In the first major development decision since the April elections, the Coral Gables City Commission voted 4–1 on May 20 to approve an eight-story mixed-use project at 299 Minorca Avenue—directly across from the city’s Public Safety Building —despite explicit concerns Police Chief Ed Hudak raised about the project’s potential to interfere with emergency operations.
The vote clears the way for a development consisting of 45 residential units and 45,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, with no on-site parking. Instead, developers will rely on a remote parking agreement for 56 spaces at a city-owned garage a block away.
Police Chief Ed Hudak raised about the project’s potential to interfere with emergency operations.
Hudak urged commissioners to consider delaying approval until a broader area-wide traffic study could be conducted. He cited the risk of congestion and interference with emergency response times as downtown density continues to grow.
“Once we insert humans, the perfect engineered issue becomes unmanageable—and then it becomes a police public safety issue,” Hudak said during the meeting.
Familiar flashpoint
The debate reflected familiar tensions in Coral Gables, where development pressures clash with concerns over infrastructure and public safety. All three candidates in the recent municipal elections named overdevelopment among the city’s top issues. And yet, despite campaign pledges to review and rethink growth, the first test of the new commission’s posture on development produced a vote that moved a contested project forward without delay.
Commissioner Melissa Castro, the lone dissenting vote, raised concerns after the police chief told her he had not been included in staff conversations about the project. “Didn’t we think it was appropriate from the city’s perspective to do a traffic study—even if it wasn’t required?” she asked planning staff.
City officials confirmed the project did not meet the threshold to trigger a mandatory traffic study under the city’s code—projected to generate only 25 peak-hour trips, half the 50-trip requirement.
But Hudak argued that the cumulative effects of multiple nearby projects—including the recent approval of a tax collector’s office on Minorca—necessitated a broader view.
“We need to look at the entire area and how it will affect traffic,” he said. “I’d like to make sure we get it right. We can’t put the genie back in the bottle after the fact.”
Developer pushback
Attorney Jorge Navarro, representing the project’s developers, pushed back strongly against the notion of delaying the vote.
“This project does not generate traffic. It’s unreasonable to think there will not be traffic in downtown when you build a police station around a bunch of privately held properties that are zoned for mixed-use development,” he said.
He also alluded to legal implications if the commission moved to delay or deny the project: “There are certain inherent rights that someone who buys a property in downtown has to expect they will be able to develop.”
Mayor Vince Lago echoed that sentiment, calling property rights “very simple” and reminding colleagues that the city made a conscious decision to locate the public safety complex in a high-density zone.
“I was never afforded a meeting with you to say there was a concern,” Lago told Chief Hudak, expressing frustration over the timing of the police department’s objections. “It’s good to have that information coming in.”
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara also supported moving forward. Lara praised the developer’s responsiveness to concerns and called the proposal “extraordinary on the development side.”
Process questions remain
Critics of the decision noted not only the substance of the concerns, but also the process.
Commissioner Castro questioned the late addition of the item to the meeting’s agenda. City Attorney Cristina Suarez confirmed that she was asked to prepare the item on May 19, just one day before the commission’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Felix Pardo, a member of the Planning and Zoning Board who previously ran for a commission seat, told the Gazette that his board had initially delayed the project and requested the developer create more space for loading and unloading—an accommodation that was ultimately made.
“It speaks well of the developer,” Pardo said. “But I do feel bad for the chief. The commission could have taken a pause, and staff could have done a better job of weighing the pros and cons with the developer. I don’t think they reached out to the chief to discuss alternatives.”
Broader implications
The 299 Minorca decision illustrates the city’s evolving challenges in balancing growth with livability, particularly in core areas like the downtown corridor. As public safety officials warn of creeping congestion, the city faces growing pressure to modernize its approach to traffic modeling, emergency planning, and cumulative impact analysis—especially as Coral Gables enters its next century with a $300 million-plus annual budget and a commitment to smart growth.
Chief Hudak made clear that his department would adapt but urged the commission to take a more holistic view in future decisions.
“Our concerns are just traffic,” he said. “And I’d like us to get it right.”
This Post Has 8 Comments
The Mayor, Vice Mayor & Lara don’t give a rat’s ass about any SAFETY issues. They only care about the Developers and they keep proving this on a daily basis. Get ready for high rise after high rise. In just a few years, Coral Gables will become a Brickell. Forget about the picturesque Coral Gables that everyone knows and loves people. Truly sad.
The concerns expressed by the chief are very valid. All developments generate traffic. The developer’s attorney’s claim that “This project does not generate traffic”, is void of reason and shallow, at best. The most pressing concern is that fact that in a high-density zone, being surrounded by many buildings, the city’s public safety building can become a “target” from surrounding buildings for unscrupulous actions. Tough to depend on staff, when many of them are working from home and have only certain days they come in to the office. The culture has to change. If we count the number of projects over the years that always utilize the same “excuse” of “remote agreements” for spaces, in this case, 56, to bypass the actual parking requirements, we would most likely see that the number of “remote parking spaces” exceed the city’s actual city parking capacity. Rarely, if ever, is there a project that is not always bypassing the regulations. We have been “traffic studying” the city’s traffic to death over the years, with rubber-stamping consultants, most, if not all, paid by the developers, always presenting “bogus” solutions that favor their clients. What else can we expect? Our public safety is already in peril, as we have well over 25 officer positions that remain unfilled due to the massive exodus from our department due to then and recently appointed city manager’s grandstanding with the police union on the contract, not to mention, our fire department’s shortcomings on staffing and equipment required for the number of high buildings in our city. Fortunately, we have not had a real emergency in our city. Coral Gables, by its very nature of being affluent and known worldwide, lends itself to be a target. Let us not play with fire. Our police and fire chiefs’ ability to stand up to the city manager and commission are limited due to the reporting hierarchy, however, we, as the taxpaying residents, report to no one but ourselves. Our safety is not negotiable. No Ands, Ifs, or Buts.
I told you so!!………they where for sale….Now the developers run the show!!
Gee what a shock-er-roo
Criminals, all
Lago and Anderson will not listen to you or any Coral Gables citizen. We told you they know better than us, what should be done. Arrogant self serving leaders. How could you people have voted these two in again?
How indeed??? It’s unbelievable.
Unfortunately, most of the registered voters didn’t exercise their right to vote, and most of the voters who did vote aren’t paying attention.
Sad but true.
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