On Monday, the Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board decided that development of Pioneer Gardens, the North Miami affordable housing project, will continue despite the fact that developers recently found thousands of tons of soil contaminated with asbestos. The CRA board rejected its residents’ advisory committee’s recommendation that the project be shut down. Because the city gave the property to the CRA, the CRA Board recognized that it would have to clean up the property whether or not the project continued. The Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resource Management will be consulted in developing the remediation plan. The CRA is likely to seek funding from the state or the county to assist in the asbestos removal. When it is completed, Pioneer Gardens will provide 136 affordable housing units. The project is scheduled for completed by 2009, and it is not yet clear how much clean-up of the contaminated soil may delay the project.
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