30/10/2019
NEWS STORY
Yesterday's meeting of the board of county commissioners at Miami-Dade's City Hall saw F1's hopes of a race in Miami suffer a further blow.
Two resolutions were passed, and though they have yet to be approved by Miami-Dade County mayor, Carlos Gimenez, a keen supporter of the race who has the power to veto them, F1 bosses will be concerned at this fresh blow to their hopes of a second US race.
While the first resolution prohibits road closures near residential neighbourhoods in Miami Gardens, which would mean the proposed track layout would need to be changed, the second calls for a public hearing before any F1 race in Miami Gardens got formal approval.
"It's Formula 1 racing in a bedroom community," argued former county commissioner Betty T Ferguson. "The majority of residents in Miami Gardens do not want to see F1 racing at Hard Rock Stadium; the Miami Gardens city council voted to oppose Formula 1.
"We have seen too often deep pockets paint rosy pictures and have their way," she continued, "only to the embarrassment of the county at a later date.
"Don't allow F1 promoters to come in and roll over us over, like we're not even humans," she added. "They can produce all kinds of phony statements about how they can mitigate the deadly effects, but we can never erase deadly health damage, and possibly permanent hearing loss, especially to children. Even the county's own study verifies the deadly effects.
"No permission for road closure or special events should be given to the Dolphins without full public hearing."
"We understand we're in the business of tourism," added Miami Gardens Mayor, Oliver Gilbert, "but this has to be a good place to live and not just visit.
"F1 may bring people, but the people that live here matter and sometimes we forget that. There's people living around the corner, there are schools there.
"I'm not against events at the stadium," he insisted, "but not all events are the same. We're not in support of Formula 1. It's not a place to dump events that are toxic to people."
"We are zoned for motor vehicle racing," argued Marcus Bach-Armas, senior director for legal and government affairs for the Miami Dolphins, whose stadium would form the core of the porposed race facility, "because a couple of years ago we resolved a lawsuit with the county commission and the city council, there were public hearings and public votes and the resolution of those three years of discussions.
"You voted to allow motor vehicle racing at the stadium district as a matter of right," he added. "Three years later, we're rehashing that conversation."
Insisting that the race would be "an economic juggernaut for this area" and that the stadium is a "regional asset that's balanced with residents, and we've worked together with them to sort through issues before!", he concluded that "I don't understand why the response now is simply ‘no'.
"The easy thing is to say ‘no', but we should work through this so it benefits the community. We've always done that, and we're looking to have the opportunity to do that. It would be embarrassing to give up this opportunity."
"It's a world-class event, like having a Super Bowl here in Miami Dade County every year," said Miami-Dade County mayor, Carlos Gimenez.