LTC 261-2005 Ordinance Amendment Pertaining to the Removal of Historic Signs
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MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO, 261-2005
LETTER TO COMMISSION
DATE:
Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
City Manager Jo~e M. Gonzalez ~~V
October 12, 2005 0 V
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT: Ordinance Amendment Pertaining to the Removal of Historic Signs
On September 8, 2005, the City Commission approved, on First Reading, an Ordinance
Amendment pertaining to the removal of historic signs; Second Reading is scheduled for
October 19, 2005. This amendment will allow the Planning Director, or designee, to waive the
requirement for the removal of a sign from a vacated premise, regardless of the permit status, if
the sign is determined to be historic or architecturally significant. Currently any sign previously
associated with a vacated premise must be removed from the premises by the owner or lessee
no later than six months from the time licensed activity ceases to exist or operate.
The City Commission expressed some concern at First Reading with requiring that signs
associated with a particular business or use be retained even if a different business or use is
proposed for the building. Recently, the restoration of the Curry's restaurant building at 7433
Collins Avenue was approved by the Historic Preservation Board, inclusive of the removal ofthe
existing signs. As part of this approval, the applicant preferred to retain two (2) of the existing
signs in storage (see attached historic photo of Curry's Restaurant). However, the architecturally
significant building signage was removed from the Curry's building, in accordance with the
above noted Code provision pertaining to the mandatory removal of signage from vacated
buildings,
The purpose of the proposed Ordinance is to prevent the future removal and demolition of
architecturally significant building signage. Such signage pertains mainly to large architectural
signage associated with hotels and apartment buildings (See attached photos), There are very
few examples of small businesses in the City that have retained architectural signage.
The retention of architecturally significant signage is a separate preservation issue that should
be addressed by amending Article X (Historic Preservation) of the Land Development
Regulations. The Administration would recommend that the Commission refer any proposed
Ordinance Amendment affecting the ability of the Historic Preservation Board to issue
Certificates of Appropriateness for the removal of existing signage to the Land Use and
Development Committee for formal consideration,
c: Tim Hemstreet, Assistant City Manager
Bob Parcher, City Clerk
Murray Dubbin, City Attorney
Gary Held, First Assistant City Attorney
Jorge G. Gomez, Planning Director
F :\PLAN\$ALL \CM_RESP\historic signs.ltc. doc
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