On June 10, 2015, at the request of Commissioner Malakoff, the City Commission referred the subject Ordinance amendment (Item C4I) to the Land Use and Development Committee. Additionally, the matter was referred to the Planning Board.
On June 17, 2015, the Land Use and Development Committee discussed the item and continued it to the July 29, 2015 meeting. The Committee directed the Administration to prepare an ordinance amendment to Chapter 126 and to Chapter 46, so that the two chapters of the Code are consistent.
On July 29, 2015, the Land Use and Development Committee requested that recommendations from the Greenspace/Tree Advocacy Group (GTAG) be incorporated into the Ordinance and continued the item to the September 9, 2015 meeting. On September 9, 2015, the Land Use and Development Committee continued the item to the November 18, 2015 meeting. The November 18, 2015 and December 2, 2015 meetings of the Land Use and Development Committee were cancelled; therefore, the item was continued to the January 20, 2016 meeting. On January 20, 2016, the Land Use and Development Committee discussed the proposed ordinance and continued it to the February 17, 2016 meeting.
On February 17, 2016, the Land Use and Development Committee recommended that the ordinance be sent to the Planning Board with a favorable recommendation, including the current requirement that homeowners maintain swale trees. On March 9, 2016, the City Commission referred the subject ordinance amendment (Item C4B) to the Planning Board.
On May 11, 2016, the City Commission opened and continued First Reading of the item to July 13, 2016 in order to allow for the review of the item for consistency with Miami-Dade County’s minimum landscape requirements. The item was moved from the July 13, 2016 agenda to September 14, 2016, in order to address an issue with the Title of the legislation.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service trees are a valuable resource worth three times their initial investment. They reduce carbon dioxide and air pollutants, reduce energy costs by providing shade, and increase the frequency of shopping and amount spent in commercial areas by creating a more comfortable atmosphere, and increase property values, among other benefits.
Chapter 126 of the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s) provides the City’s existing minimum landscape standards for private properties. The requirements of the landscape regulations are applicable to all building permits for new construction, substantial rehabilitation or additions to existing buildings when located in areas designated for design review, conditional use or variance procedures and property in the redevelopment area. Additionally, permits for demolition require a landscape survey to insure that valuable existing trees are not damaged or destroyed. Trees that have a trunk diameter of eight or more inches may not be removed without the approval of the Environment and Sustainability Division, Urban Forrester.
These standards are generally consistent with the minimum landscape standards of Miami-Dade County. However, these standards are currently insufficient to achieve many of the benefits described by the USDA and desired by the City.
As the need to protect existing tree species has become more apparent, revisions to Chapter 126 of the LDR’s are in order, to compliment and be consistent with the requirements of Chapter 46, Article II of the City Code pertaining to the care and maintenance of trees and plants. The attached ordinances propose updates to Chapter 126 of the LDR’s, as well as to Chapter 46 of the City Code, to be consistent with established policy goals of enhanced landscaping and the preservation of existing tree canopy in the City. These modifications will complement the City’s other efforts in tree protection, such as assuming the responsibility for tree removal permits from Miami-Dade County, which occurred on June 15, 2015. The analysis that follows details the proposed modifications.
City of Miami Beach Landscape Ordinance
Staff has developed a draft landscape ordinance that establishes minimum landscape standards utilizing best practices for South Florida in order to accomplish the following:
- Enhance, improve, and maintain the quality of landscape.
- Prevent the destruction of the City’s existing tree canopy and promote its expansion.
- Improve the aesthetic appearance of new development and protecting designated historic landscapes.
- Promote sound landscaping principles through the use of drought and salt tolerant plant species and also to promote planting the right tree and plant in the right place.
- Promote the use of trees and shrubs for energy conservation, thereby helping to offset global warming and local heat island effects.
Submittal Requirements
The proposed ordinance establishes that the following types of plans must be submitted with building permit applications for new construction, substantial rehabilitation or additions to existing buildings, as well as applications submitted for land use board approval:
· Vegetation Survey
· Tree Disposition Plan
· Landscape Plan
· Irrigation Plan
· Site and Landscape Lighting Plan
The ordinance requires that the vegetation survey be prepared by a professional land surveyor licensed to practice in the state of Florida. It also requires that the landscape plans be prepared by a landscape architect licensed to practice in the State of Florida. In addition, it requires that irrigation plans and the site and landscape lighting plans be prepared by a landscape architect or other persons authorized by Chapter 481, Florida statutes.
The proposal also requires that no permit for development activity be issued unless any necessary tree removal permits have been obtained or it has been determined that no tree removal permit is required pursuant to the tree preservation and protection criteria described in Chapter 46 of the City Code.
Minimum Standards
The proposed ordinance establishes minimum standards for the following criteria:
· Trees
· Lawn Grass/Sod Area
· Minimum Number of Trees
· Large Shrubs or Small Trees
· Shrubs
· Vines
· Groundcover and Grasses
· Soil
· Fertilizer
· Mulch
· Plant Quality
· Buffers between dissimilar Land Uses
· Landscaped Areas in Permanent Parking Lots
· Temporary and Provisional Parking Lot Standards
· Landscape Installation
· Irrigation
· Landscape Maintenance
The existing landscaping standards generally require that there be one canopy tree or grouping of three palms for every 25 linear feet of frontage in required yards. The proposed ordinance includes more specific criteria as to the dimensions, spacing, and types of trees. A table indicates the number of trees per lot in each of the various zoning districts throughout the City. In an effort to improve the City’s canopy and increase shade, the proposed ordinance indicates that, although permitted, palm trees do not count towards meeting the minimum tree canopy requirements.
The proposed ordinance also establishes a Tree Trust Fund. Should an applicant not be able to accommodate the required landscaping onsite or offsite in a public space approved by the City, the applicant has the option of paying into the Tree Trust. The revenue in the fund can be used for projects such as street tree plantings, tree plantings in public lands, and projects that restore and enhance the City’s tree canopy.
The standards for soil, fertilizer, mulch, plant quality, installation, irrigation, and maintenance are intended to ensure that landscaping that is planted within the City survives and thrive. It requires that if a tree that is used to satisfy the minimum requirements of the code dies, that it be replaced with the same type of landscape material or an approved substitute.
In an effort to improve sustainability and reduce groundwater withdrawals, the standards encourage the use of treated brown and grey water for the use of irrigation in order to conserve potable water. The ordinance proposes that guides and standards be created by the City in order to encourage and regulate them.
Modifications to Chapter 46 are also proposed, as a separate ordinance, in order to be consistent with the revisions to Chapter 126. The modifications include reducing the minimum review caliper from 12 inches to six inches.
PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On April 19, 2016, the Planning Board (by a 7-0 vote) transmitted the proposed Ordinance with modifications to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation. The modifications are described below:
· Section 126-2: Provide a definition for “Net Lot Area”.
· Section 126-6 (c)(1): Add “roofs” to the list of upper level areas.
· Section 126-10: Clarify that buffers are to be provided “by the non- residential property if applying for new construction”.
· Section 126-11: Remove requirements (a) and (b); clarify the requirements for bulb outs in parallel parking rows; and incorporate standards (a), (a)(4) and (a)(6) from Temporary Parking Lot standards.
· Section 126-12 (b): Incorporate standard (a)(4) from Temporary Parking Lot Standards.
· Section 126-17: Allow for a 30-day cure period.
· Incorporate an applicability clause for projects that have applied for a Land Use Board hearing or have a building permit process number as of the date of second reading of the ordinance.
UPDATE
At the request of the City Commission, the Public Works Department has taken an inventory of the number and geographic distribution of the small, medium, and large trees and palms in every right-of-way throughout the City. Based upon this inventory, and the necessary pruning/maintenance frequencies for each type of tree/palm, it was determined that a hybrid (contractor/in-house staff,) approach will serve the City best as it pertains to maintenance. In order to properly and routinely maintain the close to ten thousand trees and palms in the City year-round to proper arboricultural standards, the following costs would be incurred:
· Approximately $1,300,000 in tree specialist contractor fees.
· Approximately $236,000 in salaries and benefits for the addition of two licensed professional tree trimmers to be added to Greenspace Mgt.’s existing Tree Crew.
The total estimated cost of this effort would be approximately $1,536,000.00 annually.
The Administration has sought a review of the proposed Landscape Ordinance by Miami-Dade County to ensure consistency with the County’s minimum landscape requirements that apply to municipalities. On August 11, 2016, the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources confirmed that the proposed Ordinance was consistent with the County’s minimum landscape standards.
Based upon further review of the proposal by the Public Works Department, Environment and Sustainability Department, and Planning Department, an additional six modifications and clarifications are recommended, which are included in the attached Ordinance amending Chapter 126:
1. Modify the title to reference that funds generated through the Landscape Ordinance will be deposited into the existing Tree Preservation Trust Fund.
2. Modify section 126-2 to add a definition of Tree Trust Fund, so that funds generated through this ordinance are deposited into the existing Tree Preservation Trust Fund established in Chapter 46 of the City Code.
3. Modify section 126-6 to include requirements for street trees to ensure that they are consistent with the requirements of the Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Roadside Design Guide, and to clarify that if required street trees or trees under power lines cannot be planted as a result of requirements from the Public Works Department, that trees be planted elsewhere on the site or that the applicant utilize the Tree and Shrub Compliance Options.
4. Modify the title of section 126-7 to clarify that it establishes options for compliance with minimum tree and shrub requirements.
5. Remove section 126-8, since there is a clarification proposed requiring that funds generated through the Landscape Ordinance will be deposited into the existing Tree Preservation Trust Fund.
6. Remove sections 126-17 (a)(2) and (b)(2), since violations for failure to obtain a tree work permit are established in Section 46-67 of the City Code, therefore the fines for such violations should not be repeated in Chapter 126.
The subject Ordinance was approved at First Reading on September 14, 2016, with no changes.