WEST AVENUE BAY FRONT OVERLAY - REMOVAL OF SUITE HOTELS
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 142, ENTITLED “ZONING DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS,” ARTICLE III, ENTITLED “OVERLAY DISTRICTS,” DIVISION 5, ENTITLED “WEST AVENUE BAY FRONT OVERLAY,” TO REMOVE SUITE HOTEL AND SUITE HOTEL UNITS AS ALLOWABLE USES IN THE WEST AVENUE BAY FRONT OVERLAY; AND PROVIDING FOR REPEALER, CODIFICATION, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

HISTORY

On February 12, 2020, at the request of Commissioner Mark Samuelian, the City Commission referred a discussion to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (Item C4V), regarding uses in the West Avenue Bayfront Overlay. The item was placed on the March 17, 2020 agenda of the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (LUSC). The March 17, 2020 LUSC meeting was postponed, and the item was moved to the May 26, 2020 LUSC agenda. On May 26, 2020 the LUSC discussed the item and continued it to the June 30, 2020 meeting, with direction to the administration to prepare a draft ordinance that removes suites hotels as an allowable use in the West Avenue Overlay District.

On June 30, 2020 the LUSC discussed the draft ordinance and recommended that the City Commission refer it to the Planning Board. The LUSC also recommended that an applicability section be included, which would allow those applications that obtained a building permit process number prior to the effective date of the ordinance to proceed. On July 29, 2020 at the request of the Commissioner Mark Samuelian, the City Commission referred the ordinance (C4F) to the Planning Board for review and recommendation.

BACKGROUND
The West Avenue Bayfront Overlay District is comprised of RM-1, residential multifamily low intensity and RM-2, residential multifamily medium intensity zoning districts. There are no historic districts or individually designated historic sites with the overlay district. The attached map indicates the area of the West Avenue Bayfront Overlay District. The darker shading denotes the area zoned RM-2, and the lighter shading denotes the area zoned RM-1.

The City Commission adopted the Overlay District on June 19th, 2002, (Ord. No. 2002-3374). The primary reason for the creation of the overlay was to preserve the character and quality of the neighborhoods fronting West Avenue, which was being impacted by infill development that did not reflect the cohesive low scale character of the area. The subject overlay, by expanding the list of main permitted uses for existing low-scale buildings in the neighborhood to include suite hotels and bed and breakfast inns, created incentives to retain and adaptively re-use existing single family and/or multifamily buildings that are no more than three (3) stories in height. Additionally, the parking regulations were modified to include the allowance for a limited number of parking spaces within required front yards.

On October 16, 2013, the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 2013-3820, prohibiting hotel uses within the West Avenue area. This applies to the properties zoned RM-2 and RM-3. Elsewhere in the City, hotels are a main permitted use within RM-2 and RM-3 zoning districts, except for the West Avenue and Palm View neighborhoods. The concern with hotel uses in the neighborhood initially arose after the introduction of the Mondrian Hotel at 1100 West Avenue. In order to address the concerns expressed by the hotels that were legally operating within the West Avenue Overlay, the amended code included the following provisions:

Section 142-212(b) - Main Permitted uses (RM-2):
“…A property that has a "legal conforming use" as used in this subsection prior to May 28, 2013, may retain all, and apply for new, expansions and modifications to, permitted, conditional and/or accessory uses permitted in the zoning category as of May 28, 2013, and apply for building permits to add, improve and/or expand existing structures, or construct new structures for permitted, conditional and/or accessory uses permitted in the zoning category, if FAR remains available.”

Section 142-245. Prohibited uses (RM-3):
“The prohibited uses in the RM-3 residential multifamily, high intensity district are…; for property located within the West Avenue corridor, hostels; for properties located within the West Avenue corridor, hotels and apartment hotels, except to the extent preempted by F.S. § 509.032(7), and unless a legal conforming use. Properties that voluntarily cease to operate as a hotel for a consecutive three-year period shall not be permitted to later resume such hotel operation. Without limitation, (a) involuntary hotel closures due to casualty, or (b) cessation of hotel use of individual units of a condo-hotel, shall not be deemed to be ceasing hotel operations pursuant to the preceding sentence.”

Separate from the West Avenue Overlay District there are citywide regulations pertaining to bed and breakfast inns and Suite Hotels. When the West Avenue Overlay District was created in 2002, more specific regulations for Suite Hotels and Bed and Breakfast Inns were included, which were tailored for the neighborhood.