HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Commissioner SuarezMEMORANDUM
DATE: November 2, 2015
TO: Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager
FROM: Francis X. Suarez, Commissioner, District 4
SUBJECT: Parking & Miami-21 T6 Zone Discussion Item
November 19, 2015 Commission Meeting
The purpose of this discussion item is to address Article 4, Table 4 of Miami 21 as it relates to
parking requirements in connection with the development of high-rise, market -rate apartments in
the western portion of the Central Business District ("CBD") and part of the Downtown Overtown
area.
Zone T6 contains the highest density within Miami 21. This zone is intended for the "Urban
Core Zone" and generally applied to the CBD. Within this zone, Miami 21 does not require
parking for residential units when the development site is zoned T6-60 or T6-80, and is within a
Transit Oriented Development ("TOD") zone. However, all other categories within the same T6
zone are required to provide full parking, regardless of whether they are in a TOD zone or not.
Specifically, a developer with property zoned as T6-60 and located 500 feet from a MetroRail
station is able to build a 60-story residential building with zero parking for the units. However, a
developer with a site zoned T6-24 that is equally close to a MetroRail is nonetheless required to
build full parking for a much smaller building.
Thus, it may appear to some that a disparity exists between the parking requirements for
residential developments within the same zone and intended for the same use within the urban
core. Based on this arguable disparity, it may behoove the City to explore extending the
elimination of parking for residential developments to all levels of the T6 zoning category.