By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Coral Gables commissioners gave final approval Tuesday to the long-debated Crystal Residences development, even after opponents presented videos and witness statements alleging that several project supporters had used false addresses while testifying under oath at earlier public hearings.

The City Commission approved three ordinances and one related resolution 3-1, with Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara voting yes and Commissioner Melissa Castro voting no. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who opposed the project on first reading, was absent.

Commissioners also voted unanimously to refer the false-address allegations for investigation, with Lago saying anyone who appeared before the commission and lied about being a Coral Gables resident should face review by the appropriate authorities.

The votes bring to a close the city’s land-use approval process for a project first submitted in 2021 and debated for years over height, density, traffic, neighborhood compatibility and the fate of the Garden of Our Lord.

Crystal Residences, proposed by Chicago-based Fifield Companies for 110 Phoenetia Ave., will rise nine stories along East Ponce de Leon Boulevard and step down to eight stories toward Galiano Street. Plans call for 184 residential units, 16 live-work units and a new, larger home for Crystal Academy, the nonprofit school serving children with autism that currently occupies the property.

But the final hearing was dominated by a new question: How much of the public support presented during the project’s lengthy review was genuine?

False-address allegations dominate final hearing

Attorney David Winker, representing activist Bonnie Bolton and other project opponents, presented a series of video clips and witness statements that he said showed multiple people who spoke in support of Crystal Residences had falsely represented where they lived.

The investigation behind Winker’s presentation traces back to Coral Gables resident Omar Packard, who told the station he grew suspicious after watching repeat speakers at commission meetings appear to read their own addresses from their phones. Packard said he began checking the addresses himself and brought his findings to Bolton, who brought in Winker.

People offering testimony on the project were sworn in because portions of the proceeding were quasi-judicial.

Winker showed the commission clips of speakers giving Coral Gables addresses at public hearings, followed by videos of people who said they actually lived at those locations and did not know the speakers.

In one example, the presentation showed the same supporter giving different Coral Gables addresses at separate hearings. In another, a resident said he did not recognize a man who had testified using his apartment address. Winker presented other examples involving addresses he said did not exist or where occupants said the speaker did not live.

At one point, Lago interrupted the presentation.

“Mr. Winker, we get the point,” he said.

Bolton pushed back, saying opponents had “a right to finish” presenting what she called “vital information.” Lago allowed the presentation to continue, though he repeated that commissioners understood the point being made.

“Let us finish,” Bolton said. “There’s more.”

Winker then resumed, walking through another example before turning to what he described as the most significant connection.

That involved Alexis Santos, a frequent project supporter whom Winker said had helped collect roughly 500 letters supporting Crystal Residences. Winker argued that because his evidence called Santos’ own claimed residence into question, the authenticity of the larger letter campaign deserved scrutiny as well.

“I believe the authenticity of these 500 letters has been called into question,” Winker said.

He also showed footage that he said placed several of the same people at Miami-Dade County hearings involving redevelopment of the former Calusa golf course, again appearing in support of a development proposal.

Winker argued that the overlap suggested something more organized than a series of address mistakes and called for authorities to determine whether anyone had recruited or paid people to appear at public hearings.

No evidence presented Tuesday established who, if anyone, organized the speakers or whether Fifield, its attorneys or others connected with Crystal Residences knew of any alleged misrepresentations.

Commission separates allegations from project merits

The presentation clearly troubled commissioners, but Lago, Anderson and Lara rejected the argument that the allegations required delaying the land-use decision.

Lago drew a distinction between whether someone lied to the commission and whether expressions of support or opposition constituted the “competent, substantial evidence” required for commissioners to decide a quasi-judicial land-use matter.

City Attorney Cristina Suárez later clarified the distinction.

A layperson’s opinion that he or she supports or opposes a project should not itself be treated as competent, substantial evidence, Suárez said. But factual testimony from a resident or anyone else can qualify when it addresses the criteria commissioners are required to consider.

Anderson said the allegations should be investigated and that she would disregard statements by anyone found to have falsified information. But she said the project had undergone years of review by city staff and advisory boards and should be judged on those merits.

She also pointed to a changing development environment in which state laws have increasingly limited local control.

“We cannot go back five years,” Anderson said. “And we have to recognize the fact that Tallahassee wants to see projects moving forward.”

Lara likewise said he did not condone deception, but called the argument for delaying the vote until the record was clear “specious” and said it “rings hollow.”

For purposes of whether the items would pass, Lara said, the disputed statements were “irrelevant to me” because the project had been evaluated on the competent, substantial evidence assembled during five years of review.

City staff recommended approval and found the proposal consistent with the comprehensive plan and applicable development criteria.

Fifield attorney Jorge Navarro argued that the project did not depend on a head count of supporters.

“This is not a popularity contest,” Navarro said.

He said experts, city staff and the boards that reviewed the application had supplied the evidence supporting approval, and noted that numerous Crystal Academy families and residents whose identities were not disputed had also spoken in favor.

“You’ve heard from residents that live in the area and we know live in the area because we know them,” Navarro said. “This project stands on its merits.”

Police chief calls investigation ‘not a very high priority’

Castro called Police Chief Ed Hudak to the podium and asked directly whether providing false information after being sworn before the commission could constitute a crime.

“Potentially, I would say it could be construed as a crime in a public setting,” Hudak replied.

Hudak said investigators would have to examine what each person actually testified to and whether any false information bore on the commission’s factual decision-making. He described it as “a long drawn out investigation, not a very high priority” and compared the situation to someone falsely claiming to be 60 when actually 65.

“Is that technically perjury? Yes,” Hudak said. “Is that something that would rise to the level of a prosecution? No. I don’t believe it would.”

Castro said she was “in disbelief” after seeing the opponents’ evidence.

“To stand before a commission, raise your hand, swear to tell the truth, and then provide false information, that is not public participation,” she said. “That is a direct attack on the integrity of this process.”

She argued that the commission should not change the zoning of an entire block unless “the record is clean, credible and truthful.”

The city later cautioned against drawing conclusions before an investigation.

In a statement issued to WPLG after the meeting, Coral Gables clarified that commissioners had not voted to open a criminal investigation. Rather, the Police Department was directed to examine the claims and refer appropriate allegations to the proper authorities.

The city said police “will investigate some of the claims that were raised,” but said it could not characterize the allegations as fraud, perjury or another potential offense.

“Those are matters for the appropriate authorities to determine,” the city said.

Cemetery dispute resurfaces

A separate dispute over the Garden of Our Lord also resurfaced during the hearing.

The walled meditation garden, designed by architect Robert Fitch Smith and built in 1951 on property once occupied by St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, has been at the center of the preservation campaign against Crystal Residences. The city’s Historic Preservation Board previously rejected an effort to designate the garden a historic landmark, a decision the commission later upheld.

Bolton cited an earlier Planning and Zoning Board exchange in which board member Ignacio Alvarez asked whether the site was a cemetery. According to the meeting record replayed Tuesday, Navarro responded that the state had previously determined it was not.

Bolton said she had since obtained correspondence from the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Funeral, Cemetery and Consumer Services that contradicted that characterization and indicated the garden remained a cemetery. She accused Navarro of misrepresenting the state’s position.

Navarro rejected the allegation.

He said the cemetery question had been examined during an earlier historic-preservation proceeding and that his team contacted the state agency in 2021 using the 110 Phoenetia address.

According to Navarro, the agency responded that “there is no record or documentation in regard to the named cemetery.”

He also argued that whether the property qualified as a cemetery was not among the criteria commissioners had to decide in approving the development application.

The competing accounts were not independently resolved at Tuesday’s hearing.

Castro raises PAC contribution in lone dissent

Castro, who opposed Crystal Residences at first reading along with Fernandez, remained the commission’s only dissenting vote Tuesday.

Before casting her first no vote, she raised a $10,000 contribution made by Fifield founder Steven Fifield to the Coral Gables First political committee on June 25, 12 days before the commission approved Crystal Residences on first reading July 7.

“Now the mayor is being asked to vote on that developer’s project,” Castro said.

She characterized the request before commissioners as one that would change the property’s zoning, more than double its permitted height and result in demolition of the Garden of Our Lord.

“Some votes approve buildings, others define a city,” Castro said. “This is one of those votes.”

She concluded: “Coral Gables is not for sale. My vote is no.”

Anderson responded during the roll call that the developer had not contributed to her campaign and rejected any implication that donations had influenced her vote.

“The developer hasn’t given or donated any money toward my campaign,” Anderson said. “So my vote is not, as you’re trying to intimate, influenced by donations.”

Lago, Anderson and Lara voted yes on each of the four project items. Fernandez was absent. The project had advanced 3-2 on first reading, with Castro and Fernandez opposed.

Crystal Academy gains larger, fully built-out home

Before the allegations overtook the hearing, Fifield representatives detailed several changes made to the project since first reading.

The developer increased Crystal Academy’s planned space by 35 percent, from 5,000 to 6,700 square feet, while retaining an internal pickup and drop-off area.

Fifield also expanded its commitment from providing the school’s exterior shell to completing the interior buildout, including walls, bathrooms, cabinetry and fixtures. Developer representatives estimated that work at roughly $1 million.

Crystal Academy will occupy the new space rent-free for 99 years.

The developer also committed to relocating an additional oak tree, adding landscaping along Phoenetia Avenue and undertaking additional traffic analysis and pedestrian-safety improvements. Staff discussed crosswalks, traffic calming and an effort to obtain a four-way stop at one of two nearby intersections.

The approved project also includes a public pedestrian passage and courtyard, with the park area at the northeast corner available for public use after hours.

Fifield representatives said the new facility has become more urgent because Crystal Academy’s existing building has developed serious problems, including a leaking roof, water damage and deteriorating flooring.

Crystal Academy founder Mary Palacio told the Miami Herald after the vote that the current building could no longer meet the school’s needs. Fifield has said it expects construction to begin in early 2028 and hopes to have the building, including Crystal Academy’s new home, ready in early 2030.

Referral passes 4-0 as approvals move forward

After approving the first of the four project items, Lago temporarily handed off the gavel and made a separate motion directing the city attorney and city manager to work through the Police Department to refer the false-address allegations to whatever agencies are deemed appropriate.

Lago mentioned the State Attorney’s Office and ethics authorities as possible destinations and asked staff to return with a memorandum describing the steps taken and the outcome.

Castro seconded the motion. It passed 4-0.

Commissioners then proceeded with the remaining Crystal Residences votes, each of which passed 3-1.

Fifield subsequently said it was surprised by the allegations and supported their investigation.

“We were surprised and deeply disappointed by the actions alleged by Mr. Winker,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “They do not reflect who we are or how we operate.”

The company said it remained committed to providing Crystal Academy a rent-free home for 99 years and to full transparency with the city.

Tuesday’s votes ended the city’s land-use approval process for Crystal Residences.

They did not resolve what surfaced in its final hours.

The development now has its approvals. What remains unanswered is who, if anyone, was behind the disputed testimony, how much of the public support presented during the years-long process may have been affected, and whether investigators ultimately determine that anyone crossed a legal or ethical line.