The fight over gym equipment at a Downtown Miami park was expected to be resolved at the ballot box but now is in the court system.
A group of Miami voters filed a lawsuit on Sunday that seeks to have a referendum regarding gym equipment taken off the Aug. 20 ballot.
Under the referendum, voters are being asked whether the already-installed gym equipment at Maurice Ferré Park should remain in place.
The city's planning, zoning and appeals board previously said the installation of the equipment did not have the proper permitting.
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The gym equipment in the park is currently fenced off.
The referendum, titled "Keeping installed outdoor gym equipment at Maurice A. Ferré Park," states:
"Shall the City of Miami keep already installed outdoor gym equipment like in many of our parks at the City park located at 1075 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132, also known as Maurice A. Ferré Park, to enhance recreational facilities and promote community health and fitness for all our residents?"
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The lawsuit, filed by a group of six residents, seeks to remove the referendum from the ballot, and also seeks to stop the results from being tabulated and released.
The suit claims the referendum violates Miami's zoning code and Florida's voting laws, and violates Florida statutes that ballot language be clear and unambiguous.
"The language of Referendum 3 omits vital information, and is unclear and misleading to voters," the suit claims. "The ballot language, for example, fails to communicate to voters whether the referendum is binding or non-binding, what, if any, official action may result from the referendum, and contains unlawful editorial commentary designed to suggest the City’s desired electoral result."
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo is leading the fight to keep the gym equipment in place.
"Why is it that over 40 of Miami's parks, in the city of Miami, have outdoor exercise gym equipment, people use it all the time, they have no problems, but in this park, they say nobody would use it, they don't want it, they claim," Carollo said.
The Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Department released a statement about the lawsuit on Monday.
"The Miami-Dade County Elections Department is aware of the lawsuit, but we have not yet been served. Once received, we will review the complaint with the County Attorneys Office and proceed accordingly," the statement read.
