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LTC 480-2022 Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU) Board of Directors - Relating to Items on the November 16, 2022 Commission Meeting.MIAMI BEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK LTC# 480-2022 LETTER TO COMMISSION TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission Alina T. Hudak, City Manager FROM: DATE: Rafael A. Paz, City Attorney Joseph M. Centorino, Inspector General Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk ~ November 14, 2022 SUBJECT: Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU) Board of Directors -Relating to Items on the November 16, 2022 Commission Meeting. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Miami Beach United (MBU), please find seven resolutions in advance of the Commission Meeting on October 26, 2022. The Resolutions are related to the following Items: C4 G Ref: PSNQLC -Process/Outreach for City's Publicly Noticed Meetings. (Rosen Gonzalez) C4 N Ref: PSNQLC -Regulation of Vessel Noise. (Meiner) C4 0 Ref: PSNQLC -Establish a Non-Motorized Boat Zone on Monument Island. (Meiner) C4 U Ref: LUSC -Improve Notice Requirements for Property Owners. (Arriola) R5 I 5:02 p.m. 2 nd Rdg, Resiliency Code and LOR Update. (Arriola) PL 5/7 R9 E 1 :30 p.m. Discuss Interactive Mapping for Planned Developments. (Meiner) PL R9 0 Discuss Office of Inspector General Accountability. (Richardson) C4G Miami Beach United Resolutions November 16, 2022 Referral To Public Safety Neighborhood And Quality Of Life Committee To Discuss Our Publicly Noticed Meetings; How We Can Improve The Process; And Our Outreach To The Public Miami Beach United SUPPORTS the Referral to Public Safety Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee to discuss our publicly noticed meetings to improve the process and the City's outreach to the public. We believe it is of the utmost importance for neighbors and businesses to be fully informed and aware of all meeting notices in a timely and transparent manner. Currently, the Resident's Right to Know process is not working as intended and we support all efforts to improve the process including proper noticing of the neighborhood associations . C4N Referral To The Public Safety And Neighborhood Quality Of Life Committee To Discuss The Potential Adoption Of An Ordinance Regulating Excessive Vessel Noise Within A Certain Distan ce Of Residential Areas Miami Beach United SUPPORTS the adoption of an ordinance to regulate excessive noise emanating from vessels on the water near residential areas. A new state law prohibits excessive noise from motorized vehicles on the road. Miami Beach should adopt a similar ordinance to regulate noise from vessels on the water. MBU suggests this ordinance cover anchored boats and boats that play loud music while passing by houses and condominiums throughout the day and night. C40 Referral To The Public Safety And Neighborhood Quality Of Life Committee To Consider The Marine And Waterfront Protection Authority Board's Recommendation That The City Establish A Non-Motorized Boat Zone In The Waters Immediately Surrounding Monument Island Miami Beach United SUPPORTS the creation of a non-motorized boat zone in the waters immediately surrounding Monument Island. Four Neighborhood/Homeowners Associations previously requested similar action be taken to protect the island and neighbors. MBU recommends the use of signage, buoys and/or rocks, or a combination of these to effectively close the island to motorized boats. MBU also recommends the island be cleaned up and that invasive plants be removed . These actions would diminish the partying, pollution and noise coming from the island while leaving the island open to the public by non-motorized means (swimming, kayak, SUP foil boards, etc.) and permitting continued use and enjoyment of the island, particularly by neighboring residents. ~ Referral To The Land Use And Sustainability Committee To Discuss Improved Notice Requirements For Property Owners Miami Beach United SUPPORTS this referral to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee to improve notification requirements to a specific property owner when a discussion of their property is included on any Land Use board agenda . We believe it is only fair that a property owner is aware, from the inception, of any discussion or dialogue taking place by the City about their property which could have a considerable impact on their property. RSI Miami Beach United Resolutions November 16, 2022 Resiliency Code And LDR Update Miami Beach United agrees that the City should update and reorganize the Land Development Regulations in order to make it easier to understand. Beyond the reorganization of the Land Development Regulations; actual changes to the zoning have been proposed; Miami Beach United OPPOSES two of these zoning changes~ .B.9..E • MBU disagrees with removing average unit size requirements for residential buildings because doing so would allow all units to be the minimum size of 550 sf, which essentially creates an unregulated short-term -rental building, opposing the direction of our city policy.,, The City has already approved zoning for over 1,000 microunits in North Beach and the Washington Avenue corridor, although to date not one has been built. Therefore;-we have no idea to what extent there may be unintended consequences. Since removing average unit size was proposed at first-reading, the administration has made revisions which we believe do not fix the holes in this proposal. In general, this proposal creates more problems than it fixes. • MBU also disagrees with the plan to omit outdoor areas from the calculation to determine 35% maximum allowable accessory use . Outdoor open -air floor area absolutely should be included because this is where most noise violations are committed:-We disagree with staff that outdoor areas cannot be measured because outdoor bars, restaurants, and movie theaters are specific areas and can be measured accurately . Interactive Mapping Fo r Planned Developments Miami Beach United SUPPORTS Commissioner Meiner's proposal that the City of Miami Beach develop an interactive Mapping System to be incorporated into the CMB website. This interactive map of private/commercial planned developments would provide residents and other interested parties a meaningful opportunity to review and comment on proposed and ongoing projects . The Residents' Right to Know ordinance requires development of systems which provide meaningful information to Residents. MBU has gathered significant information on this subject and would like to work with CMB staff to successfully develop this system . fil!.Q Discussion Regarding Office Of Inspector General's Improper Use Of Staff And Resources To Interfere With Legitimate Policy Making Activities Of The City Commission Miami Beach United sees no issue with the practice of having City staff, including the Inspector General, having communications with individual Resident City Committee or Land Use Board members on matters related to the work of their Board or Committees which are on the agenda of an upcoming public meeting. This is the way City government should work, occurs regularly and certainly does not constitute "interference." Resident Board and Committee members, who may not read all the published agendas, are legitimate participants in the legislative process by statute, and should be alerted when discussions directly related to the work of their Board or Committee are going to be on the agenda of a future Commission or Commission Committee meeting. Miami Beach United Resolutions November 16, 2022 In addition, MBU continues to oppose the removal of Internal Audit from the independent supervision of the Inspector General. The Internal Audit function is responsible for auditing city programs, contracts, or expenditures for the purpose of identifying control issues, noncompliance with municipal laws, inefficiency, mismanagement, or fraud. The transfer in 2018 of this critical function from the City Manager to the newly created Office of the Inspector General was intended to give the Internal Audit staff the independence needed to freely report on deficiencies in the City's operating departments and insulate them from political pressure in the case of audits of "favored" vendors or external organizations. We are frankly shocked at this proposed organization change which is a significant setback to the sacrosanct goal of continuing to increase trust in City government.