By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Coral Gables commissioners return July 7 to a packed agenda that could send four charter questions to November voters, authorize up to $70 million in bonds for the Mobility Hub, advance the city’s purchase of a Biltmore Way office building and bring the long-contested Crystal Residences project back for a major land-use hearing.

The regular meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the community meeting room at the city’s Police and Fire Headquarters. It comes one day before the commission is scheduled to take up the proposed fiscal 2027 budget at a separate budget meeting.

Even so, several items on Tuesday’s agenda carry major financial and governance stakes. The November ballot already includes Coral Gables’ first fall municipal election and a statewide homestead-exemption amendment that the city says could reduce future revenue if approved. Commissioners will now decide whether to add several city charter questions to the same ballot.

Four charter questions for November

The most prominent proposed charter amendment would ask voters whether to return the mayor’s term to four years, beginning with the November 2028 election. The mayor currently serves a two-year term, while commissioners serve four-year terms. The proposal, sponsored by Mayor Vince Lago, would not change the city’s existing eight-year limit on consecutive mayoral service.

The timing carries a nuance. Lago will reach that eight-year limit if he is re-elected this November, and so would not be eligible to run for mayor in 2028. The longer term, if approved, would apply to whoever wins the office that year rather than extend the current mayor.

Coral Gables has weighed this question before. Voters approved a four-year mayoral term in 2005 with about 52 percent support, then reversed course in 2009, returning to a two-year term by a margin just short of 51 percent. Tuesday’s proposal would be the third time in two decades the city has asked residents to decide the length of the office.

Three other Lago-sponsored ballot questions also are scheduled for consideration. One would raise the value of public-work projects that require formal solicitation and align the threshold with state law. Another would require continuous residency immediately before the end of the qualifying period for candidates for mayor and City Commission. A third would require voter approval before the sale of certain city-owned properties.

The charter items arrive as the city’s Charter Review Committee concludes its work. Commissioners are scheduled to receive the committee’s final recommendations and consider a related resolution thanking the committee and dissolving it. Lago also has placed on the agenda a discussion of the cost of the April referendum election, the mail-ballot vote in which Coral Gables voters approved moving city elections to November.

Mobility Hub bonds and Biltmore Way purchase

The largest dollar item on Tuesday’s agenda is a resolution authorizing the issuance of up to $70 million in Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds to finance construction of the Mobility Hub, the long-debated downtown parking and transit project planned for Andalusia Avenue.

The bonds would be limited obligations of the city, payable from non-ad-valorem revenues rather than property taxes. The resolution would authorize city officials to move forward with bond notices, sale documents, disclosure materials and related agreements. The city reported about $92.5 million in outstanding principal debt in its proposed fiscal 2027 budget; issuing the full bond amount would materially increase that figure. City officials have described the Mobility Hub, under discussion for years, as a replacement for aging downtown parking on Andalusia Avenue.

Commissioners also are scheduled to take a first vote on a proposed purchase-and-sale agreement for the city to buy the office building at 475-495 Biltmore Way. The proposed $24 million acquisition would be funded from the Building Reserve.

The property sits next to the city’s Development Services Department, and city officials have described the purchase as a chance to consolidate municipal functions near City Hall. The agenda materials state the Building Reserve funds had been set aside for expanding the Building Department’s enforcement of the Florida Building Code. Because the purchase exceeds $1 million and staff are asking the commission to waive competitive procurement requirements given the building’s location, the ordinance requires a four-fifths vote.

A separate resolution would establish the city’s intent to reimburse costs tied to the renovation and restoration of City Hall with proceeds from future tax-exempt financing.

Crystal Residences items

Commissioners are scheduled to take up four related actions for Crystal Residences, the proposed mixed-use project at 110 Phoenetia Ave. in the North Ponce area. The package includes a land-use map amendment, zoning change, Planned Area Development approval and mixed-use site-plan review. The proposal includes a private school and live-work units.

The project has been one of the city’s more contested development proposals. Plan call for a nine-story Mediterranean Revival-style building with 177 residential units, 16 live-work units, 5,500 square feet of educational space for a relocated Crystal Academy, 340 internalized parking spaces and rooftop amenities. The site includes the Garden of Our Lord, a meditation garden that neighbors and preservation advocates have sought to protect.

The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of the related items last month, but the votes were split on several pieces. The land-use amendment received a 4-3 recommendation, the zoning change a 5-2 recommendation, and the Planned Area Development and site-plan items recommendations with conditions.

Ponce Circle Park costs return

Commissioners also will revisit Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park, where two related items would amend prior approvals tied to Ponce Park Residences. The resolutions would update the project framework to reflect increased estimated costs for the park, an increased city contribution and an increased applicant contribution, subject to conditions. A related development management agreement also would be amended.

The items follow earlier commission support for an $11.2 million redesign of Ponce Circle Park, including a new open-air performance structure, shaded promenades, landscaping and public-space improvements.

Other items to watch

The agenda also includes a first-reading ordinance sponsored by Commissioner Melissa Castro that would prohibit campaign contributions from real estate developers. The proposal comes before the commission on an agenda that includes multiple development and land-use items and registered lobbyists.

Castro also is sponsoring a resolution related to the War Memorial Youth Center. The item would amend a prior resolution that directed the city manager not to proceed with major capital improvements requiring a temporary shutdown of Youth Center operations until concerns over a deed reverter clause are addressed. The new item would direct the city attorney to pause litigation efforts.

Commissioner Richard Lara is sponsoring a resolution directing the city manager to develop a same-day permit program for certain small-scale residential work. The commission also will consider cultural-grant recipients for fiscal 2027 and a proposed Coral Gables Art Series called “Intervals,” planned as part of Miami Art Week, with up to $110,000 in funding from the Art Fund.

Several capital and facilities items are also on the agenda, including a roughly $1.59 million special procurement for Coral Gables Country Club pool repairs, a roughly $542,000 contract award for Granada Golf Course rain shelter construction and a $1.95 million Miami-Dade County agreement for Granada Boulevard sidewalk work.

The commission is also scheduled to take a second and final vote on the University Drive dog park zoning change, the subject of pending litigation by nearby residents. That item is covered in a separate Gazette report.

What comes next

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 7, at the Police and Fire Headquarters. Several items are scheduled for specific times, including Crystal Residences at 11 a.m., Junior Orange Bowl funding at 2 p.m., summer page intern presentations at 2:30 p.m., final Charter Review Committee recommendations at 3:30 p.m. and creation of a Coral Gables Teen Council at 4:30 p.m. Residents may participate in person, by Zoom, by phone or through the city’s e-comment system. If adopted Tuesday, the proposed charter amendments would appear before voters on Nov. 3.