ALTERNATIVE PARKING INCENTIVES FOR MAIN USE GARAGES

AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, BY AMENDING CHAPTER 130, ENTITLED "OFF-STREET PARKING," ARTICLE ILL, ENTITLED "DESIGN STANDARDS," AT SECTION 130-68, ENTITLED "COMMERCIAL AND NONCOMMERCIAL PARKING GARAGES," TO PROVIDE FOR ALTERNATIVE PARKING INCENTIVES, INCLUDING NON-PARKING USES, WITHIN MAIN USE COMMERCIAL AND NONCOMMERCIAL PARKING GARAGES, AND TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING UNITS; AND AMENDING ARTICLE II, ENTITLED "DISTRICTS; REQUIREMENTS," AT SECTION 130-32, ENTITLED "OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR PARKING DISTRICT NO. 1," TO ELIMINATE THE PARKING REQUIREMENT WITHIN PARKING DISTRICT NO. 1 FOR WORKFORCE HOUSING UNITS LOCATED WITHIN A MAIN USE PARKING GARAGE; AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, REPEALER, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

HISTORY

On February 13, 2019, at the request of Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman, the City Commission referred the proposed ordinance amendment to the Land Use and Development Committee and Planning Board. (Item C4 N).  On March 06, 2019 the LUDC discussed a draft ordinance and recommended that the City Commission approve the ordinance by acclamation.

PLANNING ANALYSIS

Under Chapter 130 of the City Code (Off-Street Parking), incentives for providing alternative modes of transportation are provided which allow for corresponding reductions in the minimum off-street parking requirements. These alternatives to vehicular parking include short- and long-term bicycle parking, carpool and vanpool parking, dedicated drop-off and loading for ride share services, scooter parking, and dedicated shower facilities.

Recently, a main use parking structure project proposed to incorporate a number of these alternative modes, but the corresponding reduction in parking spaces resulted in a decrease in the amount of allowable accessory uses within building.  Within a main use garage, the allowable accessory uses are limited to a percentage of the space used for parking, and is currently limited to no more than 25% of the square footage of the parking structure. In order to allow for the parking alternatives to be used within main use garages, and still allow for a reasonable amount of accessory uses, a proposal has been drafted to increase the percentage of allowable accessory uses, based upon parking reductions associated with the alternative parking incentives. In this regard, the following is proposed:

In addition to this revision, modifications for the allowable percentages of workforce and affordable housing within main use garages is proposed, as well as a zero-parking requirement for such housing units. In this regard, the maximum percentage of allowable accessory uses related to workforce and affordable housing would increase from 25% to 35%. Also, since it is becoming more common for these types of units to be leased to people that do not have a personal vehicle, dedicated parking is not as critical.

Finally, a number of much needed, non-substantive clean-up changes to the text of the relevant sections of the ordinance are proposed.

PLANNING BOARD REVIEW

On April 30, 2019, the Planning Board held a public hearing and transmitted the ordinance to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation by a vote of 7-0.