PARKING REQUIREMENTS IN HISTORIC AND CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, SUBPART B, ENTITLED “LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS,” BY AMENDING CHAPTER 130 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED “OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS,” ARTICLE II, ENTITLED “DISTRICTS; REQUIREMENTS,” SECTION 130-31, ENTITLED “PARKING DISTRICTS ESTABLISHED,” SECTION 130-32, ENTITLED “OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR PARKING DISTRICT NO. 1” AND SECTION 130-33, ENTITLED “OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR PARKING DISTRICTS NOS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, AND 8,” TO AMEND THE PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL, HOTEL, NON-RESIDENTIAL AND ACCESSORY USES LOCATED WITHIN HISTORIC DISTRICTS, HISTORIC SITES AND CONSERVATION DISTRICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, REPEALER, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

HISTORY

On January 16, 2019, at the request of Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman, the City Commission referred the subject discussion item to the Land Use and Development Committee (Item C4 AC).  On March 6, 2019 the Land Use and Development Committee discussed the item and directed staff to draft an ordinance for review at the May 22, 2019 meeting.

On May 22, 2019 the LUDC discussed the proposed ordinance and recommended that the City Commission refer the item to the planning board for review and consideration. On June 5, 2019, the City Commission referred the proposed ordinance to the Planning Board for review and recommendation (Item C4 U). 

On July 9, 2019, the Historic Preservation Board discussed the item and recommended that the North Shore National Register Historic District and Normandy Isles National Register Historic District be excluded from the proposed ordinance. The board believed that eliminating parking would remove the existing incentives to retain a contributing building, resulting in more demolition.  The HPB further recommended that the City Commission review the needs of each of the City’s historic and conservation districts before substantially modifying the parking requirements.

BACKGROUND

Chapter 130 of the land development regulations of the city code sets forth the minimum parking requirements for new construction and additions to existing buildings. For residential apartment uses, the following is a summary of the current minimum parking requirements:

Parking District No. 1:

·        Apartment buildings in RM-1 or RM-2 zoning districts on lots that are 65 feet in width or less: No parking requirement.

·        Apartment buildings in RM-1 or RM-2 zoning districts on lots wider than 65 feet: One space per unit for units between 550 and 1,600 square feet; two spaces per unit for units above 1,600 square feet.

·        Apartment units in all other zoning districts:

1. One and one-half spaces per unit for units between 550 and 999 square feet;

2. One and three-quarters spaces per unit for units between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet;

3. Two spaces per unit for units above 1,200 square feet.

·        Designated guest parking: Developments of 20 units or less shall have no designated guest parking requirements. Multi-family buildings and suites-hotels with more than 20 units shall be required to provide supplemental designated guest parking equal to ten percent of the required residential parking spaces.

Parking Districts 2 through 8:

·        Apartment buildings on lots that are 50 feet in width or less: 1.5 spaces per unit.

·        Apartment buildings on lots wider than 50 feet:

1. One and one-half spaces per unit for units between 550 and 999 square feet;
2. One and three-quarters spaces per unit for units between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet;
3. Two spaces per unit for units above 1,200 square feet.

·        Designated guest parking: Developments of 20 units or less shall have not designated guest parking requirements. Multifamily buildings and suites-hotels with more than 20 units shall be required to provide supplemental designated guest parking equal to ten percent of the required residential parking spaces.

Additional Regulations for Parking District 5:

·        For apartment buildings located within parking district no. 5, there shall be no designated guest parking requirement; there shall be no parking requirement for existing structures utilized for residential apartments; one space per unit for new construction and/or additions utilized for residential apartments.

North Shore National Register District:

·        Zero spaces per unit for:

1. Buildings on lots that are 65 feet in width or less;

2. development sites with six units or less, regardless of lot width;

3. New buildings on development sites with existing buildings that do not contain off-street parking, where total number of new units does not exceed the number of existing units.

·        One space per unit for buildings on lots greater than 65 feet in width. In the event that the property owner can substantiate that the proposed new construction will not need to provide off-street parking, the design review board or historic preservation board, as applicable, may waive the parking requirement.

·        For existing apartment, apartment-hotel and hotel buildings, which are classified as "contributing" and of which at least 75 percent of the front and street side elevations, and 25 percent of interior side elevations, are substantially retained, preserved and restored, there shall be no parking requirement for the existing structure, and any new additions, whether attached or detached, regardless of lot width and number of units.

Normandy Isles National Register District:

·        For existing apartment and apartment-hotel buildings, which are classified as "contributing", and which are being substantially retained, preserved and restored, there shall be no parking requirement for the existing structure, and any addition up to a maximum of 2,500 square feet, whether attached or detached.

PLANNING ANALYSIS

The administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the subject ordinance.