Item Coversheet


City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov

 Item 16.
COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

TO: Land Use and Sustainability Committee

FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager

DATE: February 18, 2020
TITLE:

Discussion On Repurposing Our Golf Courses For The Future.

HISTORY:

 
At the May 16, 2018 Commission Meeting, the City Commission approved a referral to the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee to discuss the repurposing of municipal golf courses in the future.

The City of Miami Beach has over 500 acres of public green space of which 275 are reserved for our municipal golf courses. The sponsor of the item requested that the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee explore the environmental impact of the City's golf courses and how they could be repurposed to optimize the citywide resiliency plan, taking into consideration the Urban Land Institute's recommendations and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design's study.

CURRENT STATUS

Jacobs Engineering, the City's Design Consultant working on an integrated water management plan, has developed a Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure (BGSI) Strategy for Parks and Open Space, see attached Fact Sheet. As part of Task 1 of the BGSI work order Jacobs Engineering has provided recommendations that summarize their vision on the future use of municipal golf courses in the City of Miami Beach. This vision is briefly described below.

Golf Courses

By their size and open nature, Miami Beach’s two public golf courses (Miami Beach and Normandy Shores Golf Courses) offer unique opportunities to capture large volumes of water. Larger Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure (BGSI) practices that have limited applicability in other sites (i.e., detention basins/surface storage, wet ponds, and constructed wetlands) can be readily integrated into golf courses, especially those that can be reconfigured or repurposed. Fairways can be used for temporary storage when surrounded by perimeter earthen berms while wet ponds can store and treat water before it is used for irrigation.

Given the potential of repurposing golf courses, the Jacobs team developed and presented three high-level preliminary options for the Miami Beach Golf Course involving a range of BGSI options for implementation:

Option 1

The lowest level would maintain all 18 holes of golf – existing water hazards and edges of the golf club would be enhanced and redesigned with blue green practices.

Option 2

Repurposes the back nine holes of the Miami Beach Golf Club to create a new signature park focused on integrating passive and active recreation with a robust BGSI program to mitigate stormwater volumes and improve water quality. In this high-level concept the front nine holes of the Golf Club remain intact as an executive course.

Option 3

Re-imagines the entire golf course to establish a 21st century “Central Park” for Miami Beach. This initial concept sketch explores the potential of a new neighborhood predicated on a Living with Water theme, a recreation hub, and a signature wetland park with hiking and biking trails and passive and active recreation opportunities.

As these are only preliminary concepts, highest and best use analyses should be conducted for the two public golf courses to inform planning discussions regarding the degree to which BGSI could be implemented at these locations.

ANALYSIS:

Results from the 2019 Resident Survey related to perception satisfaction of the City show that 79% of residents were very satisfied/satisfied and rated the City of Miami Beach as a place to live; and 70% were very satisfied/satisfied with the overall image of the City. In order to continue maintaining excellent standards in this area, Jacobs Engineering has developed a BGSI Strategy for golf courses for the Committee member's consideration.

Applicable Area

South Beach
Is this a "Residents Right to Know" item, pursuant to City Code Section 2-14? Does this item utilize G.O. Bond Funds?
Yes No 

Departments

Public Works
ATTACHMENTS:
DescriptionType
GolfCourseConceptsAndPublicInputOther