A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING SENATE BILL 1000 (SB 1000) AND HOUSE BILL 1105 (HB 1105), WHICH AMEND FLORIDA’S FIRESAFETY STANDARDS TO PRESERVE ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT BUILDING FEATURES.

Pursuant to the request of Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman, the attached Resolution is submitted for consideration by the Mayor and City Commission at the March 22, 2017 Commission meeting. This Resolution supports similar Bills in the Florida Senate (SB 1000) and the Florida House of Representatives (HB 1105) that amend Florida's firesafety standards by providing that buildings that were constructed and obtained a certificate of occupancy before 1965 may have larger balcony guard openings if the guard was approved as part of the original building design; the guard is at least 40" high; and the building is designated as an historic property, a contributing property to an historic district, or is eligible for designation as a local historic property under a local preservation ordinance.

SB 1000 and HB 1105 will help maintain, preserve, and protect Miami Beach's iconic and historic architecture. Historic properties provide physical reminders of our past. They tell the story of our society, culture, and values at a particular point in time, especially in the context of a Historic District. In Miami Beach, we have two distinct architectural styles that are unique in the world: Art Deco and MiMo. Without protecting these assets, our community identity will be altered and our connections to the past made tenuous. Visitors come to Miami Beach from all over the world to experience and immerse themselves in our architecture. Features of our buildings are photographed and shared as cultural icons. The loss of our identity, our character, and the visual reminders of our history would have a negative impact on both our citizens and our economy.

The City of Miami Beach is on the verge of a major transformation, which will extend over the next 50 years, as we struggle to make our physical infrastructure, including streets, bridges, temples and churches, and schools and homes, sustainable and resilient in the face of sea level rise and global climate change. SB 1000 and HB1105 will afford protection to our historic architecture.