After hours of appeals from preservationists, archaeologist and Native-Americans, the commissioners voted to pursue a plan that could lead to expropriation of the private property in one of Miami's costliest pieces of real estate to preserve an ancient ring of carvings cut into limestone bedrock, one of Florida's most important archaeological finds.
"This is about history, and I think we all want to be on the right side of history," County Mayor Alex Penelas told commissioners as he argued for preservation of the site.
Later on Thursday, a Miami-Dade County Judge granted Penelas' request for a temporary restraining order to stop developer Michael Baumann from working on the site at least until a hearing next week. But the developer, who wants to build a $100 million condominium and commercial complex on the prime banking district property, warned officials they would have to foot a multimillion-dollar bill if they seize the property in court.
The Miami Circle, discovered last summer on a 2.3-acre parcel of land at the juncture of the Miami River and Biscayne Bay, has become the hottest political issue in Florida's largest metropolis. Believed to be the foundation of a ceremonial lodge built by Tequesta Indians who inhabited Florida centuries before the arrival of Europeans, the circle, 38 feet in diameter, was found last summer in the shadow of Miami's downtown towers. Its discovery just months before bulldozers were to level the site for the condo complex brought archaeologist and indigenous people from across the nation to view the site and set in motion a massive campaign to turn it into a park.
Baumann said he wants to preserve the circle by cutting it from the ground and moving it. But Native-Americans condemned the plan, declaring it holy ground. A shrine of candles and flowers blossomed at the site. "This is just another example of the cultural genocide against the indigenous peoples," said Lance Little Chief, a Chiracahua Apache from Tallahassee, Fla.
The fight over the circle reached fever pitch in recent days with a growing rhetorical war between the city of Miami, which faces the loss of millions in tax dollars, and Miami-Dade County, which wants to preserve the historic site. At a public hearing Thursday, a Maya woman from Mexico dressed in colorful Indian robes chanted and a local resident suggested the circle was an entry to another world as they argued for preservation of the site.
Miami Mayor Joe Carollo told county officials that condemnation - to take for public use by the power of eminent domain - would cost the city $1.1 million in annual tax revenue and have a "chilling effect" on developers that would jeopardize $1 billion in downtown projects.
"The city of Miami will not survive the loss of revenue of all these projects," he said. In a statement made through his lawyers, Baumann said he was "deeply disappointed" in the commission's decision to try to condemn the land and warned he would vigorously defend his investment.
The fate of the circle has become a matter of fierce debate on radio talk shows and in the streets of south Florida, a region with a long history of unchecked development. If the county seeks condemnation of the property under eminent domain laws, it would have to compensate the developer for the land plus his costs and possibly future lost revenues, officials said. The ultimate value would be decided by a jury.
Commissioners Vote to Save Miami Circle
MIAMI - Saying they wanted to be "on the right side of history," Miami-Dade County commissioners voted Thursday to preserve a centuries-old circle carved in stone from a developer's bulldozer - despite warnings it may cost the county a king's ransom.
