MIAMI (WSVN) - The future expansion of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood is raising concerns for residents and business owners, as development projects continue to rise across one of the city’s major hot spots.
At the Wynwood Business Improvement District meeting on Tuesday, it was standing room only as residents and developers alike shared their thoughts on the neighborhood’s growth.
“People want to live where they like to be,” Gramps bar owner Adam Gersten said.
Moishe Mana, Wynwood’s biggest land owner and the owner of Wynwood Marketplace, hosted a rally called Save Wynwood on Tuesday. He said the city is cracking down and squashing nightlife and entertainment businesses to appease residential development.
“It’s not about the Marketplace,” Mana said. “It has nothing to do with the Marketplace. I just want to make it clear.”
However, others said there has always been a plan for residences in the neighborhood, but neighbors have been experiencing some growing pains as the projects pop up across the hot spot’s 50 or so blocks.
“We want people living here,” Goldman Properties CEO Jessica Goldman Srebnick said. “We want people working here. We want people playing here. That is a vibrant community.”
The new mixed-use projects means more apartments and office spaces near one of Miami’s most popular nightlife and entertainment destinations.
“It’s incredibly loud,” one resident said. “I don’t think any of us want the businesses to close or close early. We just want there to be a more moderate level of noise.”
“I embrace the noise,” a second resident said. “I love the noise, and I’m here for the vibrancy.”
Business owners, residents and developers met to try to determine how to collectively move forward as Wynwood grows. Restaurants, bars and shops have reportedly been slapped with numerous code violations over the past two weeks, specifically Miami’s noise ordinance.
Some of the meeting’s attendees criticized the “spotty” enforcement of the ordinance.
“As you know, there’s been a huge problem with all the bar businesses for noise complaints,” El Patio co-owner Philippe Kalifa said.
The Wynwood Marketplace was shut down in February due to an expired permit. The venue’s owner started an online petition called Save Wynwood, citing city actions have been “anti-business.”
“Let’s have strict enforcement for those rules,” developer Ron Bloomberg said. “If it’s a 3 a.m. hard close, great. If it’s a 5 a.m. hard close, great.”
As the neighborhood continues to grow, city leaders said they will continue to work to adapt to the community’s needs.
“I figure you’re going to be seeing a lot of recommendations coming from the Wynwood BID over the next days, weeks and months to come,” Wynwood BID chairman Albert Garcia said.
“We’re going to work really hard to get to some solutions and get to those solutions really, really quick,” Miami City Manager Arthur Noriega said.
More discussions about the growth and future of Wynwood are planned for the next BID meeting, which is scheduled for next week.
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