The concept of developing a regulated mooring field has been examined for many years in the City of Miami Beach. 

The 2014 Blueways Master Plan identifies the waters adjacent to Maurice Gibb Park as a potential location for a managed mooring field. At the March 13, 2019 City Commission Meeting, Commissioner Ricky Arriola sponsored agenda item C4M, which referred a discussion item to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC), regarding the Marine and Waterfront Protection Authority’s recommendation to explore the City’s establishment of a mooring field in Sunset Harbour.  

On April 19, 2019, FCWPC meeting referred a discussion to the City Commission meeting regarding establishing a mooring field in Sunset Harbour. At the June 5, 2019 Commission meeting, a motion was passed to adopt the resolution directing the administration to explore the creation of a mooring field in the proximity of the Sunset Harbour neighborhood and authorizing the administration to retain a consultant to determine the financial implications and viability of establishing the mooring field.  Pursuant to a City Commission approved pool of prequalified consulting firms, City retained the consulting team of E-Sciences, Inc to evaluate the steps necessary to establish a regulated mooring field and to guide the City as to the regulatory permitting requirements. The Sunset Harbour Mooring Field Preliminary Analysis (Attachment 1) performed by E-Sciences, included exploring the physical extent of a viable area west of Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, provided example layout concepts based on common vessel sizes and physical extents, presented possible options for phased expansions, investigates requirements for upland support facilities and explores management options.  

In February 2020, the preliminary analysis was shared at a public meeting with the Sunset Harbour neighborhood.  Based on the analysis, the initial concept was for the mooring field to be located adjacent to Maurice Gibb Park as the City owns the submerged lands in this area. However, during the public meeting in February of 2020, the community requested that Phase 1 be located further south adjacent to West Avenue.  

At the May 22, 2020 Finance and Resilience Committee (FERC) the Mooring Field Study was presented, and it was requested that staff review potential grant opportunities for design and construction. 

At the October 23, 2020 FERC meeting, the Committee recommended extending the boundaries of the proposed mooring field to 5th Street along West Avenue. The City applied for and received a FIND grant for $78,000 in November of 2021 to support the design and permitting project. Matching funds were approved in the FY 21/22 Capital Budget. 

The concept of developing a regulated mooring field has been explored over the past few years in the City of Miami Beach in response to a significant increase in the amount of anchored vessels in the waters around Sunset Harbour, Belle Isle, and West Avenue.  The City has received complaints from residents and neighborhoods who are concerned about reckless behavior, impacts to the seagrass and environment within Biscayne Bay, and potential discharge of waste from some of these vessels.   This is a complex undertaking which includes extensive regulatory approvals, establishing boundaries, a management plan and entity, addressing where boats may shift, and addressing both support and concerns from resident groups.   

Considerations for the City Commission include: 

The City continues to work with E-Sciences during this planning phase to prepare for the next steps. The consultant will assist with mooring field expertise, including developing an overall strategy for mooring field layout and boundaries, providing public meeting support, examining State land leases, phasing permitting strategies, opinions of probable costs based on location and phases.   This includes pre-application meetings with permitting agencies (DERM, FDEP, FWC). This an important milestone as it will determine what types of boundaries will be allowable.  The information is essential for the City to finalize the parameters needed for design, permitting, and management. 

Location, Boundaries and Amenities 

The Preliminary Analysis (Attachment 1) presented four potential locations (or one large location). In addition, the City should consider adding new waterway markers to clearly delineate channels to reduce the chances of improper mooring within channels.   

To help address boats moving to other areas, which is a concern of some residents, an Anchorage Limitation Area (ALA) could be identified and implemented (Attachment 2) along with a new  mooring field.  ALAs are defined by State Statute and need to be established by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.  ALAs could be a way to reduce overnight mooring within their designated boundaries. 

A mooring field is required to include a support facility on land that incorporates at minimum a dinghy dock and sewage pump-out facility. Other amenities that are often incorporated, but are not a regulatory requirement, include bathrooms, showers, and laundry facilities.  

Design, Permitting, Construction, and Management 

The allowable mooring field boundaries, from an environmental permitting perspective, need to be understood prior to beginning design and permitting.  In addition, the permitting agencies will seek to understand, relatively early in the process, what the management plan will be.   Options for mooring field management include creating new City staff resources or issuing a competitive procurement.

The City can elect to have a private establishment complete the design, permitting, construction, and management, have them complete construction and management, or strictly manage the facility.  From the competitive procurement perspective, the City can issue a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain input from the industry before issuing a Request for Proposals to design, build, operate and maintain will need to issue a competitive procurement to address these next steps. 

The City has been approached by various private entities interested in mooring field development and management, including Suntex Marinas that owns the lease for the Miami Beach Marina which already has many of the upland amenities that a mooring field would require. Under this option, the City would need to amend the existing contract to include management of the mooring field. It should be noted, that the City can elect to have Suntex Marinas complete the design, permitting, construction, and management or just have them complete construction and management or just strictly manage the facility.

Additionally, the Mondrian South Beach located at 1100 West Avenue has approached the City expressing interest in managing and providing the upland facilities for the mooring field. For this location, there potentially will need to be amendments to the Chapter 66 of the City Code as well amendments to the Comprehensive Plan.

Diverse Resident Opinions 

Residents have expressed strong and diverse viewpoints with respect to establishing a mooring field.  Residents are frustrated with the current impact of anchoring boats and report undesired behavior.  They are concerned with the health of Biscayne Bay, and understand the impact of these boats on seagrass and water quality. Alternately, other residents are worried about where boats will move, as some boaters may not want to utilize the mooring field.  These residents are concerned that having regulated mooring field may make the issue worse in areas near their own homes that are adjacent to the Bay. 

Funding 

The funding for the mooring field can be determined after the boundaries, upland partner, and management plan are better understood.  The City’s consultant can determine probable cost with this additional information.  

Administration is working closely with the consultant to obtain feedback from regulatory agencies for the allowable boundaries of the regulated mooring field.  It is important to identify the boundaries and management partner prior to initiating the design and permitting process.  Administration is seeking feedback from the Committee as to the next steps.  A decision is needed whether the preferred management strategy for the mooring field is public or private. In addition, there is strong and diverse resident feedback to be considered.  Options to address these concerns include establishing waterway markers and Miami-Dade County establishing an Anchorage Limitation Area.