HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Barbara K. BisnoPresentation to Miami City Commission re Miami 21 on 6/28/07
First Reading of Miami 21
Barbara K. Bisno
1000 Venetian Way, #603 �_ Y
Miami, Florida 33139 BMI TT E R I N TO T H E
June 27, 2007 PUBLIC RECORD FOR
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A) Single family homes.
Under 11,000, a single family home is allowed a heigh-t of 25 feet, to mid-eave.
Under M21, a single family home is allowed a height of 2 stories and 25 feet maximum
measured to the eave. Section 5.3 V.7 diagram.
Under M21, a pitched roof on a single family home may be 10 feet in height.
With a pitched roof 10 feet high, under 11,000, a sin a family home will be 30 feet highs
as the height minus roof is measured to mid-eave.. Under M21, a single family home
with aitp ched roof will be 35 feet lush as the measurement of 25 feet is measured to the
beginning of the eave. See diagram V.7.
Further, Section 5.3.2.f provides as follows:
"A flat roof shall be enclosed by parapets of the minimum height necessary to conceal
mechanical equipment and a maximum height of three and a half (3.5) feet. At the roof,
other ornamental building features may extend up to three and a half (3.5) feet above
the maximum Building Height. Roof decks shall be permitted at the maximum Height.
Trellises may extend above the maximum Height up to eight (8) feet. Extensions above
the maximum height up to four hundred (400) square feet for either a stair enclosure or a
decorative purpose shall be permitted by process of Waiver. All extensions including
attics shall not exceed ten (10) feet above the second Story."
Thus, flat roofed structures may have an extension of 3.5 feet for parapets or other
ornamental building feature; trellis up to 8 feet, and a 400 sq. ft for either a stair
enclosure or a decorative purpose by waiver. However, all extensions including the attic
shall not exceed 10 feet above the second story.
The section is somewhat confusing, but I believe the section states that a TR3 structure,
whether flat roofed or pitched roof may be 35 feet in height compared to a height of 30
feet under 11,000.
M21 will create McMansions out of scale with existing homes.
Recommendation #1: The measurement of the height for a single family home
should be of 25 feet to mid-eave.
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HNotice requirements to residents and neighborhood associations
A) Many of the requested amendments regarding notice to Miami residents and
nei borhood associations have been incorporated into the most recent M21
amendments.
Planning Director Ana Gelabert-Sanchez agreed Thursday, June 21, 2007, to
the following additional amendments:
1. Applicants for a special area plan, rezoning and changes to the Miami
21 Code shall be required to give notice to neighborhood associations in the same manner
as is provided by M21 in regard to applicants for waivers, warrants, exceptions and
variances.
2. The planning director and the zoning administrator shall forward all of
their decisions and interpretations on all matters, including zoning interpretations,
decisions whether changes in applications are substantial modifications requiring
additional review and a new notice for a public hearing, waivers, warrants, exceptions,
variances, special area plans, rezonings, changes in Miami 21 Code, to the NET offices
when the decision is placed on the City's Website and said NET offices shall be required
to immediately inform the neighborhood associations of said decision and interpretation,
including the deadline for appeal.
C) Director Gelabert-Sanchez agreed that I should present language for extensions
of the appeal period by the planning director for good cause. See below.
Recommendation #4: M21 should include the following language: Extension of the
appeal period of any decision or interpretation made by the zoning administrator
and/or planning director shall be granted by the planning director upon request by
a registered neighborhood association for good cause, including but not limited to
not having been informed by the NET office of the decision in a timely fashion
(within two calendar days of the decision or interpretation being placed on the
City's Website), the issue involved in the decision or interpretation is such that the
neighborhood association wishes to retain an expert and/or lawyer, and other good
cause.
D) Under M21, only applicants for variances and exceptions are required to give
notice to residents within 500 feet of the subject property; applicants for a special area
plan, rezoning, changes to M21 Code, waiver and warrants are not required to give notice
to residents within 500 feet. Applicants for waivers and warrants are required to give only
abutting property owners notice and applicants for special area plans, rezoning and
Miami 21 Code changes are not required to give individual residents notice at all.
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Director Gelabert-Sanchez has stated that giving notice to property owners
within 500 feet requirement is too burdensome for individual T3 property owners seeking
waivers and warrants.
Recommendation #5: Applicants for waivers and warrants other than individual T3
property owners and all applicants for special area plans, rezonings, and changes in
the Miami 21 Code shall give notice by certified mail to all property owners within
500 feet of the subject property.
III. Appeal Period
The appeal period to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board and to the City
Commission is fifteen days.
As residents and neighborhood associations often have to seek expert, including
legal, advice in regard to a decision reached by the City staff or the Board, fifteen days is
an insufficient appeal period. Director Gelabert-Sanchez declined to increase appeal
period to thirty days as requested, but said she would consider twenty days.
Recommendation #6: Appeal period to and from Planning, Zoning and Appeals
Board should be extended to twenty days.
IV.. Appeals to City Commission.
Under M21, decisions reached by the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board
regarding waivers and warrants are to be appealed to Court; no appeal to the City
Commission on waivers and warrants is permitted.
Waivers may be sought for several issues extremely important to a neighborhood,
including setbacks; parking requirements and deferrals; extensions above maximum
heights for roof structures, steeples, etc.,; vehicle entries, loading docks, and service
areas; extensions of docks into Biscayne Bay; development of non -conforming lots; and
alterations of non -conforming structures.
Warrants may be sought for several issues extremely important to a neighborhood
including a recreational facility in a T3 neighborhood, the placement of infrastructure and
utilities in a T3 neighborhood, a bed and breakfast, recreational facility, public parking
and a marina in some T4 neighborhoods, childcare in a T4 neighborhood, schools in T5
neighborhoods, etc.
Developers have said that uses and structures that they cannot get by variance, they can
now get under M21 by waiver. For example, a variance would be sought (with
requirement of undue hardship) in regard to height considerations pursuant to 11,000.
Now height considerations, see above regarding roof structures, may be sought through a
waiver. Both waivers and warrants present issues that residents should be able to appeal
to the City Commission. < U S M I TT E D INTO T
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Recommendation #7. Decisions reached b the Planning, Zonm
Y g gand Appea
Board regarding waivers and warrants may be appealed to the City Commission.
V Standards
Explicit and specific neighborhood protection standards for decisions by the
planning director, Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board and City Commission have not
been stated in M21. For example, there are numerous standards stated for dial area
plans — not one states simply that the plan should protect the physical, social and
environmental integrity of the surrounding neighborhood.
The following seven requirements from Section 1305 in 11,000 deal with
preserving the neighborhood.
Respond to the physical contextual environment taking into consideration urban form
and natural features.
h) Siting should minimize the impact of automobile parking and driveways on adjacent
properties.
cc) Respond to the neighborhood context.
d� Articulate the building facade vertically and horizontally in intervals that conform to
the existing structures in the vicini .
ej Design sign ge appropriate for the scale and character of the project and the immediate
neighborhood.
rhood.
_0 Orient outside lighting to minimize glare to adjacent properties.
g) Preserve existin vegetation and/or geological features whenever possible.
Recommendation #8: Include the above seven neighborhood protection standards
in section 3.10 in M21 and make reference to this section in every M21 provision
dealing with the decisions to be made by the planning director, Planning, Zoning
and Appeals Board and City Commission in regard to waivers, warrants,
exceptions, special area plans, rezonings, and changes to the Miami 21 Code.
VI. Non -conformities
The M21 planners have stated often that the non -conformity rules under M21 are the
same as in 11,000. To a large extent that is true. However, a new provision in M21,
7.2.1 e, titled Repairs and Maintenance provides as follows:
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On any nonconforming building or structure, or any building or structure
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containing a nonconforming use, the following work may be done in any period of
twelve (12) consecutive months: 1) ordinary repairs, or 2) repair or replacement
of load-bearing walls (or of bearing walls where necessary for structural safety),
Fixtures, wiring, or plumbing to an extent involving up to twenty percent (20%) of
the gross square footage of the portion of a building or structure that is
nonconforming.
What does this provision mean? If a property owner of a non -conforming structure or a
structure with a non -conforming use (and there will be many under M21) wants to
upgrade the wiring in the building, he can only do 20% of the wiring in 12 months and
then can do another 20% the next 12 months? That doesn't seem to make much sense.
Also, there appears to be a typographical error and the provision should read ".. .
replacement of [non] load-bearing walls (or of bearing ....
This is a confusing provision and appears to limit the standard provision for non-
conforming structures (in 11,000 and M21), allowing interior alterations without seeking
a waiver.
Recommendation #9: Delete 7.2.1 a from M21.
M21 superimposes a new design plan on an existing, well-developed city with many
well-established neighborhoods, which are of course designed differently than the M21
provisions. Thus, thousands of structures, scores of uses, and thousands of commercial
structures built to accommodate now non -conforming uses will become non -conforming
under the M21. Enlargement and external improvements will either be disallowed or
allowed only under a waiver or exception, thus further burdening owners of older
properties with expenses or extreme loss of value. This works against the preservation of
neighborhoods, one of the avowed purposes of M21.
Recommendation #10: The sections dealing with non -conformities need to be
entirelyreworked so that well-maintained residential and commercial structures and
uses which are conforming under 11,000 remain conforming under M21 for fifty
years unless more than 50% of the structure is destroyed and no interest is
expressed by the owner in rebuilding within 6 months of the date of destruction.
Additionally, at the time of conveyance of any structure previously conforming
under 11,000 or a structure with a previously conforming use, the buyer shall
indicate within 6 months of the date of conveyance, by death of the owner or
transactional conveyance, whether he or she wishes to continue the structure or use
or wishes to bring the structure or use into conformity with the provisions of M21.
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VII. Signs
This section needs several amendments. More will be presented at a later time.
Two clear improvement pertain to the following:
M21 provides that no flashing or illuminated signs should be visible from a single
family home unless 100 feet away. This is much too close and does not protect multi-
family residences.
There is no prohibition of outdoor advertising signs in the sight lines of the
Carnival Center for the Performing Arts.
Recommendation #11: There should be no flashing or illuminated sign
visible from a residence.
There shall be no outdoor advertising signs allowed on
Biscayne Boulevard and north of I-836 or 395 traveling easterly or westerly which
impact the visual perception or sight line of the Carnival Center for the Performing
Arts. Any existing signs should be relocated. .
VIII. Definition of person for purposes of appeal
The definition of a person who can appeal to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals
Board and the City Commission is very restricted.
Recommendation #12: 7.1.43 Definitions
h. Party shall mean the applicant, the city staff, and any person recognized by the
decision-making body as a qualified intervener, and any adversdy affected party
pursuant to general law. In a_y event, in retard to an administrative Waiver,
administrative Warrant, Exception, Variance, Special Area Plan, amendments to
Miami 21 zoning code, Sr changes to the Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, a
party, including an aggrieved party for purposes of seeking rescission pursuant to
Section 7.1.1.4.b.8 of this Code, shall be anv of the above and all property owners
within 500 feet of the subiect property and any neighborhood or homeowner
association within the same NET area as the subiectProperty Sr properties.
Ix Standards whereby a change in an application or project plan is considered a
substantial change and must be found by the zoning administrator to require further
City review and new notice for a public hearing.
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When a plan is changed, it is crucial that major changes be brought before the
public.
Recommendation #13: 3) Modifications of applications requiring a public
hearing [7.1.3.5]. The following should be added:
3. Does the requested change cause any of the features of the project to fail to meet
any criterion in Miami 21 and result in failure to protect, promote and comply with
the character of the neighborhood.
4. Does the requested change affect ownership of the property?
5. Does the requested change affect the uses) of the property?
6. Does the requested change affect the vehicular traffic flow, conflicts or amount,
including commercial vehicle intrusion; water usage; noise levels; fumes; odors; or
spillover effect of light.
X Rescission
M21 provides for rescission of an approval of a project when there is not
compliance with conditions. The remedy of rescission is applied by M21 when
conditions are not met in regard to an exception. When conditions are not met, rescission
should be the remedy for all approvals of waivers, warrants, exceptions, variances,
special area plans, rezoning, and changes in Miami 21 Code.
Recommendation #14: 7.1.1.4. Planning, Zoning and Appeal Board
b. Functions, Powers and Duties:
8. Rescission: The board, after a quasi-judicial hearing, may rescind ... any
administrative decision or Board/Commission resolution granting an administrative
Waiver, administrative Warrant Exception, Variance, amendment to Miami 21
zoning code, and Special Area Plan. if, upon application filed by the Director after
the granting of said Waiver, Warrant, Exception, Variance, amendment to Miami
21 zoning code, and Special Area Plan, the board finds that there has been a
violation of any conditions, restrictions, and limitations in the subject administrative
decision or board/Commission resolt�ttoQ� ��y}ggM Af litmlity
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Code) and notice to neighborhood associations in the NET area of the subject
property. has first been given.....
Thank you for the opportunity to present these matters for your consideration.
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