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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. 2 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. 3 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/\ AY. 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 T:\AGENDA\2010\November 17\Regular \consultant fee addl Ordinance ORD CITY COMMN 10 -27 -2010 rev.docx 4 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 • T:\AGENDA\2010 \November 17\Regular \Consultant Fee addl Ord MEMO.docx 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