Loading...
2009-27109 ResoRESOLUTION NO. 2009-27109 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE PROPOSED DESIGNATION OF THE MORRIS LAPIDUS MID-CENTURY HISTORIC DISTRICT BY AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS OF THE MIAMI BEACH CITY CODE; AMENDING SECTION 118-593, "HISTORIC PRESERVATION DESIGNATION"; AMENDING SECTION 118-593(E), "DELINEATION ON ZONING MAP"; AMENDING SECTION 118-593(E)(2), "HISTORIC PRESERVATION DISTRICTS (HPD) BY DESIGNATING THE MORRIS LAPIDUS MID-CENTURY HISTORIC DISTRICT. WHEREAS, on May 12, 2009, the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board held a public hearing and voted (7 to 0) in favor of recommending that the Mayor and City Commission designate the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District; and WHEREAS, the City of Miami Beach Planning Department has recommended this amendment to the Land Development Regulations of the City Code; and WHEREAS, pursuant to section 118-164(2) of the Land Development Regulations of the City Code, for changes to the actual zoning map designation for a parcel or parcels of land involving ten contiguous acres or more, the City Commission shall hold two public hearings on the proposed ordinance, and at least one public hearing shall be held after 5:00 p.m. Immediately following the public hearing at the second reading, the City Commission may adopt the ordinance; WHEREAS, the Administration is requesting that the first reading public hearing for the proposed designation of Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District be set at this time; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that a first reading public hearing shall be held on September 9, 2009, to consider the proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District as follows: Public Hearing First Reading 5:01 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers at 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, and the City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish and distribute the appropriate public notice of said public hearing, at which time all interested parties will be heard. PASSED and ADOPTED this 15th day of July , 2009. M YOR Matti Herrera Bower ATTEST: 2009-27109 ~~ ~a~,L~',r.~ CITY CLERK Robert Parcher APPROVED AS TO FORM 8~ LANGUAGE ~ FOR EXECUTION: CITY ATTO E ~ DATE T:\AGENDA\2009Wu1y 15\Consent\Morris Lapidus HD_Set date_reso.doc COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY Condensed Title: Setting of Public Hearing -Proposed Designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District. Ke Intended outcome su oriea: Designation and retention of historically significant properties. Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc.): In the 2007 Survey, 66% of residents rated he amount done for historic preservation as the right amount; 45% of residents felt that maintaining eighborhoods, is most important to address with regards to historic preservation; 40% of residents felt hat historic structures well-maintained is most important to address with regards to historic reservation; and, 14% of residents felt that expansion of historic district is most important to address ith regards to historic preservation. IccuP~ The Administration is requesting that the Mayor and City Commission schedule a first reading public hearing on September 9, 2009, to consider the proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District. Item Summary/Recommendation: Adopt the resolution which schedules a first reading public hearing on September 9, 2009 with a time certain after 5:00 p.m. Financial Information: Source of Amount Account Funds: ~ 2 3 OBPI Total Financial Impact Summary: Cit Clerk's Office Le islative Trackin William H. Cary, Assistant Planning Director; Debbie Tackett, Senior Planner. ~+ ~ ~ ~~ A~~nlaa ITEM C7F aa~~ ~-IS-4~f m MIAMIBEACH City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachH.gov COMMISSION MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager DATE: July 15, 2009 SUBJECT: SETTING OF PUBLIC HEARING -HISTORIC DESIGNATION A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE PROPOSED DESIGNATION OF THE MORRIS LAPIDUS MID-CENTURY HISTORIC DISTRICT BY AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS OF THE MIAMI BEACH CITY CODE; AMENDING SECTION 118-593, "HISTORIC PRESERVATION DESIGNATION"; AMENDING SECTION 118-593(E), "DELINEATION ON ZONING MAP"; AMENDING SECTION 118-593(E)(2), "HISTORIC PRESERVATION DISTRICTS (HPD) BY DESIGNATING THE MORRIS LAPIDUS MID-CENTURY HISTORIC DISTRICT. RECOMMENDATION The Administration is requesting that the Mayor and City Commission schedule a first reading public hearing on September 9, 2009, to consider the proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District. The Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission adopt the resolution. BACKGROUND On May 4, 1998, the Historic Preservation Board directed staff to proceed with research and prepare a preliminary evaluation and recommendation relative to identifying and proposing historic designation protection to areas, sites, and structures along the historic Collins Avenue corridor north of the Miami Beach National Register Architectural District. The Planning Department has continued to intensively study and research the areas along the Collins Avenue corridor, including Indian Creek Drive, Harding Avenue, the cross streets from 22"d Street to 87~' Terrace, and the Lake Pancoast multi-family residential neighborhood due west of the lake. On January 31, 2001, the City Commission unanimously approved the designation (7 to 0) of the Collins Waterfront Historic District. A major portion of the Collins Avenue corridor is included in this historic district, which extends from 22"d Street to 44th Street. Commission Memorandum of July 15, 2009 Setting of Public Hearing -Historic Designation Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District Page 2 of 6 On March 17, 2004, the City Commission approved the designation (6 to 1) of the North Beach Resort Historic District. This historic district includes a portion of the Collins Avenue corridor. It encompasses an area that is generally located on the east side of Collins Avenue from 63`~ Street to 71St Street. In light of the greatly expanded appreciation of the Post War Modern or Miami Modern (MiMo) style as an architectural movement of historical importance, the Planning Department requested that the Historic Preservation Board consider directing staff to initiate the process for the possible designation of the Eden Roc Hotel, located at 4525 Collins Avenue, as a local historic site. On July 13, 2004, the Board approved a motion (5 to 2) to direct staff to proceed with research and prepare a preliminary evaluation and recommendation report for the possible designation of the Eden Roc Hotel as a local historic site. On June 8, 2004, the Historic Preservation Board requested that an item be placed on their next available agenda, at which time the Board would consider directing staff to initiate the process for the possible designation of the Fontainebleau Hotel, located at 4441 Collins Avenue, as a local historic site. On July 13, 2004, the legal representative for the owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel requested that the Board grant a continuance of the possible historic designation of the hotel site scheduled to be considered at its upcoming August meeting. The Board approved a motion to continue this item to their September meeting. On August 10, 2004, the Historic Preservation Board formally continued the item to the September 14, 2004, meeting. On September 14, 2004, the Historic Preservation Board considered directing staff to initiate the process for the possible designation of the Fontainebleau Hotel as a local historic site. The owner, Hotelerama Associates, advised the Board that although they recognized the historical and architectural significance of the hotel site, they were in the process of completing a phased redevelopment project for the property that had been previously approved by the Design Review Board. The owner requested that the Board defer the possible historic designation of the hotel site until such phased project was completed, with the assurances that the ownership would remain the same and no major demolition would occur on the property. The Board approved a motion (6 to 0; 1 absence) to defer the possible designation of the Fontainebleau Hotel as a local historic site to a later unspecified date. In February of 2005, it was announced that the Fontainebleau Hotel site would likely be sold to Turnberry Associates, but that the new ownership intended to maintain the assurances made to the Board by Hotelerama Associates. On January 11, 2005, the Historic Preservation Board approved a motion to direct staff to place an item on their March agenda relative to the possible designation of the Doral Beach Hotel (now known as the Wyndham Hotel), located at 4833 Collins Avenue, as a local historic site. On March 8, 2005, the Historic Preservation Board discussed the historical and architectural significance of the Doral Beach Hotel. The Board considered that although it may be eligible for designation as an individual historic site, the Doral Beach Hotel might also be considered as part of a possible expansion of the Collins Waterfront Historic District. The Board approved a motion (5 to 1; 1 absence) not to initiate the process for the possible designation of the Doral Beach Hotel as an individual historic Commission Memorandum of July 75, 2009 Setting of Public Hearing -Historic Designation Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District Page 3 of 6 site. The Board instead directed staff to place an item on their next available agenda, at which time the Board would consider directing staff to commence with the historic designation process for a possible expansion of the Collins Waterfront Historic District. The possible historic district expansion area, which the Board wished to explore and consider, was generally bounded bye the northern boundary of the Collins Waterfront Historic District at approximately 44t Street to the south, the eastern bulkhead line of Indian Creek to the west, the southern boundary of the North Beach Resort Historic District at approximately 63~d Street to the north, and the erosion control line of the Atlantic Ocean to the east. There were approximately 52 properties located within the boundaries of the possible historic district expansion area described above. However, the Board had the opportunity to choose to direct staff to prepare a preliminary evaluation and recommendation report for a possible historic district expansion area smaller than that of the general boundaries described above. Consequently, staff studied the described area in two parts, Part "A" (the southern part), -from 4380 to 5255 Collins Avenue, and Part "B" (northern area) -from 5301 to 6080 Collins Avenue and 4381 to 6086 Indian Creek Drive. In reviewing Part "A" which spanned from the Fontainebleau Hotel property on the south to the Imperial House (at 5200 Block) on the north, staff noted the very distinctive and unique relationship of this area's Collins Avenue buildings with the waterfront on both sides. To the west, all of the buildings directly faced Indian Creek, affording a spectacular panoramic vista of their primary facades with direct visual access from the water as well as from the land. To the east, the Atlantic Ocean formed a natural boundary for the possible expansion of the Collins Waterfront Historic District. Staff also noted that this area possessed a most remarkable collection of highly individualistic, historic architecture which reflected the changes in American tourism patterns and hotel design as well as residential life style aspirations in Miami Beach and South Florida in the era of renewed development following World War II. Indeed, Miami Beach had become the cutting edge of modern resort hotel architecture with the opening of the Fontainebleau Hotel in 1954. And the Fontainebleau also set a standard for the future of redevelopment of this stretch of the historic Collins Avenue corridor from its former private residential estates to the larger scale hotel and apartment architecture for which it became world famous again in the 1950s and 1960s through to the present. Staff noted that the relatively compact area of sandbar, located in Part "A", was so richly endowed in historically significant mid-century modern architecture that it was home to five (5) major works by Morris Lapidus, including the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), the Eden Roc Hotel (1955), the Crystal House apartments (1960), the Seacoast Towers South apartments (1963), and the Seacoast Towers East apartments (1966). Staff noted that this area is the single largest concentration of the internationally recognized architect's major works located anywhere in the world today. And staff further noted that the list of historic architectural notoriety located within the Part "A"area does not end with Morris Lapidus. This area also includes three (3) very fine mid-century modern works by local architect Melvin Grossman: the Mimosa apartments (1962), the Doral Beach Hotel (1962), and the Imperial House apartments (1961). Furthermore, the design genius of one of Miami Beach's most distinctive Commission Memorandum of July 15, 2009 Setting of Public Hearing -Historic Designation Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District Page 4 of 6 architects, B. Robert Swartburg (architect of the Delano Hotel), was represented in the compact but highly spirited architecture of The Executive apartments (1959). Another highly individualistic work of design, one that encompassed the integration of art and architecture into its memorable Collins Avenue facade, was the Alexander (1962), which was originally constructed by the Muss Family as Seacoast Tower North before its later conversion to a hotel. It was designed by Charles McKirahan & Associates. Just as the currently designated Collins Waterfront Historic District traces the chronological progression of the City's architectural design continuum from south to north over time, the stretch of Collins Avenue located in Part "A" perhaps epitomized the highest levels of architectural design achievement attained in Miami Beach during the 1950s and 1960s. If it was not for the direct physical relationship of these properties along Collins Avenue to the open waterfronts of both the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Creek, affording spectacular water views east and west, it may not have been possible to have financed this caliber of architecture in Miami Beach. In reviewing Part "B" (the northern part), which would have generally extended from the Amethyst at 5313 Collins Avenue on the south to Le Trianon at 6061 Collins Avenue on the north, staff noted a dramatic shift in the defining character of the Collins Avenue corridor from Part "A': The strong direct relationship of Collins Avenue to the open waterfront of Indian Creek, to the west, was completely lost at approximately the 5500 block of Collins Avenue. There, the development tracts to each side of Collins Avenue narrow, and the resulting large scale architecture was stretched out linearly from south to north, creating an almost continuous "canyon" effect. Indeed, staff noted, in driving along Collins Avenue through much of this area, it was not possible to discern any visual relationship to either the Atlantic Ocean or Indian Creek. Although the area contained some fine examples of architecture from the early to late 1960s, staff noted it could not recommend to the Historic Preservation Board to direct it to proceed with a preliminary evaluation and recommendation report for the possible historic district expansion in the area of Part "B" at that time. On May 10, 2005, the Historic Preservation Board held a fully noticed public hearing to further consider the possibility of expanding the Collins Waterfront Historic District northward from 44th Street to approximately 63`d Street. Following a presentation by the Planning Department and, the Board voted unanimously (6 - 0 - 1 absence) to direct staff to commence the detailed survey of Part "A", the one mile stretch of Collins Avenue between approximately 44th Street and the 5200 Block (south of Fire Station No. 3) only, and to proceed with the additional research necessary to prepare a formal evaluation and recommendation report relative to the historical and architectural significance of this area for designation either as one or two separate local historic districts, rather than as a northern expansion of the Collins Waterfront Historic District. The Board chose not to direct staff to initiate the designation of "Part B", between 5313 Collins Avenue (the Amethyst) and 63`d Street, at this time. Between May 10, 2005 and May 12, 2009, the Historic Preservation Board reviewed and approved all major work for the Fontainebleau, Eden Roc, Miami Beach Resort and Spa (Former Doral Beach Hotel), as well as all other properties within this one mile stretch of Collins Avenue (see attached Proposed Historic District Boundaries Map). This resulted in approximately one billion dollars of new development with the proposed historic district as well as a high caliber of historic preservation and new construction in Commission Memorandum of July 15, 2009 Setting of Public Hearing -Historic Designation Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District Page 5 of 6 this area of Miami Beach. In December of 2008, upon completion of work, the Fontainebleau was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places at the request of its owners, further validating the historical significance of this section of Collins Avenue at a national level. On May 12, 2009, the Historic Preservation Board held a meeting to consider a Preliminary Evaluation and Recommendation Report relative to the proposed Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District to include all properties on the east side of Collins Avenue between 44th Street and 5255 Collins Avenue. At this meeting, where all property owners of record within the proposed district were provided written notice 15 days in advance, the Board directed the Planning Department to prepare a formal Historic Designation Report for the proposed Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District and to extend the proposed district northern boundary to include the two (2) City owned lots, containing the surface parking lot, immediately to the south of Fire Station No. 3. (Fire Station No. 3 is not included within the proposed historic district.) DESIGNATION PROCESS The designation report for a proposed historic district is required to be presented to the Historic Preservation Board and the Planning Board at separate public hearings. Following public input, the Historic Preservation Board votes on whether or not the proposed historic district meets the criteria listed in the Land Development Regulations of the City Code and transmits a recommendation on historic designation to the Planning Board and City Commission. If the Historic Preservation Board votes against the designation, no further action is required. If the Historic Preservation Board votes in favor of designation, the Planning Board reviews the designation report and formulates its own recommendation. The recommendations of both Boards, along with the designation report, are presented to the City Commission. Because in this instance the proposed ordinance involves an area more than ten (10) contiguous acres, the City Commission must hold two public hearings on the designation. Upon conclusion of the second hearing, the City Commission can adopt the ordinance with a 5/7 majority vote. STAFF ANALYSIS The proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District is appropriate to protect the aesthetic, architectural, and historical importance of the residential neighborhood as well as this section of the historic Collins Avenue Corridor. It is consistent with the designation of the Ocean Beach Historic District, Ocean Drive/Collins Avenue Historic District, Collins Waterfront Historic District, North Beach Resort Historic District, Harding Avenue/South Altos Del Mar Historic District, and the Altos Del Mar Historic District, all of which have major areas located along Collins Avenue. The positive social and economic impact that preservation has had on the revitalization of Miami Beach as well as on the proposed historic district is well known. Local residents, as well as visitors from around the world, are seeking the very special urban character of Miami Beach that the Historic Preservation Board and the Planning Department seek to preserve. Further, alterations and additions are permitted to historic structures provided that they are found to be appropriate by the Historic Preservation Board. Therefore, the Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission adopt this resolution scheduling a first reading public hearing on September 9, 2009 to Commission Memorandum of July 75, 2009 Setting of Public Hearing -Historic Designation Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District Page 6 of 6 consider the proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus Mid-Century Historic District, which extends generally from the Fontainebleau Hotel on the south to just north of the Imperial House (5200 Block) on the north. Attachment (1) JMG:TH:JGG:WHC:DT T:\AGENDA\2009Wu1y 15\Consent\Morris Lapidus HD_Set date_memo.doc Municipal Parking Lot LOT 24 (5300 Block) z W 0 ATLANTIC Proposed Morris Lapidus Mid -Century Historic District r'-- ; -i L-- 'r- r 11 I r + r 44th Street l