A plan to build minihomes and relocate homeless people to a nearby island is causing uproar from residents of Miami.
The plan, passed last month, is a pilot program that would relocate homeless people to Virginia Key Beach North Point Park and build 50-100 minihomes in what is currently an open field. The park is across the water from Fisher Island, where celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Mel Brooks have had homes.
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The plan has caused complaints by local residents and business owners over the relocation of the homeless population.
“We’re gonna be kicked out of here. I’m gonna lose my business, and I’m most worried about my employees because they don’t deserve this,” Esther Alonso, owner of the Virginia Key Outdoor Center, told an NBC affiliate in Miami. “This is a public park. This is a park where the people of Miami come.”
City Commissioner Ken Russell said the plan was “embarrassing” and noted the plan, which was passed as a proposal with a 3-2 vote, could be vetoed by Mayor Francis Suarez.
“It’s embarrassing for the city. It perpetuates this reaction from residents like ‘not here, do it over there.’ It’s not only that this is the wrong location for this idea, but it’s the wrong solution,” Russell told the Daily Beast.
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Virginia Key is the proposed location, and the decision is not yet final. The plan is in the proposal phase and will be discussed further in a meeting of city commissioners in September.
