City Commission Meeting

[Applause] [Laughter] Welcome to the city of miami commission meeting for APRIL 9th 2026. I apologize that we're getting started a little bit late. We had some technical difficulties with our system but we're going to get going right now. We're going to start the meeting with some presentations that we have for folks. These are we are recognizing staff who participated in our fit city challenge and they came out on top. Fit city was started a couple of years ago by myself and former mayor because we believe a fit city is a city that serves our community well and it's a lot of fun. We kick it off with a5k and throughout the month we have these various challenges. Who loses the most weight? Who hydrates every day at eight glasses of water? Who gets their cholesterol checked? Who gets their blood pressure checked all kinds of things like that just so that we are a healthy fit city and we get prizes and this is another way of telling our staff thank you. You know I never use that right just in case. So let me show you what she gave me. I have never in all the years that I've chaired the meeting used this ever. So our first recognition is MISS Medina. Are you in the house? I think this is the one that she put he okay, here we go. MR.. How do you pronounce your first name? Jasmine. Jasmine. Oh, MR.. [Applause] Jasmine, please come forward. [Applause] I'm going to call everybody. Paula. >> paula, are you here? Oh, okay. Paula mazur. Walker first name starts with an a. [Applause] Annalise. I don't want to mess. >> up anyone's name. Okay. This one lealea. Here maybe. >> what's her how do you pronounce that? Rivera. Leiva. >> leiva. Yeah. Paula. Paula. Paula. Paula. Jasmine.P. Paula. [Applause] Annalise. Leiva. Bueno bueno bueno. Are you here? Pronounce the first name first name. Muy bueno. Is he here? Not yet. Michelle valdes. [Applause] And maria. Last one is maria. It would be delgado but I l l o is at the end z. [Laughter] Estudiar. Espanol but muy dificil. Michelle. >> okay, maria. Okay. Would anyone of you like to talk about your. >> experience with the fit. >> city challenge? [Laughter] Yeah. >> try it. >> go ahead. He's not shy. Well, it was very rewarding to have the. Opportunity to. To do this with my peers. And it feels good to have one. And that this is here to motivate us to be healthier. Yeah it really makes me feel. Motivated to keep going, keep. Exercising being out there and it's super healthy. You know it's a. >> healthy competition. [Laughter] Yeah. [Laughter] They set it up. It's a great way to kick off the year with the health challenges and to participate in something that the city. >> brings forward to help. >> us be fitter and healthier. And we have a new mayor who is just as healthy. She did the [Laughter] [Applause] Miami half marathon. Come on. And a city that exercises together stays together. When you're healthy you have less folks calling out sick. And this wasn't just about physical health it was about our mental health as well our spiritual health. So thank you guys. We had fun competitions between the police and the fire department and communications and all of the departments came out. So thank you guys for participating. Thank you for being the stars of this and we look forward to doing it again next year. Maybe we can do it at the half year mark because we kind of give up our our new year's resolutions goals for health and it just. >> keeps us it [Applause] Just keeps us all motivated. So thank you thank you. Oh wait a minute. Come let's get a picture under the seal under the seal. Under. And at this time we are going to have pastor garth doughton of tabernacle seventh avenue seventh day. >> adventist church to lead us in prayer. Good morning. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to invite us at this time if we can just bow our heads for prayer. Heavenly father, we come before you today with gratitude and. Humility recognizing. That all wisdom, authority and. Leadership ultimately come from you. We thank you for our city, for its people, its. Diversity. >> its opportunities. And even the challenges that call us to grow. Stronger together. Thank you for our city officials who serve. Faithfully and. Selflessly grant each one. wisdom beyond. Their own understanding. Give clarity in moments of. Complexity and give courage when decisions are difficult. Help each leader oh GOD not to lead for personal gain but for the good of all seeking. Justice. >> practicing integrity. And walking in humility. Lord give each leader listening hearts that hear not only the loudest. Voices but also the quiet cries of those who MAY feel. Unseen and even unheard. Let compassion guide. Policies and fairness shape those decisions. We pray for protection over our leaders, their. Families and over our city and over our great country of the united states. Strengthen our leaders when they feel. Overwhelmed and the weight of. Responsibility is upon them. Remind each one that their work makes a positive impact. MAY each one serve with purpose and a renewed vision. Bless our city with peace. Let it be a place where people care for one another and differences are celebrated and respected. MAY everything done on this agenda today reflect a. Commitment to do what is right, what is just, what brings life and hope to each and every person in this city. Keep our leaders oh GOD bless them. Bless their. Families and bless each and everyone who's here present. This we. >> pray in your name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you so much. Commissioner rosado, would you say the pledge of allegiance for us please? [Laughter] Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of. America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under GOD. Indivisible. >> with. >> liberty and justice. >> for all. Thank you. This was mine. MR. City attorney, would you please read your statement for the record? Yes MADAM Chair thank you. George white city attorney, city of miami detailed information about the processes order of business rules of procedure and scheduling or rescheduling of city commission meetings can be found in chapter two article two of the city code, a copy of which is available online@www.Municode.Com. Any person who's a lobbyist pursuant to chapter two article six of the city code must register with the city clerk and comply with related city requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the city commission. A person MAY not lobby a city official, board member or staff member until. Registering a copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the city clerk's office or online@www.Municode.Com. Any person making a presentation, formal request or petition to the city commission concerning real property must make the disclosures required by the city code in writing a copy of the city code section is available at the office of the city clerk or. Online@www.Unicode.Com. >> the city of miami requires that anyone requesting action by the city commission must disclose before the hearing any consideration provided or committed to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action pursuant to city code section. 2-8 any documents offered to the city commission that have not been provided seven days before this meeting as part of the agenda, materials will be entered into the record at the city commission's discretion in accordance with section two dash 33 f and g of the city code. The agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the city clerk's office and online 24 hours a day@www.Miami.Com. The meeting of the miami city commission is a limited public forum. Any person MAY be heard by the city commission through the chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the city commission unless modified by the chair. Public comment will begin at. Approximately 9:35 A.M.. >> and remain open until public comment is closed by the chairperson. Any person making offensive remarks or who becomes unruly in the city commission chambers will be barred from further attending city commission meetings and MAY be subject to arrest no clapping. Applauding. >> heckling or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a speaker or his or her remarks shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the commission chambers. Persons exiting the commission chambers shall do so quietly. Members of the public wishing to address the body MAY do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form please visit. Www.Gov.Com/meeting instructions for detailed instructions on how to provide public comment using the online public comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have and will be will be distributed to the elected officials, their staff and city. Administrations throughout the day so that the elected officials MAY consider the comments prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the elected. Officials. >> their staff and the city. Administration up. Until the chairperson closes. Public comment. Public comment MAY also be provided here live at city hall located at. 3500 pan american drive, miami, florida subject to any and all city rules as they MAY be amended if the proposition is being considered or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard MAY be at such later date before the city commission takes action on such proposition. When addressing the city commission, the member of the public must first state their name, their address and what item will be spoken about. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids and services for this meeting MAY notify the city clerk. The city has provided different public comment methods to indicate, among other things, the public support opposition or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the city commission meeting in compliance with section 286 .01. 144c florida statutes the public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting within reasonable proximity in time before the meeting. Please note commissioners have generally been briefed by staff and the city attorney's office on items on the agenda today. Anyone wishing a verbatim record of an item considered at this meeting MAY request it at the office of. Communications or view it. Online at w. W.Com for prs items today prs items shall proceed according to section. 7.1.4 the miami 21 zoning ordinance parties for any prs items including any applicant, appellant, appellee city staff and any person recognized by the decision making body as qualified intervenor as well as the applicant's. Representatives in any experts testifying on behalf of the applicant, appellant or appellee MAY be present physically at city hall to be sworn in by oath or affirmation by the city clerk. The members of the city commission shall disclose any ex parte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice pursuant to florida statutes. Section 286.0115. And section. 7.1.4.5 of the miami 21 zoning ordinance, the order of presentation shall be as set forth in miami 21 and in the city code staff will briefly present each item to be heard. The applicant will present its. Application or request to the city. Commission. >> if the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation, the city commission MAY proceed to its deliberation and decision. The applicant MAY also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record for appeals. The appellant will present its appeal to the city commission followed by the appellee's staff will be allowed to make any. Recommendations they MAY have. Please silence all cell phones and other noise making devices. Lastly, this meeting can be viewed live on miami tv, the city's facebook page, the city's twitter page, the city's youtube channel and the comcast channel 77. The broadcast will also. >> have closed captioning thank you MADAM Chair. Thank you MR.. >> city attorney. MR. City clerk would you please read your statement? Thank you chair king the procedures for individuals who will be providing testimony will be sworn in for planning and zoning items and any quasi judicial items on today's city commission agenda will be as follows. Members of city staff or any other individuals are required to be sworn in who are currently present at city hall will be sworn in by me the city clerk immediately after I finish explaining these procedures. Those individuals who are appearing remotely MAY be sworn in now or at any time prior to the individual providing testimony for planning and zoning items and are quasi-judicial items commissioners are you comfortable with all the. >> notice provisions. >> set forth in these uniform rules and procedures we have established for this meeting? Yes, thank you chair thank you. >> commissioners. Chair MAY. >> administer the oath. Yes, please. Thank you chair good morning, ladies and gentlemen. If it will be speaking on any of today's planning and zoning items those are the items MAY please have you stand and raise your right hand. Todd, I'm getting some feedback. >> from the audience. >> that they can't hear you. Really? >> yes, they said they can't hear. My. >> apologies chair I'll speak. >> closer to the microphone. Better? Better. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give at today's hearing is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? And your response. >> is. Yes. >> thank you chair. Thank you MR. City manager. Do you have any items that. >> will. >> be deferred or withdrawn from this agenda? Good morning MADAM Chair. MADAM Mayor. Commissioners at this time the administration would like to defer and or withdraw the following items. Sr1 to be. Withdrawn re4. Deferred until APRIL 23rd and. Bc2 deferred until APRIL 23rd. I. >> complete our items. Can you repeat that again? I'm sorry. Absolutely sr1. To be. >> withdrawn re4. Deferred until APRIL 23rd. Bc2 deferred .Until APRIL 23rd. Thank you. MR. City attorney I believe we have a pocket item. Chair I have. >> the pocket item in my position. Would you please read the title for the record? Thank you. It pertains to a pocket item board appointment by commissioner escalona and basically it's a resolution the miami city commission appointing a certain individual as a member of the code enforcement board for a term as designated herein. The appointees name is moshe malka and obviously being nominated by commissioner. >> rolando. Escalona to the district three seat on the code enforcement board. Thank you chair. Thank you gentlemen, are there any items that you. >> would like. >> to have. Withdrawn. >> or. Deferred from this agenda? No, no MADAM Chair, I just have some. Co-sponsors that I want to I can do that later. Our city clerk. >> is going to do that. Okay. >> MAY I have a motion to set the agenda? Motion move. I have a motion and a second. All in favor aye I motion the agenda is set and at this time anyone who wishes to speak for. Public comment. Please step forward five at a time. Good morning. Hi good morning. My name is lisa and I live at. 7171 southwest five terrace and I'm here to speak regarding the ludlam trail development. Good morning uh, honorable mayor and distinguished members of the commission. My name is alicia arias and I'm a real estate broker in the city of miami. I raised today in strong support of the loveland trail. I'm very familiar with the property. It's a public school property. I live about five six blocks from there used to be a transportation terminal. As a matter of fact I'm very surprised why I haven't been sighted because the buildings are kind of falling apart and it's the property that looks the worst in the area. Miami dade county faces a persistent teacher shortage largely driven by the high cost of living in miami-dade county compared to the salary that they receive, affordable well-located housing will be will play a large role in retaining and obtaining new teachers for dade county public schools. The location is excellent in my view because it sits right next to two important. Corridors three blocks away from MAY 26th about four blocks away from 836. It's very helpful for any teachers or staff from miami-dade county public school to move around the county and uh, they'll be very well located. So I urge all of you to vote in support. Uh, this is a. >> great initiative. Thank you thank you good morning. Good morning, mayor higgins. Chair king. Commissioners stuart aguirre as chair of the miami river. Commission before you for four items real quickly thanking commissioner gabella for strong. Sponsorship of the allapattah cra. The miami river commission strongly supports the. Creation of the allapattah cra. The miami. District is. The miami river district is in. Allapattah and it's probably the largest. >> portion. So we strongly support the allapattah cra commissioner prado I know that you worked closely with commissioner gabella. He's expressed your. Appreciation for that. So thank you very much gentlemen. Uh, commissioner gabella mayor higgins, we thank you also for your efforts to clean up wagner seybold creek that is the most polluted body of water in the state of florida. And I'd like to mention strongly that that pollution does not. Originate in the miami river. It is solely. Uniquely to this. Particular tributary. And it. Originates largely from the area around 20th street mostly human. Pollution feces to be specific. So we strongly. Support the little machines, the little vacuum cleaners that will be in the water. They in no way replace the large. Scavenger 45. 50 foot boats. Those two are wonderful heroic job but they cannot go into the shallow waters and the narrow waters of seybold commissioner prado. We strongly support the funding for fort dallas park for the ford workers house that is a. Historic in the city of miami. And thank you for that. Willie gaut is something that did not come up before the river. Commissioner but vice chair. Merli uh and I strongly. Support the creation of the willie gaut way many people remember willie gourd as. >> a commissioner. Few. >> people know that he was also mayor. Thank you, thank you good morning. Good morning. Commissioners mayor city attorney my name is chaplain stanley young uh 500. Northwest second avenue here in miami. Uh ,I always enjoy coming down here. Sharing with you guys. Concerning the issue that I see on a weekly basis on the streets of miami. And that's really the plight of those who are coming out of our prisons and jails. Mayor, I have called your office several times to try to get a meeting and sat down with you and the city manager to really, uh, go over what you are doing and what really needs to be done, uh, in this particular area. But I speak it on the pc uh P.H. Item. Ph12345 and six I love to see what you are doing. Concerning housing. You're moving. Greatly CHAIRWOMAN I want to say thank you for the first time home buyer it's really really helping those ones who are getting into that home that they really need. But we we still need to continue to push still need to develop homes. People need to live in people need to habitate in because I meet homeless people every week on the. Streets who need a place to stay, an. Affordable house to live in. So uh I'm here to. Encourage each and everyone of you continue to press forward sir. MR.. MR. Roswell, I want to meet with you. I want to talk with you. Concerning this particular subject. I understand it's a passion of yours and I just here this to share my heart. I'm not here complaining. I'm not here to pull nobody down. I'm here to lift us up. You know when I pull you down I go down too. So let's continue. >> to work on housing. Thank you. GOD bless. MAY you have a wonderful day. Thank you good morning. Good morning elvis cruz 631 north east 57th street for item prs one it's important to know the big picture on citywide density. In 2016. >> the planning department calculated miami's. Maximum density. Potential and they found the city was already zoned to allow the. Construction of eight times more housing units than were counted in the 2010 census. So we were. Already zoned to enable eight. Times that population. That factor of eight was. Before adding subsequent special area plans. Before adding or transferring bonus density for affordable housing like this item today. Before adding bonus floors to transit oriented. Developments or via transfer of development rights which can then by transfer of development density .Before any live local act buildings. Before adus before. Adding rapid transit zoning. Before adding transit station neighborhood. Developments before adding commissioner pardo's 48 story high rise condos on watson island. Before all the up zonings that have happened since. 2016 before. Adding commissioner pardo's doubling of density in. Edgewater before. Adding any other height and density bonuses that have been invented since then there have been several. It's hard to keep track. We don't have the. Infrastructure to handle all that density. It's not just about traffic there's also potable water supply, sewage treatment. Capacity. >> garbage disposal. Capacity per capita park space and hurricane evacuation time. Miami 21. >> and the comp plan speak of protecting neighborhood character and scale. At a minimum, you should. Exclude historic. Districts and ncds from this legislation. Please stop the insanity. Please vote no on anything that increases height or density. In closing, I'd like to. >> ask everyone. >> here who is uh. >> in. >> opposition to prs. >> one thank you. Please raise. >> your hands. >> and be recognized. Please no clapping no clapping if you want to go like that. MADAM Chair, one thing I know there's a policy not to mention a commissioner's name specifically so they're not weaponized. Politically from from the outside. And. >> I think. >> I think I think that that should be followed if that's the policy. Why is that not a. >> freedom of speech issue? Um thank you. For everybody. It's that's a sticky they say it they catch me off guard. I've said it and for me I don't care if they say my name or not um and I try I try to. >> to to. >> get it through but you know for the. >> record I. >> don't care either. But if there's. >> a policy then. >> there's a policy. Good morning good morning MADAM Chair. Commissioners mayor and city manager tara fritz director of the flagler bid but speaking today as a. Homesteaded resident at 111 east flagler street in downtown miami on the d four issue, we. Continually hear that residents contribute. 58% of the dda budget but most of that. Contribution comes from non. Homesteaded units investment properties, rentals and second homes that function as. Commercial real estate. Homestead residents. Contribute under. 9% of the dda budget and the per unit cost often less than. $100 per unit is minimal. This is not a double tax it's a modest. Contribution towards cleanliness. Safety and public realm improvements that drive property values and livability. Most importantly. Downtown miami should not be viewed as competing districts. Brickell versus downtown versus. Edgewater we have an identity issue. The word downtown is used to mean both the historic flagler core and downtown miami as a whole. Yet anyone flying into m-I-a can quickly see where downtown miami is. It's a dense. Unmistakable skyline. Flagler is not. It's a part of downtown but it is not the. Entirety downtown miami should be understood. Instead as a mosaic of neighborhoods brickell village, brickell key west, brickell, the flagler mixed use. Neighborhood. >> miami central miami world center, the arts and entertainment district and edgewater each at different points in the development cycle but all interdependent. There will be moments when stronger neighborhoods support those still emerging or those that have seen better days, but the dda is the only mechanism we have to address the downtown as a whole. The question is not whether residents are. Overpaying. >> it's how we. Ensure that this modest. Contribution continues to deliver real value to downtown miami. I'm going to now ask invite you all to join us this weekend for heritage days on flagler to celebrate. 130 years since henry flagler brought the. >> fec into. >> downtown miami. Thank you, thank you good morning good morning. My name is henrietta schwartz and I live at. 2627 south bay shore drive. Um thank you all for being here and listening to us. Because residents take their time to come here and speak to you and want to speak to your faces not to while you're looking at your. Screens or your phones or talking to others. You started the meeting with a great thing which was complimenting people on health, health and wellness of this city is so. Important and you're giving a. Proclamation today for it yet we are seeing our parks disappear. I am in favor of re eight. I support commissioner pardo on that initiative and I hope you will too on pc one let's [Laughter] Get to the. Gorillas in the room. Because as you. Notice there are many people here on pc one and they are looking to you MADAM Mayor to offer something to the. residents because 25 of us showed up to a meeting where this was. Deferred. >> 36 of us showed up to the meeting that was canceled because it was held on passover. Wow. That's not an important holiday for anybody. And now here we are asking you to. Reconsider because this is not a. Holistic amendment. And everybody knows it because given a little in the mail, the developers go. Bananas and then you tell us you can't do anything because you're going to be sued. Well we know differently. You have the power. You are sitting here. You are our. Representatives and the residents are here begging you to. Reconsider an. Amendment that is going to. Dramatically change. >> the face of. Historic. And ncds. Thank. >> you for listening to me. Thank you. Good morning good morning good morning. Debbie dolson. 4205 lennox drive, coconut grove. I'd first like to speak. About re eight the allocation of funds. I'm very much in favor of this because we all know that westgrove needs affordable housing. That and the residents can't are. Increasingly unable to find that their. Over almost 60 years that I've lived here I have seen so many. Changes in west grove and I've worked at I've volunteered at the coconut grove crisis food pantry for over ten years and have met person after person after person that needs a roof over their heads that they can afford. We can help at our food. Pantry with food but we cannot help with affordable housing but that is something that you can do. So I hope that all of you will consider this and approve approve the the funds. Allocated for affordable housing, park improvements and playground equipment in district two. How can you say no to the kids? My sister, my own children and now my. Grandchildren are playing in the same park the neighborhood park close to where we live that's three. Generations and it's our. Responsibility to keep those parks safe, have good. Equipment and. Maintenance for the future for the next. Generation pz1. The transfer of of development. Density you're going to hear a lot from a lot of people. I just like to say that this MAY be good for district five. That's a I understand that and I think that's fine but not. Citywide not for the. Ncds which. Explicitly target controlled density one size does not fit all. So please. Exclude a historic districts. >> in ncds. >> from pz1. Thank you thank you good morning good morning commissioners um I'm not going to jump in right now on pz1. I was one of the gorillas that was there at these meetings. Um so. If it was deferred at which I used to be the vice chair of I think you should wait until he hears it before taking it up but I'll leave others to that. I wanted to thank commissioner prado for paying attention as he has to the west grove and trying to get money to do that, but it really layers into my more important messages. I think this commission and the city are really making a mistake putting on I know christine king this is dear to your heart concentrating on providing roofs over people's heads which is important. We have a housing crisis but high rises are not the only way we should go. You should bring liz. Plater-zyberk back here again. She has lots of ways we can increase our density without just building high rises. I built 22 dozen homes in the west grove back in the 90s and early. 2000 when when land was cheap. Maybe you can't do single family homes but eyes on the street, people walking their dogs, kids they don't really exist so much in high rises there's a place for high rises but not in our neighborhoods are which are going extinct. So I'd like to leave you with that. One last thing with regarding to ari for which has been deferred. Thank you mayor for doing exactly what you said you were going to do and I will just leave you with this. I would like to reduce the burden on you. Commissioners. >> I really think we need. Nine commission districts. It's going to come before you because there's a ballot initiative that's going to be coming up and I'd like you to think about. Neighborhoods and how you each could represent the. Neighborhoods where you can concentrate your efforts and be more responsive to the people. And the city lays out perfectly in nine districts according to the voting rights act. And if you will just really take a hard look at that, I think you'll be happier. Your your citizens will be happier. Let's go to nine districts and let the. >> people. >> vote on this. Thank you very much. Thank you and thank you mayor. Good morning. John olsen. 4205 lennox drive, coconut grove. Um, I want to say really strongly support the allocation of funds for its in ras for village west. A lot of good stuff has happened this year. Very cool is about to open up. There's a lot of really good stuff going there. Keep it up. That's the right thing to do in terms of pc one transfer development density we really need to protect our cds. One size does not fit all and uh we've got to do something about the density increase one so I'd say no. Also since you didn't show up pnc didn't show up in the public didn't have a chance to comment on it. At the very least let the public have a meeting with pc before you vote on this thing. And one last thing I want to echo something that andy just said I am thrilled to be looking at you guys in this commission which is a relatively new commission. We swapped a bunch of people out. Some bad actors are gone. We've got our new mayor. Uh, I'm really thrilled with what we've got up on the desk now I want nine of you, not five of you. We have. 100,000 people per commissioner that you represent. I'd prefer to have it down there at 35 or 40 like a national average at the bottom eight of 100 hundred cities give you a chance to walk your district and really get to know people. So anyway, keep up the good work. >> and let's get more of you with. >> the stronger miami petition. Thank you thank you good morning good morning. I'm rachel martin at. 3325 percival avenue in coconut grove. I'm here on behalf of saint james baptist church homeowners and tenants association of west grove and grove heights and community equity where I serve as the PRESIDENT And I want to thank you for all that you're doing in coconut grove. We certainly need the help. We've been displaced. You know how much we've been displaced in that area and the money that's being proposed for affordable housing is phenomenal and we appreciate the effort that you're making in our community as well as trying to protect our parks. I grew up in coconut grove and I'd like to see some things improved there, especially in the parks where our kids, you know, spend a lot of their time. Uh, we oppose uh. The was it. Sr one not sr one I'm sorry ff one and um I think that miami 21 protects the needs we need the protection please. Consider what's happening with us in coconut grove. Like I said one size does not fit all we need protection in in district two and we would appreciate your consideration of of not passing . >> this. >> if it negatively impacts us. >> in. >> that district. Thank you thank you good morning good morning. My name is kyle hazelwood. I reside at. 1424 northeast miami place and I'm here to speak on d four and re8 .As a young downtown resident the rapid. Redevelopment and revitalization of my neighborhood is very inspiring to me. A robust urban core signals a thriving metropolis. This is why the dda is so important to our neighborhood. Having an organization that's charged with stimulating small business growth, ensuring our streets are kept clean and free of graffiti and attracting businesses to our neighborhood that would otherwise take their business elsewhere ensures that during this pivotal moment for downtown, smaller players are not left behind. If the dda did not reinvest this money into our neighborhood, what would our neighborhood look like? How many businesses that we enjoy would not be there? How many storefronts would still be boarded up while new towers rise? If you have $1 million property, you pay around. $450 a year to the dda. That's $37.50. >> a month, which is around what I pay for netflix and hulu. And those companies definitely don't beautify my neighborhood. Investing in downtown should be a top priority for our city. The sentiment is also why support the allocation of funds from the public benefit trust fund for affordable housing and park improvement within district two? In my view, it is only fair that funds collected within our district be reinvested into our public spaces with more and more development occurring in our district and more people moving to our neighborhood, it will only become more crucial that we invest in maintaining our parks and affordable housing. Additionally, people come from all over the county to enjoy our parks so it's. >> important that. >> we combat wear and tear and invest in. >> maintaining them. Thank you, thank you good morning. Good morning MADAM Chair. Commissioners MADAM Mayor town manager my name is ilet rodriguez diaz, administrative director with miami-dade county public schools. Our address is. 1450 northeast second avenue. My suite is. 776 miami, florida 33132. On behalf of miami-dade county public schools, we are here in support of item r 13. This item. Advances affordable and. Workforce housing. Prioritizing our teachers and the miami-dade county public schools. Workforce while allowing for on site. Educational space. To support our students and the community. This item also reflects strong alignment between the city and the school district. Including our shared goals of housing. Stability, educational opportunities. And building a. Sustainable workforce pipeline. We appreciate the. Partnership and look forward to moving this. >> work forward together. Thank you, thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is marlene irvin. I live at. 366 washington street in north coconut grove. Good morning to all of you and mayor I'd like to speak on re8. I support this investment in affordable housing and parks in district two directing development related public benefits to affordable housing and park improvements is a very. Constructive use of those dollars, especially when it helps neighborhood. Stability and quality. >> of life. So thank you to go unnamed. Thank you. Uh second on page one please do not move forward with this expansion without evidence that the current program is working and without a clear. Understanding of the. Cumulative impacts of development as outlined by elvis. If this item. Advances, ncds. And historic districts must be expressly carved out and if added density is being granted in the name of affordable housing, then. Affordable or workforce housing should be required as part of this. Proposal on the changing of the mayor's. Election it's too narrow and risk creating more confusion. This is not real reform. The broader, stronger miami petition supports a more. Comprehensive approach. Even your elections for both the mayor and the. Commission expanding. Representation from 5 to 9. Districts and fair redistricting rules that keep neighborhoods whole and. Prevent partizan manipulation. 20,000 signatures have already been. Submitted and are being. Verified to get this on the ballot. So why don't we look towards that? Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. good morning MADAM Commissioner MADAM. Oh MADAM Chair uh council members good morning or. Commissioners MADAM Mayor sounds good to say that MISTER Manager good morning state representative alex rizzo district. 112 601. West 43rd place in hialeah, florida. Thank you for allowing me over, uh. Flagler without any problems. Um, I have the great honor of representing a large portion of the city of miami and I'm here to speak on our e 13 affordable housing and workforce housing. I am in. Support in general of this item .I think that miami is. Poised right now to show the rest of the state and the rest of the nation what we can do when we start using land to help ease one of the worst situations that we have and it's a housing crisis. So not just the number of units but the. Affordability of units and it's it's making people leave miami-dade county as you know. And so we even though florida is growing south. Florida is growing in. Different sections and different areas. And so I think that obviously the final details, um, and working with the school board need to be hashed out. But I think that with this you can do so many. Things with this one agenda and you can lead. Miami-dade and city of miami can lead in so many places. City county of hillsborough is starting to close schools. Broward county is closing schools. Miami-dade county is now starting to talk about what they do with land and the number of schools that that have to be part of a. contraction. >> but it's a. Reimagining of what the school system can do with its municipalities. So I, I urge you to move quickly. Uh .Obviously look at the. Details and work with the school board, but I think that working hand in hand. >> that this can be something that is laudable for the rest. >> of the country. Thank you very much. Thank you and thank you for your service. Good morning. Good morning MADAM Chair. My name is antonio devine. I live at. 328 south west. 71st avenue miami florida. 33144 and probably I am one of the. Nails that are through. History. >> uh bother a lot this city because I tend to fight for the. Citizens right? I'm here to speak about air 13 the. Apartments are all low income housing for teachers which I. Support because I feel. Teachers is a. Profession that is forgotten. They are. Underpaid. >> they don't have enough to pay. Sometimes the housing here and they have to live very far to get. I live one. Block. Away from where. >> that's going to. >> be built and that. Land is totally abandoned. For years I've been complaining to uh, different mayors through the years to fix it but nothing has been done. Uh, so I do. Support the. Building but my fear is as now is that for the longest time the neighbors been asking to put some kind of speed bumps or. Something to stop the traffic around there and I just can't imagine the amount of traffic and the speed that we're going to have once those. Apartments are built. I mean there are. 425 units so we are a small neighborhood. I've been living there since. 1977 and I seen how the. Neighborhood has deteriorated. I see coconut grove going. Fantastic allapattah. Looking beautiful and just now under commissioner . >> rosado I've seen. >> that the planting trees fixing at least the sidewalks. Thank you. So please. Put your heart and make the. >> right choice. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning MADAM Chair. MADAM Mayor. Commissioners uh my name is carolyn donaldson. I am the vice chair for grace grove rights and community equity inc. I'm here to convey that grace strongly. Supports agenda item. Re8 which allocates 15 million for affordable. Housing and park. Improvements in district two as proposed by. Commissioner damian pardo. These funds were generated from. Development within the. District and should be. Invested back into our. Communities and supporting. Housing in little bahamas and. Enhancing the quality of life for. Families, seniors. And for. Children throughout the neighborhoods. However, as it relates to pc one, we must be clear. Grace cannot. Support this item as. Presented under. Miami 21 neighborhood conservation districts. In cds are. Essential protections. That preserve the. Character and the. Cultural identity. Of the grove, and so we would like to guard. Against overdevelopment. And displacement. These cds must be .Explicitly carved out of this legislation. Absent that. Protection and a. Satisfactory redraft. We are. >> obligated to. Withhold our support. We're not. Opposed to the. Development but it must be. Responsible. >> must be. Balanced and it must. Protect existing residents. Development should not. >> come at. >> the cost of displacement. Good morning. Thank you good morning good morning good morning. >> chair board. Members mayor thank you so much for your time. My name is janine pickens. I am an overtown resident and small business owner. I previously submitted a one page. Proposal requesting. The establishment. Of a small. Business micro grant pilot. Program and I provided. Clarification. >> to. >> staff on FEBRUARY 13th, 2026 .I want to reiterate for the record that this is not an. Application for an existing grant cycle but a. Request for board direction to. Establish a .Consistent and. Transparent framework. For overtown. Based small. Businesses as the board considers multiple grant awards and development related funding today I am requesting that the. Existing overtown based small businesses be. Intentionally included in these. Opportunities moving forward, I. Respectfully request staff review and guidance on next steps. Thank you. I had to read to make sure I stay within time. Okay. Um thank you so much for your time. >> and. >> um have a great day. Thank you. Good morning good morning everyone. Uh paris wallace. 2678 tigertail. Um thank you so much for being here today. I'm here to speak on two things quickly. The first is. Re8 which I support. I think it's much needed funds and very well stewarded by our commissioner and d two secondly I'd like to talk about prs one like everyone has said I'm also. Opposed I think ncd should be carved out but I really think it goes to a broader issue um when everyone here raises their hands because they have to come and speak on these. Issues. >> I think it's because there's no master plan. We don't know what we're building towards. We know what the problems are. We don't know what we're building towards. And the leadership that I see. Around the dais today can definitely figure this out. So as opposed to having plans that make us all show up with upset, tell us where we're going in the next ten years, the next 25 years tell us the the plan, how we're going to get there on. Affordability infrastructure. Uh, what the city is going to look like and so we can come up and support you and say yes, we are for this plan and when a proposal like this comes up you can say, hey, here's the master plan. Here's how it fits within this master plan. Here's why it makes sense. Here's why we want your support and we will come and we will help you do that work. But as long as we have. Disjointed unclear future, it's very hard for us as a city to be able to understand where we're going and to support the wonderful leaders who we put on the dais to be able to represent and build these plans. So thank you so much for your time and hopefully you'll reconsider and send this back to to zab and the. >> meeting will happen. >> and so the residents will actually. >> get their. >> say on this. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning MADAM Chair. Members of the commission mayor and city manager who's pulling off a suit I could never pull off. Um my name is joseph saltzberg. 333 south east second avenue, suite. 3200 and beautiful downtown miami, florida 33131. Many of you know that I've had the honor of representing the dda for nearly a decade as external counsel mostly focused on um soliciting and garnering health and human services as well as. Infrastructure funds. I've had the opportunity to work under four separate chairs, um mostly working with CHAIRMAN Reyes. MAY he rest in peace and his staff. Um and then most recently with CHAIRMAN Rosado who's really hit the ground running. I got up today because I wanted to talk about my family's personal story to the dda and not and downtown miami not so much my professional. Capacity in. 1968 my grandfather who came from cuba to new york immigrated to miami and with four other jewish cuban families three others purchased 144 east flagler. Part of my family still owns that building today. Um, they were not real estate folks. They were. Retailers 1968. >> they came here one year after the dda was was created. My father and my grandfather my uncle over the next 40 years had up to seven stores in downtown miami, a sports planet, reebok, nike shop. And I will tell you as somebody who grew up in westchester but spent all his time in downtown working in those stores, the dda over those 40 years was an incredible partner really was as dda perfect? No, no. Organization is. But I want to say that over the last 40 years my family has thrived. Now not so much in retail with the dda as. Partnership we got to employ over that time a lot of folks that lived in the area want to share that story. I remain available to speak with any of you but the day's work is important to our urban core is the refinement that can happen. Absolutely. >> but. >> please don't. Abandon the work that they're doing. Thank. >> you all for. >> your time. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning MADAM Chair. MADAM Mayor and. Commissioners uh, liliana collazo. 201 south biscayne boulevard, suite. 2600 miami, florida (331) 313-3131. Um I would like to read into the record a letter that was transmitted to the honorable mayor and members of the city. Commission. >> um from joseph escaler school board member district three uh from the miami-dade public schools. Dear mayor and. Commissioners. >> I write to you in my capacity as a member of the miami-dade county public school board. Representing district three, which includes the brickell community. As you engage in ongoing discussions regarding the role and future of the miami downtown development authority, I. Respectfully offer my strong support for the agency and its continued work in the urban core. I have seen firsthand the meaningful and sustained impact the dda has had on public education in downtown miami. Particularly at southside preparatory. Academy. >> a school located in brickell that serves families from across the broader downtown area. The dda has consistently demonstrated that it is more than an economic development entity. It is a community partner through initiatives such as food drives, toy giveaways and direct engagement with families, the dda has provided critical support that helps ensure students are able to succeed both inside and outside the classroom. Most significantly. >> the dda has played an active role in advancing the expansion of southside. Preparatory academy. Through staff time, advocacy and sustained engagement, the dda helped support efforts to bring forward a new school. Facility in an area that has long needed additional public school capacity. Equally important was its role in championing an innovative. Concept integrating affordable workforce housing for teachers within the school itself. This forward thinking approach strengthens our schools and helps address broader challenges facing our educators and our city. Even in more recent efforts, the dda. >> continues to create opportunities for our students. Thank you thank you thank you thank you good morning. Good morning, MADAM Chair. Commissioners mayor higgins happy to see you all. My name is camilo mejia. I am the senior director of catalyst miami. We're at. 3250 southwest third avenue. We are a member of the public land for public good. Coalition and I'm here to speak on. Di1 and basically just to make the same arguments that we have been making for years now that this item has come up again, we really support the district. Commissioner's goal of building affordable housing in the project, but we feel that um community participation, meaningful community. Participation is going to be vital for any project. We believe that community members should also have a seat at the selection board and we think that um community. Participation um leading up to even a community benefits. Agreement should be the norm not only for this project but for all use of public land by the city. And while we're at that, I'd also like to say that we support our. 13 um, needless to say we have an affordable housing crisis and helping our teachers remain in our. Community should be a priority for. Everyone so please vote yes. Thank you thank you good morning good morning CHAIRWOMAN King MADAM Mayor members of the. Commission I'm ceo of the. Underlying and I'm here to speak in support of our 13 uh the underlying we all know is a ten mile transportation corridor that connects. Communities within our corridor. We have approximately. 114,000 residents and 24 schools that we serve. Uh, but we also understand the importance of affordable housing and workforce housing and having that access to. Transportation corridors from a regional. Perspective is very critical to the. Success of the city of miami and miami-dade county as a whole. So this particular project referencing our e. 13 not only supports teachers but also supports our community. Uh, workforce housing is good policy to help support and help fund and it essentially allows the ease of. Recruiting highly qualified. Educators to come and actually live and work in miami-dade county. So the ludlam trail, uh, is a regional spine very similar to the underline and these four blocks that are being proposed to be built really. Provides an advancement in regional. Connectivity and helps us move forward with the miami loop, which creates additional regional. Connectivity for. Mobility safety and accessibility standpoint. So using the public trust funds makes sense as good policy and it really helps to build out community serving infrastructure. So we support this item. We support our teachers here in the city of miami and we support. Connectivity. >> and we're. >> asking you to vote. >> yes. >> on our e 13. Thank you thank you good morning good morning mayor good morning CHAIRWOMAN And commissioners. My name is angela rasmussen and I serve as a legislative aide for county commissioner natalie orvis. I'm here today on her behalf to express support on. Resolution number 13 by sponsored by commissioner rosado. So this 4.8 million allocation is a direct investment in affordable and workforce housing. That is something that our families urgently need. It's focused on real results, results, more housing opportunities and better infrastructure for our community. So we appreciate commissioner rosado's leadership on this and we. Respectfully ask for your support. >> on this resolution. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is geneva claus and I live at. 355 south west. 26 street. Um I'm here with pack today and I'm here in support of roe 13. Um we definitely support the item for more affordable and workforce housing. Um, we just want to add our caveat that um, a lot of affordable and workforce housing doesn't necessarily. Reflect the salaries that people are making in miami-dade county. We know that the. Calculations that when they're done county wide or. Citywide they get skewed up by the very wealthy. Um, so for. Example. >> an average teacher salary is. $51,000 a year in miami-dade county that's a little bit below. 60% ami as it's calculated right now. Um, that's salary income is less for. Custodians for maintenance workers, for food service. Workers that all are employed by. Miami-dade public schools. So we just want to make sure that the income charts and amis are actually. Reflective of the people that we're supposed to be housing in this facility. We know that thousands of people are leaving miami-dade county, um city of miami every year because they can't afford to live here. So we absolutely need affordable housing. We definitely support the building of affordable and workforce housing. We just ask that it's actually. Representative of our workforce. Um for. Example 120% .Am I the market rate can be charged. $2,600 when the average studio apartment is $2,100. So workforce housing that we're subsidizing with our public dollars is actually more. Expensive than just market rate apartments. So we just need to make sure that it's actually reflective in helping our community. I also want to while I'm here, um support um the gsa lot to actually create affordable housing and public benefits on public land. It's a really rare. Opportunity that we get something that we can actually include the. Residents. >> of that area in the. >> process and create benefits for them. Thank you thank you good morning. Good morning. My name is andre barnes the director of the miami police athletic league. I just wanted to say first of all thank you to the commissioners and to the mayor for all the support that you've given to our over 1100 kids that we serve throughout the city of miami. Um, all of the programs that we have include athletics, mentoring and academic support for the youth in the city of miami throughout all districts. And we want to be able to continue to support those youth as we. Continue to try to help especially those underserved communities that we have. I also want to say thank you for your support with page three. Um as we did the cdbg grant and granting us those funds to help support our youth, um, those funds will go towards increasing the amount of girls that we serve. So we have a couple of new girls programs that we're starting as well as our mentorship program specifically our explorers who have done so well. We have over 70 police explorers as well as our academic support that we have with our stem. Programing which we currently have at edison park in little haiti. But we want to expand to the south end. So we want to continue to say thank you to those kids and to the community, and we want to continue to just hope that you bless us with your. Support as we continue in. 2026 and beyond. So thank you. >> very much. Thank you thank you good morning. Good morning uh mayor city commissioners my name is robert crapsey and I live at. 3229 mary street. I had to take off work to be here today. I don't want to be here today but I know exactly what happens when you allow loopholes like pc one to pierce our neighborhoods. The last time an ordinance like this was in front of the miami commission, a loophole promising transit oriented benefits was put in place without any public notice or comment. Because of that, the planned five story. Development right behind my single family home a project called the well was allowed to morph into a. 123 foot. >> tall concrete behemoth. Now I get to watch that tower rise over my bedroom. It will be filled with multi-million dollar condos and a massive parking garage. The transit benefit was a complete fiction meant to pad the profits of developers while my. Community is the one paying the price so it's evident that if I. It is evident that I do have to pay attention to these. I have to MISS Work and stand in this room because if I don't my home and my neighborhood will continue to pay the price. And that brings us to why we are here today. Zoning codes exist for one primary reason. Predictability when a family buys a home in. Miami. >> they do so trusting the rules of their neighborhood. Neighborhood conservation districts aren't just arbitrary lines on a map they are a promise made by the city. This new tdd amendment breaks that promise. We all recognize the need for affordable housing, but pasting that label on a policy doesn't change what the text actually does. This amendment acts as a back door for. Hyperdensity. >> it allows a developer to purchase air rights and dump a massive out of scale luxury project directly into our project our protected. Neighborhoods without adding a single. Affordable unit on site. The fact that this amendment. Bypassed the pc and landed on your agenda tells us everything that we need to know. Legislation that is actually good for a community doesn't need to hide from public scrutiny. Look at the room today not one person has been in support of this ordinance. Thank you. If you if you one second if you pass this amendment without protections you are sending a clear message. You are declaring that no neighborhood in miami is safe and that local zoning can be. Overridden by the. >> highest bidder at the expense of its [Applause] Residents the people who actually vote. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Uh good morning mayor. CHAIRWOMAN And commissioners. My name is carlos santos. 2150 coral way miami florida 33145. I am the executive director of transit alliance miami. We are the city's foremost advocacy organization for quality transit and I am here in support of our e13. It is a critical piece for connecting miamians to more opportunity by addressing two of our three of our biggest. Challenges and issues of the decade. Affordability and traffic the investment proposed in this item of more than 400 affordable housing units for miami's. Teachers and the building out of four blocks of the ludlam trail is exactly the type of investment that our residents need in this moment housing and transportation are eating. >> up our. Residents paychecks. And the solution also has to tackle both. That is why we believe that our a13 would be a smart use of the public benefits trust fund as the project scope is practical and attainable, it ensures that the people that keep our schools running can live in our city and it creates an impact that goes beyond this project into the citywide uh investment. Uh plus it creates an opportunity for those that live in the new development and in the neighborhood, uh, to access new local. Businesses. >> uh, that will be created in the retail space and the. Development safely on foot or by bike, uh, by building out the ludlam trail a little bit more, uh, to get more. Exercise and to. Access greener spaces all in one project. Folks today have mentioned quite a few reasons why this project is a smart one. I'll add another one. Uh there is a ten every ten minutes a bus runs by on west flagler that connects people that will live in this development and in the neighborhood all the way from fiu to downtown. >> uh. >> all without ever needing to access a car. Um, finally I do want to also. Mention. >> uh, speak on the discussion item one uh, and just mention once again community members know what they need and if there's an opportunity for them to be at that. >> table, uh, and how public land is. >> used that is critical. Thank. >> you so much for your time. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. Good morning mayor. Commissioners my name is melody torrance. I reside at. 2080 northwest 13th street miami florida and I'm here in support of rt 13. I'm also a member of packed. Um I'm also a mom of a teacher who up until recently taught government and. Economics in dade county and loves teaching. He's a passionate teacher, highly rated teacher, taught kids not just about our our government but also about ou