CEPS CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE Volume 13
HBCP
Center Students Assist West Grove Community in Blocking Trolley-Bus Garage By Nejla Calvo and Catherine Millas Kaiman
Center for Ethics and Public Service student interns and fellows in both its Civil Rights and Poverty and Environmental Justice Projects assisted residents in preventing a trolley-bus garage from opening in a West Grove residential neighborhood. In 2012, the City of Coral Gables, City of Miami, and a private developer, Astor Trolley LLC, struck a land-swap deal over several pieces of property. The City of Coral Gables would use a City of Miami parcel to construct and maintain its trolley garage, while the Coral Gables’ original trolley garage located near Merrick Park would be developed into a luxury condominium. The formerly Jim Crow segregated West Grove and East Gables communities are presently predominantly low-income African-American and Bahamian-American neighborhoods. Once residents realized the construction on Douglas Road was for the Coral Gables trolleys––which would not even provide service to these communities––outrage erupted. Residents created a steering committee to inform the community about the trolley garage and organize public protests. The Center assisted in the creation of a pro bono litigation team comprised of Phillip Friedin, Esq., Lowell J. Kuvin, Esq., Ralf Brookes, Esq., and Joel S. Perwin, Esq., who represented residents most closely affected by the trolley garage. The pro bono attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of these individual residents and a local church. The lawsuit argued that unconstitutional notice was provided to residents and that the trolley garage’s proposed industrial use violated local zoning codes. Center students worked with the pro bono litigation team in conducting legal research and fact investigation. Center students also presented educational workshops regarding administrative Title VI complaints and responsibilities for municipalities under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As a result of one of these workshops, a West Grove resident filed multiple Title VI administrative complaints with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), prompting an investigation by the federal government. This investigation lead to the FTA’s conclusions that the City of Miami, City of Coral Gables, and MiamiDade County violated the Civil Rights Act in their siting of the trolley garage and the lack of trolley service provided to that community.
DEVOTED TO THE VALUES OF
ETHICAL JUDGMENT,
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
AND PUBLIC SERVICE IN LAW AND SOCIETY
Shortly after the West Grove residents’ filed their lawsuit against the City of Miami and Astor Trolley LLC, the City of Coral Gables filed a lawsuit against the developer for breach of contract. The City of Coral Gables argued that the use of the trolley facility did not comply with zoning ordinances, thereby largely agreeing with the West Grove residents’ legal position. The West Grove residents lost their case at the trial court level and appealed. Despite the loss at the trial level, during the summer of 2014, all parties, including the City of Coral Gables, City of Miami, Astor Trolley Continued on Page 2 1