If you wanted a cold drink and a meal by the water in Miami a decade or so ago, you had options. There was Scotty’s Landing in the Grove, Shuckers over in North Bay Village and, before that, Jimbo’s out on Virginia Key. A lot of those old-school waterfront spots are gone now, and the list of places where you can still grab a drink, order some food and sit by the water without much fuss has gotten pretty short. These days, Gramps Getaway on Virginia Key is one of the few places left.
But over the last month, Gramps Getaway has taken on a new role: something of a campaign headquarters, with Adam Gersten — the bar’s owner — emerging as a prominent face of the opposition to city of Miami Referendum 3.
The ballot item, if approved, would allow Virginia Key LLC — a joint venture between Texas-based Suntex Marinas and Miami Beach-based RCI Marine Group — to lease and redevelop about 28 acres of city-owned land in Virginia Key, including the city-operated Marine Stadium Marina and the Rickenbacker Marina, where the bar is located. The stretch of land starts just south of Rusty Pelican, which is not part of the planned redevelopment…