Posted on 12/22/2023 8:02:31 AM PST by Red Badger
Hoping they will "move to another city," new commissioner David Suarez says removing dock will force live-aboards to break the law to get food and water
In one of their first acts, Miami Beach's newly constituted mayor and commissioners ordered the removal of a dock that dozens of people living on boats in Biscayne Bay have relied for years as a lifeline to the mainland.
The unanimous vote to cut off their easy access to food and water is part of newly elected commissioner David Suarez's effort to force the so-called "live-aboards" out of the waters off Miami Beach.
"They can’t live on a boat forever," Suarez said during discussion of his proposal at the Dec. 13 commission meeting. "They have to come to the land to get food, water and necessary supplies."
By removing the city-owned dock along the canal along Dade Boulevard across from a Publix, "we're cutting off basically their lifeline and then they’re going to have to be forced to do illegal trips to our sea wall," Suarez said.
That can lead to fines and the costs of towing and seizure of the dinghies - the boat owners use to reach the island, where some work and where they obtain food and water.
Suarez said his goal is to make their situation "so cumbersome … they'll move to another city."
Suarez and the new mayor Steven Meiner said residents have complained about the people who live on boats docking their dinghies and coming onto the island.
Carlos Leon, who's lived with his wife and Apollo - their social-media-popular German Shepherd - called the city's action cruel and un-American.
"Saying we have to cut peoples’ lifeline - we are not in a Third World country. We're in the United States," said Leon.
But the city owns the dock, which was built about 10 years ago as part of a road construction project, and police and public works crew appeared Tuesday night to remove the deck, erect a "no trespassing" sign and block access to the road with a barrier where boaters would walk ashore.
"The city is following the direction given at the Dec. 13 commission meeting," city spokeswoman Melissa Berthier wrote in a statement Wednesday. "The dock is permanently closed and will be removed after the city obtains the required permits."
Suarez, who said he was out of town, declined to comment this week about his actions or to identify any of the residents he said complained about the live-aboards coming on shore.
Leon, who married his wife Jana on board their 41-foot sailboat anchored in the bay, said he was drawn to the live-aboard community during the isolation and storm of COVID, finding the bay a refuge.
"I told my wife Jana, they look so happy and we’re so miserable right now stuck on the house," Leon recalled.
They and dozens of others live on boats there, some of whom protested Suarez and the city Wednesday morning at the now-closed dock site.
"We're going to fight," Leon said, adding, "We’re talking to lawyers right now. We’re going to go to all the commissioners."
I smell poop and trash where it shouldn’t be. I smell people taking advantage of taxpayers. The boats are just the druggie tents moved from sidewalks to water.
Boatbums.
I thought this might be of interest to you. Maybe you could add some insight as to what is going on.
As I stated above, I see it daily and you are correct. Nothing but a drug paradise surrounded by human waste, feces and anything else that is disposed of.
Yes, and I think the damage is worse on water than on land. No wonder the unemployment is rate is so low. Millions of bums are living off working people and not in the labor force.
LOL! Perfect!
David Suarez sounds like a NAZI, taking away their “LIFELINE DOCK”!
You offer facts not in evidence. I can’t imagine that Dade County or the city does not have ordinances dealing with proper sewage disposal and trash pick up for these boats. If not that can certainly be remedied. It would be remiss also for there not to be ordinances and regulations for unsafe derelict boats that people are living on.
One other poster mentioned these were public waters. If that is true (no reason to doubt it) why doesn’t the city simply go through eviction proceedings if it is and illegal occupation? Is it a matter of cost of legal wrangling for the city?
Here is a better article:
Oh noze!!! They’re removing their LIFELINE!!!!!!!
I think this is inhumane. Send the illegals back to where they belong and help our own people.
Isn’t that a war crime?
This Mayor was on the list of Epstein Island visitors, IIRC.
I’m curious if this mayor is also going to do something about the homeless problem? Camping out under bridges, along sidewalks, empty lots, etc. causes more “abuse” than live-aboard boaters who cannot afford marinas’ ridiculous fees - that’s if they even allow live-aboards.
I agree that derelict and abandoned boats should be towed away as they can be a major problem in hurricanes but perhaps the answer to this Biscayne problem can be as simple as the city installing mooring buoys charging an affordable monthly rate (they do that in many areas in Florida), allowing these boaters to tie up at municipal docks for regular holding tank pump outs, filling water tanks and taking care of their shopping needs. Live-aboards who work in the area should have some way of getting to and from their places of employment which means having a secure place to tie up their dinghies for the day.
Living onboard is a great option and people shouldn’t be punished for finding a workable way to enjoy it in a beautiful setting that they can afford.
Not unless you count sales tax when you buy the boat, yearly documentation fees, sales taxes on everything they buy (food, fuel, clothing, boat parts, etc.), taxes that are part of dock fees, and so on. :o)
The article failed to say why these boat dwellers were causing those ashore to get their pants in a wad.
"Saying we have to cut peoples’ lifeline - we are not in a Third World country. We're in the United States," said Leon.
a developer in the background
bttt
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