Ordinance 2018-4162UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT SITES — FAR
ORDINANCE NO. 2018 -4162
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT
REGULATIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, BY
AMENDING CHAPTER 118, "ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW
PROCEDURES" ARTICLE I "IN' GENERAL," TO CLARIFY THE MAXIMUM
ALLOWABLE FLOOR AREA RATIO ( "FAR ") FOR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT
SITES CONTAINING BUILDINGS WITH NONCONFORMING FAR AND /OR
ELEVATED OPEN -AIR BRIDGES, PASSAGEWAYS OR CONNECTIONS
USED SOLELY FOR PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION BETWEEN BUILDINGS;
PROVIDING FOR REPEALER; SEVERABILITY; CODIFICATION; AND AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Section 118 -5 of the City of Miami Beach Land Development Regulations
(' LDRs ") defines a "Unified Development Site" as "a site where a development is proposed and
consists of multiple lots, all lots touching and not separated by a lot under different ownership,
or a public right of way "; and
WHEREAS, a Unified Development Site may result from the merger of multiple abutting
lots or building sites, any or all of which may contain one or more buildings with a
nonconforming Floor Area Ratio ( "FAR "); and
WHEREAS, Section 1.03(c) of the City Charter requires voter approval of certain
"increases" to current zoned FAR, but provides that "The provision shall not preclude or
otherwise affect the division of lots, or the aggregation of development rights on unified abutting
parcels, as may be permitted by ordinance "; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney, in an opinion dated March 21, 2014, recognized that the
Section 1.03(c) referendum requirement "includes an exception for," and therefore does not
apply to, the aggregation of development rights on unified abutting parcels "; and
WHEREAS, as noted in the City Attorney's March 21, 2014 opinion, the City has
historically interpreted the phrase "unified abutting parcels" as being synonymous with the
phrase "Unified Development Site"; and
WHEREAS, on May 11, 2016, the City adopted Ordinance No. 2016 -4011, which
amended the LDRs to clarify the procedures for the movement of FAR within Unified
Development Sites divided among different zoning districts as a means of providing greater
flexibility and improving the quality of development within Unified Development Sites; and
WHEREAS, the amendments proposed herein are consistent with the exception for
"unified abutting parcels" in Section 1.03(c) of the City Charter and authorize the retention of
nonconforming FAR within certain structures as a means of encouraging the preservation of
such structures; and
WHEREAS, the amendment set forth below is necessary to accomplish all of the above
objectives and to ensure that the public health, safety and welfare are preserved.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA:
SECTION 1. That Chapter 118, Article I entitled "In General" is hereby amended as follows:
Sec. 118 -5. - Unity of title; covenant in lieu thereof.
The term "Unified Development Site" shall be defined as a site where a development is
proposed and consists of multiple Tots, all lots touching and not separated by a lot under
different ownership, or a public right of way. A "Unified Development Site" does not include any
lots separated by a public right -of -way or any non- adjacent, non- contiguous parcels.
Additionally, the following shall apply to any "Unified Development Site ":
(a) All lots need not be in the same zoning district; however: the allowable floor area
ratio (FAR) shall be limited to the maximum FAR for each zoning district, inclusive of
bonus FAR.
(b) Only commercial and /or mixed -use entertainment zoning districts may be joined
together to create a unified development site, provided the entire unified
development site, including each separate zoning district, has the same maximum
floor area ratio (FAR), inclusive of bonus FAR. Such unified development site shall
only contain commercial and /or mixed -use entertainment districts and shall not
include any residential zoning district. The instrument creating the unified
development site shall clearly delineate both the maximum FAR, inclusive of bonus
FAR, and total square footage permitted.
(c) In the event a future change in zoning district classification modifies the maximum
floor area ratio (FAR), inclusive of bonus FAR, for a district within a unified
development site, the maximum floor area square footage recorded for the unified
development site shall not be exceeded.
(d) The maximum FAR for a Unified Development Site shall not exceed the aggregate
maximum FAR of the multiple lots allowed by the underlying zoning districts,
inclusive of bonus FAR. Within a locally designated historic district or locally
designated historic site within the Ocean Terrace Overlay District, any platted lot(s)
with a contributing building(s) that contain legal- nonconforming FAR and were
previously separate and apart from other lots that comprise the Unified Development
Site, may retain their existing legal non- conforming FAR, . provided no additional FAR
is added to such platted lot(s).
(e) Within a Unified Development Site within the Ocean Terrace Overlay District,
passageways or other connections that are an allowable FAR exception may be
permitted on Tots with legal non- conforming FAR.
SECTION 2. CODIFICATION.
It is the intention of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, 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, Florida. The sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or re- lettered
to accomplish such intention, and, the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section ", "article ",
or other appropriate word.
SECTION 3. REPEALER.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any section, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance is held invalid, the remainder
shall not be affected by such invalidity.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall take effect ten days following adoption.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 17th day of January, 2018.
Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk
First Reading: Decembe 1M,201
Second Readin•: Janus ry
Verified by:
Dan Gelber, Mayor
Thomas Mooney,
Planning Director
Underscore denotes new language
Strikethrough denotes removed language
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
& F R FXECUTION
I ij �(J
City Attorney , • / Dote
MIAM
BEACH
Ordinances - R5 F
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: January 17, 2018
10:25 a.m. Second Reading Public Hearing
SUBJECT: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT SITES - FAR:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT
REGULATIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, BY AMENDING
CHAPTER 118, "ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURES" ARTICLE I "IN"
GENERAL," TO CLARIFY THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE FLOOR AREA RATIO
( "FAR ") FOR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT SITES CONTAINING BUILDINGS WITH
NONCONFORMING FAR AND /OR ELEVATED OPEN -AIR BRIDGES,
PASSAGEWAYS OR CONNECTIONS USED SOLELY FOR PEDESTRIAN
CIRCULATION BETWEEN BUILDINGS; PROVIDING FOR REPEALER;
SEVERABILITY; CODIFICATION; AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
RECOMMENDATION
The Administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the subject Ordinance.
ANALYSIS
HISTORY
On October 18, 2017, at, the request of former Commissioner Joy Malakoff, the City Commission
made a dual referral of the subject amendment to the Land Use and Development Committee and
the Planning Board (item C4T). On October 30, 2017, the Land Use Committee discussed the
proposed amendment and gave a positive recommendation. Additionally, Commissioner John
Elizabeth Aleman agreed to co- sponsor the proposed ordinance.
PLANNING ANALYSIS
A property owner that is seeking approval for a unified development site on Ocean Terrace has
proposed an amendment that would modify current regulations pertaining to legal non - conforming
FAR. Although the change proposed is legislative, review for compliance with the City Charter was
required, as the proposal involves an increase in zoned FAR.
City Section 1.03(c) of the City of Miami Beach Charter explicitly prohibits the floor area ratio (FAR)
of any property from being increased by zoning, transfer, or any other means from its current zoned
floor area ratio as it exists currently, without being approved by a public referendum. This Charter
provision does include an exception for the division of lots, "or the aggregation of development rights
on unified abutting parcels. as may be permitted by ordinance." The ordinance referred to is Section
118 -5 of the Land Development Regulations of the City Code, pertaining to Unities of Title and
Covenants in Lieu of Unity of Title. This section provides a mechanism for single or multiple buildings
proposed for a unified development site consisting of multiple lots, all lots touching and not separated
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by a lot under different ownership, or a public right of way.
When a development is proposed over multiple lots, or multiple buildings are proposed for single or
multiple lots, a Unity of Title or a Covenant in Lieu of Unity of Title must be executed to combine the
lots or buildings for zoning purposes. The mere fact that touching lots are under the same ownership
may be enough to consider such lots as a unified development site. In this regard, the entire
collection of lots is considered one site for zoning purposes, which includes the calculation of a site's
Floor Area Ratio (FAR). For example, if a unified site has a maximum FAR of 100,000 SF, and there
is an existing building to remain on that site with an area of 20,000 square feet, then the maximum
area of added new construction cannot exceed 80,000 square feet, totaling to the maximum FAR for
the site of 100,000 SF.
As proposed, the draft Ordinance would modify the regulations pertaining to the retention of legal
non - conforming floor area for unified sites located within a locally designated historic district or
historic site as follows:
1. The maximum FAR for a Unified Development Site shall not exceed the aggregate maximum
FAR of the multiple lots allowed by the underlying zoning districts, inclusive of bonus FAR. Within a
locally designated historic district or locally designated historic site, any platted lot(s) that contain
legal- nonconforming FAR and were previously separate and apart from other lots that comprise the
Unified Development Site, may retain their existing legal non - conforming FAR, provided no
additional FAR is added to such platted lot(s).
2. Within a Unified Development Site, passageways or other connections that are an allowable
FAR exception may be permitted on lots with legal non - conforming FAR.
The proposed changes would allow for the retention of legal non - conforming floor area in an existing
building, which was previously permitted as a separate site. Such retention of non- conforming floor
area would be permissible within a proposed unified development site located within an historic
district or individually designated site. For example, under the current code, if an existing 20,000 SF
building was located on a site with a current maximum FAR of 10,000 SF, no new floor area could be
added to that site. If that site was proposed to be combined with multiple abutting sites, forming a
larger, unified development site, the excess legal non - conforming FAR would be required to be
distributed over all the sites, such that the overall FAR of the newly created unified development site
did not exceed the current maximum FAR.
Under the proposal, the legal non- conforming FAR as noted in the example would be permitted to be
retained, as part of the overall FAR for the unified site. This would result in a net increase of 10,000
SF for the unified development site, as the legal non - conforming FAR would not have to have to be
distributed within the proposed unified site.
The proposal is practical as it pertains to the operation of existing buildings within unified
development sites that may contain legal non - conforming FAR. However, although limited to historic
districts and sites, the proposed amendment could have implications across the City, including for lots
which were previously unified.
PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On November 21, 2017, the Planning Board transmitted the proposed Ordinance Amendment to the
City Commission with a favorable recommendation.
UPDATE
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The subject Ordinance was approved at First Reading on December 13, 2017, with two minor
changes. First, pursuant to the recommendation of the Administration, the Ordinance was revised to
restrict the retention of legal non - conforming FAR to `contributing' buildings. In this regard, by limiting
the retention of legal non - conforming FAR to `contributing' buildings, the legislation would be
consistent with Sec. 118 -395 of the City Code, which allows the historic preservation board to
approve the retention of legal non- conforming FAR for a `contributing' building, if the renovation
exceeds the 50% rule.
Second, at the request of the proposer, the subject ordinance was limited to applicable properties
within the Ocean Terrace Overlay. Both of these changes have been incorporated into a revised
Ordinance for Second Reading.
CONCLUSION
The Administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the subject Ordinance.
Legislative Tracking
Planning
Sponsor
Vice - Mayor John Elizabeth Aleman
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
D Form Approved ORD - 2nd Reading Unified Sites and FAR
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