Urban Design




Coconut Grove Waterfront and Spoil Islands Master Plan

The Coconut Grove Waterfront Area and Spoil Islands (most commonly known as Dinner Key) is a coastal area that encompasses Peacock Park, Dinner Key to Kennedy Park, including the islands and anchorages. This coastal area is the waterfront heart of Coconut Grove, Miami. The architecture and planning firm Sasaki Associates, Inc. was selected through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process to create the Coconut Grove Waterfront Master Plan. The contract was approved by the City Commission on July 28, 2005.

Work for the Coconut Grove Waterfront Master Plan started in November 2005 with a series of meetings targeted at data collection from the different stakeholders in the area including residents, merchants, restaurateurs, and others who have an interest in the Coconut Grove waterfront area.

The City envisions a Coastal Recreational Park that emphasizes human scale, public open spaces, and connectivity for the pedestrian realm through the creation of waterfront promenades, diverse open spaces, an active park with sensitive environmental spoil island connections that will enhance the water component and recreational elements of the Coastal Park’s recreational and environmental elements.

The master plan area is comprised of the upland owned by the City, zoned park and recreation, with some bay bottom including inner and outer mooring fields under both state and city deed designation, and several spoil islands. The existing land side components of the site include the historic Miami City Hall - home of the first Pan American Airways international terminal in the United States; the Coconut Grove Convention Center facility and surrounding large parking area for show goers; the Dinner Key Marina, dock master area and parking lots restricted to boat owners and guests; Seminole Dock with a public boat ramp and trailer parking area administered by Miami Parking Authority; Myers Park; the Coconut Grove Sailing Club site with a building, parking area, boat storage, inner mooring field, and dock area; Peacock Park, a waterfront park including a large multi-use open grassy area, a NET office, and skate park; and Kennedy Park, also an active waterfront City park.

The Coconut Grove waterfront, mooring areas and spoil islands are in need of a Plan that reflects the growth and desires of the community. The Master Plan must also address the requirements of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to complete an overhaul of the inner and outer mooring fields to comply with an agreement between the City and FDEP to clean up the bay bottom, mooring fields, and derelict vessels. The spoil islands included in the area are in need of rehabilitation. They need to be cleaned of exotic plants, replanted with native species and have areas redesigned for public access. The City has been working with the Army Corp of Engineers, DERM and FDEP to formulate this plan.

After a comprehensive master planning process enriched with abundant public feed-back, the final Coconut Grove Waterfront Master Plan including cost estimates and a phasing strategy was unanimously approved by the City Commission on July 24, 2008.

Please direct any questions or comments regarding the Coconut Grove Waterfront Master Plan to the City of Miami Planning Department via planning@ci.miami.fl.us.