COCONUT GROVE, FLA. (WSVN) - A notorious gate near a Coconut Grove park has been found locked with a chain, and it is not the first time the gate’s closing has caused controversy.
Attorney Lee Marks discovered the gate, near Alice Wainwright Park in the Cliff Hammock area, locked for a second time after first complaining about the closure to the City of Miami over the weekend.
“This was the lock that was there Saturday morning,” he said while showing 7News cameras. “It was subsequently removed.”
Someone keeps chaining this gate, locking people out, preventing them from passing through the Cliff Hammock section in Coconut Grove. Same neighborhood that used the gate to try and privatize the area back when Sylvester Stallone & Madonna lived here in ‘97. @wsvn #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/bcjqqSCSsd
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) April 17, 2020
When the gate is closed, it shuts out those trying to access Brickell and the Rickenbacker Causeway to the north or the rest of the Coconut Grove to the south, and to families, the gate’s closure causes headaches.
“You see a lot of moms and dads out here with their kids,” he said. “Lo and behold, this morning, there was a new or different chain and padlock, locking this gate up again, so nobody could come through.”
When the gate is locked, off of what turns into Brickell Avenue to the north, people complain about having to navigate a narrow sidewalk to the south. Neighbors said it is impossible to stay socially distant when using the sidewalk for exercise or for pushing a stroller.
“It was last Friday,” a passer-by said. “We came in, and they put that big lock on the bottom. It’s a really narrow sidewalk.”
“The gate was closed on Sunday,” another passer-by said. “It is more dangerous than coming through here, obviously.”
This weekend was not the first time the area has dealt with this gripe.
The last time it happened, it was a very high-profile issue because actor Sylvester Stallone lived in the neighborhood. 7News covered the story of a push to get the city to lock the gate and privatize Cliff Hammock, but area residents and Marks, who was then a Coconut Grove Village councilman, were able to defeat those efforts.
“It was called ‘Stallone Gate,'” Marks said. “All of the sudden, access to everyone was cut off. We rallied the troops and went to City Hall.”
In the end, the gate remained open, and the area was not privatized.
Now, the City of Miami said they will make sure the gate stays open.
“I don’t know if that’s sort of a rowdy neighbor who’s doing that on their own,” City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said.
“It was just wrong to shut this area off to people that needed to access Key Biscayne safely and securely,” Marks said.
Some area residents have said it was a neighbor who illegally locked the gate, which is now open for pedestrian traffic.
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