HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Truly Burton-Letter to Deputy City Managerb
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Builders Association
of South Florida
BUILDING GREAT CITIES
SINCE 1944
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www.basfonline.org
111 NW 183rd Street, Suite 111
Miami Gardens, FL 33169
January 7, 2026 Via E-mail only
Asael (Ace) Marrero, Deputy City Manager
City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33131
Re: City of Miami Proposed Fee Increases, Plan Review Process, Timelines & Related issues
Conditional Support of Items SR.1, SR.2, SR.3, SR.4, and SR.5
Dear Deputy Manager Marrero:
I am writing on behalf of the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF), regarding the City's proposal to increase plan
review fees for various applications across multiple departments. for the above -referenced SR items are on the city commission
agenda for January 8, 2026.
BASF continues to value the outreach and meetings that have taken place with you and your department heads since our
October 2025 request for a deferral. We continue to be committed to building on that collaboration to achieve our shared
goals to improve the permitting and plan review process in the City of Miami.
In our letter dated December 9, 2025, BASF indicated the basis on which the Members could support the City's
considerably higher fee increases.
1. City to enforce compliance with State plan review deadlines: Abide by and actively enforce the state -mandated
15-day deadline for plan reviews by all Departments and eliminate the "waiver" work -around custom. We
recommend jointly evaluating and establishing a process to effectively monitor and ensure consistent
compliance with this requirement.
2. City to ensure that all entitlement applications, building permit applications and legal instruments are
reviewed concurrently — not consecutively. This was a promise of the City's transition to digital plan review
in 2018; however, in practice, we continue to see inconsistency in implementation.
3. City to amend Chapters 54 and 55 of the City Code to revamp the RPW subdivision and permitting process
by adopting a traffic impact study peer review system, amending the 10% contribution towards public right of
way improvements to require a legal nexus between the project impact and the exacted improvements,
streamlining the subdivision improvement plans process, and allowing the issuance of TCOs absent life safety
concerns.
4. City to streamline review of routine legal instruments: Delegate authority to a trained administrator in each
Department and the City Attorney's Office review, approve and execute routine legal instruments, such as
covenants and unities of title.
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BASF letter — Page 2
January 7, 2025
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5. City to ensure that all pre-screen reviews are completed within 48 hours. Pre-screen review of special permit
applications should be limited to ensuring application completeness and issuing invoices for application fees
and completed within 48 hours.
6. Effective Date on P&Z fee schedule 30-days after adoption. Lastly, we recommend setting an effective date
for the planning & zoning fee schedule changes (RE.3) 30-days after adoption by city commission to provide
proper notice to applicants.
While BASF had previously acquiesced to the City's proposed fee increases as a demonstration of goodwill following
collaborative progress on the foregoing issues, and other mutual understandings that the increased fees would produce
tangible permit improvements, we are not yet seeing the process improvements come to fruition.
Further, these fees were proposed prior to the election of new City of Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins and District 3 City
Commissioner Rolando Escalona.
Now more than ever — the public needs to see clear value for its permit fee dollars — reflected through genuine
reform, measurable efficiencies, and defined goals that include timely permit issuance... Plainly put, fee hikes
without process improvements will continue to exacerbate Miami's housing crunch.
BASF reiterates its commitment to the valuable and strong working relationship with City staff that makes this all possible,
and a reality reflected in helping to provide more affordably priced homes and apartments.
As one of the City's largest stakeholder groups, BASF remains committed to collaborating with you to improve
the permitting process and help ensure that housing remains attainable for all City residents.
On behalf of BASF, we appreciate the opportunity to continue working with the City administration on this important issue.
Sincerely,
ram&
Ms. Truly Burton
Executive Vice Director
cc: Mayor Eileen Higgins
Commissioner Rosado
Commissioner King
Commissioner Gabela
Commissioner Escalona
City Manager Art Noriega
David Snow, Planning Director
Tamara Frost, Zoning Director
Juvenal Santana, Director, Public Works & Transportation
Sevanne Steiner, Assistant Director, Planning
Jake Keirn, Assistant Director, Zoning