On May 15, 2024, the Mayor and City Commission referred item C4 D (Exhibit A), sponsored by Vice-Mayor Laura Dominguez, to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC), to discuss the installation of positive mental health affirmation signage at Bayshore Park.

On April 16, 2024 the City of Miami Beach Youth Commission unanimously passed a motion recommending the Mayor and City Commission create signage with positive mental health affirmations along the jogging trail/butterfly garden in Bayshore Park to coincide with the park opening in Fall 2025.

Bayshore Park is approximately 19.4 acres and is located at 2300 Pine Tree Drive. The park is located between Miami Beach Senior High School and the Scott Rakow Youth Center and will host many youth who reside in Miami Beach.

The new park will include a children’s playground for different ages, exercise station, sports tennis courts, pathways, jogging trails, and a dog park. The park will also include a bathroom/office building, site furnishings, lake with infrastructure for future connection to the neighborhood drainage system, lake circulation and ozone water treatment system, and lake littoral zone. In addition, the park will feature entrance and park identification signs, a parking lot, lighting system, landscaping including the butterfly garden, an irrigation system, and connection to the utilities and FPL system.

On May 19, 2016, the City executed an agreement with Savino Miller Design Studio (SMDS) for the Landscaping, Architectural, and Engineering Design Services for the Bayshore Park Project. The park’s design was presented at many public meetings including the Design Review Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Sustainability Committee, and the Bayshore Homeowner’s Association.

On December 14, 2022, the Mayor and City Commission approved the award of a contract to Buslam Company Partners Inc., for the construction of the Bayshore Park. The City hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on September 19, 2023.

Bayshore Park is currently under construction, and is approximately thirty (30%) complete, with an anticipated completion of Fall of 2025.

The City of Miami Beach Youth Commission has expressed that one of the biggest problems faced by teens in our City is mental health. The Youth Commission’s initiative of creating positive affirmation and mental health signage in Bayshore Park aims to help tackle this prevalent issue in our community.

Bayshore Park will have an expansive jogging trail circling and bordering different parts of the park, including the butterfly garden. The Youth Commission believes that butterfly garden can provide calming places where people relax, meditate, and enjoy nature, and their proposal is to install positive affirmation and mental health signage along the jogging trail in the portion of the park where it borders the butterfly garden. The signage could serve as a validating and educational tool, raising awareness about the importance of mental health and destigmatizing conversations surrounding mental health struggles and burnout. Through carefully crafted messages, visitors may gain insights into coping strategies, mindfulness practices, and resources available for mental health support within the community. Examples of positive affirmation and mental health signage artwork can be seen in Exhibit B. If implemented, such signage would be the first of its kind in City parks.

This initiative proposes that the artwork for the positive affirmation and mental health signage be created by local Miami Beach artists and art students at Miami Beach Senior High, thereby highlighting Miami Beach artists and youth while achieving the goal of improving mental health throughout the City.

Messaging for the signs could be implemented from the Poetry Project, a social experiment originating to promote mental health awareness and well-being within the London Underground. The Poetry Project has experienced considerable growth over time and there would be no cost for using quotes from this project.

The inclusion of signage featuring positive mental health affirmations in Bayshore Park aligns with the City’s commitment to promote the well-being of the community members, especially our youth. Creating a supportive and uplifting environment within the park can empower individuals to prioritize their mental health and foster a sense of belonging.

The Youth Commission’s vision for this initiative would include 12 to 16 different, double-sided signs, using a typical size for traffic signs of approximately 12” X 18”, with an introduction sign stating information about the initiative, how it was created by the Youth Commission and listing accessible mental health resources. The colorful signs would be installed on poles that would border the jogging trail in the area where it borders the butterfly garden.

City staff has shared the Youth Commission’s proposal with SMDS who expressed a preference “to keep the park virtually sign free, allowing the user to curate his/her own feelings for the park experience.” Concerned that the signs could be distracting to park views, and subjected to vandalism, the consultant suggested that similar results could be achieved through the use of fewer and smaller signs with QR codes, allowing for varying messages and greater flexibility.

Should the Committee elect to consider this initiative, City staff will need to coordinate permitting, including the preparation and approval by the Building Department of a sign permit, and explore potential zoning restrictions and the design of the poles. The Administration has not yet determined the potential cost implications for the design, permitting, manufacturing and installation.