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HomeMy WebLinkAboutO-14208 City of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Ordinance 14208 Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Legislation File Number: 14648 Final Action Date: 9/28/2023 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 10/ARTICLE VI/SECTION 101 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, STRUCTURES/UNSAFE STRUCTURES AND UNSAFE STRUCTURES PANEL MEMBERS TO THE UNSAFE STRUCTURE PANEL THROUGH CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. SPONSOR(S): Commissioner Sabina Covo WHEREAS Miami- its Panelists through the list from Miami-Dade County; and WHEREAS, on August 31, 2023, the County informed City staff the Panelists would no longer be provided from the County; and WHEREAS, currently, the Panel hearings are set almost every Friday from now until the end of the year, Holiday closures exempted; and WHEREAS, each hearing consists of approximately 60 to 80 cases ranging from first hearings on unsafe and recertification cases, to extensions of time and breach of Panel order hearings; and WHEREAS, even with this robust hearing schedule, there are still more cases to be heard than hearing times available; and WHEREAS, any lost hearing dates is a detriment to the prosecution of unsafe structures as well as those properties in violation being able to complete their repairs and comply the cases; and WHEREAS, Section 10-101 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended interests of the City to amend this Section to provide for City procurement of Panel members in much the same manner as provided for by the County; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA: Section 1. The recitals and findings contained in the Preamble to this Ordinance are adopted and incorporated as if fully set forth in this Section. City of Miami Page 1 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed On: 10/13/2023 File ID: 14648 Enactment Number: 14208 1 Section 2. Chapter 10 of the City Code is amended in the follow particulars: BUILDING UNSAFE STRUCTURES * * * Sec. 10-101. Unsafe Structures and Unsafe Structures Panel. * * * (l) Unsafe structure panels. Unsafe structures panels are hereby created to conduct hearings as provided for under this section. (1) Composition. Unsafe structures panel(s) shall consist of three members from the list of panel members available as provided for under subsection (2) from the county clerk pursuant to Miami-Dade County Administrative Order No. 2-5, as amended. A building department representative will serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of each panel, to act as a liaison. The ex-officio member shall not count toward a quorum of the panel. (2) Designation. At the request of the director of the building department, the county clerk shall designate three members to constitute one or more unsafe structures panel(s) to conduct hearings on the dates scheduled by the director of the building department or his/her designee. At least one of the members on each panel shall have knowledge of construction gained from experience as an architect, engineer, general contractor or lawyer. The director of the building department shall not have any input into which members are designated to comprise a particular panel. Appointment of members to the Unsafe Structure Panel. The appointment of Unsafe Structure Panel members shall be done through a Request for Qualifications process or in the alternative, by agreement with Miami-Dade County, Florida and use of their vetted pool of hearing officers. The Director of the Building Department shall not have any input into which members are designated to comprise a particular panel. The following criteria shall be used to select member of the Unsafe Structure Panel as part of the RFQ: a. The Unsafe Structure Panel shall consist of three (3) members. The chair shall be required to be a Florida licensed Architect, Engineer or licensed construction industry related contractor with five (5) or more years experience. 1 Words/and or figures stricken through shall be deleted. Underscored words and/or figures shall be added. The remaining provisions are now in effect and remain unchanged. Asterisks indicate omitted and unchanged material. City of Miami Page 2 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed on: 10/13/2023 File ID: 14648 Enactment Number: 14208 b. The available Unsafe Structure Panel member pool shall, if possible, include at least two (2) persons who qualify for position of chair at any given time. c. Panelists shall not be either current or former employees of the City notwithstanding any other provision in the City Code. d. Panelists shall not be involved in the construction trade as it pertains to active business in the City from the time of application through time as part of the Unsafe Structure Panel pool. e. All applicants will be required to provide a full financial history as part of the application process, including but not limited to sources of income and debt, as well as proof of certifications, educational background. In addition, all applicants must be able to certify that they have no prior criminal history and provide a list of any past code violations issued whether in the City or not with their outcome as it relates to personal or professional matters. f. Applicants with certification(s) in the building related trades or licensed attorneys in the State of Florida shall be given preference to appointment to the Panel pool. g. The Panel pool shall consist, as possible, of four (4) general Panelists and two (2) chair Panelists. h. Payment for Panelists shall be consistent or greater to that as provided for in Miami-Dade County Administrative Order No. 2-5, as amended. i. Any Panelist selected who fails to appear more than two (2) times for a scheduled hearing in one calendar year shall be removed from the Panel and shall not be reconsidered in future Panel applications. Excused absences for emergency circumstances shall not apply. j. Each procured Panel pool shall be for two (2) year cycles. Other criteria may be considered as relevant and necessary. (3) Organization of the unsafe structures panels. a. The director of the building department may utilize one or more unsafe structures panel(s) as needed to conduct hearings. b. Quorum. Three unsafe structures panel members must be present to conduct a hearing or take any action, including a qualified chair. c. A majority vote of unsafe structures panel members present and voting shall be sufficient to overrule, modify or affirm any action or decision of City of Miami Page 3 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed on: 10/13/2023 File ID: 14648 Enactment Number: 14208 the building official or to take any action within the scope of the powers and duties of the panel. d. No member of an unsafe structures panel shall sit as a voting member in any hearing on a matter in which he/she has a personal or financial interest. e. The director of the city building department, or his/her designee, shall assist the unsafe structures panel as needed, but shall have no vote. f. The director of the city building department or his/her designee may call and schedule unsafe structures hearings. g. An Aaudio or video record shall be kept of all unsafe structures hearings and all hearings shall be public. h. All hearings shall be open to the public, and any person whose interest may be affected by the matter on appeal shall be given an opportunity to be heard in person, or through his/her attorney, or legally authorized representative. i. Witnesses may be sworn and subpoenaed by the unsafe structures panel in a like manner as they are subpoenaed by the court or courts in Miami-Dade County. j. The hearings shall be informal and need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the type of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rules which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions. k. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. l. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the same extent that they are now, or hereafter may be, recognized in civil actions; and irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. m. The director of the city building department shall provide adequate and competent clerical and administrative personnel and such technical or scientific personnel as may be reasonably required by the unsafe structures panels for the proper performance of their duties, subject to budget limitations. The director of the city building department shall maintain a record of all proceedings, including but not limited to a court reporter's transcript of the proceeding, and may clarify the same as a true copy and make a reasonable charge therefore; provided, the court reporter shall certify the copy of his or her transcript. City of Miami Page 4 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed on: 10/13/2023 File ID: 14648 Enactment Number: 14208 n. The director of the city building department shall provide a regular meeting place for the panel. (4) Duties, powers and compensation of the unsafe structures panels. The unsafe structures panels and shall have the following duties, functions, powers and responsibilities: a. Hear and determine appeals from actions and decisions of the building official pursuant to the provisions of this section. b. Hear and review the application of the building official for the review of his or her action where his or her decision as indicated in a notice of violations has not been complied with. c. Affirm, modify or reverse the decision of the building official upon appeal or on application for review. d. In the event of judicial review of an unsafe structure panel order, the director of the city building department or his/her designee shall transmit the records with all exhibits, instruments, and papers and transcripts of its of the proceedings to the reviewing authority if so requested. e. The members of the unsafe structures panels shall be compensated as provided for under Miami-Dade County Administrative Order No. 2-5, as amended. Moreover, the members shall not be employees of the city, either current or former. The appealing party is responsible for the production of any transcript from the hearing at issue necessary for judicial review. (5) Duties of the city attorney. The city attorney shall either be counsel to the unsafe structures panel or shall represent the city by presenting cases to the unsafe structures panel, but in no case shall the city attorney serve in both capacities. * * * Section 3. If any section, part of section, paragraph, clause, phrase, or word of this Ordinance is declared invalid, the remaining provisions of this Ordinance shall not be affected. Section 4. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately after final reading and 2 adoption thereof. 2 This Ordinance shall become effective as specified herein unless vetoed by the Mayor within ten (10) days from the date it was passed and adopted. If the Mayor vetoes this Ordinance, it shall become effective immediately upon override of the veto by the City Commission or upon the effective date stated herein, whichever is later. City of Miami Page 5 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed on: 10/13/2023 File ID: 14648 Enactment Number: 14208 APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: City of Miami Page 6 of 6 File ID: 14648 (Revision: A) Printed on: 10/13/2023