2010-3707 Ordinance ORDINANCE NO! 2010 -3707
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI
BEACH, BY AMENDING CHAPTER 118, "ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW
PROCEDURES," ARTICLE 1, "IN GENERAL," SECTION 118 -6, "USE OF,
AND COST RECOVERY FOR, CONSULTANTS FOR APPLICATIONS FOR
DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL," BY SPECIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR
REPORTS TO BE IN WRITING, TO BE SUBMITTED BY A SPECIFIED
DEADLINE, AND FOR THE AUTHOR OF SAID REPORTS TO BE PRESENT
AT PUBLIC HEARING; PROVIDING FOR REPEALER; CODIFICATION;
SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Commission adopted the Consultant Fee Ordinance at its meeting
of March 10, 2010; and,
WHEREAS, additional points have been raised regarding requirements for expert .
reports to be in writing, to be submitted by specified deadlines, and for the authors of such
reports to be present at public hearings; and
WHEREAS, the Land Use and Development Committee considered this matter at its
meeting of April 28, 2010, and requested that an ordinance be drafted to address these points;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND MEMBERS
OF THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION ONE. Chapter 118 of the Land Development Regulations, Part II, of the Code
of the City of Miami Beach, Section 118 -6 is hereby amended as follows:
Sec. 118 -6. USE OF, AND COST RECOVERY FOR, CONSULTANTS FOR
APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL.
(a) Purpose and Summary. The City Commission declares that new procedures are
required to provide for preparation and review of traffic and other technical studies
and /or reports to restore and instill confidence in the development approval process.
Further, such new procedures are necessary to confirm that adverse effects of
development are adequately evaluated for property owners, citizens, residents and
taxpayers in the City of Miami Beach. The new procedures will provide for the creation
and maintenance of an approved list of qualified consultants to provide impartial
expertise for preparation and /or review of studies and reports required for assessment of
impacts of applications for development approval, upon which applicants for
development approval, affected citizens, and the City can rely.
(b) Consultant list. The City's Procurement Division shall maintain a list of approved
consultants of various specialties available to prepare and /or review studies and reports
required for applications for development approval.
(c) For purposes of this Section, "Application for development approval" shall mean
any application for approval by a City land use board (Planning Board, Board of
Adjustment, Historic Preservation Board, Design Review Board).
(d) Requirements for selection of a City consultant and procedures for payment.
Prior to the applicant submitting an application for development approval, the applicant
shall meet with City staff to determine the types of studies and /or reports required for the
proposed project, as well as the methodology to be followed as part of the production of
the study.
(i) When an applicant is required to submit, as part of an application for
development approval, a traffic or any other technical study and /or report,
the applicant may elect either:
A. to authorize the City to commission the study /report, to be prepared
by a City- approved consultant, selected by City staff from the
approved list maintained by the Procurement Division; or,
B. to prepare a required study /report using its own consultant.
(ii) If an applicant elects to prepare a required study /report using its own
consultant, then the City shall review the study /report, and shall retain a
consultant from the City's approved list having the necessary expertise to
perform such review. The applicant shall be responsible for all costs
associated with the City's consultant review, and shall pay for the costs
associated with the City's consultant review prior to proceeding to approval
of the application by the applicable land use board.
However, if the applicant elects to authorize the City to commission the
study /report, to be prepared by a City- approved consultant, selected by
City staff from the approved list maintained by the Procurement Division,
then the applicant shall only be responsible for the costs associated with
the consultant's preparation of the study /report; no additional consultant
review fees shall be required.
(iii) If an applicant elects to authorize the City to retain a consultant from the
City's approved list for the preparation of a required study and /or report,
then the procedure shall be as follows:
A. City staff shall select a qualified consultant from the City's
approved list (i.e. with the required knowledge, skill and /or
expertise required for the particular study /report).
B. City staff shall obtain a quote from the selected consultant for the
particular study /report and shall transmit same to applicant.
C. The quote shall be based on fair market value and include a "not to
exceed" amount that is inclusive of all charges and fees, as
required to prepare and complete the work.
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D. If applicant accepts the quote and elects to proceed with the work
using the City's consultant then, prior to commencement of any
work by the selected consultant, City staff shall require the
applicant to deposit with the City an amount equal to the "not to
exceed" amount of the quoted cost.
E. The City shall earn no additional fee as a result of applicant's use
of the approved consultant.
F. Notwithstanding anything in this Section, the applicant shall be
solely responsible for all costs and fees associated with the
consultant's preparation of the required study /report (including,
without limitation, the consultant's fee).
(iv) If an applicant elects to prepare a required study /report using its own
consultant, then the City shall retain a consultant from the City's approved
list having the necessary expertise and time to review the study /report.
(v) The procedures for selection of, and payment for, a City consultant
retained under subsection (iv) above shall be the same as those for
selection /payment of a City consultant by an applicant, as set forth in
subsection (d)(iii)(A) -(F), with the applicant being solely responsible for
payment of any and all costs and fees associated with the City
consultant's review (of applicant's study /report).
e. In no event shall the City be held liable, whether to applicants and /or third
parties, for any work and /or services rendered by any consultant on the City's approved
list, and /or otherwise in connection with a consultant's preparation or review of any study
and /or report contemplated herein.
f. Expert Reports and Appearances
i_ All required consultant or expert studies and /or reports, including those
requested by a Board, shall be provided to the City in written form,
supplemented with digital format when available.
H. Applicant's reports and /or studies shall be submitted to the City no later than
10 days prior to the public hearing at which they are to be considered.
Rebuttal reports submitted by opponents' consultants shall be submitted to
the City no less than 5 days before the public hearing. Failure to meet these
deadlines shall result in the subject report/study being deemed inadmissible
for that public hearing, subject to a waiver of this inadmissibility by a 5/7 vote
of the applicable board.
iii. Consultants or experts submitting reports /studies for consideration at public
hearings must appear at the public hearing in order to allow for questions
from the Board and /or cross - examination. This provision may be waived by a
5/7 vote of the applicable board, authorizing the report/study to be sufficient
for the purposes of the subiect public hearing.
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SECTION TWO. REPEALER.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances and all section and parts of sections in conflict
herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
SECTION THREE. CODIFICATION.
It is the intention of the City Commission, and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of
this ordinance shall become and be made part of the Code of the City of Miami Beach as
amended; that the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to
accomplish such intention; and that the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section" or
other appropriate word.
SECTION FOUR. SEVERABILITY.
If any section, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance is held invalid, the
remainder shall not be affected by such invalidity.
SECTION FIVE. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall take effect ten days following adoption.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 17th day of November , 2010.
ATTEST: / 7,,r . 10
VIAAAa ft1A-Ckt/\
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CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO
First Reading: October 27, 2010 FORM AND LANGUAGE
Second Reading: November 17, 2010 & FOR EXECUTION
Verified by:
• -c` , . ,,; 1) lie
Acting Planning Director Director t orney Date
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COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY
Condensed Title:
A Proposed Ordinance Amendment specifying requirements for consultant reports to be in writing, to
be submitted by a specified deadline, and for the author of said reports to be present at public hearing
Key Intended Outcome Supported:
Maintain strong growth management policies.
Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc
Nearly half of all residential respondents, 47.6 %, suggested the effort put forth by the City to regulate
development is "about the right amount."
Issue:
Should the City Commission adopt the proposed ordinance amendment setting additional .
requirements for consultant reports submitted with development approval applications?
Item Summary /Recommendation:
SECOND READING PUBLIC HEARING
The proposed ordinance requires all studies and reports to be provided in written format, sets a
deadline of no later than 10 days prior to the public hearing to submit such reports, sets a deadline of
no less than 5 days before the public hearing for rebuttal reports submitted by opponents' consultants
to be submitted to the City and renders reports /studies inadmissible for that public hearing if not
submitted by the deadline, or waived of this inadmissibility by a 5/7 vote of the land use board, and
requires consultants or experts submitting reports /studies for consideration at public hearings to
appear at the public hearing in order to allow for questions from the Board and /or cross - examination,
unless waived by a 5/7 vote of the applicable board.
The Administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the ordinance upon second reading
public hearing.
Advisory Board Recommendation:
At the August 24, 2010 meeting the Planning Board reviewed the proposed ordinance, and
recommended its approval.
Financial Information:
Source of Amount Account
Funds:
2
3
OBPI Total
Financial Impact Summary:
Not Applicable
City Clerk's Office Legislative Tracking:
Richard Lorber
Sign - Offs:
3 epartm a t Director As istant City Manager ity Manager
...ii Lgr
T:WGENDA\20 10\ •vember 17\Regular \Consultant W Fee summary.docx
034 A GENDA ITEM Rs 9
M IA
DATE
ti-: MIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachH.gov
I
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Comm
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: November 17, 2010
SUBJECT: Ordinance Amendment SECOND READING PUBLIC HEARING
Use of Consultants for Development Approval
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE OF THE '
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, BY AMENDING CHAPTER 118,
"ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURES," ARTICLE 1, "IN
GENERAL," SECTION 118 -6, "USE OF, AND COST RECOVERY FOR,
CONSULTANTS FOR APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
APPROVAL," BY SPECIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTS T,O
BE IN WRITING, TO BE SUBMITTED BY A SPECIFIED DEADLINE,
AND FOR THE AUTHOR OF SAID REPORTS TO BE PRESENT AT
PUBLIC HEARING; PROVIDING FOR REPEALER; CODIFICATION;
SEVERABILITY; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION '
Tha Administration recommends that the City Commission approve the ordinance.
BACKGROUND
During the City Commission adoption of the Consultant Review Fee Ordinance on March
10, 2010, a memo was submitted by Dr. Morris Sunshine, recommending several
additional policies. The Commission, as a separate motion, referred to. the Land Use
and Development Committee and then to Planning Board three of the proposals.
At the April 28, 2010 meeting of the Land Use and Development Committee , �-
the
Committee directed staff to begin preparation of a second ordinance, Ito be brought back
to the Committee. The Committee then reviewed the draft at the June 21, 2010 LUDC
meeting, and referred it to the Planning Board for review. Attached is the draft ordinance
incorporating those points.
PLANNING BOARD ACTION
At the August 24, 2010 meeting the Planning Board reviewed the proposed ordinance,
and recommended its approval.. j
1
City Commission Memorandum
Ordinance Amendment — Use of Consultants for Development Approval
November 17, 2010 Page 2
ANALYSIS
The Consultant Review Fee Ordinance now requires applicants to either have the
required technical studies commissioned by the City, or, alternatively, require the
applicant to pay for the cost of the City's independent expert review of the applicant's
expert study.
The additional points raised to the LUDC are:
1. All expert reports, including those submitted as part of a progress
report hearing, shall be in writing;
2. Expert reports shall be submitted to the planning department at least
10 -days before the land use board meets to consider that case; and,
3. Authors of technical reports shall appear at hearings at which their
P PP 9 �
technical reports are considered in order to answer questions! from the
members of the land use board, the city staff, or the public.
Although the Planning Department has found that generally all required expert reports
submitted by applicants are in writing, staff has no objection to codifying this
requirement. The ordinance is proposed to be amended as follows:
All required studies and /or reports, including those required by a Board, shall be
provided to the City in written format, supplemented with digital format when
available.
Likewise, codifying a deadline for required reports to be submitted to the City is also
simply formalizing the existing policies of the Planning Department and the Land Use
Boards. Note that the proposed ordinance contains requirements for both applicant's
reports and rebuttal reports. The text is proposed to read as follows:
Reports and /or studies shall be submitted to the City no later than 10 days prior
to the public hearing at which they may be considered. Rebuttal reports
submitted by opponents' consultants shall be submitted to the City no less than 5
days before the public hearing. Failure to meet these deadlines shall result in the
subject report/study being deemed inadmissible for that public hearing, subject to
a waiver of this inadmissibility by a 5/7 vote of the land use board.
Finally, the suggestion that was made to codify a requirement that all experts submitting
written reports must personally appear before the Board articulates the goal of the Board
and Planning Department staff to have professional staff and allied consultants 'available
for testimony during Planning Board public hearings. However, as explain at the
previous LUDC meeting, in practical terms this may be difficult to implement at all times,
given the possibility of illness, vacation, travel difficulties, etc. In the past, the Boards
have used their judgment and common sense to decide whether the proceedings should
be postponed based on these circumstances, or, conversely, if the matter is able to be
decided despite the physical absence of a staff member or consultant. Therefore the
text of the proposed ordinance includes a waiver provision, as follows:
City Commission Memorandum
Ordinance Amendment — Use of Consultants for Development Approval
November 17, 2010 Page 3
Consultants or experts submitting reports /studies for consideration at public
hearings must appear at the public hearing in order to allow for questions from
the Board and /or cross - examination. This provision may be waived by a 5/7 .vote
of the applicable board, authorizing the report/study to be sufficient for the ,
purposes of the subject public hearing.
Planning Department staff also notes that the Consultant Fee Ordinance has only just
been in effect for three months, and that implementation of the odinance has been
somewhat challenging. In discussions at the Land Use and Development Committee,
this with topic was explored, and the recommendation was that extending the notice
period for the Land Use Board's public hearings from 15 days to 30 days will make; it
easier for staff to get the required studies and reviews performed in time for the
scheduled public hearings. The LUDC agreed and requested that ;staff bring forward '
that ordinance extending the notice period as soon as possible. An +ordinance is being
prepared to implement that and will be reviewed by the Planning Board at an upcoming
meeting. Staff welcomes any other suggestions from the Board on how we might further
refine and streamline this process.
CONCLUSION i
The Administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the ordinance upon
second reading public hearing.
AC-L,
JMG /JGG /RGL
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2010 1 17NE
1
el M
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
C �;
NOTICE PUBLIC HEARINGS .
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that second readings and public hearings
will be held by the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami
Beach, Florida, in the Commission Chambers, 3rd floor, City Hall,
1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, on Wednesday,
November 17th, 2010, to consider the following:
11 :10 a.m.
Ordinance Amending The Miami Beach Employees' Retirement .Plan;
Implementing 1 Provisions Of The 2009 - 2012 ° Collective Bargaining 1 j ,
Agreement Between The . City And The Communications Workers Of 1
America, Local 3178 (CWA).
Inquiries may be directed to the Human Resources Department
(305) 673 -7520.
11:30 a.m.
An Ordinance Amending The Code Of The City Of Miami Beach, By .
Amending Chapter 118, "Administration And Review Procedures,"
Article 1, "In General," Section 118 -6, Use Of And Cost Recovery For
Consultants For Applications For Development Approval," By Specifying
Requirements For Reports To Be In Writing, To Be Submitted By A
Specified Deadline, And For The Author. Of Said Reports To Be Present
At Public Hearing. • . .. T
Inquiries may be directed to the Planning Department (305) 673 -7550. ' ',
11 :31 a.m.
• Ordinance Amending Chapter 46 Of The Miami Beach City Code, Entitled
"Environment," By Amending Article III Thereof, Entitled "Litter," By
Amending Section 46 -92 To Clarify And Provide For Additional Prohibitions
And Definitions For Litter With Regard To Leaf Blowers And Yard
Maintenance Debris, And Clarifying Penalties For Certain Utter Violations.
Inquiries ma I be directed to Public Works Department at (305) 673 -7080.
11:32 a.m..I
Ordinance Amending The Code Of The City Of Miami Beach, By Amending
Chapter 1061 "Traffic And Vehicles," Article V, "Police Vehicle. Towing,'
Division 2, "permit," Section 106 -213; "Application," To Reduce The
Number Of .Police Vehicle Towing Permits From Three To Two
Inquiries may be directed to the Parking Department (305) 673 -7275.
INTERESTED PARTIES are invited to appear at this meeting . or be
• represented by an agent or to express their views in writing addressed
to the City Commission c/o the City Clerk, 1700 Convention Center Drive,
1st Floor, City Hall, Miami Beach, Florida 33139. This meeting may be
opened and continued and under such circumstances additional legal
notice would not be provided.
Robert E. Parcher, City Clerk
City of Miami Beach
Pursuant to Section 286.0105, FL Statutes, the City hereby advises the
public that: if a _person decides to appeal any decision made by the
City Commission with respect to any matter considered at its meeting '
or its .hearing, such person must ensure that a verbatim record of the
proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence
upon which' the appeal is to be based. This notice does not constitute
consent by the ; City for the introduction or • admission of otherwise
inadmissible or irrelevant evidence, nor does it authorize challenges or
appeals not otherwise allowed by law.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, persons
needing special accommodation to participate in this proceeding, or to
request information on access for persons with disabilities, or to request
this publication; in accessible format, or to request sign language
interpreters, should contact the City Clerk's office at (305) 673 -7411,
no later than four days prior to the proceeding. tf hearing impaired,
contact the City .Clerk's ".office. via the Florida Relay Service . numbers,
(800) 955 -8771 (TTY) or (800) 955 -8770 (VOICE). AD #634