LTC 296-2006 Accordion Shutters on 41st Street
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MIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
Tel: 305-673-7010 Fax; 305-673-7782
LTC: 296-2006
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
Mayor and City Commission
City Manager Jorge M. Gonzalez ~........~
December 4, 2006 U
Accordion Shutters on 4151 Street
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
This Letter to Commission serves to provide you with information in response to recent inquiries
by business owners and tenants on 4151 Street who have been impacted by code compliance
citations for un-permitted shutters.
The recent code compliance efforts were at the behest of the Design Review Board (ORB), who
requested that all un-permitted shutters on 4151 Street that violate existing design standards be
cited. The request of the ORB was to address inconsistencies with established design guidelines
in place since 1993, which specify that shutters (hurricane or security) located along ground floor
storefronts or windows facing a public sidewalk should consist of removable panels and tracks, or
see-thru type grills. This guideline specifically prohibits opaque (solid) accordion or roll-up
shutters on these ground floor windows/doors, and no permits can be issued for these opaque
types of shutters, as they are not permitted according to the design guidelines. The purpose of
this guideline is to ensure that storefronts are visible during non-business hours, so as to create a
safe pedestrian environment at night and to maintain a more pedestrian active 'sidewalk
environment. The City has gone to great lengths to remove opaque security and hurricane
shutters from windows and storefronts fronting sidewalks along Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue,
as they have had a blighting impact on these established pedestrian corridors. In the instance of
4151 Street, however, most of the opaque shutters installed in years past are only utilized in the
event of a hurricane or severe storms.
The intent of the ORB request was to focus on what they believed to be recently installed opaque
accordion and/or roll-up shutters.
Subsequent to the issuance of code violations, and following inquiries by some of the businesses
that received citations, staff has reviewed the existing design standards to determine if
amendments should be considered to address concerns raised by the businesses. Staff has
recommended a change to the design standards to permit opaque accordion and/or roll-up
shutters on the ground floor of businesses on 4151 Street, as long as the shutters remain open at
all times, and are only closed when a hurricane watch has been issued; opaque accordion and/or
roll-up shutters cannot be closed for security or other purposes. A referral to the Land Use and
Development Committee of the proposed changes to the design guidelines is requested.
Page 2 of 2
Staff will be informing businesses that received Code citations of the proposed changes to the
design standards. Should the changes be approved, businesses that installed accordion and/or
roll-up shutters in the past thirteen (13) years will be advised that they shall have to obtain "after
the fact" permits for their installation. Once the permit is obtained and approved, the Code
violations, and any related Building Violations, will be closed out. Those businesses that are able
to document that the shutters are more than thirteen years old would be grandfathered.
As always, please feel free to call me should you have any questions or require additional
information.
cc: Tim. Hemstreet, ACM
Hilda M. Fernandez, ACM
Jorge Gomez, Planning
Vivian Guzman, Neighborhood Services
Jimmy McMillion, Code Compliance
Tom Mooney, Planning
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