A RESOLUTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE NORTH BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY TRANSMITTING THE DRAFT NORTH BEACH REDEVELOPMENT PLAN TO THE CITY'S PLANNING BOARD FOR REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO ITS CONFORMITY WITH THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, AS REQUIRED BY SECTION 163.360(4) OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES.

Adopt the Resolution which transmits the draft Redevelopment Plan, in substantial form, for review by the Planning Board, as required by Florida law.

On February 14, 2018, the City Commission, via Resolution No. 2018-30170, accepted the recommendation of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) and authorized the Administration to discuss creation of a North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (NBCRA) with Miami-Dade County..

On February 14, 2018, the City Commission, via Resolution No. 2018-30171, accepted the recommendation of the Neighborhoods & Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) and authorized development of a “Quality of Life Plan” consistent with the North Beach Master Plan, with such projects to be funded by a dedicated funding stream such as a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

On July 25, 2018, the City Commission, via Resolution No. 2018-30432, accepted the recommendation of the NCAC to commence CRA discussions with Miami-Dade County, in order to fund projects contained in the “Quality of Life Plan” and originating from the North Beach Master Plan.

On July 17, 2019, the City Commission, via Resolution No. 2019-30892, adopted a Finding a Necessity, declaring that a blighted area (as defined in Section 163.340, Florida Statutes) exists within the area generally bounded by 87^th Terrace to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, 65^th Street to the south, and Rue Notre Dame to the west (the “North Beach Redevelopment Area”).

On July 8, 2020, the Board of County Commissioners of Miami-Dade County adopted Resolution No. R-619-20, accepting the Finding of Necessity and delegating to the City of Miami Beach the powers to create the North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency ( “NBCRA”) and to prepare and adopt a community redevelopment plan for the North Beach Redevelopment Area within one year.

On February 10, 2021, City Commission Resolution No. 2021-31596 formally established the agency known as the North Beach CRA, and declared the Mayor and City Commission to be its governing body, with the City Manager and City Attorney serving as the NBCRA’s Executive Director and General Counsel, respectively.  

The Community Redevelopment Act of 1969, Chapter 163, Florida Statutes, governs CRAs and the use of a portion of existing property taxes for economic revitalization purposes.  By adopting the Finding of Necessity in 2019, the Mayor and City Commission declared a need for a CRA to carry out community redevelopment and reverse the economic decline in North Beach. Upon accepting the Finding of Necessity, Miami-Dade County Resolution R-16-20 delegated statutory powers to the City to create a CRA, for which the City Commission took formal action in February 2021.

As part of the process of preparing a redevelopment plan, the Community Redevelopment Act requires the CRA to submit the plan to the local planning agency for review and recommendations as to its conformity with the City’s Comprehensive Plan for the development of the municipality as a whole. Pursuant to Section 163.360, Florida Statutes, only after receiving recommendations from the local planning agency, in this case the City’s Planning Board, can the CRA take action to adopt the plan. Subsequent to the week-long public design charrette in January 2021, the City Administration and its consultant team have prepared a draft Redevelopment Plan for the North Beach CRA, which is attached as Exhibit “A" of the Resolution accompanying this Memorandum (the “Redevelopment Plan or “Plan”).

As documented in recent Letters to Commission (LTC 434-2020 and LTC 456-2020), the public has been invited on several occasions to learn about the Plan and contribute feedback. Following a December 15, 2020 public kick off meeting to introduce the Plan’s format and field questions from 80 participants, the January 2021 public design charrette was attended by 580 participants over six (6) interactive public sessions and eight (8) focus group sessions representing diverse stakeholder interests.

During the public design charrette, members of the public articulated five overarching concepts which have been explicitly incorporated into strategies within the Redevelopment Plan:

1.    Use the CRA/Tax Increment Financing to implement existing plans;

2.    Focus on short-term successes that build confidence;

3.    Increase resilience;

4.    Attract investment that is transformative, but respectful of context; and

5.    Build staff capacity to represent North Beach.

At a March 8, 2021 virtual meeting, the City presented a summary of the draft Redevelopment Plan and hosted a public discussion for over 100 participants. In addition to social media and email announcements, the City mailed a bilingual postcard flyer to over 21,000 North Beach households and commercial properties, inviting them to review the draft Plan online, provide comment, and attend the March 8 virtual meeting. Since the March 8 virtual meeting date, the draft Plan has been available online for review and public comment on the City’s website, as well as recordings of all of the foregoing public virtual events and related public presentations, at www.miamibeachfl.gov/NorthBeachCRA.

It is anticipated that the Ad Hoc North Beach CRA Advisory Committee will provide input on the draft Plan, but the timeline for the Committee’s involvement cannot be estimated until Committee members are appointed by the City Commission and meetings commence. It is currently projected that in May 2021, the City Commission and CRA Board will formally adopt and transmit the Redevelopment Plan to Miami-Dade County for approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

Consistent with the goals articulated in the North Beach Quality of Life Plan, the most recent City of Miami Beach Resident Satisfaction Survey noted that, among participants’ highest priorities, are the condition and cleanliness of streets and efforts to manage stormwater drainage and flooding. Over 580 people participated during the charrette process and 74% of those who responded to polling expressed high interest in seeing CRA funds spent on resilience measures such as higher roads, drainage systems and pumps, and shoreline defenses.

The adopted boundaries of the CRA delineate the area within which tax revenue will be generated and captured during the 30-year life of the CRA, for expenditure on investments and projects that address the needs of the North Beach Community Redevelopment Area identified in the Finding of Necessity. The Redevelopment Plan will provide insight into preliminary projections for tax revenue increases, which hopefully will be accelerated by economic development resulting from CRA initiatives.