There are just a few days left for municipalities to submit and amend ballot items for the Nov. 3 general election in Miami-Dade County — and as the ballot issue deadline approaches, a group of Miami boaters is hoping to change a controversial marina referendum.
" Our short-term goal is just to get the ballot language cleared up because it's very misleading," said David Ralph, lead organizer for Save our Marinas, an informal group of boaters and Miami residents advocating for the city's public marina spaces.
The group is taking aim at a referendum set to go to voters in November that would lease the city-owned waterfront space at the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas to developer RCI Group, doing business as Virginia Key LLC.
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They believe the terms of the lease, which was originally proposed almost ten years ago, are not good for Miami-Dade given today's market values — and say the ballot question should make it clear how long ago the lease was proposed.
The terms of the lease on the ballot referendum include the following:
- An initial 45-year term with two 15-year renewal options
- Minimum annual rent to the city of $2.2 million, with escalations, totaling approximately $204 million over the initial term, plus 6% of gross revenues for the privately funded marina redevelopment
- Approximately $80 million privately funded investment to redevelop the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas “in an environmentally sensitive manner, including boat storage, restaurants, retail, and public parking”
Miami City commissioners reluctantly passed a resolution in June to send the referendum to the ballot after City Attorney George Wysong told them they had no other choice.
That's because Virginia Key LLC sued the city in 2021, arguing Miami deprived it of the contract to lease the marinas despite being selected in two competitive bids for marina operators. The courts agreed and ordered the city to let voters decide if the company should be allowed to lease the waterfront real estate.
"There is really nothing else to do. The court has made it clear," Wysong said at a June 11 commission meeting.
Commissioners and members of the public including Save Our Marinas took issue with the fact that the lease terms were negotiated around 2017. They argue that property values in Miami have skyrocketed in the past decade, and the city should be getting more bang for its buck if it's to lease prime waterfront property.
The current operators of the Rickenbacker Marina sued the city earlier this month, asking a judge to remove the referendum from the ballot, arguing the proposed lease terms do not meet the city's requirement of a fair market value transaction.
Robert W. Christoph Jr., president of RCI group, told WLRN in a statement that his company's proposal will bring more value to the city.
"The claim that the new lease shortchanges the public could not be further from the truth. The lease includes guaranteed annual rent of $2,200,000—more than six times what the current operator pays as guaranteed rent—plus 6% of revenues, for total rent of nearly $4 million," Christoph said.
"Earlier this year, the City commissioned not one, but two independent appraisals, both of which concluded that the proposed rent actually exceeds the current fair market rent for the property."
A city-commissioned appraisal found that the proposed rent to be paid by Virginia Key LLC does meet the city's requirements of fair market value.
Ralph, from Save Our Marinas, said he wants the city to change the ballot language to let voters know the lease terms are nearly 10 years old to ensure transparency.
Boater access
The group's opposition is rooted in their fear that the average Miami boater will lose access to the water if the developers change the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas to cater to mega yachts and more wealthy clientele.
" What we wanna do is preserve that land as city-managed and city-run so that the middle class can have access to the water," Ralph said. " My kids are using the water, um, using the boat, and I want their kids to be able to use it too."
Christoph pushed back against that claim.
"Our proposal actually expands public access by opening areas along the bay that have never before been available for residents to enjoy. Families from every neighborhood in Miami will have greater access to the waterfront, new public spaces, and amenities designed for everyone. Our winning proposal includes a new public baywalk across the entire waterfront, where there is currently no public access at all, and slips for smaller and mid-sized boats based on existing water depths," he said.
Commissioner Damian Pardo, whose city district encompasses the two marinas, said from the dais on June 11 that he shared his colleagues' concerns about the proposal, but had no choice but to vote in favor.
Reached by WLRN with questions about potentially changing the referendum, Pardo's office directed inquiries to the office of the City Attorney, which handles the crafting of ballot language. City Attorney Wysong did not respond to WLRN's request for comment.
