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City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
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| | | | | | | | | | Item 11.
COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM | | | |
| | | | | | | | TO: Land Use and Sustainability Committee
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| FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
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| DATE: October 20, 2020
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| | | | | | | | | TITLE: | REVIEW THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH EXPERIENCE AND PERSPECTIVES ON PERVIOUS/PERMEABLE PAVEMENT AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR USE.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Discuss the item and provide a set of recommendations for consideration by the full City Commission if applicable.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION:
The administration recommends that the item be concluded and that the LUSC provide recommendations for consideration by the full City Commission if applicable.
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| | | | | | | | HISTORY:
| | On March 18, 2020, at the request of Commissioner Mark Samuelian, the City Commission referred the discussion item to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (Item C4AA). On June 30, 2020 the item was deferred to the September 22, 2020 LUSC. |
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| | | | | | | | ANALYSIS:
| BACKGROUND
Attached is an essay prepared by Mr. Aris Papadopoulos entitled: “Eleven Ideas to Improve Miami Beach’s Resilience Initiatives.” Mr. Papadopoulos is the founder and chair of the Resiliency Action Fund (RAF) and is affiliated with Florida International University's Extreme Events Institute. The following paragraph, quoted from the attached essay, provides the basis for this discussion item:
“Miami Beach could easily integrate two proven water-resilience practices in its own and private road / parking projects .... The first is using full-depth reclamation for all public asphalt roads being resurfaced. This is a method of recycling the worn top coat in the new base, thus making it more resistant to flooding and reducing waste.”
ANALYSIS
Pervious or Permeable Pavements
Under Sec. 130-69 of the Land Development Regulations of the City Code, open-air parking lots, including parking areas and all drive lanes are required to be constructed with one of the following surface finishes:
1. A high albedo surface consisting of a durable material or sealant in order to minimize the urban heat island effect.
2. Porous pavement. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to all and ramps.
Additionally, under the design review and certificate of appropriateness review process, non-vehicular outdoor surface areas, such as walkways and terraces, are typically required to be composed of pervious or high albedo surfaces. The purpose of these regulations is to encourage and facilitate better on-site water retention, as well as reduce the heat island effect on private properties.
Permeable pavement is recognized as a best management practice by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and if designed and constructed correctly it has the potential to become a viable alternative for dealing with stormwater runoff. Due to its open graded composition, permeable pavement allows rain to infiltrate to the underlaying soils beneath the pavement thereby reducing stormwater runoff.
Although there are numerous benefits associated with the use of permeable pavement, the City has been utilizing regular asphalt pavement within public rights-of-way, as opposed to permeable pavement. Factors such as failure due to poor mix design, improper construction techniques and lesser structural strength leading to poor long term performance are some of the reasons that the City has not elected to use permeable pavement in City roads. Additionally, the lack of data, particularly with respect to the long term performance, leads to hesitation in using permeable asphalt pavement.
Reclamation Asphalt Pavements
Full depth asphalt reclamation, also referred to as reclamation asphalt pavement (RAP), rebuilds worn out asphalt pavement by recycling existing roadways. The old asphalt is either milled or crushed; graded uniformly from particles as big as 3 inches down to dust; and then applied uniformly in layers to create the base layer of the roadway pavement. Although this process reduces waste, careful evaluation is required, especially in old pavements that have shown a form of distress such as rutting. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recommends that the State Materials Office be contacted to request their assistance to determine if additional testing is needed before using RAP. FDOT recommends the use of RAP material as a base layer only for paved shoulders, shared use paths or other non-traffic bearing applications.
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| | | | | | | | CONCLUSION:
| The Administration recommends that the LUSC discuss the item and provide appropriate policy direction. If a recommendation is sent to the City Commission, the following is proposed:
1. Continued use of regular asphalt pavement within the City’s ROW.
2. The use of reclamation asphalt pavement RAP shall be consistent with the guidelines of the FDOT pavement manual, and shall only be used within paved shoulders, shared use paths or other non-traffic bearing pavement, where applicable. |
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| | | | | | | | | 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 | |
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