There's an artificial turf war brewing in Miami.
Some residents in Brickell say they're not happy after recent work done by the city added artificial turf to portions of a 10-block stretch of Brickell Avenue.
The turf that was installed around trees was meant to be a beautification project but many who live in the area think it's anything but beautiful and they've been organizing efforts to get rid of it.
Residents said about three weeks ago they started noticing city public works crews laying cement over tree roots then covering it with the fake turf. People said in some cases, perfectly good grass was ripped out and replaced with turf.
The project cost about $300,000, but many neighbors say they want it redone with real grass.
"It's the cement underneath there, the trees can't breathe, all these trees are going to end up dying, plus the feces of the dogs is not decomposing so it's really very unpleasant to pay all these taxes and then come out here and you have feces all over because it's not going to decompose," resident Claudia Jaffee said.
Initially the cement went higher up the trunks of the trees but the public outcry caused the city to break the concrete back a bit.
Commissioners NBC 6 spoke with on Thursday said they hadn't been aware of the project beforehand, but commissioner Ken Russell said they passed a resolution Thursday that says the city can't implement a major project without consulting a local commissioner.
