By Coral Gables Gazette staff

A routine Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board meeting on August 13 took a sharp turn when members clashed over how Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado was treated during a prior meeting in July.

Regalado, whose District 7 includes parts of Coral Gables, appeared before the board last month to support the University Station Rapid Transit District Overlay. The proposal would allow high-rise, mixed-use development across from the University of Miami Metrorail Station. While numerous residents spoke against the plan, Board Member Sue Kawalerski voted no — but only after repeatedly questioning Regalado and urging her to slow the project to address neighborhood concerns.

The exchange grew pointed, with Regalado telling Kawalerski, “I’m just not in the mood to be berated by you at 8:34 in the evening.”

At the August 13 meeting, Board Member Robert Behar brought the matter back. “I want to bring something up that has been bothering me since the last meeting,” he said. “Sue, I have come to like you over the last two years but as a board we need to be more respectful to guests and (even) more to elected officials. Last meeting, I felt and still feel that you went after an elected official in a manner that in my opinion was disrespectful. You actually berated the commissioner, to the point that she even brought it up.”

Behar said the episode reflected poorly on the city and the board. “Unfortunately, we have tarnished the city. I hope we, as a board, do better in the future.”

Kawalerski rejected that view. “We have an obligation here, to residents and to the city, but what we experienced as result of that commissioner’s actions was totally disrespectful to this city — allowing a developer who was denied by us to jump us and go directly to the county,” she said. “I am representing residents, not representing elected officials. I represent what those residents in the audience came to express. If this board doesn’t agree with residents, what are we doing here?”

The disagreement quickly escalated into a direct back-and-forth.

“You can represent residents, just don’t berate (elected officials). You can’t be disrespectful. You were really screaming at her, that’s not right. I am not going to tolerate you or any member of this board doing that again,” Behar said, raising his voice.

“Robert, what you are doing right now is screaming,” Kawalerski replied. “I was stating facts, asking questions on behalf of residents. (And I am) a little disappointed in board members here, because we were looking at a pimple on the butt of an elephant instead of looking at the elephant.”

Behar praised Regalado for helping keep the project from seeking maximum density. Kawalerski countered that she didn’t have to vote for it at all.

“She could have done that but the way we convey that message to her has to be in a proper and polite manner, not the way you did,” Behar said.

Board Chair Eibi Aizenstat stepped in, agreeing the July meeting “deteriorated in a way it should not have.” He reminded members, “We all have opinions and can get heated, but we must show a certain demeanor and respect to individuals. We have to listen to residents, but at same time respect is what is most important.”

“This city was not being respected, sorry,” Kawalerski said.

Other business

Earlier in the meeting, the board reviewed a proposal to redevelop two small apartment buildings in the 600 block of Anastasia Avenue, across from University Baptist Church. The new owner, The Terraces at Anastasia, LLC which Jorge and Daniel Lopez control, bought the properties from the church earlier this year and seeks to replace them with eight modern townhomes. The change would require rezoning from the current Special Use designation — applied when the church purchased the properties — back to a multi-family classification.

Several nearby residents voiced concern over the loss of green space. Although the project would keep the same number of units, its footprint would be significantly larger. Some board members suggested the developer consider a redesign, noting that the Board of Architects would ultimately approve the design. Planning and Zoning will vote on the zoning change at a later meeting.

The board also recommended the city commission clarify what qualifies as an excused absence for board members and how those determinations are made. The discussion followed a proposed ordinance stating that missing two of three consecutive meetings without an excused absence would trigger automatic dismissal.