A court blocked demolition of Coral Gables ranch home in historic preservation battle

Coral Gables preservationists’ long-running campaign to save an early and potentially historic ranch-style house took on unexpected new life on Tuesday when a Miami-Dade County court blocked the home’s impending demolition.

The brief order by a judge in the appellate division of Miami-Dade Circuit Court came a day after an emergency hearing in an appeal by a Gables resident who is challenging a controversial city commission decision not to declare the 1930s house a protected historic and architectural landmark.

The court’s temporary order complicates and extends what has already been a tangled and increasingly bitter battle pitting preservationists and some Gables residents against the city administration, Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli and the prominent family that owns the home.

It gives the city 20 days to respond to a legal challenge by Gables resident Vicki Cerda, who is asking the appellate court to override a pair of 2-2 votes by the city commission that essentially cleared the way for the home’s demolition. In doing so, Cerda argues, the city commission violated the Gables’ famously strict preservation ordinance.

It is unclear whether the 20-day block will affect the final outcome of the case.

The city’s preservation office, in a lengthy report, strongly concluded the house, designed by noted architect Russell Pancoast, meets three of the legal criteria for protection as a landmark. The report says the house marked a skilled and deliberate turn to modern architecture from the official Mediterranean style of the Gables’ early years.

Cerda’s brief accuses Valdés-Fauli of exerting undue influence in the case. It cites what the appeal describes as “inappropriate” emails and a letter from the mayor, a vocal opponent of designating the house, to his colleagues on the city commission and to members of the historic preservation board. The board narrowly voted against landmark designation after initially failing to reach a decisive vote. Valdés-Fauli recused himself from the city commission votes in part because of those messages.

Because some of those communications came as the commission was considering Cerda’s appeal of the preservation board vote against historic designation, she argues the city violated her due-process rights. In her appeal, Cerda suggests the mayor’s interventions were motivated by “thousands” of dollars in past contributions to his political campaigns by members of the Valls family, who own the home and the Versailles and La Carreta restaurant chain.

At the same time, Cerda contends, the city erroneously told her she could not contact commissioners because of the appeal hearing’s quasi-judicial nature. In fact, her brief says, commissioners would only have to disclose that such communications occurred and state those would not unduly sway their votes.

Valdés-Fauli did not immediately respond to a request for comment emailed to his Gables account and to the city’s spokeswoman. An attorney representing the Valls family in the case also did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

In voting down designation of the house, Cerda and her attorney argue, the preservation board and the city commission ignored the ample evidence in favor of its historic value, while the Valls family failed to present any factual countervailing evidence to refute the city preservation office’s conclusions. The Gables preservation ordinance says the city “shall” designate properties found to satisfy at least one of the legal criteria.

“We want the city commission to do what they’re actually supposed to do, which is look at the actual evidence and apply the actual law,” said Cerda’s attorney, David Winker.

The Pancoast house has become a flashpoint for preservationists and Gables residents worried that the city’s famous tradition of strong protections for historic properties is waning amid a redevelopment boom that’s remaking the face of the City Beautiful. The wave extends from massive new projects downtown and along major commercial corridors to demolition of scores of homes every year, most of them mid-20th Century houses, to make way for larger modern structures.

It’s the third recent case in which the preservation board has declined to designate structures harking back to the city’s beginnings in the 1920s and 1930s, overriding strong recommendations in favor of protections from its own preservation officers. In his letter objecting to designation of the Pancoast house, Valdés-Fauli derided the notion of protecting a ranch house and said preservation in the city had gone too far, harming real-estate interests.

But city preservation director Kara Kautz told preservation board members and commissioners that the Pancoast house is singular because it marks a clear turning point in the Gables’ architectural history. The office reviewed the house because the city ordinance requires an analysis of properties older than 50 years for historic or architectural value when owners apply for demolition permits.

Members of the Valls family have said they purchased the home with the idea of renovating and expanding it for their own use, but decided to replace it when they realized it would be impractical to do so.

After the city informed Cerda that it intended to issue the demolition permit, Cerda’s attorney asked a Miami-Dade circuit judge over the weekend for a 48-hour stay so he could file a petition asking the court’s appellate division for an injunction barring demolition. In a hearing Monday, the city’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued against the broader order halting demolition for 20 days.

It’s unclear what the granting of the order portends for Cerda’s case. Courts typically defer to municipalities’ interpretation of their own zoning codes but will step in in cases where city officials have violated the rules or due-process rights.

Gables City Attorney Miriam Ramos said Tuesday the city will comply with the court order and prepare a response to Cerda’s petition.