plan envisions a redesign of the existing parking so that no parking spaces are lost but redistributed to create distinct parking and park spaces. Additional recreational space is gained in this proposed design. This demonstration project features:
a. Gateway Garden – Inspired by the arboretum at the University of Miami.
b. Station Plaza –The plaza features repurposed shipping containers as shops and pop-up businesses, vendor carts and bike parking spaces. The station structure will support solar panels that are both functional and attractive.
c. Rain Garden – This garden would use collected rain that would be cleaned by plants and returned to the aquifer
d. Ribbon Rink – A skate park and an area where children can learn to ride a bike.
e. Birding Trail – An elevated crossing (bridge) that overlooks bird habitat.

Speaker: Meg Daly, Founder and President of The Underline. Meg Daly spoke about why The Underline is important. It will provide:
a. Economic impact – New jobs will be created. Adjacent properties will go up in value and businesses near The Underline should grow.
b. Transportation alternatives – With transit oriented design, a person could live, shop, work, and play transit. S/he could rely on a combination of biking, walking and public transportation for mobility.
c. Over 100 acres of new open space
d. Public art and programming
e. Potential for health improvement
f. Connectivity between neighborhoods and around the city.

She said that in the past 6 months the Master Plan, the Cost Estimate and the Economic Impact Study were completed. The idea is to make this a public-private partnership. She thanked the 18 members of the Board of Directors. She asked the Board, the volunteers and those who had already attended a public meeting to stand up for recognition for their input.

To date, The Underline has the following funding commitments:
1. Miami Dade County $3 million
2. City of Miami $1 million
3. Florida Department of Transportation $1 million
Total $5 million

This project will be developed in 6 phases. The costs are estimated as follows:
$ 80 million for the trail
$ 20 million for the intersections
$ 20 million for the destination parks
$120 million Total Cost

Meg Daly estimated that $80 million would come from public funding and $40 million from private funding.

Similar projects in other cities include:
Atlanta Beltline $14 million/mile
Chicago 606 $35 million/mile
Indianapolis Cultural Trail $ 8 million/mile

Meg Daly closed her comments by thanking the Knight Foundation for providing funding for the Master Plan.

Questions and Answers with Panelists
Moderator Matt Haggman, Program Director of the Knight Foundation
Panelists: Meg Daly, Founder and President of Friends of the Underline, Miami Roger Terrone, Treasurer, Friends of the Underline, and CPA, Partner GSK Advisors, Coral Gables Isabel Castilla, Senior Associate, James Corner Field Operations, New York Maria Nardi, Chief of Planning and Design Excellence, Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Department, Miami Stewart Robertson, Project Manager, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Fort Lauderdale Sanjukta Sen, Associate, James Corner Field Operations, New York Called Upon for the Q & A Session Albert A. Hernandez, Assistant Director, Engineering, Planning and Development, Miami Dade Transit

During the meeting, volunteers collected the written questions and comments from the public. Matt Haggman summarized them by content themes. The questions were:

1) What is the regulatory and approval process? How long might this take?
Meg Daly – The Master Plan was distributed on September 4, 2015 to county agencies and other organizations. These included the Metropolitan Planning Office (MPO), Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the University of Miami and more. They replied with comments and they will be documented with responses in the final master plan.
Maria Nardi – The process will include developing construction drawings, going through the permitting process, getting support for fundraising and working as a team. They hope to begin by the fall of 2016 or early 2017 at the latest.

2) Who is in charge of removing graffiti?
Maria Nardi – The governance model means that would fall under Miami Dade Transit, Friends of the Underline and the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces. The model for oversight is a quasi-conservancy model.

3) Who will choose the art and how will it be chosen?
Maria Nardi – Miami Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces department received a grant from ArtPlace Americas earmarked for The Underline project. Local artists will be eligible. The Miami Dade Department of Cultural Affairs (Art in Public Places) will work with the Arts Advisory Committee of The Underline to choose the artists. Meg Daly – There will be a temporary art installation in March 2016 in Brickell Backyard.

4) What are the plans for connecting other trails and access?
Maria Nardi – The Underline is part of a regional plan that addresses mobility and transportation. The Underline will connect to the Ludlam Trail. This will link many neighborhoods. Isabel Castilla – The right of way underneath the Metrorail is owned by Miami Dade Transit. The design team is looking at each street and analyzing how pedestrians and cyclists can access The Underline safely and easily. Sanjukta Sen – The design will extract what is unique to each neighborhood and integrate those characteristics appropriately.

5) How many parking spaces will be lost by the design?
Isabel Castilla – No parking spaces will be lost. The design will keep all existing parking spaces at the University of Miami but reorient them so there is room for parks.

6) Will official county maintenance and security vehicles be stopped from driving and parking on The Underline?
Meg Daly – The only vehicles allowed on the path will be the maintenance vehicles of Miami-Dade Transit.
Albert A. Hernandez – Mr. Hernandez asked the citizen who has already tried to bring attention to this matter to share the details with him for further investigation of the M-Path.

7) What impact would the FPL transmission towers have on the corridor?
Sanjukta Sen – These towers would take away from the appearance of the corridor and will reduce the spatial impact. FPL is looking at the drawings proposed by the design team. The goal would be to find a balance between FPL’s infrastructure needs and park growth.

8) Will billboards be used to help funding?
Roger Terrone – No. The Underline will not have billboards.
Meg Daly –All name recognition rights to private funding is subject to FTA approval. This project will recognize sponsors. There are no plans for advertising.

9) How will this project provide for safety in the crosswalks?
Stewart Robertson – To harness the multimodal opportunity, they need to connect The Underline to the transit stations. That means that people will have to cross busy intersections. The design will adhere to the standards set out by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Miami-Dade County. The bike and pedestrian paths will be 10 feet and 8 feet wide respectively. These same widths will be used for the crosswalks. They will add a buffer zone between US 1 and the trails. There will be signals for cyclists to alert them of upcoming intersections. The “right on red” for cars will be prohibited on certain cross streets.

10) Will the basketball courts in the outdoor gym be regulation size?
Isabel Castilla – Basketball and volleyball courts will be regulation size. They will institute a system to regulate their usage. There will also be gym equipment and ball tossing areas as part of the outdoor gym concept.

11) How does the design plan incorporate shade for users?
Isabell Castilla – The Metrorail structure provides a lot of shade on the west side. Native vegetation will provide shade. They will be keeping the existing trees and adding more. There will be more shade on the pedestrian path than on the bike path. This is because biking generates wind that would cool the biker.

12) What amenities are planned like showers or bathrooms?
Meg Daly – Amenities have been contemplated. There are currently no plans for showers.
Maria Nardi – Bathrooms would require approval by the Federal Transportation Authority. They will consider adding bathrooms based on receiving approval and the cost. It is clear that people want bathroom facilities along The Underline.

13) Will solar power be used for lighting?
Isabel Castilla – Yes, solar power will be used especially for the amenity spaces. Electrical power will also be used. They will use LED lighting and are trying to incorporate green technology where possible.

14) What landscaping will be used for butterfly gardens?
Isabel Castilla – There will be small butterfly gardens along The Underline. They will use native plants that attract butterflies. These native plants require less maintenance than non-native plants.
Meg Daly – Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden did pro bono work on the plant palette by area and ecosystem.

15) How will local businesses benefit and impacted?
Meg Daly – There is a business innovation committee that is working with local businesses on how to brand and connect their business to The Underline.

16) Is it possible that impact fees will be included in the funding sources?
Roger Terrone – Yes, it is possible that impact fees will be a source of funds.

17) When will financial information be available online?
Roger Terrone – They are completing the Form 990, the IRS form for tax return information for nonprofit organizations. This form will be available on www.Guidestar.org.

18) How will the homeless population be managed?
Maria Nardi – Usually when a space previously frequented by the homeless is activated, the homeless move to another space. They are working with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust to address this issue.

19) Will The Underline have a bike share program?
Meg Daly – There is an agreement in the pipeline with the transit authorities to have a bike share program.
Albert A. Hernandez – An RFP will be issued in about a month for a bike share program. The idea is that every Metrorail stop would have a bike share station.

20) Will there be oolitic limestone in the play areas? Won’t that be dangerous for children?
Isabel Castilla –Oolitic limestone occurs naturally in some areas and is being used as an inspiration in certain areas. However, all play areas will meet code for safety regulations and do not have oolitic limestone specified.

21) What consideration has been given to the air pollution created by cars along US 1?
Maria Nardi – Trees added to the path should help. Also, this project should get people out of their cars which would also reduce the air pollution.
Meg Daly – The survey showed that 87% of the respondents wanted trees planted as a barrier to US 1 rather than a concrete wall.

22) Will motor scooters be allowed on The Underline?
Maria Nardi – No, no motorized vehicles will be allowed.

23) Will this presentation be available for review?
Meg Daly – Yes, a video and minutes will be posted in several days.

Matt Haggman thanked the panelists and the audience.

The meeting was adjourned just after 8 p.m.