Plan will bring a profusion of trees and plants to WYNWOOD
A new plan for Miami’s Wynwood district envisions wider new sidewalks, bike and pedestrian pathways and extensive planting of trees and landscaping.
The dramatic transformation of Wynwood’s forlorn warehouse district into hip neighborhood happened so quickly that its concrete-dominated public realm — the cracked, narrow sidewalks and hazardous, sun-baked streets bereft of trees or greenery — hasn’t caught up.
That might be changing soon. An elaborate, environmentally friendly and even quirky new streetscape plan, approved unanimously by the Miami Commission on Oct. 22, could help complete Wynwood’s makeover by gradually turning it into one of the city’s greenest and most welcoming neighborhoods for pedestrians and people on bikes.
The plan envisions a linear park and street-end parklets along the Florida
East Coast railway tracks that mark Wynwood’s eastern boundary, and a similar “edge park” along its border with Interstate 95. It calls for a profusion of green and flowering trees and plants along new, wider sidewalks throughout. And it lays out a clearly demarcated network of pedestrian pathways, safer street crossings and bicycle lanes across the neighborhood’s compact, 50-block grid.
The plan establishes a novel template for three streets in which slow-moving cars would share the pavement with pedestrians. The concept, called a
woonerf, originated in the bike- and pedestrian-friendly Netherlands.
The plan could also bring the first appearance in Miami of “bike boxes,” green-painted safe zones for cyclists stopped at traffic signals — ahead of cars. The bike box, increasingly adopted in urban areas across the United States, provides cyclists greater visibility and priority at principal intersections.
The blueprint also specifies areas that will get “weird, whimsical and colorful” trees and landscaping. The plan describes that as a mix of native and exotic species with bright colors and unusual shapes meant to complement — but not obstruct — the vibrant graffiti murals that made Wynwood world-famous.
It won’t happen overnight. The streetscape plan, drawn up by consultant Arquitectonica GEO, is now written into a set of special zoning rules that apply to Wynwood only. But implementation will be piecemeal as redevelopment proceeds and money is made available for street improvements.
The plan provides highly prescriptive schematics including detailed sidewalk planter and pavement designs, a list of tree and plant species that varies by location, precise layouts for streets according to their width, and even pruning instructions for plants and shrubs. The sidewalk designs call for use of porous concrete at sidewalk’s edge to allow rainwater to seep into the ground, irrigate landscaping and feed the aquifer below, rather than go into street sewers.
Developers of projects costing over $1 million will now be mandated to hew to that blueprint when installing required new sidewalks and landscaping as they complete individual projects. Backers of the plan at the Wynwood Business Improvement District say the developers of several newly finished projects and others now underway, including Lennar’s Wynwood Green and CIM Group’s Strata Wynwood, already chose to follow draft rules even before the final plan approval.
The streetscape scheme also gives developers the option of adopting an environmentally heightened “bio-swale” design for street plantings that filter and purify stormwater as it works its way through the topsoil.
Already, special fees from new construction are flowing into city trust funds dedicated for use in Wynwood that are expected to reach some $10 million within a year, BID chairman Albert Garcia said. Some of that money can go to streetscape improvement projects.
“This is not about turning Wynwood into Coral Gables,” Garcia said in an interview. “Wynwood is largely a concrete jungle. That’s part of its identity. So how do we keep that, while making it more hospitable and sustainable? With
municipal budgets being tight, we have to bring the private sector together with the public sector to address these very real concerns.”
Two years in the making, the plan was developed under the aegis of the Wynwood BID, a public agency funded by a special tax for commercial property owners in the district, and the city’s planning, public works and sustainability departments. The streetscape plan grew out of the agency’s role in developing special zoning rules for Wynwood that have helped turn the old industrial zone into a true neighborhood by promoting residential and commercial redevelopment.
One goal was to green up park-less and largely shadeless Wynwood, where the number of daytime visitors drops during the steamy summer season — and thus reduce its “heat-island” effect.
An equally important consideration: improving safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists who have to contend with heavy car traffic. The plan would expand sidewalks to accommodate the large throngs of strollers who now often overflow into the street, while bike pathways would connect to a broader network planned for Miami and the county, Garcia said.
A third principal aim, Garcia added, has been to ensure the district’s environmental sustainability. Having more people comfortably get around by walking and cycling is one element. So are the permeable sidewalk verges, designed to capture runoff to water to irrigate trees and landscaping without use of city water, as well as the bioswales.
Another is the re-introduction of native trees, including several species that were historically abundant in Wynwood before disappearing, like the endangered pinus elliotti, or slash pine. Some of the tree species were chosen because they also produce high levels of oxygen, improving air quality in the neighborhood, Garcia said.
Given Wynwood’s creative bent, sponsors did not want a traditional, uniform streetscape plan where one or two species of trees and shrubs are planted repeatedly at an even spacing. So the plan provides for a wide variety of species to be used while restricting repetition. It also calls for the “clustering” of trees to create shady areas while allowing for some clear views of the district’s colorful graffiti murals and emerging mix of industrial and contemporary architecture.
The three woonerfs are a key piece of the plan, Garcia said, because they combine pedestrian friendliness with abundant greenery to create park-like “living streets.”
The three woonerfs will be different and distinct, but all are designed to slow cars through “meanders” and use of landscaping while ensuring pedestrian safety, said Michelle Cintron, vice president of Arquitectonica GEO.
On Northwest First
Place, the woonerf will follow a zig-zag shape and incorporate lush greenery, while one on Northwest First Avenue will use different paving materials and diagonal crossings to calm traffic, Cintron said. The First Avenue woonerf could be completed within two years because the block has several development projects underway now, Garcia said.
A third planned woonerf, stretching four blocks along Northwest Third Avenue, is being designed separately by Local Office Landscape Design of Brooklyn, N.Y., and could be built relatively soon, Garcia said.
On the same day that Miami commissioners approved the streetscape plan, they also adopted on first reading an extensive new zoning plan for the Wynwood industrial district’s lagging residential neighborhood, re-christened Wynwood Norte, that sits north of Northwest 29th Street. That plan, modeled in part on the Wynwood BID’s own strategy, aims to spur mid-scale development to revitalize the Wynwood Norte neighborhood and expand the supply of affordable housing while limiting demolitions and large-block projects.