NORTH BEACH GU LOTS - WAIVER OF DRB PROCESS:

AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, BY AMENDING CHAPTER 142, ENTITLED "ZONING DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS," ARTICLE II, ENTITLED "DISTRICT REGULATIONS," DIVISION 9, ENTITLED “GU GOVERNMENT USE DISTRICT,” BY AMENDING SECTION 142-425, ENTITLED “DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS” TO ALLOW THE CITY COMMISSION TO WAIVE THE DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS FOR TEMPORARY USES ON LOTS WITH A GU ZONING DESIGNATION FRONTING COLLINS AVENUE BETWEEN 79TH STREET AND 87TH STREET; PROVIDING FOR REPEALER, CODIFICATION, SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

HISTORY
On March 7, 2018, at the request of Commissioner Ricky Arriola, the City Commission referred the subject Ordinance to the Land Use and Development Committee (LUDC) and the Planning Board (Item R9J).

On March 14, 2018, the LUDC recommended that the Planning Board transmit the ordinance to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation, and with the following modifications:

• Require that applicable GU waivers only be considered for temporary uses and structures that will exist for a period of less than 10 years.

• Require that the City Commission, as part of any DRB waiver process, evaluate and consider all applicable Design Review requirements and criteria in Chapter 118 of the City Code.

BACKGROUND
The subject Ordinance pertains to the existing lots located on the west side of Collins Avenue, between 79th and 87th Streets. All of these lots, commonly referred to as the “West Lots,” are City owned and zoned Government Use (GU).

In 2017, the City Comprehensive Plan was amended to change the current Future Land Use Map (FLUM) category of the west lots from RM-1 to Public Facility (PF). Additionally, the Public Facility (PF) portion of the Comprehensive Plan was amended to allow for commercial uses as a permitted use. This change brought previously approved uses (e.g. Ocean Rescue) into compliance with the comprehensive plan, and provided more flexibility for future uses.

Further, in 2017, Sec. 142-425(d) of the City Code, pertaining to waivers for GU properties, was amended to provide the City Commission the authority to consider waivers for certain private uses located on the west lots. Specifically, for private uses approved by the City Commission for a period of less than ten years, the City Commission is now able to consider a waiver of development regulations. Prior to this amendment, GU waivers on the west lots were limited to government facilities/uses, cultural organizations and not-for-profits.

Currently, the only exception to this GU waiver provision is the ‘design review processes’. In this regard, the mandatory requirement for Design Review Board (DRB) review was put in place in the 1990’s in order to ensure that permanent buildings and projects located on GU sites went through a comprehensive public review process. This provision was not previously envisioned to include temporary or ‘pop-up’ uses, which are short term in nature.

PLANNING ANALYSIS
The proposed ordinance will streamline the DRB process, but not eliminate or weaken the review. In this regard, the City Commission, if it should choose to waive the requirement for a Design Review Board hearing/application, would still review the design of any proposal, as part of a public hearing.

In order to provide more flexibility for future temporary and ‘pop-up’ uses on the west lots, including the proposal for the North Beach Yard, a minor revision to Sec. 142-425(d) of the City Code is proposed. As noted in the attached draft ordinance, in addition to being able to waive all other development regulations, the City Commission would have the discretion to consider a waiver of the ‘design review processes’. As drafted, this discretion to waive the design review processes would only apply to temporary uses associated with the West lots, and require the City Commission to analyze the request in compliance with the Design Review Criteria.

It is important to note that even if the Commission should decide to consider granting any development waiver for a future project on the west lots, including a potential waiver of the DRB process, two public hearings would still be required (at the Planning Board and the City Commission). Both of these public hearings would be noticed to all surrounding property owners within 375 feet of the affected property.

Pursuant to the recommendations of the LUDC, the proposed ordinance requires that such waivers can only be considered for temporary uses and structures that will exist for a period of less than 10 years. Additionally, when considering such waivers, the proposed ordinance requires that the City Commission consider the Design Review Criteria listed in Chapter 118 of the Land Development Regulations.

PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On March 27, 2018 the Planning Board reviewed and transmitted the proposed Ordinance Amendment to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation.

UPDATE

The subject Ordinance was approved on April 11, 2018 with no changes.