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1663-14 Art Deco/Preservation THU SEP 2i 1989 ED: FINAL SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 22 . 12" MEDIUM ILLUST: map: Miami Beach historic District 'OURCE: MARY ANN ESQUIVEL-GIBBS Herald Staff Writer .TELINE: MEMO: BEACH MAY EXPAND HISTORIC DISTRICT COMPROMISE LEAVES AREAS FOR DEVELOPERS Miami Beach commissioners are expected to take an unprecedented first step today to protect much of the Art Deco architecture that defines South Beach and has sparked its renaissance. At 5 p.m. , commissioners will decide whether to move forward with a proposed expansion of the Beach' s local historic preservation district to include most of South Beach between Sixth Street and Dade Boulevard. A series of public hearings would be required to create the district, and a final vote is expected by next spring. The decision would be "monumental, " said preservationist Nancy Liebman, because the expansion would guarantee preservation of South Beach' s world- renowned Deco hotels and apartments and would require redevelopment to reflect whimsical character of the neighborhood. Today' s meeting climaxes a 13-year struggle between preservationists and developers over how best to redevelop South Beach. And it comes 11 months after preservationists suffered a serious setback when the Senator Hotel, an Art Deco jewel at 12th Street and Collins Avenue, was bulldozed to make way for a parking lot. The move also represents a significant about-face by the city of Miami Beach, said Denis Russ, executive director of the Miami Beach Development Corp. , which is overseeing much of South Beach' s renaissance. "Government has finally come along and said: 'Yeah, this seems to be working. We ' re going to protect and encourage this kind of approach to revitalization, ' " he said. Beach Commissioner Abe Resnick agreed. In 1980, Resnick and his business partners razed the classic New Yorker Hotel as preservationists watched in horror. This week, Resnick said: "I feel the Art Deco District preservation is proper. " The move to expand the local Deco district, which would make demolition of its historic buildings extremely difficult, is part of an ambitious effort to rewrite the Beach' s 18-year- old zoning law. The district ' s proposed expansion is part of a somewhat uncomfortable compromise among property owners, preservationists and city leaders. In the expanded district, building heights would be limited to 40 feet, or about four stories, in residential areas and the city would have to approve any demolition of architecturally significant buildings. In the quaint neighborhood of cafes, low-rise apartments and nightclubs :rounding the Bass Museum, 2121 Park Ave. , historic status would be granted to many buildings. Height limits would be 50 feet, or about five stories, for much of the neighborhood. In exchange for those protections, Lincoln Road -- which features the Colony and Lincoln theaters -- and the east side of Collins Avenue north of 16th Street would be excluded from the district. Also, convention hotels would be allowed in a three-block area across the street from the Miami Beach Convention Center on Washington Avenue. Hotels ^h as the Governor, Adams and Tyler could be given historic status -- or .ed or drastically modified into high-rise towers. Preservationist Joseph Fleming, who sat on a citizens committee that drafted the new zoning law, said the compromise acknowledges the pressures for development on the Beach. Some preservationists agree the Beach is desperate for large hotels. "It ' s not a full loaf, " said Richard Hoberman, chairman of the Miami Design Preservation League. "It ' s still a tremendous improvement over where we were before this . " Preservation purists, such as Art Deco godmother Barbara Capitman, refuse to compromise and want commissioners to reject it. "It ' s a very strange kind of compromise where we distinctly lose a lot, " Capitman said. "To take that block with the Adams, Tyler and Governor hotels, really irreplaceable monuments, is like losing the Senator three times over. " ADDED TERMS: mb increase deco history protection END OF DOCUMENT.