Loading...
LTC 376-2022 Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU) Board of Directors - Relating to Items on the September 14, 2022 Commission Meeting.MIAMI BEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK LTC# 376-2022 LETTER TO COMMISSION TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission Alina T. Hudak, City Manager Rafael A. Paz, City Attorney Joseph M. Centorino, Inspector General FROM: Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk DATE: September 13, 2022 SUBJECT: Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU) Board of Directors -Relating to Items on the September 14, 2022 Commission Meeting. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Miami Beach United (MBU), please find eleven resolutions in advance of the Commission Meeting on September 14, 2022. The Resolutions are related to the following Items: C4 D Ref: PSNQLC -Enforcement Re: Noise From Vehicles, Including Exhausts. (Meiner) C4 W Ref: LUSC/PB -LDR Amend, Estab Alternate Members for Land Use Brds. (Gelber) PL C4 Y Ref: LUSC -Amendment for Sunset Harbour Perimeter Restaurant. (Arriola) C7 AN Send Ur. Fla. Legislature Re: Vehicle Exhaust Noise/Urge Noise Camera Legis. (Meiner) CA R5 D 10:35 a.m. 2nd Rdg, Demo by Neglect-Replication. (Fernandez/Rosen Gonzalez) PL 5/7 R5 F 10:45 a.m. 2 nd Rdg, R-PS1/R-PS2 Apt-Hotel Conv lncen-LDR Amend. (Fernandez) PL 5/7 R5 G 10:50 a.m. 2 nd Rdg, R-PS1/R-PS2 Apt Hotel Conv Inc-Comp Plan Amend. (Fernandez) PL R5 N 1st Rdg, Rooftop Additions, Museum Historic District. (Rosen Gonzalez) PL 5/7 R5 T 1st Rdg, Ch. 2, Disclosure of Business Interests/Relationships. (Rosen Gonzalez) CA R7 N Ratify Engagement w/ UM, Water Qual Research. (Fernandez/Rosen Gonzalez) EN 5/7 R7 0 Endorse MBPD's Proactive Enforcement, Motor Vehicle Noise Statute. (Fernandez) CA R7 Q Create Database of CUPs for Public Access. (Meiner/Fernandez) CA R7 S Establish Ad Hoc Nightlife Industry Taskforce Advisory Committee. (Rosen Gonzalez) CA R9 F Ref: LUSC/PB -Ocean Terrace Overlay LDR Amendment. (Fernandez) Miami Beach United Resolutions September 14, 2022 I CONS EINT A.G IENDA -COMMISSIION ASSI GNMEN TS C4D Referral To Public Safety/Neighborhood Quality Of Life Committee To Discuss Enforcement Efforts Relating To Noise Emanating From Vehicles and R70 Resolution To Enforce Unreasonably Loud And Excessive Noise Emanating From Sound-Making Devices In Motor Vehicles Miami Beach United supports these two noise control related efforts which propose to develop a clearer definition of excessive noise, and to enforce existing state legislation authorizing enforcement of excessive noise emanating from motor vehicles. We applaud efforts by the Commission to make Miami Beach a quieter and more pleasant place to live. C4W Referral To Land Use Sustainability Committee To Add Alternate Members To Land Use Boards Miami Beach United opposes this unnecessary maneuver which seems to be a solution looking for a problem. The use of alternates could cause legal issues, for instance when an item is continued but the board member who was absent/missed hearing some of the arguments made, then votes on the matter at a subsequent meeting, (e.g., Fox v Town of Greenland). While this could potentially be remedied by having the alternate return just for continued items which they heard previously, but that seems impractical; as it is, serving on a Land Use Board is an enormous responsibility and time commitment to do so properly, ethically, and in a manner that does justice to each issue. Asking someone to do so to merely to serve as an understudy in the unlikely and infrequent event of a board member being absent seems an undue burden. However, the biggest concern is that an alternate member could create an imbalance on the board since certain seats are created with specific criteria, i.e., professional licenses, climate change expertise, historic preservation perspective, etc. Would there be an alternate for each of those specific seats, or would the residents be forced to accept someone opining on a matter about which they don't have the relevant experience to bring to the discussion? We see no valid reason to upend the current system which has functioned successfully for so long, especially as the proposal would assuredly create more problems than it would purport to solve. C4Y Alcohol Establishments in Sunset Harbour Miami Beach United opposes this and asks that this item be pulled from the consent agenda. It is quite surprising that mere months after the City endorsed the comprehensive and detailed Sunset Harbour Neighborhood plan, it would even consider discussing a project which so egregiously goes goes against the clearly-stated will of the neighborhood, is inconsistent with the Neighborhood Plan, and chips away at existing restrictions that make this neighborhood such a popular place to live and visit. Moreover, this should be a private application, not a commission-sponsored proposal because it benefits one developer and one project, rather than being a thoughtful proposal under consideration for the amelioration of a neighborhood in its entirety. Commission-sponsored ordinances should be reserved for proposals that benefit the public at large, which this does not. I !REGULAR A<CiE INDA -ORDINANCES Miami Beach United Resolutions September 14, 2022 RSD DEMOLITION BY NEGLECT -REPLICATION REQUIREMENTS Miami Beach United supports this item which would strengthen the City's demolition by neglect procedures and provide more specific guidance to both property owners and the Historic Planning Board. Further, the proposal will establish clear and objective criteria consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Reconstruction of Historic Buildings, for the Board to evaluate during their review of applications for Certificate of Appropriateness. Making these changes will not lessen the ability of the HPB to make decisions on a case-by-case basis as to how to proceed, and it will disincentivize derelict owners from trying to circumnavigate the city's laws regarding demolition by neglect. There is no reasonable justification to oppose this item as it merely improves an existing law designed to protect our architectural heritage by ensuring that owners follow our laws. RSF and .8.5§ Convert Existing Apartment-Hotel To Residential Apartment Use Miami Beach United supports incentivizing the conversion of apartment hotel uses to residential uses, despite our reservations about setting precedent for additional FAR i n other cases. Nonetheless, this question was put to the voters in the August 23rd 2022 election and was overwhelmingly supported with over 71% of the vote. RSN Rooftop Additions in Museum Historic District Miami Beach United opposes the permitting of multi-story habitable roof top additions in an arbitrarily created 6 block area which spans parts of the Ocean Drive/Collins Historic District, the Flamingo Park Historic District, and the Museum Historic District (as does the Planning Board). For over 30 years, existing structures within these historic districts have only been permitted to have habitable one-story rooftop additions, with a maximum floor to ceiling height of 12 feet, with no variances permitted. There is no compelling reason to change our longstanding rules respecting historic properties and limiting rooftop additions in these three historic districts. This change, if permitted, would predictably be expected to spiral out of control in other areas of our cherished historic districts, undoing decades of thoughtful historic preservation land use management . RST Expand Disclosure Requirements Applicable To City Elected Officials Employees Re: Business Relationships With Those Doing Business With The City This would expand the disclosure requirements for elected officials and city employees with respect to any business relationships and financial interests . Miami Beach United supports any effort to strengthen our transparency laws. However, the language of the draft ordinance could be improved with additional clarification regarding to whom this applies, and it should be expanded to include appointed members of quasi -judicial boards . I R.EGU l AR AGENDA -RESOLlJIT •ONS Miami Beach United Resolutions September 14, 2022 R7N Use Of $122,000 For Water Quality/Contamination Research For Park View Canal Miami Beach United supports this item. As Jackson, Mississippi is in the headlines for boil water advisories, it is shocking to think that part of our city has been under a NO CONTACT water advisory sjnce March of 2020 . This is a waterway that is home to a thriving mangrove ecosystem, providing grazing for entire families of manatees, fish, and birds. Tourists and residents alike paddle, swim, and fish in the waterway which feeds into Biscayne Bay. With independent testing showing dangerous levels of bacteria significantly higher than those reported by the city and far too little communication about and action to resolve the issue, it is concerning as a "canary in the coalmine" indicator about how we treat -or mistreat -our natural resources which drive our tourism economy. This is also an object lesson in how the City will react when, inevitably, the spate of development in North Beach (whatever goes into the late, lamented Deauville site, the 20 story tower going up on 72nd street, the Olympic pool on a parking lot being built directly above where pipes run north and south, and so much more) trigger more aged pipes to crack under pressure. Will it take years of residents' repeated outcry that something is not right to address those critical infrastructure failures too? Or will this experience remind the City how urgent it is to address issues comprehensively, immediately, and until they are resolved, wherever they may occur, as they seem to in other situations of infrastructure failure. As the City forges ahead in significantly impactful new construction spanning the length of our island from 500 Alton to the Deauville site, we must all remember that all of our neighborhoods, and all of our natural resources, must be equally cared for in a timely manner. RZQ Compile Database Of Conditional Use Permits Readily Available To Public Miami Beach United supports this item as it enhances the availability of information and furthers the objectives of our Residents Right to Know Ordinance. R7S Establish an Ad Hoc Nightlife Industry Taskforce Advisory Committee Miami Beach United supports this resolution ONLY IF the Task Force includes at least seven (7) resident members, none of whom work in, are supported by, or are in any way affiliated with/have financial or other interests in the restaurant, hotel, nightlife or entertainment sector; one resident to be appointed by each Commissioner and the Mayor. Since the Task Force's charge is "to advise the Administration and City Commission on nightlife issues, and to provide a forum to address quality of life issues affecting our residents and nightlife business owners," Miami Beach United believes including residents is imperative; a task force purporting to seek to address residents' concerns without actual residents is a complete non -starter. R9F Zoning Regulations Ocean Terrace Overlay Miami Beach United supports the referral, and eventual passage, of the Ocean Terrace Overlay LDR amendment as it seeks to prevent the same issues plaguing Ocean Drive from occurring on Ocean Terrace . Both Ocean Drive and Ocean Terrace are zoned Mixed-Use Entertainment, a zoning district developed decades ago specifically to encourage investment, adaptive reuse, and drive economic revitalization in those two areas of Miami Beach. Those goals have been accomplished with great success in South Beach, and pending the commencement of the Terra Group project on Ocean Terrace, (as well as others along the NoBe Town Center Miami Beach United Resolutions September 14, 2022 corridor}, will be in North Beach going forward as well. However, an unintended consequence of not timely amending and/or revoking this overlay has led to numerous problems on and around the Ocean Drive and surrounding MXE neighborhoods related to their zoning, including but not limited to crime, unreasonably loud noise, and out-of-control behavior by patrons, among other issues inherent to a MXE district. This LOR amendment would eliminate most of the components of a MXE district which encourage undesirable activity, and preclude the same issues that have plagued Ocean Drive and environs in South Beach from establishing a foothold/doing similar quality-of-life damage to Ocean Terrace and environs in North Beach.