Showing posts with label City of Hollywood (FL). Show all posts
Showing posts with label City of Hollywood (FL). Show all posts

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

The very dangerous precedent for the future that the Hollywood and Miami Beach City Commissions are making by showing thru both word and deed, that their own land use ordinances mean nothing when The Related Group comes calling


Residents and stakeholders of #HollywoodFL and #MiamiBeach are quite rightfully fearful of the very dangerous precedents their two respective City Commissions are clearly making by showing thru both words and deeds, that their own land use ordinances mean nothing when The Related Group comes calling. 

Mean nothing, that is, IF there are deep-pocketed real estate developers interested in doing something the clear majority of the community is opposed to, but the firm is willing to ignore existing public sentiment against it because they have the resources not to care about the optics to others of ignoring the community's desires.

I've been meaning for the last few months to share my thoughts regarding this New York Times story by former Miami Herald reporter Patricia Mazzei, at bottom, involving The Deauville Hotel, 

The Deauville is a historic Miami Beach property and also is one that I had occasion to go to several times over the years while growing-up in South Florida from 1968-1979, before I left for college and the cream and crimson of Indiana University, Bloomington.

I hasten to add, in my case, I was always going to The Deauville to see people visiting from out-of-town, NOT to stay overnight and make myself known to room service. 

For me at least, the story on The Deauville, below, serves as a timely reminder that the worst thing about The Related Group's incompatible plan for 1301 S. Ocean Drive on Hollywood Beach isn't merely that Mayor Josh Levy's snarky, passive-aggressive, and decidedly anti-transparent approach led to approximately ZERO of the REQUIRED public in-person COMMUNITY meetings taking place. either before (or since) the first public Hollywood City Commission meeting, when the Hollywood public was NOT even allowed inside Hollywood City Hall to directly confront the very people trying to change the charm and ambiance of that part of Hollywood Beach. The most natural part of Hollywood Beach that remains..

FTszzsgXsAIZdpW.jpg

Nor was it even the City's thin-skinned Communications Dept. peevishly and repeatedly attacking and demeaning people like my friend, Cat Uden and I online in our individual efforts to let the larger Hollywood and South Florida community know via the South Florida news media what was REALLY taking place. 

That includes the continuing lack of good faith the City's elected officials had shown Hollywood's citizens and stakeholders, whom THEY work for.

As it happens, Cat and I both have strong backbones and thick skins, plus, we have the advantage of having the facts on our side, and if you didn't already know it, the City's elected officials and Communications Dept. really, really hate... facts.
So this discrepancy, this ability to use their own information against them, really burns them, as does our success in getting the facts out to the larger public and the local, state and national news media.
Especially self-evident facts that can be wholly substantiated by both contemporaneous photographs and video.

No, it's not even the fact that supposed nature-lover, water sports-loving Josh Levy would, if successful, destroy, FOREVER, for nothing more than money, a place with a certain and unique ambiance that the community places a very high value on maintaining for future generations - THE most natural part of Hollywood Beach.
FSLP8uDX0AA-Uw3.jpg 
vs.
 FTszzsgWUAE4Abf.jpg

It isn't even that both proposed projects are -coincidentally- the handiwork of The Related Group. That almost was predictable, given the landscape of real estate development in Florida in 2022.

No, what's the worst thing of all in the case of the Hollywood Beach project is the terrible precedent it sets for the future, since it would likely set in motion a constant game of musical chairs on the beach, as local Mom and Pop hospitality businesses owning smaller properties decide that if the city's elected officials are publicly declaring by both their words and their deeds that the city's own rules and ordinances don't mean anything -since Related wants to build a luxury condo tower there for multi-millionaires that's 5-7x's larger than what's currently allowed on that part of the beach- why should they stay on the sidelines and be played for suckers?

If you understand anything at all about human behavior and how things have traditionally operated in South Florida when it comes to real estate, then you know that I'm right.
The reason is simple.
Because, suddenly, as a result of what Hollywood City Hall will have done, there will be no incentive at all for the smaller and successful property owners to invest more of their money and time to improve their current low-scale site.
They'll simply wait the neighborhood out until someone comes in with such a huge offer for their property that they decide to seell.

When that happens, goodbye Hollywood Beach ambiance and charm.
Forever.


If you didn't know it or may've forgotten it, The Deauville is where The Beatles, famously,  stayed and performed in February of 1964 on CBS-TV's Sunday night blockbuster, The Ed Sullivan Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEzPROIIlk4

One last thing, and it's a sign of the times about journalism as it's practiced in South Florida these days. You know what I could not find?

A single local story where Cuban-American Alex Meruelo, owner of the Meruelo Group, the owner of The Deauville, was/is actually asked why he allowed the property to become so run-down that it was deemed unsafe by the City of Miami Beach. 
How do you explain that?
Exactly.
"Today, the Deauville is shuttered, enclosed by an ugly chain-link fence. Soon, it is likely to be demolished. Preservationists fear the hotel’s slow demise will set a troubling precedent in their efforts to protect South Florida’s history."


 

Miami Beach owes its iconic status in no small part to the preservation of its Art Deco district, known the world over for the string of pastel-colored boutique hotels. But it has not always been easy to preserve buildings elsewhere in South Florida.
In its heyday, the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach hosted the likes of The Beatles, Sammy Davis Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. Soon, the hotel is likely to be demolished, which historic preservationists fear will set a troubling precedent.
“Miami is a place where the land has always been more valuable than the building...There’s no shared history, and when you have no shared history and no shared culture, you have no shared commitment to maintaining that history or that culture.”
"The four-acre property, valued some years ago at $100 million, is owned by a corporate entity registered to the Meruelo family, which runs other hotels and casinos and also works in construction."

New York Times
A Grand Miami Beach Hotel, and Its History, Might Be Torn Down.
The Deauville Beach Resort played host to the Beatles, Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy. But it has been deemed unsafe after years of neglect.
By Patricia Mazzei
Published Jan. 17, 2022, Updated Jan. 20, 2022


FYI: "In the event of a total demolition, Miami Beach would be legally entitled to limit future construction to the Deauville’s same size."

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Temporary placeholder for The Related Group's preposterous plan to ruin Hollywood Beach forever in exchange for a few dollars that won't actually lower anyone's taxes, contrary to Related's simple-minded assertions


I'm still working on my account of what took place all day Wednesday at Hollywood City Hall.

Both in front of the cameras and the public as well as online and below-the-radar regarding The Related Group's preposterous effort to build an incompatible 26-story luxury condo tower for multi-millionaires on PUBLIC LAND on #HollywoodBeach, so I'm leaving this collection of my Wednesday morning, afternoon and evening tweets here as a placeholder, to let you know that I'll have something here on Friday that will be full of facts, insight and ideas you can't find anywhere else in South Florida.

The lack of media attention this issue generated on local Miami TV stations in terms of LIVE reports from the scene or on 11 pm newscasts, and the general sense of incuriosity at The Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, is just a sign of what has happened to any pretense that this was a major media market for serious news coverage. It isn't any longer, and hasn't been true for at least 15 years.

Too many local reporters in South Florida seem to aspire to be well-paid publicists for large companies, and deal with life at an arms-length. The sooner many of them resign or retire from "journalism" the better off everyone here will be.

I should have something up here on the blog and on my Facebook page Saturday by Noon.








South Florida Business Journal
Related Group returns to Hollywood with smaller proposal for oceanfront condo
By Brian Bandell  –  Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal
March 16, 2022

The Related Group will make another attempt at winning approval to build a condo on a public beach site in Hollywood, but the terms of the deal and size of the project have been revised.

The City Commission declined to move the project forward Feb. 3 during a long hearing featuring hours of public comments mostly against the project. On March 16, the City Commission will vote on the 99-year lease and development deal with revised terms. Four of the five commissioners must agree.

Read the rest of the article at:

-----




South Florida Sun Sentinel
Editorial
Reject Hollywood high-rise condos, once and for all
March 16, 2022

Hollywood City Commissioner Caryl Shuham told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that public comments continue to run roughly 10 to 1 against a proposed deal for a private high-rise condominium complex on the city's public beachfront.

That's no surprise.

Six weeks ago, the commission nearly killed the deal at 3 a.m. after 10 hours of discussion. But enough commissioners gave Related Group of Florida and the city another chance to make the agreement work better for the city.

It still doesn't work well enough.


Read the rest of the editorial at:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-related-hollywood-condo-project-20220315-qizwwmz72veozhfdzgnup5klse-story.html

-----
https://www.change.org/p/hollywood-city-commission-hollywood-residents-opposed-to-high-rise-on-public-land-at-azalea-terrace




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, February 17, 2022

#HollywoodFL and #HallandaleBeach City Commissions seem completely oblivious to a looming education crisis this Fall as several Broward Schools there could be merged, "overhauled," or closed due to a steady decline in student enrollment

#HollywoodFL and #HallandaleBeach City Commissions seem completely oblivious to a looming education crisis this Fall as several Broward Schools there could be merged, "overhauled," or closed due to steady decline in student enrollment


So, a propos this December 12th Sun Sentinel news article and the subsequent failure by the South Florida news media to follow-up and actually provide the public and parents some hard data that was broken down in a way that they could easily wrap their heads around.... I submit the following for your consideration, keeping in mind that Hollywood Central Elementary, McNicol Middle School and Hallandale High School are on that prospective hit list.

Something that area realtors can NOT be crazy about talking about to prospective buyers, who would prefer that their kids can walk to a good, quality school.


HallandaleBeach/Hollywood Blog  @hbbtruth
To @nathalie_lynch
Since #Broward #SchoolBoard is considering closing some #schools this Fall bec of low enrollment -w/several in #HollywoodFL- have you personally seen info re # of students that've gone "missing," by either district or zip code? Or is specific data "Top Secret"?

Nathalie Lynch-Walsh  @nathalie_lynch
I don't think they can just close schools this fall. They might wait till after elections to announce plans to close schools . . .

HallandaleBeach/Hollywood Blog  @hbbtruth
Perhaps, but my Q is re the data. #SoFL media seems to be in no hurry to report it, even while they DO mention names in print, inc. Hollywood Central Elementary, McNicol Middle + Hallandale High. Reasonable to see SE Broward + realtors looking at problem.
@beamfurr  @MarieWoodsonFL


Nathalie Lynch-Walsh  @nathalie_lynch
Here's the link to Demographics. People can look up enrollment numbers . . .
Link above is https://www.browardschools.com/Page/34033


South Florida Sun Sentinel

School Board debating closing some schools - Campuses with low enrollment could be merged, overhauled as soon as fall 2022.
Scott Travis, South Florida Sun Sentinel
December 12, 2021

A student exodus has left Broward County schools with a lot of extra seats, and now School Board members say it's time to consider closing, merging or overhauling half-empty campuses.

The district has lost 51,000 students over the past 15 years, due to the rise of charter schools, concerns about academics and safety and more recently issues related to COVID-19, according to surveys. Now 30% of district schools have enrollment that's low enough to be considered problematic under district guidelines.

Read the rest of the story at:




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Reality is starting to sink-in for The Related Group. #HollywoodFL residents and stakeholders really DO hate their absurd plan to build a 30-story luxury condo tower for multi-millionaires on PUBLIC land at Hollywood Beach. An energized public is prepared to make life miserable for any Hollywood elected official or city employee who tries to change the ambiance of that quiet, natural area of the beach.

October 19, 2021 photo of Hollywood Beach via Catherine "Cat" Uden https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOYElvvMLa/


In a few moments, you'll have the chance to read for yourself the 4 complete media accounts of what took place at last Wednesday's Hollywood City Commission regarding The Related Group's ridiculous plan, and some things for all of us to remember in advance of the next meeting on this subject, on Wednesday March 16th, the day before St. Patrick's Day.

That'll necessarily include many smart, dumb, inarticulate, curious and incurious comments from our local elected officials, including two truly great "money" quotes, which make it seem like at least some of them were living in two completely separate worlds, no?
 
In one world, a cold-hearted look at the facts-on-the-ground where logic meets reason, the other, a kind of fantasy story that depends upon unicorns, dragons and a collective sense of amnesia among the citizens of this community, wherein, for the benefit of the developer, we all forget everything we have personally seen and witnessed first-hand with real estate development on Hollywood Beach the past 15-20 years.

"Do we sell our soul for just money?" Shuham asked. "Once we sign it, we're stuck. We don't get to walk away from this. This contract is not a good deal."

Commissioner Traci Callari, stating she had planned to vote yes on the deal, blasted Shuham for making the city "look like a fool" by airing her concerns at the 11th hour, in public.

Hmmm.. could it be because Comm. Shuham could NOT legally talk about it with her or any other commissioners if Shuham wanted to stay on the right side of Florida's  Sunshine Laws, so often ignored in South Florida city halls, and a subject that I've written about dozens of times over the past 14 years here on my blog, Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog?

Yes. Something that Callari should know something about given that she was recently the President of the Broward League of Cities, the Broward politico lobbying group that over the years has received hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Broward citizens to employ attorneys and consultants to further their power grab in Tallahassee and continue to put citizens, taxpayers and Small Business owners at a further disadvantage, while trying to carve out more power and privileges for politicos.

I also wanted to single out those of you who have been telling me for years that I made a real mistake a few years ago when I decided to be more open-minded to what Comm. Callari said, and that I would judge her in the future by her words AND actions, and not just her often hostile or antagonistic attitude towards citizens or common sense or both.
You all are looking more and more correct right now, given what Comm. Callari said in front of everyone at the public meeting.

There's really no need to impugn her, since all we have to do is take her at her word that she REALLY believes the nonsense she spouted last Wednesday.
Yes, my days of giving her the benefit of the doubt are.. Gone With The Wind.

And for the record, Comm. Callari caring whether the Hollywood City Commission looked "like fools" at that meeting is hardly a reasonable measurement barometer on this specific issue, given the fact that neither Mayor Josh Levy or Commissioner Callari or any of the other 5 members of the City Commission ever did the right thing over 19 very long months, and publicly chide The Related Group and their execs for Related's repeated, abject failure to meet with the community at an in-person meeting as required by the city's very own rules.
That's a very low bar to surpass, and yet...

Yes, a public meeting where the actual neighbors of such a prospective building could speak, much less, the rest of the Hollywood community -and the South Florida news media- that genuinely loves that quiet and natural ambiance, and who'll fight to ensure it stays that way, could look Related Group execs, attorneys, architect, and transportation consultants in the eye and ask them to defend what they claim, and then point out its many self-evident holes and flaws in logic. 
Though a plan so devoid of logic and common sense, and which fails to properly judge both public sentiment and human behavior, will not suddenly transform in one month.

Just because the Hollywood City Commission itself, collectively, was not showing proper diligence -or any curiosity!- in their thinking and judgment, and instead chose to act more like cheerleaders for the plan, via their softball questions publicly for two years -save Comm. Shuham- doesn't mean that we could not throw fastballs at a public in-person meeting when we got the chance to let them know that this deal was NOT a fait accompli.

Or, as I said in my last blog post before last Wednesday's meeting, here:

By the way, again, for the record, the Miami Herald has said nothing about this preposterous, incompatible Related Group plan since they first sent word of their unsolicited bid to City Hall 19 months ago, and the city, in their failed decision-making process, decided that it was both a love letter and a promi$$ory note.
Nor has the Herald EVER mentioned Caryl Shuham by name since the day after she was elected on Nov. 6th, 2018. Really.

I checked and then double-checked their archives before I posted this.

--------------

Bisnow South Florida
Vote Delayed On Related Group's Controversial Condo Project
Deirdra Funcheon, Bisnow South Florida
February 3, 2022
 
At the end of a meeting that lasted from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 3 a.m. Thursday, city commissioners in Hollywood, Florida, delayed a vote on whether to allow Florida's most prominent condo developer to build a 30-story condominium on part of a taxpayer-owned, beachfront site that now includes a public park.

Commissioners are now scheduled to vote on March 16 whether to authorize city officials to execute a comprehensive agreement, a ground lease and easements between the city and PRH 1301 S Ocean Drive LLC, a subsidiary of The Related Group.

Read the rest of the article at:
https://www.bisnow.com/south-florida/news/commercial-real-estate/hollywood-florida-related-group-condo-111743

-----

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Hollywood delays vote on condo deal - Vice mayor skewers plan as too risky in marathon meeting
Susannah Bryan, South Florida Sun Sentinel
February 4, 2022

HOLLYWOOD - Go big or go home.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, the folks who want a private 30-story condo built on a prized piece of taxpayer-owned beach in Hollywood went home without a deal.

But the proposal, skewered around the midnight hour by Vice Mayor Caryl Shuham, is not dead.

The commission agreed to resume discussions on March 16 to give city staff and The Related Group time to come up with a revised deal. The 5-2 vote came just before 3 a.m. Thursday, ending a marathon - and sometimes snippy - debate that began Wednesday afternoon.

The 10-hour meeting, compared by some to a filibuster, began with a two-hour presentation by city staff hyping the deal as a boon for Hollywood that could bring the city an estimated $1.4 billion over the course of a 99-year lease.

Read the rest of the article at:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-ne-condo-tower-hollywood-beach-vote-20220203-iiikon4pkjb27a4u6swijk7fq4-story.html

-----
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Editorial
Hollywood puts off vote on condo on public land, but problems remain
February 4, 2022

Residents speak during a meeting at Hollywood City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 to vote on the building of a condo tower on a section of taxpayer-owned beachfront land. John McCall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS

Hollywood is trying to make better a deal that the city can’t make good.

We have 10 hours of new evidence. That’s how long it took Wednesday night and Thursday morning for the city commission to discuss and hear comments on the proposed lease of oceanfront property to Related Group of Florida.

The company would build a 190-unit, 30-story condo on roughly one acre of the four-acre site. In return, Related would pay for a new, upgraded Harry Berry Park, a larger community center, a plaza and a sculpture garden. Hollywood officials say the project also would bring the city money from rent and increased property tax revenue.

After that marathon debate, the commission voted 5-2 to continue the discussion on March 16. Given the level of opposition, we’re doubtful that the city and Related can refashion the deal enough to gain more support.

Read the rest of the editorial at:

-----

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Editorial
Hollywood gets reality check on Related condo deal
By Randy Schultz
February 9, 2022

Caryl Shuham is not a prosecutor. But shortly before midnight last Wednesday, the Hollywood city commissioner delivered a forceful indictment.

For roughly 45 minutes, Shuham - a construction lawyer - picked apart the proposed deal under which Related Group of Florida would build a 30-story condo on a public oceanfront site in return for building a park and community center. Supporters call it a great example of public-private partnerships, known as P3s.

Such partnerships, however, must strike the proper balance between public and private. Shuham argued that the deal would have been very unfair to Hollywood. "It began on Related's terms" after the company approached the city, Shuham told me, and stayed there.

Shuham called the projected revenue to the city "speculative" because Related based it on inflated sales prices. The contract, she said, "guarantees nothing" to Hollywood. After Related sold the 190 units, the city would be dealing with a condo association. Nothing prevented the project from becoming rental.

Read the rest of the editorial at:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-col-schultz-hollywood-commissioner-beach-high-rise-related-20220208-w3p5mfkub5hoxfwf3qdaojl36e-story.html

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Today at 5:00 pm, #HollywoodFL residents get the opportunity to criticize The Related Group's incompatible plan for a 30-story condo tower on PUBLIC land at the beach in front of Related's top execs and the Hollywood City Commission that's been trying to sell-out their own citizens the past two years

October 19th, 2021 @flipflops365 Instagram photo of Hollywood Beach, Florida by Catherine Uden, https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOYElvvMLa/

Today, after being postponed a few weeks, actual Hollywood taxpayers, residents and stakeholders are FINALLY going to be able to light a fire under Hollywood mayor Josh Levy, the other 6 members of the City Commission and City Manager Ismael and his highly-paid minions, all with the South Florida news media there to record the equivocating, melodrama, pointing of fingers and squirming in their seats for posterity.

Based upon all of the in-person conversations and emails and text messages that I have had with others about The Related Group, people are looking forward to seeing and publicly castigating the mayor and the city commission sleepwalk for months and shirk their moral duty to remind The Related Group of their legal obligation to meet with the community in-person

This view of #HollywoodBeach above, this ambiance, this restful peace and quiet, is what my friend Catherine "Cat" Uden -@flipflops365- and I and SO MANY others in #HollywoodFL are working so hard now to preserve and protect at Hollywood Beach, so that people in the future can enjoy it, too. 

As so many of you in Hollywood, #SouthFlorida, and the other parts of the #SunshineState and the rest of the globe on my contact list know, via my frequent fact-filled emails, HallandaleBeach/Hollywood Blog posts + tweets - @hbbtruth on both platforms- over the past two years, the most upsetting aspect of this effort by The Related Group -to build a 30-story luxury condo tower on PUBLIC land for multi-millionaires that is 7 TIMES what can legally be built there now- is NOT the sheer gall and audacity of Related trying to fundamentally change -forever- the most peaceful and natural part of Hollywood Beach, nor is it their belief that they and all their money and influence can get them their way without ever ONCE meeting the community in-person in the 19 months-plus since their unsolicited bid to the City of Hollywood.

No, the most upsetting part is the truly craven and cowardly performance of Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy, the other six members of the City Commission, and City Manager Ishmael, plus their continuing bad judgement and tin ears.
They, plus the City Mgr's highly-paid staff, who have actively run interference for Related the past two years, have rather consistently and intentionally misrepresented to the public and the South Florida news media both the history and reality of this plan. Frankly, the city's so-called Communications Dept. is now, from all appearances, not unlike a Propaganda Ministry.

Which is a large part of why their rather sad and pathetic online ads are so unsuccessful and unpersuasive.
People inherently know a con job when they see one.

In over 19 months, rather inconceivably for a city like Hollywood that imagines itself being very high-minded, neither the Mayor, City Comm. or City Mgr. has ever publicly chided Related for their abject failure to meet the citizenry of this city in-person to answer questions that are NOT softballs, unlike Commission's.


This wonderful photo, above, of the most natural and quiet part of #HollywoodBeach is the single best photograph that truly captures what she and I and so many other concerned Hollywood civic activists and residents are fighting to preserve. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOYElvvMLa/

I strongly urge those of you reading this who want to become more familiar with the FACTS involved here to read Cat's informative, recent Instagram and Twitter posts at
https://www.instagram.com/flipflops365/ and
https://twitter.com/UdenCatherine/with_replies

Please consider joining the vocal opposition to The Related Group's incompatible plan: NoNewTower.com

And as Cat is always writing, Protect what you love ❤️

You can watch the Hollywood City Commission meeting here: 

https://www.hollywoodfl.org/146/Watch-Commission-Meetings


Dave 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Thursday, January 20, 2022

In 2022, as in 2021, the City of #HollywoodFL's Vacation Rental rules are useless, universally ignored, and yet exactly what City Hall and the City Commission want: a distraction from how truly ineffective they are in doing their job handling pretty much everything else! 🙄🤨🤔


Above, one of my many photos of Hollywood Beach, circa December 9, 2020

In 2022, as in 2021, the City of #HollywoodFL's Vacation Rental rules are useless, universally ignored, and yet exactly what City Hall and the City Commission want: a distraction from how truly ineffective they are in doing thr job handling pretty much everything else! 🙄🤨🤔

Eleven months later, what I wrote about Hollywood and Vacation Rentals last year on this blog is still 100% true, as is the fact that many people in Hollywood have a genuine fetish about VRs and  #Airbnb that is all out of proportion to reality.


Unfortunately for Common Sense, the City of Hollywood's new #VacationRental rules are a HUGE fail, and a step backwards. Simply put, the City and its officials have NOT actively and honestly engaged the honest stakeholders in this effort, yet at the same time, also allowed genuine troublemakers to continue angering neighbors, who quite rightfully feel aggrieved and taken advantage of, and are looking for some party to blame and hold responsible.
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/unfortunately-city-of-hollywoods-new.html


To say that the level of intellectual discourse re Vacation Rentals on some websites, esp. NextDoor, https://nextdoor.com/p/S3HPh3D6gJ6Y is often as simplistic and one-sided as it is, though, perhaps, cathartic to the person venting, is self-evident.
In some cases, some of those people whose comments I read might as well be wearing t-shirts with a diagonal arrow that reads, "I'm with Stupid."

But as we know, there's a big difference between light and illumination.

As I've written many times in fact-filled posts on my popular blog here, the City of Hollywood's Vacation Rental program was, is, and remains a snapshot of a disaster because, among other things, as I predicted years ago, when I publicly said at a Hollywood City Commission meeting that it would never crack 25% participation. 

Not so long as the City Commission, the City Manager's office, the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Associations buried their heads in the sand, and didn't see it as the opportunity it was and is.

A fact made worse by a South Florida media that continually asks the same handful of people in Hollywood what they think -the Usual Suspects- and their response was and remains, almost always, that the sky is falling.
24/7/365.

Even when it's not.

The city administration, the mayor and the City Commission have utterly failed to try to understand the myriad reasons why people are visiting here in such numbers.

It's NOT  just because of the weather or because of a conference or symposium or a concert taking place nearby at the Hard Rock Guitar Hotel casino or at Hard Rock Stadium. 

All of these parties have failed to do even the most basic research, or ask the questions that they should have asked years ago and already know the answers to now.
But they don't. 
They remain like hamsters on a hamster wheel.
Round and round and round and round...

They've consistently failed to quantify what visitors contribute daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to the local economy, even as many Hollywood businesses barely stay afloat, as all the empty storefronts on Hollywood Blvd. and Harrison Street and 19th and 20th Avenue remind anyone who simply walks by.



Try NOT to notice all the restaurants that are only open Thursday thru Sunday.

Even worse, they've all failed to appreciate and incentivize the VR people in Hollywood who DID follow the law, and spent a lot of money to do so.

The city and its elected officials continually look the other way at public meetings as those few people who are doing the right thing are thrown to the wolves, left to fend for themselves, as irate people talk only about the worst-case scenarios and realities that the city has failed to resolve.

Also, it's a certifiable fact that the city website's VR directory is NOT intuitive and is completely useless, especially for visitors who would actually want to stay at licensed VR properties. 
But the city prefers the list be the way it is -useless.

Which sums up their strategy for so many things going on in this city.

Governing magazine
THE FUTURE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Why Cities Can’t Afford to Put the Squeeze on Airbnbs
A mobile workforce needs housing options beyond long leases, but regulations stand in the way of short-term rentals.
October 11, 2021
By Scott Beyer

There’s a perception among public officials that Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms are a problematic form of housing. The assumption is that homeowners or investors rent their spare units to vacationers, thereby taking supply from full-time residents who need rental housing. Many cities have passed ordinances that restrict the use of housing for these rentals.

But that misidentifies the short-term rental customer base. This kind of housing is no longer just for vacationers; it’s for workers who need temporary housing for too short a time to sign a six- or 12-month lease. By serving them, too, short-term rental companies are providing a crucial form of workforce housing that is needed in our dynamic, mobile economy. “24 percent of our business is not travel,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told Yahoo Finance recently.

The large number of Airbnb clients looking for a month-plus stay is diverse. Some are remote workers who do not need to be in a fixed location. This includes those who are employed in one city but may have reason to live for a month or two in a different one.

Read the rest of the article at: 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)