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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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adoption thereof.
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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