Ranch-style single-family house at 1208 Asturia Ave. in Coral Gables. Photo: GoogleA plan by a member of Miami’s Valls family, owners of the famous Versailles restaurant, to demolish a ranch-style Coral Gables house seemed imminent but another challenge is planned by preservationists.
The house at 1208 Asturia Ave. doesn’t catch the eye with striking architecture in a city known for its ornate Mediterranean-style mansions. But the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house has historical claims.
The home built in 1937 was designed by influential Miami Beach architect Russell Pancoast, who also designed the Art Deco-style Bass museum building, and retains many of its original features.
Lourdes Valls, whose family runs the Versailles and La Carreta Cuban restaurants, bought the house for $875,000 in 2018.
Valls sought a city demolition permit as two municipal boards rejected preservationists’ push to designate the house as historic.
Next-door neighbor Maria Cerda, who owns the house at 1216 Asturia Ave., is filing a writ of certiorari against the city asking the court to award a historic designation.
Miami attorney and civic activist David Winker, who represents Cerda, planned to file a petition Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court along with a request for an emergency injunction to stop the city from issuing the permit.
“We are bringing this lawsuit to ensure the city of Coral Gables, who has a long history of historic preservation, follows its own laws,” Winker said. “This is another example of an unacceptable special deal for special people. This is not the first ranch-style house to be preserved.”
City Attorney Miriam Soler Ramos said she couldn’t comment on the writ specifically but maintained the city followed its own rules in denying a historic designation.
“The city strictly followed the provision of the zoning code relating to historic preservation and appeals, as well as all other pertinent regulations, and provided all parties with the due process afforded to them under the law,” Ramos said in an email.
Valls in September asked the city Historical Resources & Cultural Arts Department for a historical significance determination, a procedural request before seeking demolition.
Interim Historic Preservation Officer Kara Kautz issued a recommendation in January in favor of a designation, but the Historic Preservation Board in March voted against it.
Cerda appealed to the City Commission, which on May 26 upheld the board vote.
Winker raised a due process argument, noting Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli sent a memo to historic board members before they first considered the item signaling his opposition.
Paul Savage, partner at Rasco Klock Perez & Nieto who represented Cerda in her appeal to the commission, questioned the board’s independence, noting Valdés-Fauli has the power to appoint board members and weighs appeals on board decisions,
Valdés-Fauli, who didn’t return a request for comment by deadline, recused himself from voting on the issue.
Arguments offered by Valls’ architect focus mostly on the house’s value and how expensive it would be to restore, Winker said.
“The writ of certiorari can be based on three categories: lack of due process, lack of following the essential requirements of the law and a lack of substantial competent evidence to support the decisions. It’s very unusual to have all three as glaringly problematic,” he said.
Valls’ attorney, Gunster shareholder Mario Garcia-Serra in Miami, said she would continue her fight against historic designation.
“Ms. Valls is prepared to vigorously defend the city’s denial of historic designation. As has been determined by both the Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board and the City Commission, the ranch home at 1208 Asturia is not a building which merits historic designation,” Garcia-Serra said in an email.
Winker asked Ramos for a stay on the issuance of a demolition permit, citing a 30-day appeal window that expires next Thursday.
Ramos, the city attorney, said the city “in good faith” won’t issue a permit until Tuesday to give Winker time to seek a court order staying the permit.
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June 20, 2020 at 04:14AM
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