Please place the above item on the December 13, 2023 City Commission meeting agenda as a referral to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee ("LUSC").
The maximum FAR in the CD-2 commercial medium intensity district is 1.5. However, "when more than 25 percent (25%) of the total area of a building is used for residential or hotel units," the maximum FAR is 2.0. See Section 7.2.11.3 of the Resiliency Code.
In recent years, a number of new hotels have been approved/constructed throughout the City. In order to limit the proliferation of hotels and incentivize more residential development (by retaining the 0.5 FAR incentive for residential projects), I would like the LUSC to review and consider whether to repeal the 0.5 FAR incentive for hotels in the CD-2 district.
Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature adopted SB 718, which preempts the City from calling a referendum on a land development regulation. If, in the future, the City Commission identifies a specific area where hotel development should be incentivized once again, the City Commission has the legislative authority to adopt an FAR incentive by Ordinance (subject, of course, to the heightened review process that the Commission will be considering on First Reading).