C4G-Ref- LUDC - Amend Parking Rates Fees And Penalties Exempt SF Homes -SteinbeMIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION
MEMORANDUM
TO: Jimmy Morales, City Manager
FROM: Micky Steinberg, Commissioner
DATE: February 26, 2014
SUBJECT: Referral to the Land Use and Development Committee
Please place on the March 5th City Commission Meeting a referral item to discuss
amending Sec. 106-55 parking rates, fees and penalties to exempt single family homes.
Thank you!
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call our office.
MIAMI BEACH
Commissioner Micky Steinberg
OFFICE OF MAYOR AND COMMISSION
1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tel: 305-673-7103/ Fax: 305-673-7096/ www.miamibeachfl.gov
We are committed to providing excellent public seNice and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant. tropical, historic
community
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work. and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.
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Agenda Item C'( G-
Date 3 -J"-I c.{
Granado, Rafael
From: Steinberg, Micky
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 11:44 AM
To:
Subject:
Morales, Jimmy; Granado, Rafael; Smith, Jose; Held, Gary; saulfrancis@miamibeachfl.gov
Email re Land Use referral item
Attachments: Building Card-l.pdf; Original Plans.pdf; plans for chimney garage.pdf; plans chimney
driveway part two.pdf
From: sarah wright [sarahw93@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 3:01PM
To: Steinberg, Micky
Cc: Trofino, Tathiane; andrea@startupperia.com
Subject: meeting request by Miami Beach resident {friend of Alex Orlofsky)
Dear Commissioner Steinberg,
I hope this email finds you well. Alex Orlofsky suggested I reach out to you about an issue my husband Andrea Maca rio
and I are having with the Parking Department regarding a restoration project that we are undergoing at our house at
837 Espanola Way. In short, the Parking Department has indicated that we must pay a $35,000 fee to restore a
previously-existing driveway to our house.
The project under consideration is the partial restoration of an existing 1935 single-family residence located in the
Espanola Way Historic District. The residence was designed by architect L. Murray Dixon in 1935. Attached please find
the CMB Building Card and original plan drawing.
My husband and I purchased the residence with the hope of restoring the home and returning it to its original use. A
previous owner had illegally converted the original garage into an apartment in the 1970's, creating a non-conforming
two-family residence. Under the recent CMB permit 81300995, the original garage was restored to its original use.
Attached please find our A-3 sheet from this permitted and completed project showing the restored garage.
We have recently been approved for additional restoration work under Permit Application 81305146. This work includes
the restoration ofthe original garage driveway and curbcut. This Permit Application was approved by all CMB
departments, including Planning, Zoning, Historic Preservation, Parking and Public Works.
The Parking Department has now indicated that we are required to pay a $35,000 fee since one street parking spot will
be removed in order to allow access to the driveway.
At issue here is the application of Sec.106-55 of the City Code. It states the following:
Sec. 106-55 Parking rates, fees, and penalties
(h) Parking space removal.
(2} Private requests for permanent parking space or loading zone removal prohibited: Private requests for permanent
parking space or loading zone removal shall only be allowed for the purpose of creating access to an off-street parking
facility or other vehicular access to the property. Private requests for the permanent removal of a parking space or
loading zone for any other reason shall be prohibited. When permitted, the fee for the private permanent removal of a
parking space or loading zone shall be the same rate as the fee in lieu of required parking, or $35,000.00 per space,
whichever is greater.
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Director Frances said that this section was created in response to commercial entities attempting to remove street
parking in order to allow for commercial purposes such as outdoor seating. He did not believe that it was meant to
address a situation such as ours where a private residence would like to restore a previously-existing driveway in order
to access its garage. He said that the way that this section was written, however, prevented him from waiving the fee in
our case.
Given the legislative intent of this section, I believe that we should not have to pay $35,000 in order to access our
garage. In addition, our application has already been approved by Planning, Zoning, Historic Preservation, Public Works,
and the Parking Department, and there was no mention of the $35,000 fee. We were not given notice of the fee at the
time of permit approval, and it is unreasonable to now come back and require us to pay $35,000 in order to have access
to our driveway, restoration of which was approved by the aforementioned 5 City of Miami Beach departments. Also, by
converting the garage apartment back to a garage, the City would be netting one street parking spot as the house would
be converted back to a single-family dwelling, thereby reducing the number of residents requiring street parking.
l would very much welcome an opportunity to discuss this issue with you when you have a moment. I can be reached by
email {sarahw93@yahoo.com<mailto:sarahw93@yahoo.com>).
Thanks in advance for the consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Sarah
Sarah Wright
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