By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board will take up a potentially consequential land-use change Wednesday involving two adjacent parcels at 627 and 635 Anastasia Avenue—a site directly across the street from Somerset Academy Gables, a charter school, and caddy-corner from the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center. The current owner is the University Baptist Church of Coral Gables, which also owns the Somerset Academy property across the street.
A discussion item on the agenda calls for a conceptual zoning review to revert the properties’ classification from Special Use to Multi-family 3, while also changing the land-use designation from Religious / Institutional to Multi-family Low Density. According to the applicant’s submittal, the change would align the parcels’ zoning with the surrounding residential pattern and facilitate future redevelopment.
Both lots are currently designated for institutional use—reflecting their past function rather than their immediate surroundings. A classification reversion would open the door to low-density multi-family housing, subject to additional approvals.
Zoning change could reshape a high-traffic corner near school and civic center
Anastasia Avenue and Segovia Street have long been transitional corridors, linking single-family neighborhoods, civic facilities, and multifamily residences. The parcels in question sit near a unique location: a busy corner where school drop-offs, Youth Center programs and residential traffic converge.
While the agenda lists the matter as a conceptual review rather than a final vote, Wednesday’s discussion will likely surface early questions about compatibility, density, and neighborhood impact. Multi-family zoning allows up to three stories and a limited number of units per acre—denser than the single-family zones nearby, but far less intense than the city’s high-density districts.
Given the proximity to a school and a major public facility, board members may weigh issues such as parking, traffic flow, and pedestrian safety alongside architectural compatibility.
Other notable items on the agenda
Subdivision request for Alfonso Avenue
The Board will consider a request to split an existing property at 1154 Alfonso Avenue into two single-family building sites. The site, located in the Coral Gables Riviera Section, would be divided into a west parcel (east 50 feet of Lot 9 and all of Lot 10) and an east parcel (all of Lot 11 and the west 25 feet of Lot 12). The ordinance includes required conditions for approval.
Art in Public Places amendments
A proposed amendment to the Zoning Code would adjust the city’s Art in Public Places process. The changes would revise the timing of required payments, cap consultant fees, define the scope of fee waivers, and create a new provision to regulate private art visible from the public right-of-way.
Board attendance requirements
A deferred item from July seeks to amend Article 14 to update attendance requirements for the Planning and Zoning Board, Board of Adjustment, Historic Preservation Board, and Code Enforcement Board. The proposal clarifies thresholds for excused and unexcused absences.
Stormwater management update
Another deferred item, would align local stormwater management standards for single-family and duplex properties with updated Miami-Dade County requirements. The changes address minimum standards for stormwater retention and related definitions.
Decision will guide future traffic and neighborhood character
Though early in the process, the Anastasia Avenue zoning reversion could influence the character of a high-visibility corner near two of the city’s most heavily used civic amenities. Depending on the eventual site plan, redevelopment could add housing options in walking distance of parks, schools, and community programs—or trigger concerns about traffic and scale.
The other items—ranging from property subdivision to public art rules—reflect the Board’s dual role in shaping both the physical layout and the cultural environment of Coral Gables.
How to participate
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 13, in the City Hall Commission Chambers at 405 Biltmore Way. Residents may attend in person, participate via zoom, or listen by phone. Sworn testimony is permitted both in person and virtually, provided video is on for virtual participants.
The meeting will be broadcast live on Coral Gables TV Channel 77 and on the city’s website.
This Post Has 5 Comments
Are people aware that Somerset is applying to increase their enrollment from 260 students to 700 despite having a legal settlement agreement wtih the Biltmore Neighborhood Association??? This is an egregious assault on our neighborhood and on a legally settled 2002 compromise, as well producing choking traffic throughout the area. Worth noting: 90% of currently enrolled students live outside Coral Gables.
Unfortunately, residents are rarely aware of most of the real issues facing our city. Somerset wants to invalidate the agreement, and I bet the majority on the commission will ultimately allow it. The impact will affect the quality of life of the surrounding neighborhood in myriad ways, but that doesn’t seem to matter any more. The same as legal agreements no longer matter if they can be somehow circumvented.
It’s a bad combination…uninvolved, uninformed residents and a self-serving majority on the commission who feel they don’t have to follow the rules.
Time to start knocking on doors and inform the affected neighbors what’s going to happen if they don’t speak up.
Why in the world would anyone want a school that serves its community first rather than a magnet school where students come from all over the county. I mean, who would ever want such a thing?
Carlos E – snarkiness is rarely a good look. That aside, if you believe that legal settlements should be ignored, and you define “community” as the entire 305, then you have a valid point.