LTC 036-2023 Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU} Board of Directors - Relating to Items on the February 1, 2023, Commission MeetingMIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
LTC# 036-2 023
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
Alina T. Hudak, City Manager
Rafael A. Paz, City Attorney
Joseph M. Centorino, Inspector General
Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk -rt/
January 30, 2023
SUBJECT: Resolutions from Miami Beach United (MBU} Board of Directors -Relating to Items
on the February 1, 2023, Commission Meeting.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Miami Beach United (MBU), please find resolutions in advance of
the Commission Meeting on February 1, 2023 .
The resolutions are related to the following Items:
R5 H 5:01 p.m. 2 nd Rdg, Resiliency Code and LOR Update. (Arriola) PL 5/7
R5 J 1st Rdg, Alternate Member Category for Land Use Boards. (Gelber) PL 5/7
R5 0 1st Rdg, Amend MBERP Pension Ordinance. (Richardson) CA AM2
.BSJ:1. RESILIENCY CODE AND LDR UPDATE
Miami Beach United Resolutions
February 1, 2023
Miami Beach United agrees that the City should update and reorganize the Land Development Regulations to make it
easier to understand. However, 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:
• The procedure used to pass the two actual changes to the zoning code seems to violate the City Charter, Sec
2.05 Procedures for passing ordinances generally -The Charter states, "Each ordinance shall be introduced in
writing and shall embrace one subject and matters properly connected therewith ... No ordinance shall be
revised or amended by reference to its title only. Ordinances to revise or amend shall set out in full the revised
or amended act or section or subsection or paragraph of a section or subsection." In other words, a draft
ordinance with underlines and strikeouts must be provided, and this was not done.
• 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 is opposing the direction of our city policy.
The City has already approved zoning for over 1,000 micro units 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. Outdoor areas have long been included in outdoor
areas and we shouldn 't make an exception here.
RS J CREATE ALTERNATE MEMBER CATEGORY FOR LAND USE BOARDS
Miami Beach United OPPOSES this idea . In addition to the Planning Board voting 6-0 against this idea, it seems
unnecessary and is a solution looking for a problem. The use of alternates could cause legal issues when an item is
continued and a board member who was absent and missed hearing some of the arguments made, votes on the
matter at a subsequent meeting, e.g ., Fox v Town of Greenland. This could possibly be addressed by having the
alternate return just for continued items they heard previously, but that seems impractical. Lastly, an alternate
member could create an imbalance on the board since certain seats are created with specific criteria, i.e., professional
licenses and otherwise. We see no valid reason to upend the current system which has functioned successfully for so
long.
B..S...Q AMENDING AND RESTATING THE MIAMI BEACH EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT PLAN
Miami Beach United objects to the manner in which the change in vesting for elected officials and Charter Officers is
being rushed for a Commission vote. While the proposed ordinance has a number of reasonable clean up provisions to
deal with employees who return to service after leaving the City, it appears the provisions to change the pension
vesting of elected officials and charter officers has not been fully vetted at FERC or at the Budget Advisory Committee.
Our concern arises in part from the fact that under the current 5 year vesting requirement a Commissioner must be
reelected or a Charter Officer serve for at least five years to receive the pension benefit, which requires sustained good
performance.
Granado, Rafael
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Attachments:
Miami Beach United <info@miamibeachunited.org>
Monday, January 30, 2023 4:19 PM
Gelber, Dan; Rosen Gonzalez, Kristen; ladominguez@icloud.com; Arriola, Ricky; Meiner,
Steven; Richardson, David; Fernandez, Alex; Hudak, Alina
Granado, Rafael; Paz, Rafael; Novo, Robert; Salinas, Monica; Chiroles, Erick; Callejas, Luis;
Mooney, Thomas; Carpenter, Eric; Madan, Rogelio; Burger, Michele; Garces, Brian;
Kallergis, Nick; Miami Beach United; Cc: Adam Kravitz; Herb Frank; Hortense De Castro;
Jorge Gonzalez; Ron Starkman; Sarah Leddick; Saul Gross; Scott Needelman; Tanya K
Bhatt; Gayle; RHEA DSOUZA; manning@attracting-solutions.com; Valerie Navarrete;
sjvanhove@live.com; Elizabeth Latone; Clare McCord
Resolutions In Advance of the 2/1/23 Commission Meeting
MBU RESOS FEB 1 2023.docx.pdf
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Good afternoon. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Miami Beach United, please find resolutions in advance
of the Commission meeting on Wednesday 2/1/23.
Thank you .
The Board of Directors
Miami Beach United
Miami Beach United 2022 Officers
Tanya Bhatt, Vice President , Marketing
Rhea D'Souza, Vice President , Administration
Saul Gross , Treasurer
Adam Kravitz, Recording Secretary
Committee Chairs :
Hortense De Castro, Community Outreach
Gayle Durham, Strategic Policy & Advocacy
Herb Frank, Nominating
Clare McCord , Membership
Valerie Navarrete , Forums and Events
Ron Starkman, Government Affairs
Directors :
Jorge Gonzalez
Elizabeth Latone
Sarah Leddick
Scott Needelman
Manning Salazar
Scott Van Hove
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