BY BRIANNA SILVA — Federal officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation found that “Miami-Dade County, the city of Miami and Coral Gables violated part of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964” by allowing a trolley garage for the Coral Gables trolley to be built “in a historic black neighborhood in Coconut Grove.” The investigation by the Department of Transportation was triggered by a complaint filed by Clarice Cooper in April. Ms. Cooper “grew up in the neighborhood and has lived across the street since 1981,” and filed her complaint because the city of Miami gave a warrant for the building of the trolley garage without ever holding a public meeting.
The two cities in Miami-Dade claim that they were not aware of the requirements. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires the cities to (1) conduct “a study during the garage’s ‘planning stages’ to ensure that race did not play a part in determining where it was built or whether the garage would have an ‘adverse impact’ on the West Grove neighborhood, which has long struggled to attract business,” and (2) perform pubic outreach. The cities failed to take these steps, and now, in order to comply with the Act, “[the] county and the cities must now submit a plan for addressing the violations, including a study on whether the garage negatively impacts the neighborhood and whether a better location exists.”
Although the trolley garage is almost completed, the Federal Transit Administration “is now requiring the county and the cities to submit a plan of action within 10 days for addressing the violations. Once it is submitted, federal officials will determine what steps to take next.” As for Ms. Cooper, she told reporters, “We know it’s not going to be a speedy resolution and I’ve resigned myself to that. Sometimes when I look out the window, I just wish the whole building would go away and I know that’s not going to happen.” Until the cities address the violations and the federal officials make a decision, things will be standing still.
