The Coral Gables Times

2 CORAL GABLES TIMES Thursday, March 29, 1962

The Hovels Called Home in Our Town

Sixth and last of a series By MAURICE LABELLE Times Reporter The City Commission — like parents of a child getting good grades but taking the wrong subjects — have mixed feelings about their slum rehabilitation program. While commissioners agree the program itself is coming along satisfactorily, they have expressed doubts about its objectives. These misgivings have been reflected in a recent move to consider a new approach while continuing the program for the time being. But more about that later. It was Commissioner Franklin S. Evans who hit a point indicating why it is difficult, if not impossible, to let individual property owners solve the slum problem. Evans, along with Commissioners C. L. Dressel Jr. and George Wilson, inherited the program when they took office last April. Said Evans: "Homeowners have the prerogative of replacing homes declared substandard by City inspectors." Thus far, none have chosen to do so voluntarily and only two homes have been condemned and replaced. The remainder are being rehabilitated through legal pressure. "It looks to me that tremendous progress has been made," said Dr. Evans. "We're all for cleaning up, but it's a question implementation." "If it brings it out of the slum area," said Dr. Evans of the rehabilitation program, "it is good enough." Urban renewal, he felt, was a big project which considerable thought ought to be given to before any action was taken. Commissioner Wilson also was pleased with the progress made in rehabilitating the Negro area. "It's coming along real fine," said Wilson. The ideal solution in Commissioner Wilson's mind would be to merge the Miami and Coral Gables Negro communities into one homogeneous unit. "In my own mind," said Wilson, "it should be tied in with the city of Miami." "We're trying to remedy a very bad situation," said Commissioner Dressel. There had been peessure by some of the owners to allow them to make changes, Dressel said, and the city is proceeding slowly. "I don't say that there still isn't room for improvement," Dressel said, "But I'd rather see us go at it this way than ask for federal aid." On the other hand, Dressel pointed out, if local funds could be made available and no increase in rents would result, he might favor renewal over rehabilitation. But, he added, the city might be overstepping its bounds if it forces owners to go into debt again. Dressel said also that he felt rents were exhorbitant. Vice Mayor Joe Murphy pointed out the previous commission left urban renewal out of the Minimum Housing Code because of the fear of federal interference. He and Mayor Robert L. Searle are the only holdovers from that commission. "I would say that the plan is working out as well as can be expected with limited manpower," Murphy said. He suggested that perhaps the building inspector, as has been suggested by the Planning Board, might do better on a full time basis. Murphy recently proposed many of the buildings being rehabilitated were substandard when constructed 30 to 40 years ago. Murphy recently proposed that minimum square footage for new homes being built in the area be raised from 750 square feet to 990 and 600 for apartments. He also backed a proposal to erect a protective chain fence along Dixie Highway. Last to be queried about his views of the rehabilitation program was Mayor Searle. "I think the program has made tremendous progress," said the mayor, sitting behind a large modern desk in his air conditioned office. He depicted the Negro slum area before rehabilitation and how it had improved under the program. There is still room for improvement, Searle said. In a free exchange of information, we told the mayor our findings in surveying the area. Searle's eyebrow raised occasionally as he listened to some of the facts. Quick to grasp a situation, the mayor indicated that perhaps the question of urban renewal should be reopened in the light of what had been accomplished under rehabilitation and what had not been realized. Searle concluded by saying that perhaps, all avenues had not been considered and that he would explore avenues of local financing for urban renewal with area financiers. A week after The Time began its series on the Negro slums, the mayor informed the city commissioner he had been exploring avenues of local financing for urban renewal. Exploratory conversations, Searle said, indicated that perhaps this approach is feasible. Commissioners unanimously fall in behind the mayor in indicting urban renewal should be reconsidered with the accent on local financing. Has the key been found to unlock the problem of Coral Gables' slums?

Revenue Could Double Slums Steal Our Taxes, Too

How much is it costing the Gables to maintain its slum? Total revenue from that area last year was only $20,000 on a valuation of $1,205,600, according to Tax Assessor T. C. Blount. This amount would approximately double if the existing shacks were replaced with single family homes or duplexes selling for about $10,000, the tax assessor estimates. Let's take some typical examples to show how slum removal would benefit the Gables. Cyrus Rayford, owner of a home on a 50 by 100-foot lot at 4710 Jefferson St., pays $4.88 in taxes today with homestead exemption. His land is valued at $650 and home at $1,100. This land is selling for approximately $3,500 today. Building a $10,000 home on that land would boost his taxes to an estimated $50. Blount estimates. George B. Allen, owner of a home at 143 Industrial Ave., pays $50.35 tax on his non-homestead property now. A new $10,000 home on his 50 by 125 foot lot would raise his taxes to $39.30. Montgomery Inc. rents a home at 122 Oak Ave. which was built recently to replace a condemned building. The firm pays and would continue to pay $100.70 in taxes on the 50 by 100 foot property, with a house valued at $4,600. Henry McPherson, 4600 Brooker St. owner of a fairly new built CBS home valued at $6,200 is paying $51 on the homesteaded property. His tax would not change. Gertrude B. Bernstein and E. D. Rosenthal, who own a duplex at 109-11 Frow Ave., pay $38 on the non-homestead exempted property now. Their tax would jump to about $104 if they replaced the building.

MORRIS CHALFEN presents WORLD FAMOUS Holiday ON ICE OF 1962

MORRIS CHALFEN presents WORLD FAMOUS THE TALK OF THE TOWN ALL AROUND THE WORLD IT'S IDIOM! Holiday ON ICE OF 1962 GREATEST YET! STARTS 7:00 p.m. MAR. 26 MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION HALL 8:30 p.m., MAR. 27 thru MAR. 31 • MATINEES • Sat. Mar. 31 at 2:30 p.m. Sun. Apr. 1 at 1:30 & 5:30 p.m. TICKETS ON SALE AT SEARS ROEBUCK COMPANY CORAL GABLES ALL SEATS RESERVED $3.75, $3.00, $2.25, $1.50 SPECIAL CHILD'S PRICES Mor. 26 at 7:00 p.m. Mor, 31 at 2:30 p.m. $1.90, $1.50, $1.75, 75c MAIL ORDERS: Send stamped, addressed return envelope with remittance to CONVENTION HALL PHONE ORDERS CALL Miami Beach JE 4-2147 or 4-2148

Survey of 520 Families Finds Them Basically Happy With City

(Continued from Page 1) clean and quiet," said the report, drawn up by Larry Adams, Jaycee chairman of the Community Development Program, and Mort Guilford Jaycee president. Our citizens like the favorable image of Coral Gables and the projection of it caused them to come here, they reported. Here is a composite of the Gableites' own image: He has a high degree of education — more than half the heads of households are college grads. And more than 50% were businessmen, professional men and executives. Three out of four owned air conditioned homes and the soothing tones of hi fi or stereo help them relax. Forty-two percent own dishwashers, dryers and deep freezers and half have two or more cars in every garage. And two-thirds of those surveyed have stocks and bonds. Despite their leaders' general opposition to Metro, more than half said they favored it and percentage was 58 percent among men. The majority saw conflicting and overlapping government service. Few of those interviewed knew of the existence of slums in Coral Gables and many were surprised to learn that part of the "Coconut Grove" Negro area is in the Gables. Catholics made up the largest single Christian group with 17.4%, followed by Methodists, 13.3%; Presbyterians, 12.7% and Episcopalian, 10.8%. Jews were the largest non-Christian group with 8.5% and 10.4% indicated no religious preference. Reading is the most popular pastime with Gableites, but the survey indicated they don't read much about their City since many were not informed about the activities of their government and its programs. Of those interviewed 43% said they didn't know about adequate plan, 18% said they had insufficient knowledge. Golf and fishing ranked second and third among pastimes. Only three percent of the interviewed are divorced, 8.7% are widowed, 6.1% single and a whopping 82.2% married. Most owned their own homes, 89.1%, while 10.9% rented and 42.9% owned additional property. Coral Gables was a place of work for only 27.7%. Most residents work in Miami, 57.5% or some other community. Gableites eat out of town, have their autos serviced here, go to movies here, see a local doctor, and dentist, but go to Miami for legal advice. More than half — 53.3% like the service their local newspaper gives them. Another 31.8% find it adequate. And there you have a pretty good idea what the typical Gableite is like. Adams, aided by 83 other Jaycees, worked an estimated 2,114 man hours. Yet, they spent only $500 in producing what has been estimated to be a $10,000 report. Survey teams attacked the city on three fronts. The community had been broken up into three areas, one north of Coral Way; another south to South Dixie Highway, and the third, everything south of that. A total of 600 persons were contacted by the Jaycee survey teams. Of these, 80 failed to complete the questionnaires in satisfactory form, so the Jaycees wound up with 520 useful forms. Processing the eight-page question forms proved to be a monumental job for the Jaycees, so they enlisted the aid of First Research Corporation.

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Memo To Hon. Stephen C. O'Connell, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Florida

Dear Judge: There are times when you just can't win for losing. They shoulda asked who was buried in Grant's tomb before sending the Caddy. With some more Republicans in the State Legislature, we can give you up-to-date, com-mon-sense laws to interpret. Respectfully, AL SCHRADER, GOP nominee for State Legislature PAID POL. ADV.