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Home My WebLink AboutCC 2019-05-23 Veto Legislation MemoTO Honorable Members of the City Commission Todd B�-Iannon City Clerk I CITY OF MAW, FLORIDA INTEL -OFFICE MEMORANDUM oAl E : May 17, 2019 1 -ILL SURJECT Mayoral VETO of Resolution R-19-016.9 adapted at the May 8, 2019 Special REFERENCES City Commission Meeting ENCLOSURES: (1 ) I am in receipt of a mayoral veto (received on Friday, May 17, 2019, at 8:50 a.m.) pertaining to Resolution R-19-0169 that was passed at the May 8. 2019 Special City Commission Meeting involving the following item: A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), GRANTING THE APPEAL FILED BY MICHAEL SPRING, SENIOR ADVISOR, OFFICE OF THE MAYOR, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, MIAM1- DADE COUNTY ("APPELLANT") AND REVERSING THE DECISION OF THE MIAMI HISTORIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BOARD'S DENIAL, PURSUANT TO SEC. 23-6.2(b)(4) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, OF THE APPLICATION FOR A SPECIAL CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS FOR THE RESTORATION OF AN EXISTING STRUCTURE AND NEW CONSTRUCTION OF A THREE HUNDRED (300) SEAT THEATER., A PARKING STRUCTURE, AND EXTERIOR SPACES WITH LANDSCAPING TO A PROPERTY LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 3500 MAIN HIGHWAY, MIAMI, FLORIDA, 33133, A LOCALLY DESIGNATED HISTORIC SITE KNOWN AS COCONUT GROVE PLAYHOUSE WITH THE FOLIO NUMBER 0141210450140. Pursuant to City Code Section 2-36(4), the City Clerk is directed to place any item(s) vetoed by the Mayer, together with the veto form(s), on the next regularly scheduled City Commission meeting agenda as the first substantive item(s) for consideration by the City Commission. With this in mind, the mayoral veto of Resolution R -I9-0169 will be addressed at the May 23, 2019 Miami City Commission Meeting as the first substantive itern to be heard on the agenda. For your information, the City Commission may override a veto by a four-fifths (4/5ths) vote of the City Commissioners present. If four-fifths (4/5ths) of the City Commissioners present do not vote in favor of the override, then the mayoral veto shall be sustained. If you have any questions regarding this information, please do not hesitate to contact me. C: Francis Suarez, Honorable Mayor Emilio T. Gonzalez, Ph.D., City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney V1-it1V of ffliami, 471vr a FRANCIS SUAREZ * I..... '. t MAYOR 3500 GAN AMERICAN DRIVE MIAMI, FLOP DA 33133 (3051250-5300 FAX (3051 054-4001 Office of the Mayor -' Miami, Florida ' Veto and Veto Message =' TO: Honorable Members of the City Commission Miami, Florida co FROM: Mayor Francis Suarez L cn Miami, Florida a) Date: May 1.7, 2019 Pursuant to the authority vested in me under the provisions of 4(g)(5) of the Charter of Miami, Florida, I hereby veto: Resolution (R-19-0169) —Coconut Grove Playhouse Appeal hlcty 8, 2019 Special Coniniission Meeting Veto Message: For the first time as Mayor of the City of Miami, I exercise my right to veto the recent 3 to 2 decision of the City of Miami Commission ("Commission"), which reversed the Historic and Environmental Preservation (HEP) Board's decision to deny the application for a Special Certificate of Appropriateness for the Coconut Grove Playhouse. We must uphold historic preservation requirements in our community, and the Coconut Grove Playhouse should be no exception. The Playhouse is "a signature building reflecting the heyday of Coconut Grove." See City of Miami Preservation Officer 2005 Report. The HEP Board recognized this fundamental truth, and I seek to reinstate that decision,. In exercising my veto authority, I first find that the appeal was premature. The HEP Board's decision invited the County to come back to the Board "to address some, or all of the concerns, heard fi-om various members of the Board." In fact, the HEP Board left in place HEPB Resolution R-17-423. The County unilaterally disregarded this opportunity and appealed. Because further hearings could have taken place based on the HEP Board's decision, the appeal should have been denied as an unperfected appeal. To the extent that the merits of the appeal could have been reached, my veto that seeks to affirm the HEP Board's decision is supported by competent and substantial evidence. Based on the record before the HEP Board and Commission, the County's proposal would jeopardize the National Register of Historic Places ("National Register") designation for the Coconut Grove Playhouse because the proposal is not consistent with the guidance provided by the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. See March 1, 2019 letter from Mr. Aldridge, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. National Register provides significant benefits for designated properties, including but not limited to federal tar incentives, grant eligibility, and the prestige of the recognition. I also exercise my veto because the record does not support that the County's proposal satisfies Section 267.061 (22)(b), Florida Statutes that directs state agencies to confirm that no "feasible and prudent" alternative exist to a proposed demolition. The County's conclusory declarations that demolition of the Coconut Grove Playhouse is strictly necessary are unsupported by the record. And the County's assertions that no other funds are available to the Playhouse renovation are unsupported by competent and substantial evidence and contradicted by the County's testimony. At the hearing, County acknowicdged that multiple cultural facilities are funded, even above and beyond the projected costs. The Coconut Grave Playhouse should not receive unequal treatment, The City of Miami has listed less than 70 properties on the National Register, and the Commission's acceptance of the County's proposal could effectively remove the Coconut Grove Playhouse from the National Register. Based on the testimony at the hearings, delisting is a troublesome outcome for the residents of Miami. Fua`thernhore, the County's application is fatally flawed because no request for dehnolition is included in the application or request. The HEPB Resolution R-17-023 included Exhibit A that made it unambiguous that the HEBP reserved its right to review the final plan of the County. For instance, the HEP Board conditions included: " [N]o demolition pen -nit will be issued until the plan comes back to the HEPB and is approved." The County submitted an application that did not request demolition and, even with the C'ommission's reversal, the County will likely not be successful in obtaining demolition pennits. Despite the necessity of this veto, I remain confident that further discussions and community input about the future of Coconut Grove Playhouse will result in a revised proposal that would benefit virtually all stakeholders, and I look forward to opening night at the new and renovated Coconut Grove Playhouse. We have taken reasonable steps to help preserve a historic theater in Miami's oldest neighborhood. In fact, in cooperation with the County, the City has waived code enforcement fees and fines that would have accrued to nearly 53 million. The County's current plan that cannibalizes the historic structure will not meet any approval. But a revised proposal that begins the process of revitalizing the Coconut Grove Playhouse by beginning with tlhe parking lot construction immediately, which is fully funded by the City and the Miami Parking Authority, and restoring; the facade would meet with my prompt approval. Having concluded that it would not be in the best interest of the City of Miami or its residents to reverse the HEP Board's decision, I submit this veto. r_. eetfjlly:ubmitted,usrandis Suarez - Mayor = _. City of 4, I Page 2