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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppeal Letter to CCANTHONY J. O'DO.NNELL, JR. 1129 PALERMO AVENUE CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA 33134 (305) 588 -- 3830 Zoning Hearing Boards Office Department of Planning, Building and Zoning City of Miami Miami, Florida November 18, 2003 FAX 305 416 2035 RE: NOTICE OF APPEAL OF DECISION OF ZONING BOARD OF NOVEMBER 3, 2003, TO THE CITY COMMISSION, CITY OF MIAMI, PURSUANT TO ARTICLES 18 AND 20, ZONING ORDINANCE, DENYING APPEAL OF ISSUANCE OF CLASS II SPECIAL PERMIT NO. 2003-0009 AND THE INCORPORATED ZONING ADMINISTRATOR'S COMPLIANCE DECISION Appellants, The Tower Residences Condo Association, Jeff Stewart, a resident of the Ritz Carlton Condominium, as well as other residents of the condominium located at 3400 S.W. 27th Avenue (collectively the "Residents") hereby file this their Notice of Appeal pursuant to Articles 18 and 20, Zoning Ordinance, City of Miami. The Residents appeal the decision of the Zoning Board of the City of Miami, which denied the Residents' appeal of the decision of the Director of the Department of Planning, Building and Zoning to approve Class II Special Permit No. 1002-0009, dated September 11, 2003, and the incorporated Zoning Administrator's decision to determine Zoning Ordinance compliance in the Class II Special Permit Zoning Referral, dated September 3, 2003. The Zoning Board made its decision on November 3, 2003. The documents filed by the Residents in the special permit file and at the hearing before the Zoning Board are incorporated and reasserted herein. The transcript of the proceedings before the Zoning Board hearing of the Residents' administrative appeal, Item 5, November 3, 2003, will also be filed when completed. 2 The Residents appeal the Zoning Board's decision as being contrary to the plain language and any reasonable and lawful application of the terms of the Zoning Ordinance regulations as they apply to the issuance of a Class II Special Permit pursuant to Section 1500, "Regulations applying," Zoning Ordinance. The grounds for the Residents' appeal are contained in their Memorandum of Law, dated June 13, 2003, their Memorandum, dated July 1, 2003, their Memorandum, dated August 15, 2003, their Memorandum, dated August 18, 2003, their Memorandum to the City of Miami Zoning Board, dated November 3, 2003, as well as the filed Exhibits 1 through 5 and argument and testimony presented to the Zoning Board at its hearing on November 3, 2003, and other record documents previously filed with the Director and the Zoning Administrator and in the record of the Class II Special Permit No. 2003-0009. The most serious violations of the governing regulations of the Zoning Ordinance applying to the proposed uses and occupancies for the issuance of a Class II Special Permit under Section 1500 and improperly allowed by the Zoning Board's decision are as follows: 1. The unlawful exemption of substantial nonresidential floor areas in the calculation of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and of off street parking requirements for the uses and occupancies of the project, governed by Section 401 district regulations and for the uses and occupancies governed by Sections 617 (SD-17) district regulations, Section 906.7 accessory use regulations, Sections 301 combining district regulations, and Sections 903.1 and 903.2.2 combining districts and uses. 2. The unlawful inclusion of public park and other public land area, zoned "PR" and HC" and located across South Bayshore Drive, as "adjoining" the "net .lot area" of the site and as "public open space," in the calculation of Floor Area Ratio and Lot Coverage requirements for the uses and occupancies of the project. 3. The unlawful violation of the compatibility and scale limitations on the use and occupancies of the project governed by the 3 SD-17 overlay district's regulations along South Bayshore Drive and the compatibility and view regulations of Article 1.3, Zoning Ordinance, resulting in a project that is incompatible with the scale of adjoining buildings fronting South Bayshore Drive and with the reduction in FAR land use intensities east of S.W. 27tt' Avenue. 4. The unlawful expansion of premises in which existing non- conforming, nonresidential uses and occupancies are located within the Grand Bay Hotel portion of the project which fail to meet the accessory use requirements of Section 906.7, Zoning Ordinance and the requirements for "special purpose areas for common use of occupants" of the "residential floor area" and "residential use" definitions of Section 2503, Zoning Ordinance. 5. Improper inclusion of bayfront land areas for a portion of the "gross lot area" regulating the uses and occupancies of the project without complying with the review and view corridor requirements of Miami -Dade County's Shoreline Development Ordinance, Section 33D. 6. The unlawful exclusion of all land areas involved in regulating the uses and occupancies of the project under the Class II Special Permit from the jurisdictional legal description of the land shown in both the application and the permit. 7. The unlawful conflict with the City's Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan with respect to the use of public park lands and to the allocations of uses and intensities of uses. 8. The unlawful circumvention of the regulations of uses and occupancies applying to a Major Use Special Permit, a special exception and a phased project under the Zoning Ordinance. 9. The unauthorized transfer of development rights from the hotel's existing development site with a principal building to another development site for a second principal building. 4 10. The unauthorized obtaining of bonuses for uses and occupancies of the project without meeting the requirements of Article 5, PUD bonuses, SD-17 excess parking bonuses and/or the Zoning Ordinance's low income housing bonuses. Additional grounds for reversing the Zoning Board's decision are contained .in the above -referenced memos and other filings in the record of the application, the appeal to the Zoning Board and the hearing before the Zoning Board. Other grounds will be presented before the City Commission once the entire records related to the matter of the appeal — including the Zoning Board transcript and the internal staff use determinations under the Zoning Ordinance which are reportedly on file at the City but have not been made available to the Residents as requested and as required by Section 1805, "availability of records," Zoning Ordinance, are obtained by the Residents. A copy of the property owners' list was previously filed in this proceeding; and an updated list will be provided forthwith if required. Although the notice of the Zoning Board hearing stated that it was sent to owners within 500 feet of the project and although the Residents had obtained the certified notice list for sending out such neighborhood wide notices, the staff at the City's zoning offices actually sent the notices only to the abutting owners, thereby excluding hundreds of potentially interested residents from learning of the hearing process. A filing fee of $500.00 is submitted herewith. If required, an updated owner's list and additional filing fees will be submitted forthwith. Respectfully submitted, Anthony J. O'Donnell, Jr. Attorney for Appellants/Residents 1129 Palermo Avenue Coral Gables, Florida 33134 (305) 588 - 3830