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City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
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| | | | | | | | | | Item 4
COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM | | | |
| | | | | | | | TO: Land Use and Sustainability Committee
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| FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
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| DATE: May 26, 2020
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| | | | | | | | | TITLE: | AMENDMENTS TO THE FAENA OVERLAY
ACTION REQUESTED:
Discuss the subject ordinance and provide a recommendation to the plannng board and City Commission.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION:
The administration recommends that the Land Use and Sustainability Committee endorse the subject ordinance and recommend that the plannng board transmit the item to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation.
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| | | | | | | | HISTORY:
| | On April 22, 2020, at the request of Commissioner Ricky Arriola, the City Commission referred the item to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee and the Planning Board (Item C4 D). |
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| | | | | | | | ANALYSIS:
| BACKGROUND
On December 17, 2014, the City Commission adopted ordinance 2014-3913 establishing the Faena Overlay District. The district includes the properties owned and operated by the FAENA Group and is generally located along Collins Avenue between 32nd and 36th Streets. The parcels west of Collins Avenue are in the more restrictive RM-2 zoning district and the adopted overlay district modified some of the permitted uses in the RM-2 district as follows:
• Allowed for ballroom and assembly space (west of Collins and south of 34th Street) to be a main permitted use and not classified as a neighborhood impact establishment, within the confines of the overlay district. Typical uses would include art exhibits, conferences and other similar activities.
• Allowed commercial uses to be a main permitted use within existing contributing structures on the west side of Collins Avenue.
The adopted overlay also encouraged and allowed for non-standard paving designs for the sidewalks and those portions of 34th Street between the Arts Center and Atlantic Beach Hotel.
On November 14, 2014, the Historic Preservation Board approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for 3425 Collins Avenue (The Versailles Hotel – HPB File No. 7490). This project was comprised of the partial demolition, renovation and restoration of the existing 16-story Versailles hotel building, the total demolition of the 1955 south addition, and the construction of a new 16-story detached ground level addition, as part of a new residential development. On December 5, 2014, the Board of Adjustment approved a total of eleven (11) variances related to the proposed new construction located on the site of the Versailles Hotel building.
On March 8, 2016, the Historic Preservation Board approved modifications to the design and site plan, including additional variances (HPB File No. 7603). Although the renovation and addition to the Versailles Hotel was initially approved about the same time that the Faena Overlay District was created, permits for the restoration and new construction have not been issued and little activity has taken place on the site since the 1955 south addition was demolished. With the application of numerous state extensions, the current approvals remain active.
PLANNING ANALYSIS
The owner of the Versailles Hotel property is currently in the process of redesigning the new residential tower addition along with some changes to the Versailles Hotel restoration plans. When numerous variances were first granted by the Board of Adjustment and additional variances were granted by the Historic Preservation Board, the importance of restoring one of the most iconic Art Deco hotel structures was clearly recognized as a hardship due to the siting issues related to the restoration of the contributing structure and site planning for new construction.
Nearly all the variances are associated with locating the new construction as far from the existing Versailles Hotel tower as possible, resulting in the construction located very near to the south property line of the site. This was also only possible with the demolition of the former 1955 attached addition, which impacted the iconic original tower constructed in 1940 and designed by architect Roy France.
Because of the design modifications now proposed, absent the ordinance amendment proposed herein, modifications to the variances previously granted would be required. As proposed, the subject Ordinance would apply to properties with an underlying zoning designation of RM-3 within the existing overlay district on lots which are oceanfront lots with a lot area greater than 70,000 sq. ft. that also contain a contributing historic structure. The property within the Faena Overlay District that meets this requirement is occupied by the vacant Versailles Hotel located at 3425 Collins Avenue.
The following is a summary of the proposed amendments, which are largely consistent with the variances previously granted by the Historic Preservation Board and Board of Adjustment:
• The required parking for a place of assembly is reduced from one space per sixty (60) square feet to one space per eighty (80) square feet of floor area available for seating.
• Within areas that have an underlying zoning designation of RM-3, oceanfront lots with a lot area greater than 70,000 sq. ft. that also contain a contributing historic structure, shall be subject to the following:
o The maximum building height is increased from 200 feet to 250 feet.
o The required pedestal and tower side street setback for alterations to and extensions of a contributing historic structure shall be equal to the existing setback of the contributing historic structure.
o The required pedestal side street setback for additions to a contributing historic structure that are located on the ground is 0'.
o The required pedestal side street setback for a ground floor addition is 2'-10" for the first and second floor.
o The required pedestal side street setback for a ground floor addition is 8" for the third and fourth floor.
o The required tower side street setback for a ground floor addition is 8".
o There are no required sum of the side yard setbacks for pedestal or tower side setbacks.
o The required subterranean side street setback is 0'.
o The required subterranean rear setback is 40' from the bulkhead line.
o The required subterranean front setback is 15'.
o The required front setback for at-grade parking and driveways is 8'-6".
o The required setback in the Dune Preservation Overlay Zone from the Erosion Control Line for a fence is 5'.
o The required side setback in the Oceanfront Overlay Zone for fences is 5'.
o The required pedestal side street setback for a fence is 5'.
o The maximum permitted width of a porte-cochere is 45% of the width of the building's frontage.
o The maximum permitted height of a porte-cochere is 19'.
o The term "grade, average existing" which means the average grade elevation calculated by averaging spot elevations of the existing topography taken at ten-foot intervals along the property lines, shall be substituted for the term "grade" for purposes of fence and wall heights and setbacks. However, a fence or wall which faces Collins Avenue shall be measured from grade (the city sidewalk elevation at the centerline of the front of the property).
As the modifications proposed are largely consistent with the variances previously granted for the Versailles Hotel site, the administration is supportive of the ordinance except for the proposed 40-foot rear subterranean setback. In this regard, the Historic Preservation Board approved a rear subterranean setback of 46 feet from the bulkhead line, where 50 feet is required. The administration recommends a rear subterranean setback of 46 feet from the bulkhead line, consistent the variances previously granted, in order to not reduce the amount of pervious landscape area on the site.
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| | | | | | | | CONCLUSION:
| The administration recommends that the Land Use and Sustainability Committee endorse the attatched draft ordinance and recommend that the City Commission refer the ordinance to the Planning Board, with the following modification:
1. The rear subterranean setback shall be a minimum of 46 feet from the bulkhead line. |
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| | | | | | | | Applicable Area
| | South Beach |
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| | | | | | | | | Is this a "Residents Right to Know" item, pursuant to City Code Section 2-14? | | Does this item utilize G.O. Bond Funds? | | | Yes | | No | |
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