The Miami Herald, Inc.; a Knight Ridder publication. One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 - Sunday, December 22, 1996 Edition: Final Section: Neighbors MB Page: 2 Word Count: 547
Rick Jervis; Herald Staff Writer

But not if its future neighbors have any say in it.

A group of 20 or so irate North Beach neighbors on Wednesday asked Miami Beach commissioners to revoke an October Design Review Board approval of the clinic slated for 1221 71st St.

After a lengthy legal tango between attorneys representing each side, commissioners refused to reverse the board's decision. Commissioners Martin Shapiro, Nancy Liebman, Sy Eisenberg and Susan Gottlieb voted to overturn the decision with commissioners David Pearlson, Neisen Kasdin and Mayor Seymour Gelber dissenting.

Five votes are required to overturn a decision by the design review board.

"I have never lived in a community where you could lose by a majority," said Richard Richmond, one of the North Beach residents balking at the clinic. "They never gave us the opportunity to speak."

Jeff Cynamon, the attorney representing the citizens, said the commission should reverse the decision because nearby residents were never given proper notice of the board's hearing.

But the technicality only skimmed the deeper issues.

"I'm against the people who would go to the clinic," said Esther Webberman, who lives with her husband and five children less than 300 yards from the proposed site. "It'll also bring down the property value. I want my neighborhood to improve, not deteriorate."

Stanley C. Myers is a community health center offering primary outpatient care. Through federal funding, it offers services on a sliding fee scale -- even to patients with no insurance -- from its offices at 710 Alton Rd.

But there is a need for a similar clinic in North Beach, said Beverly Press, the center's chief executive officer.

Of the center's 15,000 registered patients this year, 4,000 were from North Beach, she said. The majority of those patients traveled to South Beach on public transportation.

"There is a population of people that need our services there," Press said. "It's not that easy for mom with her kids or a pregnant woman to get down here by public transportation."

The push to get a satellite center in North Beach began four years ago -- but has endured four year's worth of resistance from neighbors.

Twelve sites have been suggested around the Normandy Isle area of North Beach. Neighbors have protested all of them.

"The people are reclaiming their neighborhoods," said Richmond, the North Beach resident. "They have a right to an enhanced social and business climate. I don't think this clinic does that."

But the proposed center does not attract "undesirables," Press said. It does not treat drug addicts or the mentally ill.

Two doctors at the proposed 9,000-square-foot center would mostly diagnose pregnancy and test for HIV, Press said.

"We do not bring in populations to cities," she said. "If they have homeless living there, will we treat them if they come to our center? Absolutely."

But the center does have its supporters in North Beach.

Carlos Fernandez, principal of Biscayne Elementary, said he has tried on many occasions to bring an affordable health center to the area.

"There's a great need for the clinic here," he said. "If we ever get a clinic nearby, it would really be a miracle."

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