The Virginia Key Outdoor Center is next to the proposed location for "tiny homes" for people experiencing homelessness. Ali Bianco / WLRN News.
Miami city commissioners initially shot down a proposal to move many unhoused people to an encampment on Virginia Key. But Esther Alonso, founder of the Virginia Key Outdoor Center, knew that this wasn’t the end. And she was right.
Hours later, on Thursday, the motion to pilot the “transition zone” on Virginia Key passed in a 3-2 vote. The decision has created an uproar among many Miami residents who opposed the Virginia Key location.
The encampment, which was first proposed by Commissioner Joe Carollo last October, will provide 50-100 tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness. The site is designed to be temporary and voluntary and will offer necessary social and health services to unhoused people, according to Miami’s Director of Health Services William Porro.
Porro showed the commissioners three potential spots for the encampment. The presentation identified Virginia Key as the “optimal location” because of its seclusion from residential buildings.
But Alonso believes the location is far from ideal.
“I'm horribly disappointed,” Alonso said. “We didn't hear a conversation about this being a park, a waterfront park. This is where people in town go to vacation when they can't afford to vacation anywhere else.”
The Virginia Key Outdoor Center, beaches, and the bike trails which surround the proposed land attract hundreds of locals and tourists every week, she added.
The center is home to several popular summer camp programs and facilities used by Miami residents, according to operations manager Bradley Luft. But since last Friday, Luft says it has been flooded with messages from concerned parents about the prospect of a so-called “transition zone” going up nearby...
Read the full story at WLRN.org.
