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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJavier Fernandez lettersWEISS SEROTA HELFMAN PASTORIZA GUEDES COLE & BONISKE, P.A. MITCHELL A. BIERMAN NINAL. BONISKE MITCHELL J. BURNSTEIN JAMIE ALAN COLE EOWARD G. GUEDES STEPHEN J. HELFMAN JOHN R. HERIN, JR. HARRIET R. LEWIS GILBERTO PASTORIZA GARY I. RESNICK JOSEPH H. SEROTA NANCY E. STROUD RICHARD JAY WEISS DAVID M. WOLPIN STEVEN W. ZELKOWITZ THOMAS J. ANSBRO" LILLIAN ARANOO DE LA HOZ" ALISON S. BIELER MICHELLE BUCKALEW VIA HAND DELIVERY ATTORNEYS AT LAW MIAMI-DADE OFFICE 2665 SOUTH BAYSHORE DRIVE SUITE 420 MIAMI, FLORIDA 33133 TELEPHONE 305-854-0800 TELECOPIER 305-854-2323 WWW.WS H-LAW. CO M BROWARD OFFICE 3107 STIRLING ROAD • SUITE 300 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33312 TELEPHONE 954-763-4242 • TELECOPIER 954-764-7770 Mr. Javier Fernandez City of Miami Office of the City Manager 444 S.W. 2nd Avenue Miami, Florida 33130 "OF COUNSEL March 16, 2004 Re: Proposed Waiver of Variance Application Fee Dear Mr. Fernandez: ELAINE M. COHEN VIVIAN DE LAS CUEVAS-DIAZ STEPHANIEDEUTSCH* JENNIFER A. GOLDBERG DOUGLAS R. GONZALES CHRISTOPHER F. KURTZ PETER A. LICHTMAN KAREN LIEBERMAN* MATTHEW H. MANDEL BERNARD S. MANDLER" MICHAEL J. MARRERO ALEXANDER L. PALENZUELA-MAURI MICHAEL S. POPOK• ANTHONY L. RECIO SCOTT A. ROBIN GAIL D. SEROTA" JEFFREY P. SHEFFEL MIA M. SINGH JOSE 5. TALAVERA SUSAN L. TREVARTHEN" Our firm represents the MDM Group ("MDM"). MDM obtained Major Use Special Permit approval for Tracts B, C and D of the One Miami Project, which is now known as the Metropolitan Miami Project (the "Metropolitan") in December 2002. The Metropolitan is bounded by Biscayne Boulevard to the east; SE 2nd Avenue to the west; SE 4th Street to the south and SE 2nd & 31d Streets to the north. In late 2003, the City's Planning and Zoning department approached MDM regarding dedicating the northern portion of Tract B for right-of-way purposes. The property is needed to accommodate the realignment and redirection of traffic on SE 3rd Street proposed in the Du Pont Area Traffic Plan. As we discussed in your office last month, a portion of the residential building approved for Tract B ("Metropolitan One") is located within the property to be dedicated. Therefore, in order to provide the requested dedication and erect the residential building, MDM will have to shift the location of the building southward approximately eight feet. Because the southward shift results in a variance of setback from the south property line, the Zoning Code requires that MDM seek a variance and a Substantial Amendment to a Mr. Javier Fernandez March 16, 2004 Page 2 previously approved Major Use Special Permit. MDM has submitted a second Major Use Special Permit application on the property that seeks only to move the residential building on Tract B south approximately eight feet. All other elements of the new plan are identical to that approved by the City Commission in December 2002. Although the sole purpose of the variance and second Major Use Special Permit is to accommodate the City's requested dedication, the City's code currently requires application fees be submitted with all applications. This has put MDM in the inequitable situation of having to pay substantial application fees in order to give away land to the City it is paying the fees to. Despite this inequity, MDM paid the fee under protest, copy of letter attached, to expedite the process. Of particular concern to MDM is the variance fee. Pursuant to Section 62-156(a)(3), applications for variance require a fee of $0.10 per square foot of floor area of the building seeking the variance. In a premier urban residential building like the Metropolitan One, with approximately 542,614 square feet of floor area, the variance application fee expense is astronomical. Of the total application fee of $60,936 paid by MDM in connection with this application, $54,261 is attributed to the variance portion of the fee. Because the variance is only being sought to accommodate the dedication of property to the City, MDM desires have the variance fee waived in this instance. There is currently no waiver mechanism in the Code. The purpose of this letter is to propose a waiver mechanism narrowly tailored to this specific instance to enable MDM to recoup the $54,261 variance fee it has already paid. To effectuate this goal, we have proposed the following amendment to the Section 62-156(3): d. The City Manager may waive the variance fee in instances where a variance is sought in the Central Business District because a dedication of a portion of the subject property for right-of-way purposes requires adjustment to the location of a structure previously approved pursuant to a Major Use Special Permit. We are amenable to revising this proposed language so long as the end result is that MDM recoups the $54,261 variance fee it paid. As you know, amendment of the Code is the same method employed by the Buena Vista developers to recoup inequitable fees. The specific ordinance for addressing their issue was adopted by the City Commission on January 22, 2004. MDM seeks a similar resolution of this inequitable fee issue. WETSS SEROTA HELFMAN PASTORIzA GUEIES COLE & BONISKE, P.A. Mr. Javier Fernandez March 16, 2004 Page 3 By means of this letter, we are requesting a meeting with the City Manager at his earliest convenience so that we can fully explain the circumstances leading to this requested Code amendment. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please call me if you have any questions or to discuss revisions to the proposed language. Very truly yours, Tony Recio TR/ms 372005 cc: Iris Escarra, City Attorney's Office Teresita Fernandez, Director, Hearing Boards Department Tim Weller WEISS SEROTA HELFMAN PASTORIZA GUEDES COLE & BONISAE, P.A.