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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Item Cover PageAGENDA ITEM COVER PAGE File ID: #15416 Ordinance Sponsored by: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 2/ARTICLE IX/SECTION 2-779 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "ADMINISTRATION/CITY-OWNED PROPERTY/OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGNS AND ON -SITE SIGNAGE ON GOVERNMENT -OWNED PROPERTY," TO AMEND ORDINANCE 14140 TO BRING IT MORE INTO CONFORMITY WITH PRIOR ORDINANCE 13536 SO AS TO DISALLOW NEW LIGHT - EMITTING DIODE ("LED") SIGNAGE AND OTHER RECENT CHANGES BUT PROVIDE GUIDELINES FOR CURRENT LED SIGNAGE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 City of Miami Legislation Ordinance Enactment Number: 14284 File Number: 15416 Final Action Date: 5/23/2024 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 2/ARTICLE IX/SECTION 2-779 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "ADMINISTRATION/CITY-OWNED PROPERTY/OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGNS AND ON -SITE SIGNAGE ON GOVERNMENT -OWNED PROPERTY," TO AMEND ORDINANCE 14140 TO BRING IT MORE INTO CONFORMITY WITH PRIOR ORDINANCE 13536 SO AS TO DISALLOW NEW LIGHT - EMITTING DIODE ("LED") SIGNAGE AND OTHER RECENT CHANGES BUT PROVIDE GUIDELINES FOR CURRENT LED SIGNAGE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, on February 9, 2023, the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 14140 adding further amendments to Section 2-779 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended ("City Code"); and WHEREAS, this was an amendment to Ordinance 14128 which was adopted on January 12, 2023; and WHEREAS, the Ordinance prior to these 2023 amendments was Ordinance 13536 which was adopted on July 23, 2015; and WHEREAS, after passage of the Ordinances in 2023, the full effect of the changes was brought to the forefront for area residents affected; and WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that it is in the best interest of the City and its residents to amend Ordinances 14140 to bring it more into conformity with prior Ordinance 13536 with respect to disallowing future LED signage as well as overly large on -site signage; 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 by reference and incorporated as if fully set forth in this Section. Section 2. Chapter 2 of the City Code is amended in the following particulars:1 "CHAPTER 2 ADMINISTRATION ARTICLE IX. CITY -OWNED PROPERTY 1 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 File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 Sec. 2-779. Outdoor advertising signs and on site signage on gavernmentCity-owned property. (a) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary elsewhere in the Code or the zoning ordinance of the City, as amended, a permit may be obtained for the erection of outdoor advertising signs on a principal building located on Department of Off_Street Parking facilities or certain gevementCity-owned properties located within the City of Miami urban core and identified in this section. Currently, these properties identified herein are venues for large assemblies, performances, exhibitions, or events, or supporting these venues with off-street parking which have having a capacity in excess of 1,000 patrons, and are operated by the governmentCity owner or a 501(c)(3) corporation in which the revenues generated by the activities held at the venue, or the off-street parking used, and support its operation. Subject to compliance with any applicable federal, state or county, regulations, or restriction and as may be permitted under any existing lease or management agreement, outdoor advertising signs as described in this section, shall be allowed only at the following three venues anrd Department of Off_Street Parking owned facilities: (1) The James L. Knight Center (400 Southeast 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida); (2) The Olympia Theater and Building/Gusman Center for the Performing Arts (174 East Flagler Street, Miami, Florida); and (3) Miami Children's Museum (980 MacArthur Causeway, Miami, Florida)= !/11) yfrontPark BTiccayne ulevard Miami Florida\; {5) Perez Art Museum Miami ("PAMM") (1103 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida); {6) Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami Dade County ("Adrienne Arsht Center") (1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida); (77) i urine A.Ferr- Park (1075 Biccaayyni^ ulevard Miami Florida\; and !8) VirginiaKey BeadP !�'� \/ rnia B,�nh Drive Miami Florida) (9) ggovern ent-owned I�ocacr\ „tie-R45 thinrthe Omni ^e-r-g aarnd known as Miami Parking Authority ("MPA"). Of those locations set forth above, the following locations are deemed Digital Free Standing Sign Sites: (i) Bayfront Park; PAMM; {iii) Adrienne Arsht Center; and {iv) Maurice A. Ferre Park. For the purpose ^f this sectiop Digital Free Stan ding Sign Si+es /i\ /ii\ and (iy) as ,e,ell as +he by the city, are deemed one site or premise for the purpose of determining if such sign copy is nership by Miami Dadde Coll int" are deemed ne cite or premise for +he pi irpose of determining if such sign copy is on premises signage. (b) Definitions. Digital Free Standing Sign Sites: These sites are entitled to erect, notwithstanding any contrary provisions in the Miami 21 Zoning Code, freestanding digital signs in which the size of the sign cannot exceed 1,800 square feet per sign face, with no more than 2 sign faces, and height measured from the top of the sign face cannot exceed 100 feet above grade. City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 Freestanding digital signs meeting the definition of an outdoor advertising sign shall be limited to those size and locational restrictions as required by Chapter /179, Florida Statutes, if applicable. Government owned or Government owner. Shall mean, solely for the purposes of this Article, public land, structure, or building that is wholly owned by the United States, or state, other public body corporate or politic created or established by local, state, or federal law. Outdoor advertising signs: Sign, in which the size of the sign shall not exceed 672 square feet plus embellishment for a total of 750 square feet per sign, -where the sign copy does not pertain solely to the use of the property, a product sold, or the sale or lease of the property on which sign is displayed and which does not solely identify the place of business as purveyor of the merchandise or services advertised on the sign. Outdoor advertising sign operator: Entity that constructs and/or operates the outdoor advertising sign. Permit holder: Permit holder is the outdoor advertising sign operator and the lessee in the case of govern entCity-owned property that is subject to a leasehold interest or a licensee in the case of a governmentCity-owned_property that is subject to a license agreement, or the property manager in the case of governmentCity-owned property that is subject to a management agreement. Sign: A sign, for purposes of this section, is any identification, description, illustration, or device, illuminated or non -illuminated, that is visible from a public right-of-way or is located on gaver+nmentCity-owned property and visible to the public and which directs attention to a product, place, activity, person, institution, business, message or solicitation, including any permanently installed or situated merchandise, with the exception of window displays, and any letter, numeral, character, figure, emblem, painting, banner, pennant, placard, or temporary sign designed to advertise, identify or convey information. For purposes of this section, a sign can be an outdoor advertising sign where the sign copy does not pertain to the use of the property, a product sold, or the sale or lease of the property on which the sign is displayed and which does not identify the place of business as purveyor of the merchandise or services advertised. Any sign authorized pursuant to this section is permitted as an accessory use to a principal commercial use. Sign, animated: Any sign or part of a sign which changes physical position by any movement, or rotation, or which gives the visual impression of such movement or rotation. Sign Face: The entire face(s) of the sign including all text, artwork, and commercial sponsorship messages incorporated into a sign. Sign, flashing: A sign which gives the effect of constant intermittent movement, or which changes to give more than one visual effect in less than eight seconds. Sign, ground or freestanding: Any non -movable sign not affixed to a building, a self- supporting sign. Ground signs shall be construed as including signs mounted on poles, or posts or structures in the ground, signs on fences, signs on walls other than the walls of buildings, signs on sign vehicles, portable signs for placement on the ground (A -frame, inverted T-frame and the like), signs on or suspended from tethered balloons or other tethered airborne devices, and signs created by landscaping. City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 Sign, revolving or whirling: A revolving or whirling sign is an animated sign, which revolves and turns, or has external sign elements that revolve or turn. These signs may be power -driven or propelled by the force of wind or air. (c) Criteria for approving the erection of outdoor advertising signs on governmentCity-owned property. Signs authorized under this section may be internally illuminated, but shall not be animated, revolving, whirling, or flashing signs. Moreover, any change of copy must not take place at intervals more frequent than eight seconds. The sign shall be integrated into the architecture; or wall of the building, or parking facility, or may and shall not be a ground or freestanding sign or cantilever from the building. The design of the sign shall be consistent with the operation of the underlying venue, as determined by the Directors of Planning and Zoning. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, signs located within shall not be required to be integrated into the architecture or wall of a building and may be possible. Spacing between signs, on City -owned or MP/\ property. A sign shall not be located within one thousand (1,000) feet of another legally permitted sign oriented towards the same side of a street or the State Highway, as applicable. The distance shall be measured in accordance with Rule 14-10.006(4), Florida Administrative Code ("F.A.C.")(2012)(i.e. measured along the edge of pavement of the main traveled way). Notwithstanding, there signs at Mai trine Cerro Dart Illumination on Virginia Key Beach Park. The illumination of a sign on Virginia Key Beach Park shall only be by indirect lighting and shall only be permitted from 6:00 p.m. to midnight Standard Time and 7:00 p.m. to midnight Day Light Savings Time, and only in accordance with Miami -Dade County Code Sections 33-96 and 33-107, as amended. Lumens need to be compliant with environmental standards for nesting sea turtles and other endangered animals. (d) Process for obtaining an outdoor advertising sign permit for government City -owned property. Locations listed in subsection 2-779(a) are appropriate for an outdoor advertising sign. If under the existing lease, management agreement or license, the lessee, property manager and/or licensee is permirciblcauthorized under the existing agreement to erect a sign, such permit shall be reviewed and approved and a permit issued by the directors of planning and zoning, pursuant to the criteria stated herein: (1) The sign faccsize of any outdoor advertising sign will comply with the size limitations placed by the Miami -Dade County Code, as amended, and shall not exceed 672 square feet plus embellishment for a total of 750 square feet per sign. However, a freestanding digital sign at a Free Standing Digital Sign Site shall not exceed 1,800 square feet per side with no more than 2 sides. For digital freestanding signs at Digital Free Standing Sign Sites, the top of the sign face shall not be higher than 100 feet above grade. Signs installed with a pedestal within Bayfront Park, Maurice Ferre Park, and Virginia Kcy B ach Park shall not exceed 400 square feet total with embellishments per sign. (2) Outdoor advertising signs may be internally illuminated, but flashing, intermittent, rotating, or moving lights are prohibited. Lighting which causes glare or impairs the vision of the driver of any motor vehicle, or which otherwise interferes with any driver's operation of a motor vehicle is prohibited. Furthermore, a sign may not be illuminated so that it interferes with the effectiveness of, or obscures, an official traffic sign, signal or device. City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 (3) Mechanically changeable and digital display panels are allowed provided the static display time is at least eight seconds, and the time to change from one message to another is no greater than two seconds. (4) The specific size, configuration and location of the sign and its supporting structure must comply with all criteria set forth above and the director of planning and zoning shall also evaluate the proposed sign for compliance with the criteria set forth herein and in Article 4, Table 12, design review criteria of the zoning ordinance of the city, as applicable. (5) The outdoor advertising sign operator must be a co -applicant with the lessee, manager, or licensee. (6) In addition to a permit issued pursuant to this section, the permit holder must obtain all other necessary permits to construct and operate the sign in compliance with City Code and state and federal law. (e) Permit fee for the erection of an outdoor advertising sign on City government owned property. (f) (1) Permit fee. Any entity that collects rent, fees, or income from a sign on city property, including, but not limited to the permit holder and the outdoor advertising sign operator, shall pay to the city the permit fee described herein. The annual permit fee shall be an amount equal to $7.00 per square foot of sign face cxccpt if it is a digital frccstanding sign at a Digital Free Standing Sign Site, in which case the annual permit fee is $10.00 per square foot of sign face. The per square foot dollar amount of $7.00 or $10.00 shall be multiplied by 12 months per year for each sign, provided that such annual permit fee shall be no less than the minimum $48,000.00 or greater than $/132,00063,000.00 per annum (the "permit fee"). The initial permit fee shall be due in its entirety upon the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy or certificate of occupancy for the structure upon which the sign is to be erected, whichever is issued first. In any event, the annual permit fee must be paid prior to placing any advertising on the sign. In the event any permit fee is not paid in its entirety, the city may exercise any of the remedies set forth in subsection 2-779(f). Fees shall be prorated based on the date of issuance of the TCO or CO, or in any event, no later than the date of the first advertisement on the sign, calculated by calendar year. (2) Renewal of permit fees. The permit holder shall pay or cause the annual permit fee to be paid in quarterly installments until such time it is paid in full. Sign permits shall be void if quarterly payments are not received within ten (10) business days after each quarterly payment is due. The payment year shall run on a calendar year. (3) Along with the first quarter permit fee each permit holder shall submit demonstration of up to date documentation of public liability insurance as approved by the department of risk management, and continued effectiveness of a bond or letter of credit in the amount of $50,000.00. Any payments made more than ten days after the date due shall be considered late and shall accrue interest at the rate of 18 percent for 45 days. If payment is not received by the 45th day, the city shall immediately rescind the sign permit. Revenue sharing agreements allowing for a percentage of gross revenues between the city as one party and any lessee, manager or licensee of a government City - owned property or the outdoor advertising sign operator as the counterparty must be approved by the city commission. Termination, revocation, or rescission of outdoor advertising sign permit. (1) Any sign permit issued under this section constitutes the exercise by the City of its proprietary authority, and is subject to termination and revocation for any cause in the City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 (g) best interest of the City. Prior to any sign permit being terminated and revoked, the proposed termination and revocation, including the basis for said termination and revocation and shall provide sign operator with thirty (30) days to remedy or cure the basis for the termination and revocation. If after the 30 day cure period, the City still ccckc to tcrminatc and rcvokc the sign permit, the City shall provide the sign operator with a quasi judicial hearing before the City commission to determine whether the City +s justificd in tcrminating and revoking the sign permit. Any sign that is permitted on goverment City -owned property under this section which is found to be in violation of the conditions of the sign permit or any federal, state, or county, or city regulation or restriction is subject to removal by the city at the permit holder's expense after the City provides written notice of the violation and thirty (30) days to cure or remedy said violation and if sign operator fails to cure or remedy the violation, then the City shall provide the sign operator with a quasi judicial hearing before the City Commission. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, if the sign operator is operating an outdoor advcrtising sign pursuant to a license agreement with the City or one of its trusts, then the license agreement shall control any and all legal remedies, including the manner in which the outdoor advertising sign permit is terminated, revoked, or rescinded. (2) The issuance of a sign permit under this section shall be conditioned upon the permit holder, or in the case of a government City -owned property that is subject to a management agreement, the sign company, executing a hold -harmless and indemnification, approved by the office of the city attorney, that will acknowledge that the sign permit does not confer any vested rights and hold the city and its officials, employees, contractors, agents or assigns harmless from any loss or damage to the sign if it is removed by the city pursuant to subsection (1) above. The permit holder will expressly agree as a condition of the permit that the sole recourse against the city and its officials, employees, contractors, agents or assigns will be the return of the sign, if available, in whatever condition it is found. (3) If in any event the outdoor advertising sign operator fails to utilize the permitted structure for outdoor advertising for a period of more than six months, the city manager shall rescind the outdoor advertising sign permit as provided for in subsection (1) above. (4) The City may immediately rescind a sign permit for non-compliance with any provision of the City Code, including but not limited to, Section 2-779(e). Upon rescission of a sign permit and expiration of app als, if the permit holder fails to remove the sign, the City may: a. Remove the structure, equipment or improvements related to the sign and may draw upon the bond or letter of credit to ensure the same; or b. Retain ownership of any sign or structure on the property. Opt -out provision. The city opts out of Chapter 33, Article 6 of the Miami -Dade County Code of Ordinances, as amended, per Section 33 42-(6)121.11 as applicable to these signs. The city has adopted the rules contained in this article, to regulate these signs in proximity to expressways on government owned property within the city of Miami Urban Coro. Restrictions on Signs. Hours of operation. The Sign Face may operate only during the hours of 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if an event is taking place in Downtown Miami, the Sign Face may operate only during the hours of 6:00 AM to 12:00 AM. When the Sign Face is not in operation, the screen shall be black but an unobtrusive logo listing the name of the venue located at the site can be present. City of Miami File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025 Modulation and Ambient Lighting. (i) From Sunset to Sunrise, Sign Face shall be modulated so that the brightness does not exceed 500 Nits. (ii) The time of Sunset to Sunrise shall be established by the Miami Office of the National Weather Service. (iii) The Sign Face must have ambient light monitors to automatically adjust the brightness level of the Sign Face based upon the ambient lighting conditions. (iv) The maximum increase to ambient lighting shall be less than 0.3 foot- candles at 250 feet from the Sign Face. *„ Section 3. If any section, part of a 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 adoption thereof.2 APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: ndez, ity Attor ey 1/30/2024 2 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 File ID: 15416 (Revision: B) Printed On: 7/29/2025