Groceries, anyone?

Vol. 4, No. 6 5 March 2023

MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT

A member of the Commission wrote to me about going from market to market to find the family groceries. “I shop at different places. Milam, Target, Winn Dixie on 40 and 67, Publix. Depending what I want.”

That member has the money for gas, the funds for higher prices, and the time to tour the stores. Many of the residents of South Miami can only afford to tour the aisles of the Winn_Dixie to find the food their budgets allow. 16% of South Miami’s residents are retired. 14.7% of residents live in poverty. About 390 residents under 65 are disabled people, 1 in 7 residents lives in poverty, and 1 in 6 is retired.(1) Not all retirees are on a fixed income, but most are and many are seeing the value (that is, purchasing power) of their pensions and Social Security payments plummet as the cost of living goes up faster than any positive income adjustments. Some people rely on public transportation. Other health and environmentally conscious residents travel by walking and bicycling.

Looking at distances between the Winn-Dixie in South Miami and the one on Bird Road and Ludlam, for most of South Miami’s population, the South Miami store is closer.

Half of the households in South Miami have less than $67,110 to live on annually. A family that had $67,110 to live on would be paying more than a quarter of its income for rent. If that family were renting at the middle (median) rent, they would have less than $1000 per week for food, clothing, transportation, insurances, school supplies, out-of-pocket medical payments, phone, electricity, entertainment. I am able to live on that. However, I am a single, senior person who shops at a low-end grocery store and whose house has no mortgage. I wonder how well I would manage if I had several young children to raise. If half of the households in South Miami have less than $67,110 to live on, most of them do not have the disposable income that would cover their shopping at a high-end supermarket.

When comparing Census demographics (1), South Miami looks socially and economically different from its neighbors.

‘The Fresh Market Stores, with their carefully curated private label brands, high-quality prime beef, and local organic produce, target middle to upper-class families. In his 1991 book Marketing Channels, business professor and author Bert Rosenbloom explained that the target market for The Fresh Market includes “educated high-income consumers in wealthy neighborhoods.” ’ (2)

A friend of mine spent some time doing comparative online shopping at several grocery stores. These are her findings:

In 2020 when the former Commission approved the changes that the developer wanted, they defined the store that would replace Winn-Dixie as a ‘full-service grocery store."(4) Actually, I consider the Winn-Dixie a supermarket. Merriam-Webster’s definition of supermarket is “a self-service retail market selling especially foods and household merchandise.”(5) Their definition of grocery store is “a store that sells food and household supplies: supermarket.”(6) The Ordinance continues: ‘The term “grocery store” … means a store retailing a general line of food and non-food grocery products … intended for home preparation, consumption and utilization.’

I do not know how the decision to rent to Fresh Market was made. I have not had time to read the Substantial Compliance Determination (signed on October 26, 2022) or an agreement between the City and the Developer that a "full service grocery store will be found for the Winn-Dixie location."

The big questions for me are (1) how does replacing an affordable grocery store with a very high-end one benefit the residents of South Miami? And (2) is Fresh Market a full-service grocery store? (3) Does Fresh Market house a pharmacy within its walls? (4) Will Fresh Market be a "neighborhood serving grocery store"?

On April 20, 2020, Jeffrey S. Bass, the lawyer representing the developer, wrote, “The major animating force behind the Redevelopment is simply this: Ensure the existence of a lovely, neighborhood serving grocery store with in-store pharmacy in the same location as the existing Winn-Dixie.”(7)

Another thing I have not had time to research is the discussion that happened when the developer's representative asked for the many changes it took to go from NR zoning to TODD MU-M zoning. It was a "spot-zoning" change. What I remember from those evenings is that I believed the developer and owner would find another affordable grocery store if Winn-Dixie did not want to come back to that site. I have heard from several people that they are shocked and dismayed that Fresh Market has been granted a contract. If the "contract" with The Fresh Market is locked in, I do not know what recourses the residents of South Miami have.

I would very much appreciating hearing from residents about their reactions to the announcement published in the

SoMi Town Center News on February 16. Perhaps the betrayal I feel is not everyone's reaction. Please send me an email message about your views Click here.

(1) See United States Census Bureau, Quick Facts: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/coralgablescityflorida,pinecrestvillageflorida,southmiamicityflorida/PST045222

(2) See mashed, 1/24/23: https://www.mashed.com/225165/the-untold-truth-of-the-fresh-market/

(3) The median is the value at which half of the values being counted are below and half are above that value. For instance: of these five numbers: 1,2,3,8,9, 3 is the median, and 4.6 is the average.

(4) Ord. 17-20-2371 20-8.3(A)(4), see p.15 for (A)(4)(b), see p. 16 http://e-docs.southmiamifl.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id =178966&dbid=0&repo=SouthMiami

(5) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supermarket

(6) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grocery%20store

(7)See p.42 of the materials supporting the developer’s requests.http://e-docs.southmiamifl.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=178965&dbid=0&repo=SouthMia

CHIPPING AWAY at WILDLIFE SANCTUARY and TREE CITY USA

The new City Manager has put Item 10 on the March 7th Commission agenda. This Ordinance proposes many changes in the regulations that were put in place when the TODD MU-M zone was created. A good many of these changes will benefit the developer of the only property within this zoning.

(1) The height of the permitted building is being raised by one floor and 10 feet.

(2) The overall height of the building will now be measured from the "finished floor elevation" (instead of from grade). I have no idea how that changes the building's potential height or what benefit that might be to anyone.

(3) Bird-safety glass will not be required. Thus, South Miami will no longer protect its wild life. This is, at least, the third time that removing bird-safety glass from new building requirements has come up. The last two times the Group 2 Commissioner suggested the amendment.

(4) Instead of planting the requisite number of trees, the developer can just pay money. If that happens, South Miami will be less green than it might be.

(5) In this revised Ordinance, there are a couple of places where resident approval is being removed from design changes.

(6) The proposal creates the possibility of the Owner making dwelling units into condos. This is not permitted in the original version.

(7) Although this new version says that MU-M is a special district created specifically for a grocery store, it opens the possibility that the Owner can do something else with the space after it has been empty for two years. The 2020 version says that the space could be turned into dwelling units and that a number of these units have to be affordable for low and very low income families. That "affordable" requirement has been eliminated.

It is getting late and I plan to be at South Miami Library tomorrow morning to help prepare taxpayer returns. There are certainly more specifics I could include, but . . ..

Keep healthy and stay safe.