Some elected leaders were outraged last fall when word leaked that the Related Group paid two neighborhood associations for their public support of a hotly contested zoning change to allow a 300-unit luxury condo project. Other nearby associations opposed the change, citing traffic and other growth fears.

Activists say payouts to civic groups are becoming standard practice when local officials take public input on controversial development projects.

"What bothers me most is the secrecy," says Miami activist Ron Nelson. [Photo: Daniel Portnoy]

Now, municipalities across Miami-Dade County are taking a stand against the legal but secret payoffs.

In December the town of Cutler Bay passed an ordinance -- the first in Miami-Dade -- requiring developers to disclose such payments when the project requires a vote by the town council. Miami and the nearby Village of Palmetto Bay, an affluent bedroom community in south Miami-Dade, passed a similar ordinance in March.

Veteran Miami activist Ron Nelson says developers are not always to blame, noting that savvy civic groups often approach developers to propose the deals. "What bothers me most is the secrecy," says Nelson, who is a member of the Coconut Grove Village Council, an elected advisory group to City Hall.

"I think the public -- and the officials who decide the fate of these projects -- should have a right to know when someone stands up on behalf of an organization to declare support for something."