LTC 113-2008 Building Inquiry Made by the Miami Design Preservation Leaguem MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER ~~ a
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loos LETTER TO COMMISSI~Nn
NO
LTC # 113
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TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission _, °`' ~ i
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FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager v <-~_~ ~n
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DATE: April 15, 2008 ~ a
SUBJECT: Building Inquiry Made by the Miami Design Preservation League
This Letter to Commission is to provide you with the outcome of a staff investigation of
certain properties identified in a letter you received from William Farkas, Executive Director
of the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) dated March 24, 2008. Mr. Farkas
requested that the City examine the issuance of demolition permits on several historically
contributing properties that were granted by the Miami Beach Building Department within the
last several years. In addition, in an email dated April 7, 2008, and sent to the Planning
Department, Mr. Farkas requested the investigation also include five additional contributing
properties.
In total, MDPL has requested an investigation on the following properties:
• 321 Meridian Avenue (Belvedere Bungalow)
• 2100 Collins Avenue (Setai Development)
• 2200 Collins Avenue
• 334 Ocean Drive
• 928 Pennsylvania Avenue
• 945 Jefferson Avenue
• 5th and Ocean Drive (Tommy at the Beach)
• Collins Avenue and 11th Street (David's Cafe)
• 734 Michigan Avenue
• 334 Ocean Drive
• 826 Collins Avenue
• 245 Washington Avenue
• The Charles Hotel at 15th and Collins
• 6551 Collins Avenue (The Monte Carlo Hotel)
Pursuant to the requests made by MDPL, Planning Department and Building Department
staff has conducted a thorough review.
It should be noted that of the fourteen properties in question, thirteen were reviewed by the
Historic Preservation Board ("HPB"); of these, eleven were issued a Certificate of
Appropriateness for Demolition, while the remaining two (311 Meridian Avenue and 334
Ocean Drive) did not require a Certificate of Appropriateness, as demolition never took
place.
With respect to the only building that did not receive a Certificate of Appropriateness, 245
Washington Avenue, the following should be considered. Due to life safety concerns raised
Agenda Item ;~~~
Date I-/-~( -O~
by a number of surrounding residents, and the fact that the property owner was physically
unable to provide an application to the HPB, much less sustain the hearing process, an
Emergency Demolition Order was issued for the property located at 245 Washington Avenue
without a Certificate of Appropriateness. However, following the demolition, this property was
placed as an item on the HPB agenda as a'Discussion' item and the Board recommended
that any future development project for the site re-construct the original facade design of the
historic building into any new development. The building had been without a roof for many
years and trees were growing inside. The community asked that the structure be
demolished because it was attracting problems and the owner was not in a position to make
structural repairs or demolish it herself. When a new applicant brings a project forward to
the HPB for approval they will be required to obtain an After the Fact Certificate of
Appropriateness for Demolition from the HPB at the same time as the new project is
approved (or before then).
For the majority of buildings, there is a lapse of time of several months between the
issuance of the demolition order and the actual pulling of the demolition permit to authorize
the demolition. It is important to understand that for all of these addresses, several staff
members from both the Planning Department and the Building Department were involved in
the decision to allow demolition. In some cases, there was sufficient time and reasons for
the applicant to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the HPB, and in other cases
not. However, in no event, does it appear that any individual staff member acted unilaterally
to issue a demolition order. The processes proscribed by the City Commission via the City's
various historic preservation ordinances were followed.
A review of each of the permits indicates that different reviewers and staff members were
involved from the Building Department in making the determination that a demolition order
was needed. It should also be noted that for the 11 projects that received a Certificate of
Appropriateness for Demolition, that the property owner's engineers had prepared the
required reports and analysis that recommended the demolition be approved. This was
reviewed by the HPB, by Planning staff, and by different reviewers within the Building
Department. The files also reflect additional documented evidence that show that each of
the buildings where a demolition order was issued that these buildings were in a
substantially deteriorated state.
Due to the size of these files, they have not been reproduced here, but are available for you
to review if you would like to do so.
I have attached a summary chart that shows several pertinent details for each of the
addresses identified by MDPL. Please let me know if you would like any additional detail for
any of these addresses.
In closing, the staff review for each of these addresses does not reflect any irregularities and
shows that several different staff members from at least two different departments were
substantively involved in the decisions to demolish. In addition, there were several design
professionals and engineers who also were involved in these decisions. The record does not
reflect any evidence of wrongdoing and the process has been very public and transparent.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss any of these addresses, or our process,
further.
Attachment
C: Jose Smith, City Attorney
Executive Staff
Jorge Gomez, Planning Director
Thomas Velazquez, Building Director
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