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Home My WebLink AboutM-77-0466Mr. Robert twit Director Departnent of A m City of Miami post Office Pox 330708 " l z lorida 33133 RE: ITA]1i 21 unit. townhouses 3495 Main 1igrway Coconut Grove, Florida Dear IDS. Davis: We hereby wi hdrutt without prejudice our application of May 26, 1977 to amend our existing approved PAD grantee by resolution 0 7G-SS. ni 4raticn' Sincerely, INTERNATIONAL re:tyra xt:ItD TRADE .COUPAN , (16.1(4 DAVID J. '!I President cc: V.E. Grx'�`. J=. Josop ? :Gasse, Ciarsof 4right- of o wfrA kL ttolttf� INfil 2�C`1 'i'!i> 'MttA0kAt.ibtAl tit bra le lVl ittbors of City CotWi'il`sstc +.F f en Allen Buff, C i" irtii% n Urban Development p eView Board o un 8, l977 1B TA 495 Main I-ii'ghway ABITAItE (1O6=23) .- Consideration of recotriti ehtlati h on Modified PAID Application tbe.Urban bet elopitieht IteVieW Board recom— mends denial of the modified application for Planned Area bcvelopment for A13ITAI2B, 3495 Main Highway, as presented June 7, 1977 as per plan on file with the Building Department and upon which building permits were issued. The .Urban Development Review Board met at 6:45 PM Tuesday Jtine. 7, 1977 in'‘ City Hall, Dinner I1ey, to review the revised PAD application. Members presnt ,were Messrs. Seymour, O'Leary, Baker and Buff, Chairman., Agenda Item 2 ABITARE was considered at 7:15 PM. Messrs. Miller and Wright, owner and developers were present. Mr. Geraldo Salmon, Director, Building Department explained that the previous ' UDRB recommendation for approval dated April 7, 1976, assumed that present grades on the site would be undisturbed, that is, the westerly 850' would be at elevation +18', dropping sharply to +5' elevation and then sloping gradually to the shoreline. The length of this gradual slope is approximately 350' with an average elevation of +3'. Further, the UDRB assumed that ground floor spaces of structures were not habitable and would not have to meet federal flood insurance criteria: but that the habitable floor elevation above would have to meet flood criteria elevation of +12'. Mr. Salmon further stated that the Building Department had issued building permits based on plans showing the easterly 300' filed to on elevation of +11': the next 100' filled to on elevation of +15' with the remainder of the site at natural grade of +18'. Building Department approval was based on two requirements. City Ordinance 6864 requires uplands in this area to be filled to a minimum elevation of +6'. Further, the Building Department determined that as the ground floor space of the structures was enclosed, it was also habitable, and had to meet the federal flood insurance criteria of +12'. In summary, the Building Department .:ebuli not ssuea building pprh-i t based on the pr=eviou U1 Rt bticatrsc Of the afortthefitib iOd fegUifitehtt4 :The tiPlItieOnaitle.red sta ,menu by the o\VIt ritlek?eippers. t avid Si Militr: ant Carson Wright in clefetise of the plan modifications. he t7DR� considered statements in opposition frorn Mr.: Mike Sirrionhbff ah abutting property owner and Chairman of the trivirontnental,PresetVation heV,IeW, $oa d and from Messrs. Johnson and fober=ts representing the State of Florida 8-tate Park at the. $a..rnacles , the abutting property to the north. Mr. henry A lc5tander, tnetnber; - l h{}irontnentalPte8er ration I: eview Board also spoke iti''opposition, Ms. Janct 12e.nor attorney for an adjacent property. to the south questioned v,nether the UDRB procedures followed "Cov,ern rient in the Sunshine". guidelines, Mr= Michel Anderson, Assistant City,Attorney, Law Department, 'stated that the meet, ing met the requirements,,' On a motion by Mr. Baker, seconded byiv' i C',Leary, the legality of the meeting was noted by a vote of;4-0. After closing the public meeting, on a motion by Mr. O'Leary, ,seconded by Mr. Seymour, the revised PAD application for the additional four feet elevation upon which building permits were issued was denied by a. vote of. 3-0. Mr, Baker abstained from voting because of his former professional involvement in the project. 1 t16sblih ICY ".11i Clb C °City 14hAg'er Viheeht .t% GriMM, dt, Assistant :'City Meid- b • j9. " laic lIi"hWaa Oh,May 2B I received a phone call from Mike 8itlonhaff, stating that ..the'deVeloptnent adjacent to. his - property Was in Viciatioh of the P.-A,b, approval granted by the City,,' and Was not permitted by other agencies such as the Oepartineht of Environmental Preset vation and others which might haveaninterest ih deVelopinent along Miami's bayf rout, The following morning I had a meeting with Mr.:" Robert 'Davis, Mr. Gerardo Salman and Ms, ttnparo Cardenas,; The general purpose" of this meeting was to determine what had been recommended by the Zoning Board and approved by the CityCommission in cons junction with the P.A.D, application and what had been approved by the Building Department in the issuance . of permits, The problem resolves itself to one major conflict, and that is ele- vation of the site. The piece of property is approximately1200<,. feet long, fronting from Main Highway,to the Bay, and 100 feet. wide, ,The Barnacle is the northern neighbor and Mike Simonhoff. the southern neighbor. The property runs at a relatively high elevation, +18 feet from Main Highway for about 850..feet .towards the bay. This elevation, then drops rather sharply to.+5'and then continues gradually, sloping to the water. The length of this area is approximately 350 feet and the average elevation about +3 feet. It was on the basis of these .elevations :.that the P.A.D. application was, submitted and approved., plans. approved by the Building 'Department show the easterly 300 feet filled to an elevation of +11 feet with a retaining Wall on! both northern and southern property lines at an elevation of +13.5 feet. The plans also show the next 100 feet filled to an eleva- tion of +15 feet with a retaining wall at an elevation of +17.5 feet. The remaining site is natural grade. This has the net effect of placing the adjacent property staring into a"concrete wall and raising the effective height of the buildings about an additional story. tt is myopinion that the P. ,tb* appiidat tin should heVer have been approved showing buildihq cohstructioh.at afi':.e1eVa'tidh .along the Waterf'roht' With fiooTs at roughly +3 to +-5 in e1LVatibh. dkdinande Mo. 6864., which has been a City requiteMeht since 1961, requires that all uplands south of 2icketibackier Causeway be filled to a 'tiiinitflum elevation of +6. The ordinance does hot place ahy, lithit of height that fill May be placed, to 1974 flood criteria was adopted by the County as required by the Federal GoVerntfletit; which sets elevations for the living floor levels of all buildings to be constructed ih Dade County (in this area at 12 feet) ih order for those buildings to be eligible for Federal flood insur- ance. The effect of this law ih essence requires buildings to be built With their first livingfloor level at a minimum eleVatioh Of 12 feet, or financing, insurance, and permits cannot be obtained. There, are, of course, several ways in which this could be accom- plished, As an example,' many: buildings in the Keys are built on stilts, sothat the first living floor level is above the area that they would be concerned with flooding during hurricanes. Ground level floors are then used for parking, utility or storage. In. the design of Abitare, the developers and architect did not take this .,course of action and have established the parking, utility and storage floor level as the first living level. Thesite has been filled but not to finished grade.. Three of the 21units .'`are presently under construction, and .permits `have .°been . issued by the:Duilding Department for all 21 units, including the site plan as now being developed, My recommendation is that the City Commission approve the revised P.A.D. application to conform with plans approved by the 8uilding.,Department, M". V. t. Grititi, Jr. .. .. A88istant City Manager City Hall Post Office Box 330708 Miami, Florida 33133 Dear Mt, Grimm, Ti . as _ z i C:G tom. 6ince I have not received ary correspondence from you or your legal department regarding a statement of facts that resulted from a meeting on May 26, 1977 attended by you, Mr.,Robert Davis, Mr, Geraldo Salman, myself -and others; 'I ,shall attempt to re- - construct the events and pertinent conversations of the meeting. • Upon self -introduction, I'indicated to you who I was and that I. was one of the owners of a property located at 3495 Main Highway. Your reply to me was that, "We are going to stop you." My reply was simply, "Could you explain why?".. You indicated that the City of Miami felt that there were discrepancies in grade elevations on the site plan approved by the city Commission and that the City of Miami had errored in issuing building permits that satisfied -' Federal Flood Criteria. - - • • - I told you of our impending construction and development loan, and that since I was building in accordance with approved bui1-;• ' ' :_. " ding codes and that since no violation existed, I was left with. - no alternative but to sue the City of Miami for damages as a re- sult. You indicated that because the City of Miami could -not ''.':•. • ' ..'~ accept a statement from me regarding our compliance to Federal Flood Criteria that I should again make application to the City • ::'y :.;`;.: ; Commission to amend our approved PAD resolution to satisfy Federal Flood Criteria. Mr. Davis -inquired of our reasons to fill our land to an,elevation. of twelve feet (12')...if it was to satisfy our bank requirements ...and I replied that it was in compliance to the Department of • Public Works, City of Miami, and the Federal' Flood Criteria:: "=., ", eve:cpcd by internationgl Diversified Trades Company. Ina; 3495 Mcin Highway. Coconut Grove, Florida 33133, (305) 142 0131 .vune if 1377 tt fat flitthdt 'suggested. the Sob be -s"topi5ed fi iit � a �. `b r;r .:. ,:. ,• N+ . pommitgion date could be artangtd$ 1 objected and you,:,: indicated that although the City of Miami was at fault, fait that it Was necessary to Correct the •City's error by our :° s..:r`•t:.:::�•:..�.° application for amendment to our approved PAD resolution. -S resonded to.. ........ > _ .::i3.... . p.. your comments With an explanation of possible ban- - � •�-j•="•,91 king difficulties which could arise as a result of delays im4 ' • i•.L .,.'�t •:..,.,. posed by the City of Miami and that I was left with little or no alternatives. Mr. Salman interjected that j possibly construe,;.':,.-.,.:, tion could continue on our model building (three Units) since it was above the finish grade elevations in'.. g question. Your -� response was that this might be a possibility if I would make r ; application to the City Commission to amend our PAD resolution :::•::._x,.:...:, i to accomodate Federal Flood Criteria. .I agreed to make this '""•—' application but also contended that, active. construction should also continue on all footings and portions of retaining walls-----. for which I had approved permits to eliminate errosion. concurred if no construction was completed above existing grades of neighboring properties.: - x.:•• rr. :'' 4.. •r4 ••'i .J!i. 36a•v✓ : n - y,., ..t... fti•3'. .i. sr ' -_t. + ` • • i34•'�..� ,, aki'v~iY-. raa,5; � t_ <�, 3 iv. ,•o, r-. I further asked the question that if I -agreed to go to .the City Commission for this PAD amendment, "What would be the staff recommendation?" • Your reply was that the City -of Miami should" .•: - --- honor the existing building permits issued to me as approved 'at ':• the elevation of ten (10') feet.•••You also indicated that Mr. .Davis and Mr. Salman would leave our meeting to attend another meeting with Air. Anderson, and Mr. Knox of the legal department, City of Miami to draft a letter of our resolution to confirm the :" :-:y `.. action of our meeting. • . ••`. .. ..... _ Since I have received no draft of that resolution,,,I am confirming �„ my understanding of the meeting of May 26, 1977. If I canbe of further assistance con tact you, please do not hesitate to the: "=.::•� Sincerely, DAVID J. MILLDR President • ' cc:... Mr...Geraldo, Salman ,' • Mr. Robert Davis • • Mr. Carson Bennett Wright -.Attorney Certified Letter a . DJM/gc • •- �..� .•, , .. ••et• ••,.;.,•'. • •,••... ,. .,,....'. •.,• - .•A:•' .. • w •v; 4" s, '4 . F 'et•• •,.. t v,.• w...! t-' .:4r Qom. e•AV n` .s. .'�.!,.`i Y'.'1•C•..M... +.'f:. !. +1••.M t ., 4 • e • ¢.•a l..' ......x.r-a y... ...tea\ r.►•.y.. 're.* ' •hif,• n/.a...•' •t*•.ice v. }..r{!v r. •. :,TYf•f.-,'Al•tx:. •'. .t V r . • }• .. .�'�. 't•_.r tte---`f-4 .4 I.' r»a sot.. "r. .^.+A et.r.`W'1r, r..•....,.,. •.T,•. r,r ♦'•s.h•-;•...e xa+-, ..'f•is•.••M, •.e.• •",t O. t"!`'•I ,'•4'' 'a'A�.CYf'.•},.�y� .. Mr. V. t. Grimm, Jr... Atsistant City Manager , ; ' ' City Hall . , ........ • Post Office Bog 330708 Miami, Florida 33133 Dear Mr. Grimm, Jr.:. • Since I have not received any correspondence from you or your legal department regarding a statement of facts that resulted • from a mooting on May 26, 1977 attended by you, Mr.,Robert Davis, Mr. Geraido Saiman, myself and others; I shall attempt to re- 1- construct the events and pertinent conversations of the meeting. Upon self -introduction, I indicated to you who I was and that I. was one of the owners of a property located at 3495 Main Highway. Your reply to me was that, "We are going to stop you." My reply was simply, "Could you explain why?" You indicated that the City of Miami felt that there were discrepancies in grade elevations on the site plan approved by the city Commission and that the City of Miami had errored in issuing building permits that satisfied Federal Flood Criteria. I told you of our impending construction and development loan, • and that since I was building in accordance with approved buil- " ding codes and that since no violation existed, I was left with'" no alternative but to sue the City of Miami for damages as a re - You indicated that because the City of Miami could not accept a statement from me regarding our compliance to Federal ' '- Flood Criteria that I should again make application to the City.;,, Commission to amend our approved PAD resolution to satisfy Federal Flood Criteria. Mr. Davis inquired of our reasons to fill our land to an,elevation of twelve feet (12')...if it was to satisfy our bank requirements ...and I replied that it was in compliance to the Department of Public Works, City of Miami, and the Federal' Flood Criteria.`., "=,:r' • + rr,..r•..fa..., 1 ?evelcped by: international Diversified Trade Campapy, Inc. 3495 Mai; High s oy Cacanut Grove, Florida 33133; (305) 442.0131f CITY OF MIAMI , FLORIDA: modification requested; r.' RESOLUTION NO A RESOLUTION G ANTINC MODIFICATION TO PAD AMA. CATION OR.IdtNALLY CRANTED 1Y CITY COIF 4ISSION R OLUTION N0, 76=559, AS PROVIDED IN ORDINANCE (5s 6871, ARTICLE XXI-1, CONSI.STIM(1 OF 21 MOLE FAMILY CLUSTER TYPE UNITS, ON SITE KNOW AS 'NORTHEASTERLY 99.50 FEET OF LOT 9, DEED BOOK "D",PAGE 253, BEING 3495 MAIN HI(HWAY, SAID .MODIFICATION TO PERMIT INCREASE OP GRADE TO MEET FEDERAL FLOOD CONTROL CRITERIA. WHEREAS, the City Commission passed and adopted, Resolution No. 76-559 on June 9, 1976, granting a Planned Area Development of 21 single family units at 3495 Main Highway; and WHEREAS the initial plans approved showed building sites at natural grade; and WHEREAS, the petitioners are required to build dancewith Federal flood control criteria; and WHEREAS, the Building Department issued a permit. for plans which meet the Federal 'flood control criteria but did not conform to the plans approved by the City Commission in the PAD application; and WHEREAS, portions of said building permit have been temporarily suspended; and WHEREAS, the Building Department cannot issue a permit for the development as shown since said plans do not meet the required Federal flood control criteria; and WHEREAS, the Commission finds that the changes required are in accordance with all regulations presently in effect, and WHEREAS, the Commission finds that\,aid request for Modification conforms to the general intent and purpose of the comprehensive plan in effect at this time; and ti accor� on the pans approved by the Commission WHEREAS, the Commission deems it advisable to grant. the NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COM ISSION OF ''FHB Section 1. The regest for modification to PAD app.i_,' cattor ori.gina]-1y granted:by' City of mi lion Reaoiuti-on TftiCUAIE14 INDEX ITEM NO, ''4§.7t014edj 'Hai � i, Artitti ; ntt 21: i i fii iy iugt type upitt an §itt knau ' florthea§t rly' 90 50 £ttt' tot "9 3 'nod # 25S, brim S495 Math 11ighhay; 5 14 th di oat .bI tea pttm t indrt .§e of rad 'tt ptot 16d 41, fidod eittro1 trier ri ' be .n � d th� attte ASS D ANt A iO` D t i ,...,..._ti.w d e ATTEST City clerk PREPARED AND APPROVED BY: '1ICHEL E.. ANDERSON Assistant City Attorney APPRO L AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS: G •RGE F. '4i OX, J City Atto -y MAYOR