At its April 3, 2024 meeting, at the request of Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt, the City Commission approved a referral item (C4 O) to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee and the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee to discuss existing citywide surveys of alley conditions, specifically but not exclusively lighting, paving, and drainage issues that would help identify opportunities for enhancements in those areas.

Pursuant to the referral, there is an area in North Beach, at Biarritz Court, which is parallel to Normandy Drive and reported to have poor lighting, uneven paving, and unappealing conditions, making it a potential hub for illegal activity.

The area near the Normandy fountain/ has been an area of emphasis by  the Public Works Department and has undergone recent upgrades, including the replacement of outdated lighting with LED fixtures and installation of palm tree wrap lights along 71^st Street.

Lighting Enhancements:

Public Works is working on a Citywide Smart Lighting Project under the General Obligation Bond (G.O. Bond) program.  Its goal is to promote safety for its residents and visitors through the replacement of outdated streetlights with LED lights, allowing for uniform streetlight conditions throughout the City while minimizing unwanted lighting on residences or property windows by strategically adding "house shields" to the luminaires.  The project also allows the City to receive real-time information on the condition of the light fixture to address outages as well as controlling the ability to adjust the brightness of the light fixture.

As part of the project, there was an initial assessment of 9,000 existing light poles, including a detailed survey and inventory of existing streetlights across Miami Beach.  Those neighborhoods categorized as being the poorest lit were prioritized under G.O. Bond Tranche 1 funding.  The neighborhoods that fall under this category are Flamingo-Lummus-Palm View, Bayshore South, North Shore, and Upper North Bay Road-Allison Island Neighborhoods.  It entails replacement of approximately 1400 light fixtures.  This project, Phase 1C is near 100% design completion and expected to be out to bid in early Summer 2024. 

Neighborhoods that fall outside of the initial priority list that present safety concerns i.e. recorded through resident complaints, service requests, Code or Police, will be assessed and prioritized on a case-by-case basis either by having them addressed directly by the Public Works Department or added to Phase 2 of the project for consideration.  Phase 2 will be funded through the G.O. Bond Tranche 2.

Pavement Assessment:

In September 2023, Public Works executed a Sidewalk and Pavement Assessment (full report attached) to investigate the condition of the city's streets, sidewalks, and curb ramp network. The assessment provided the City with asset inventory, conditions, repair treatment alternatives, estimated costs, and project priorities.

• Sidewalk Assessment Report: provides sidewalk and curb ramp results; 
• Figure 11 on page 19: illustrates the priority ranking breakdown of the roads within the City;  
• Table 8, on pages 21-23: represent segments with the highest CBV scores (Priority 1); and  
• Appendix B, pages 43-98, depict the pavement conditions.  

It is important to note that approximately 80% of the City’s roadway network has been either reconstructed or resurfaced within the last 10 years.

Drainage Assessment:

In March 2024, the City adopted the 2024 Stormwater Master Plan Update, which included 20 critical needs projects. These projects are aimed at addressing nuisance flooding to provide both beneficial and cost-effective drainage solutions within targeted areas and are complimentary and adaptable to the future Neighborhood Improvement Projects. The critical needs areas within the City were identified based on a ranking system using 14 different criteria:

1. Temporary Pumps Historically Deployed
2. Low Topography / Tidal Inundation
3. Flooding Complaints
4. Constructability / Ease of Implementation
5. Neighborhood Improvement Project Ranking
6. No Improvements in the Last 10 Years
7. Insufficient Drainage
8. Exfiltration Trenches
9. Drainage Wells
10. Historic District
11. Community and Emergency Facilities
12. No Permitting Complexity
13. No Connection to Outfalls
14. 10-Year Design Storm Flooding

Section 7 of the 2024 Stormwater Master Plan Update has been included for the explanation of the criteria above and for the location of the 20 critical needs projects. The projects are expected to be implemented over the next 10 years with two projects being initiated each year for design at the estimated budgetary cost of $95M dollars.

Landscape Enhancements:

Public Works has reviewed Biarritz Court for the possibility of landscape enhancements and have the following comments:

• Biarritz Court itself has almost no available public space for such landscape enhancements.  Most property lines extend about a foot from the building to account for utility connections.  The entire right of way (including the street itself) should be asphalted over to keep a clean appearance for the alley way.  Large delivery trucks traverse this alley way daily.  A more restrictive road width to accommodate landscaping would not be feasible since the trucks will more than likely just run over the landscape enhancements over time.

The City can enhance the adjacent Biarritz Court parking lot and bump-out at its entrance.  Please note that the parking lot landscape enhancements are very limited to less than 1,000 square feet of new shrubs and two (2) new trees.