Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board

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Additional online comments will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the board members up until the chairperson closes public comment. All comments received will be included in the public record of the meeting. These public comment options established and provided for this meeting comply with section 286.0114 the florida statute. Members, are you comfortable with all the notice provisions set forth in these uniform rules of procedure? We have established this meeting. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. >> let's rise for a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance please. [Laughter] Allegiance to the flag. And to the republic for which it stands one nation under GOD, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. If you intend to testify in this proceeding, please remain standing and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm the testimony that you will give will be the truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you. You MAY be seated. Shall I call board attendance? Calling chair. Adam gersten. Present calling member. Vice chair andres lopez. Present calling member mario bailey calling member lynette cardoso. Thank you. Calling member chris collins. >> yes. Calling member maria paula de carolis. Yes. >> present. Thank you. >> calling member eduardo fernandez present. Thank you. Calling member. Paul. Man present. Thank you. >> calling member ellen metoyer present. Thank you. Calling member joshua patinkin calling member arthur passoff calling member manuel vadillo. Yes. Thank you. Uh we do have quorum. I do have two requests for absence waiver from member mario bailey and also member arthur parcel. Move to approve. Second all in favor? Aye. Okay. Um are there any minutes? The minutes from JULY 15th are on the agenda for approval. All right. Move to approve. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Um are there any deferrals? There are no deferrals or withdrawals at this time. Okay. >> [Applause] I would like to announce the arrival arrival of member joshua patinkin. Great. >> thank you. And also the arrival of MR. Paul man. All right, all right. Sorry. Just uh okay. I'll call item number one file id 19675. A resolution of the miami planning zoning and appeals board with attachments recommending approval of an ordinance of the miami city commission amending ordinance number 10544, as amended. The future land use map of the miami comprehensive neighborhood plan pursuant to small scale amendment procedures subject to florida statute 163.3167 florida statutes by changing the future land use designation from medium density multifamily residential to medium density restricted commercial of the acreage described herein of real property at 1420 14261434 1440 1440 14461452 northwest first place and 1425143514451453 northwest second avenue miami, florida as more particularly described in the attached incorporated exhibit a making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. Uh the companion item is also pzab2 file id 19676 a resolution of the miami planning zoning and appeals board with attachments recommending approval of an ordinance of the miami city commission amending the zoning atlas ordinance number 1311 for the zoning code of the city of miami, florida as amended miami 21 code by changing the zoning classification from t4r general urban transit zone restricted to t4o general urban transect zone open for the property generally located at 1425143514451453 northwest second avenue and 1420 14261434 1440 14461452 northwest first place miami, florida as more particularly described in the attached and incorporated exhibit a making findings making a severability clause and providing for an effective date. This also is companion to pcab6 okay, we'll stick with pcab1 and two. Okay okay. Go ahead. Uh good evening. My name is darren murphy with the city planning department and the first this is for uh as was mentioned before is is for the lotus village. Uh, number three llc. The applicant is requesting to change the future land use land use map designation from medium density multi-family residential to medium density commercial for multiple properties as mentioned at 14, 20 1440 1426 and 1434, 1440, 1440 46 and 1452 northwest first place and 14251435 and 1444 and 1453 northwest second avenue collectively known as the subject property. Will be one second here. There we go. There we go. So this is the a quarter mile radius of the subject property um going in a clockwise fashion. Um number one is the theodore gibson park and then number two is the overtown optimist club theodore gibson park and as you go around clockwise it's number three culmer overtown branch library number four is frederick douglass elementary school. Number five is a culmer community action center. Number six is a dorsey park and number seven is the ice palace studios which is a multi use event and venue and film production facility. We did a site visit for this property and starting in the upper left hand corner is uh the northwest view from the subject property and in the background is the children's village at lotus village the white building with the pink facade and in the background and to um going across in the upper right hand corner is the eastern view of the subject property the city's omni edgewater neighborhoods in the back background and to the south again is a view of the property in question or properties and um also the village children's village at lotus village to the right and um picture to the very bottom right hand corner um is looking at the southwest corner of northwest first place and northwest 15th street looking to the northwest and um as you can see there's an existence of prevalent future land and future land use designation of medium density multi-family residential or t three and t4r which extends northward for about 64 city blocks that is. This slide here describes the neighborhood context with a quarter mile radius. Um there is 403 properties um this was retrieved from the miami dade county property appraiser's office. Uh um the 50% of the properties in question are vacant land. The remaining 20% are classified as multi-family residential and the third category is 11% classified as single family residential. Regarding the future land use inventory which is approximately 129 acres, the largest are two sorry the two top largest um areas is restricted commercial and followed by medium density multi-family residential at 21% and for commercial at 31%. This slide describes the existing proposed future land use changes. Um to the left is the existing um which is all medium density multi-family residential and to the right will be medium density rigid commercial proposed that is. This slide um details the interpretation of the flume and the uses um right now currently it's strictly residential um that is the brown area or the brown column and we're proposing to go to medium density commercial which allows only residential but also allows office and civic uses and commercial uses. Furthermore um we're going from for non residential floor of 0 to 6 which can theoretically uh back some that is allow up to 130 100,134ft2 of non residential floor area for the subject property. Regarding this slide for concurrency analysis um it complies with all five of the criteria um including schools recreation open space sanitary sewer transmission solid waste collection and transportation. Regarding this slide this is a an analysis of the three criteria that was reviewed for um for the miami neighborhood comprehensive plan. And the first one was policy lu1.6.4 which regards um the concurrency analysis and that that was that complies number two regards the objective lu1 point two which is to promote public and private initiatives and revitalize blighted declining and or threaten areas including historic designation where appropriate. Um regarding this one, um the finding was that uh overtown park west still faces persistent economic and housing challenges. The proposed land use change would allow new uses including office, civic and commercial and as I mentioned before in my previous slide that with the floor of six it now allows up to 100 zero zero zero square feet of non residential development. The proposal could attract investment, create jobs, expand social services and redevelop underutilized properties. Regarding the last one policy tr 2.7.3 the city shall promote transit oriented development while ensuring compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods and height density, intensity use and scale based on staff's findings. This one promotes transit oriented development by improving access to jobs, health care, education and essential services. Reduces automobile dependance and household transportation costs. It also maintains the existing future land use designations of medium density multifamily residential while keeping the scale at that at that level and same time expanding the permitted uses of nonresidential development. It supports neighborhood compatibility by considering height, density, intensity use and scale and finally it minimizes the potential future impacts on nearby residential properties, infrastructure and public services. The final slide is for recommendation of approval. Staff finds that the proposed amendment from the from medium density multifamily residential to medium density commercial is consistent with the three applicable goals, objectives and policies of the miami comprehensive plan and recommends approval and there I'm going to segue to the rezone. Good evening, board members. My name is richard brown. I'm with the planning department. As darren mentioned, the request is to rezone from t4r to t4o for the ten properties. Um this is located in overtown in district five and we are recommending approval. Uh here is the existing and proposed includes portions of the block. Um as you can tell the transect is not changing but the rather the intensity from restricted to limited to open. Here's some background on the parcel. It was platted in 1901. Um it's the top left hand box. It's portions of the block block 45 lots one through four. And then the most recent zone change was when it was adopted into miami 21 as t4r here's the change in allowable uses. As you can tell there's no change in density. There's no change in height but solely just the uses permitted within that transect. Um you can see more of a commercial mix permitted which is generally why we are advocating for rezone. The first goal the first criteria is compliance with the comprehensive plan and miami 21 initially it's not consistent with the existing flume hence the flume amendment darren presented moving into compliance with the land use policies in these areas we do want to see a stronger mix a wider mix of uses um that complement the existing mixed use neighborhood surrounding it. Currently the t4r doesn't allow commercial mix and that's what we're trying to change change through this rezone. Uh the proposed is also consistent with improving the relationship between the low density residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors adjacent to the south. We have an industrial to the west there is a commercial corridor into the north there's a t three property. So we want to make sure we have the appropriate transition and uses height and so forth. Um the need and justification there's a lot of development in this area including other projects brought to you by lotus house. Um we have the women's shelter which is in close proximity. We have the children's village which has recently been developed and includes educational and nonprofit uses. These projects have directly attracted people and businesses to overtown necessitating more rezones um miami dade has also been working to redevelop some of its underutilized parcels in proximity to this. And then we also want to acknowledge the future plan behind the reverend edward t graham greenway, also known as the underdeck in close proximity to the project. The last criteria is um successional zoning t4r to t4o is successional so it's consistent. Um and then again we're focusing on trying to help create those transitions between the d one to the south into the t three north of the property. We are recommending approval. Thank you. Is that supposed to work. It seems like it takes longer on that side. While we wait for her to get set up. There you go. Is it okay to close the online public comment? Yes definitely. >> okay thank you. Good evening board members lauren khan of bills and sundberg offices at 1450 brickell avenue. I'm joined by my colleague javier avignon. He um also sits on the board of lotus endowment inc. in addition to being my colleague at bills and sundberg, um lotus endowment inc. Is the nonprofit entity that's a member of both of the applicants for items one, two and six. Um, I want to thank staff for the thorough presentation. Um, from a legalistic point of view, um, I don't think I think we can rest on staff's presentation. There's plenty of substantial competent evidence, but I just want to give a touch of background that I think will provide context not just for these items but for the item number six which is going to follow right after. Um okay. So this is sort of an aerial of the area and the parcel outlined in yellow is the original lotus house um which has been serving uh women and children as a shelter since 2006. Um, it served over 13,500 women and children. If you look in the materials that we provided to you when we originally drafted our letter of intent, that figure was 10,500. It's grown since then. It's continuing to grow. Um it provides temporary housing for women and children and its goal is to provide sort of a sanctuary, a holistic experience for women experiencing homelessness. It became super evident quickly that that facility wasn't going to be able to provide all of the needs and services that these women and children needed. Um, so soon after in the last few years children's village uh followed and that is the it looks blue or light blue. It was green on my screen but it looks like blue outlined here. It's to the south of lotus house. Um, that's going to be the subject of item number six but I'm providing it for context on this one. Um children's village is a neighborhood children's resource center that has 14 different nonprofits that provides all sorts of resources and services for children. Um, the red parcel to the west is for future development. There are some ideas about additional children's resources there. Um, career readiness labs and those sort of resources on that parcel. Um the subject of the flume and the rezoning amendments is that parcel to the east that's outlined in the darker blue and um that's the latest acquisition. Sorry about that. I did not mean to change that's the latest acquisition um by the lotus entities. Um the idea for this parcel is still in its infancy. We're not ready to present a project. Um but it became very clear as we were brainstorming um that we needed a little bit more flexibility for the intended uses than what the current flume and and zoning designations allowed. Um, the intent there is to provide a residential building, um, that will allow some of the women and children to transition into independent living after their stay at the shelter. Um but it became clear that they needed a little bit more flexibility and a purely residential building wasn't going to meet all of the needs. Um, they also wanted to provide some small commercial spaces, maybe a cafe where residents or former residents of the shelter could work could be employed. Um there's a lotus thrift shop thrift shop that is at a different location. There are plans to perhaps move that to this location as well. So that's why we're seeking um the rezoning and the flume amendments. Um we want to thank you for your support and if you have any questions we're available for questions. Thank you. Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak? Speak? >> yes. >> are you are you finished ma'am? Yes, yes. Frederick bryant 1431 northwest second avenue uh overtown. Uh good evening. When I was looking at the pictures you could actually see my house, uh, on one of those blocks. Uh, my concern I'm here today because I just wanted to know what was going on. As a matter of fact, I'm the only house now left that's that's left on the block. So I'm just here really to kind of find out what's going on and and uh, I just wanted to know what I'm being surrounded by and what's happening. Uh, what kind of uh, high rises or what or stores I just want to know. Thank you. Thank you. >> anyone else on this item? Okay. Anyone from the board, uh, would like to ask any questions or make any comments ?Anyone? Okay. >> all right. Um, so I'll start with the, uh most prevalent one is we have a member from the community who's here perhaps later the member from the community could speak and there could be some outreach. Um so that's just because it's before me right now. Um I saw no major issues with this and once again always thank you staff for an excellent report. Um, my just main concern is I understand that sometimes we look at this and we see how it's being drawn and for this particular situation would it not make more sense to then have an item that goes through and blocks the entire block? I see that there's two that are not included within that and I understand that it's an applicant, uh who comes before and it's the applicant who is but just perhaps as we look into a flume, we could do that as a change and then the applicant can come in and then you know, resume with his piece. But just as a major comment thank you. That is fair. Um when we looked at this we would prefer the whole block be unified under one transect zone. The applicant came before us with their parcels. Um we the city can't join their rezone and rezone the whole block per article seven. Um that would be a future cleanup proposal we would agree with um but we reviewed their request which were just their parcels and we found it appropriate to move forward. Of course. Um I think that's just something that I'd like to see for the future as a cleanup so thank you. No no of course that's the well. Okay so um moving on to the other board members. Through the chair I have um a few questions. One is um my understanding is that and correct me if I'm wrong that the reason for this rezone an amendment is to allow for more uses to open up the uses that the applicant needs to serve their needs. That's correct. Okay. >> and when doing that um the ah 54 r is gone and we are now entering the realm of an o which opens the door to leave local. That is correct. Okay so um so there's a few concerns and while I understand that we want to support lotus house always absolutely 100% um we also want to find out or see how it impacts um the neighbors around them. Um so when I look at this application, I see that potentially this project could go to 1000 density units per acre through live local and we have no jurisdiction as a city to stop that once we give them we we approve the rezone and the amendment. That's it. Um so the fl r also increases the allowable allowable lot coverage also can increase. So this site and any other that goes through we have several applications today. So my comment is not just for this application but I think we're going to hear it. It's going to be a theme for the ones to come today before us. Um so I'm concerned because it's not about saying oh um this project doesn't merit the ask is what we're opening the door to where we cannot legislate our land anymore. So I'm concerned um I don't know if there is any fix um to that so I'm going to ask staff um I saw that there's 87 projects listed in the website under live local. So clearly this is something that's very enticing to to applicants and many of them have been um approved. Um so um I'm going to leave it at that now and I'm going to allow or not allow, but I'm going to give it back to my fellow board members. All right um there we go. Sorry about that. Um just I guess we'll wait for oh there we go. But again I just want to make sure that our one member from the populous is able to connect. Yeah. Super. For the record have you yes, absolutely. We're happy to connect. I know that he has had many conversations with uh various folks at lotus house and I don't believe he has an interest in having his property, uh, added or or changed. >> of course that's that's his right. Which is I don't want to MISS. Come to the podium. No, I don't want my property added or I don't want it changed. Perfect. I would like it to stay just the way it is. And that's what's happening with this application. It's not your property is not included and nothing will change as a result. Okay 1431 northwest second avenue when the year you saw the yellow house up there the only one on the whole block. So I hope you know, um just not uh don't include mine in that number. I don't want him to be included. I just want to continue to be who I am and free. And that's it. Understood .Thank you. And I think the board hears you loud and clear. >> yes thank you, thank you. Okay. >> so we could for a motion. I will move. Second okay. Based on staff recognition.. >> okay roll call please. calling vice chair andre s lopez yes. Calling member ellen montoya. Yes. Calling member lynette cardoza. Yes. Calling member chris collins. Yes. >> calling member. Maria. Paula. No. >> calling member. Eduardo fernandez. Yes. Calling member. Paul. Man. One question for staff if I could uh, it did seem like. Like this is an intrusion into the existing use. Uh I wouldn't go as far as to call it spot, but uh, did somebody say that you actually. Were looking forward to a zoning to doing the same up zone from 4 to 4 oh in the future with other properties in that area? I'm always uncomfortable if I see a if I see a. Just comment please vote and then we could go back into the next item and or take this up later but. Okay well then I'll vote no. Calling member joshua patinkin yes thank you. Calling member manuel badillo yes. Thank you. And calling chair adam gersten yes. This passes by a vote of 8 to 2. Thank you. >> okay. Now the um. Numbers six. We we need a motion for item number two that was. Yeah that's yeah that's I move. >> that was just the future land use map. Thank you. >> yeah so now we need a separate motion. >> okay so for the same same. Same motion move same amended. Same second this is the zoning. >> I do believe there was discussion on the item or motion. Yes um MISS I think MR. Man had a question. Member man on the zoning would you like to was there anything else you wanted to add. Well I share his concerns and uh and they haven't been addressed. Um it looks like this area does desperately need, uh, to be improved. Uh, there's a lot of lot a lot of lots there that aren't that aren't in use at all at the moment. But uh, but I do have concerns about live local and uh, and I haven't heard anybody say that we are in no danger of having live local go to work in that area, but uh. Uh, I don't know if nobody answered your question properly. Did they remember coriolis? I didn't have a question. I made a comment that and I and I think it's along the lines of what you are bringing up which is there's no safeguards for the residential properties around. It's not that the project doesn't merit the the rezone or or the uses that thereafter is that this opens up the door for so much and there is no safeguards for the people that are in the residents that are around this site. Well I agree I don't think there's. Yes. Well anyway, let's not belabor the point. I'll stay consistent. I'll say no. Thank you. All right. So return to motion. Yeah we're going to go ahead and do a roll call. Thank you. >> calling member calling vice chair andres lopez. Yes. >> calling member. Yes. >> calling member. Yes. >> calling member. Chris collins. Yes. >> my apologies. Calling member. Maria paula de carolis. No. Thank you. Calling member eduardo fernandez. Yes. >> calling member. Paul. Man. No. Okay. Thank you. Calling member. I'm sorry joshua patinkin and then calling member manuel vadillo and calling chair adam gersten yes. Okay. This passes by a vote of 8 to 2. Thank you. Okay. Now item number 6pzab. Item number six file id. Okay. File id one nine I'm sorry 19692. A resolution of the miami planning zoning and appeals board with attachments approving with conditions and exception pursuant to article ten, section ten.3.7 and article seven, section 7.1.2.6 of ordinance number 1311 for the zoning code of the city of miami, florida as amended miami 21 code to allow a special sign package with an aggregate area that exceeds article ten. Section ten.2.1 table 15 sign design standards allowing a maximum aggregate area of 3.340ft2 where 764 square square feet or more is permitted and the sub and subordinate warrant pursuant to article ten section 10.14, subsection c four, article seven, section 7.1.2.4 to permit an I'm sorry an illuminated sign within 100ft from any portion of a t4r general urban transect zone restricted property for the real property zoned t5l urban center transect zone limited limited generally located at 219 northwest 14th terrace, miami, florida as more particularly described in the attached and incorporated exhibit a making findings containing severability clause and providing for an effective date. Good evening. So the application is an exception for signage package that exceeds the aggregate area permitted by article ten, table 15 and then a subordinate warrant because one of the signs will be located within 100ft of a t4r property. The property MAY look familiar from the rezone we just presented. Um and that sign will be illuminated. This is within christine kings district and we are recommending approval with conditions. So the property is currently the lotus house children's village um it's a five story building constructed recently primarily a community facility educational uses and office nonprofit offices. This was approved under a warrant and then later constructed under a building permit. The future land use is medium density restricted commercial at the subject property. The zone is t5l which is urban center transect zone limited similar to familiarize yourself with the request. We have the project on the left. Let me get the laser pointer out on the left. Um there's the exception for the overall signage package and then a subordinate warrant just for the illuminated sign within that signage package the illuminated signs over here on the east facade and I'll zoom into that when we go to the elevations a little bit more. The package includes five signs two of which are building identification which include the business's name um and then the other three are changeable copy wall signs. The permitted aggregate area based off of the facades linear square footage would only be 764. Uh the proposal is for three 3340ft2. This is the primary facade the north uh it includes the two changeable wall signs and then the building identification sign over here is the rear of the property. Uh, secondary frontage. And then we have another one of the building identification signs. This points at the existing um lotus house women's shelter across the street to the rear of the children's village on the south. And then this is the property within 100ft of a t4r familiar from the rezone we just presented. This is the east facade and this also includes a changeable copy wall sign. The criteria for signage package are below. Um compliance with miami 21 aligns with the guiding principles operation compared to less intense uses we did include some conditions um with reasonable restrictions associated with the contents that we can go over. I have the conditions included in this package and then article four table 12 review appropriate scale and character of the building. Um and the neighborhood at large complements the building architecture and neighborhood character and does not create a nuisance. So again we created some conditions to try to make sure that this project is not a nuisance to the adjacent properties. Um there's a number of conditions I've included all of them here but they're also in the packet. Um and the larger report um some of the specific ones are content um the amount of illumination and then how quickly the content can rotate so that it's not a nuisance to traffic. Overall we're recommending approval with conditions and I'm not sure. Lauren do you have something to present. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you board members again lauren con with offices at 1450 brickell avenue. Um I'd like to just incorporate my testimony from items one and two um into this item as well. For the record um as I mentioned before the children's village um is a really really unique use that serves the needs of the neighborhood children. It serves the needs of the children that are staying in the lotus house across the street as well as neighborhood children in the community. Um, there are 14 nonprofits within the building. They include after school activities, tutoring services, a preschool therapy services enriching educational and social services. Um there's also a multi-purpose space for educational programing community meetings and other activities. Um the use is really difficult to describe because it's unique. I don't think this use exists anywhere else certainly not in south florida. Um I worked for years on the warrant and the permitting the building exists now and I was never able to truly conceptualize the importance of this use until I saw it in action. Um, I went for a tour and it's an incredibly special special experience. Um, the services that are being provided there at this facility, um it's that same uniqueness that sort of validates the need for this sign package. Um and is the subject of this item number six .Um the proposed signage just plays like a really vital role in the communication with the surrounding community. Um and the ability to carry out the children's villages mission which is to serve these children in the community. Um, the zoning code recognizes that because it it provides for um a special sign package only under certain conditions. Um the other there's four conditions under which a special sign package is permitted and this is one of them this specific use where it serves the needs of neighborhood children and it's affiliated with an adjacent rescue mission. So the code already contemplates that there's a need for some additional signage that this specific use just really requires communication with the surrounding neighborhood in a way that many other uses don't. Um, some of the examples of what we contemplate to be displayed on the signs are things like, um, you know, free tutoring services from 3 to 5, um back to school drive the different services that are provided there in this um building which include 14 different nonprofits. So there's all sorts of stuff going on. It changes regularly. That's why these signs are so important for this use. Um I want to point out staff touched on the different conditions I want to point out one of the conditions is that we are not allowed to use this for off site advertising. These are not advertising signs. These are not murals. Um it's not a class c sign. That's one of the conditions of approval. That's never the intent behind these there will be no advertising. The purpose here is solely to help carry out the children village's mission, which is to provide services to the children of the community. Um with that I'm available for questions and we respectfully request your approval of this request. Thank you. >> and is there anyone from the public who would like to speak? Okay. Anyone on the board? I'm sorry either. Come on up. Oh, just come up to the mic and state your name and address. Okay. >> good afternoon. My name is mama joy jackson. I'm the ceo and founder of nana's restart organization. Thank you. Okay, I'm here to I came late but I had got a notice to be for the zone. I'm a homeowner. I'm a homeowner also in overtown. Um my address is 236 northwest 16th street. I am one of the organization is housed at the at the children's village and what our organization is we are a resource hub. We hit we put the community with the resources that we have. We do back to school thanksgiving, christmas and do we do year round. But I don't understand what's the reason why we're here today because I wasn't here when I first started. But I'm here on behalf of the children village because I am one of them in the building. thank you. I'm one of the 14 so it's a very good building and it's a very good organization and I love the lotus house. I saw it when it was built. I stayed next door to the lotus house. So I'm one that stood up for the lotus house to get built. So I'm very concerned about what's going on around the around that area because it's a lot of empty lots but they need to do something that make an impact for the community. So I don't know what is the reason why we're here because I had a notice to come. Okay. So well the good news is that we just approved uh the last two items we approved to rezone and a change of underlying land use so that the lotus house can expand to some of those empty lots that you [Laughter] Were talking about. And we need a parking lot is that. I don't know about all that but but but but we can address someone else can address that. But I will tell you that that what you were talking about we did address in a positive way. Okay. And and and then this item that we're doing right now is about signage outside the building to let people know that the lotus house is there and some other signs that I guess are uh, revenue generating. Uh, no, not revenue generating. They're just they swap out but they're not they're. >> they're just communication. Communication service. >> okay. Sorry. Okay. >> about services there's going. To be I didn't. Know what the um held at the at the children's village. Okay. Okay. yeah, we do need that. So we also it just let it be productive because it's a very good facility because we're there we're we're being we are being around our organizations now restart we've been around since 2013 and I'm the name mama joy in the community so I am concerned um I just started work um got off work for 12 hours but I'm here to hear the good news of what's going on because MISS Constance is a very good young lady and I saw the lotus house being built and I also saw the children's village because I stood up for the lotus house. So I'm here to if y'all going to do the right thing y'all remember mama joy I come around. Thank y'all. >> thank you very much for your service. Thanks. >> and for the record, can I just say that we'll connect afterwards? Thank you. >> great. Anyone else? Okay. Sorry about that bringing back to the board. I appreciate the cause and think it's a great use for this neighborhood. Um, the one comment on traffic I just wanted to better understand. Article four. Table 12 asks us to identify potential nuisances that this application MAY have on the surrounding community including traffic. So um we wanted to ensure that the board did not rotate too fast that it could cause an accident or distracted driver. In addition we looked at illumination making sure that the signs are reasonably illuminated especially for the surrounding properties. Um and then as mentioned earlier the signs are not for commercial purposes. They are solely to advertise the services and that lotus house provides. So it's more of a message board or on site um related does that answer your question. Perfect. Great member man. Member collins. Anybody else? Okay when we're talking about illumination are these illuminated 24 hours a day? Uh ,I don't believe that we have a specific condition as to a maximum level of illumination. I mean there is presumably periods of time where some of the signs will be shut down. Um but we have to follow the conditions that require maximum number of uh of changes of copy. There are certain copies that are going to like one of the images that was up which is a lotus which is essentially um ,the image that represents lotus village. Some of those will stay on on a more uh, on a longer period of time. There is a maximum illumination required by city code and miami 21 and that's imposed on the project. Um, at time of building permit they'll need to provide a letter verifying by an engineer that they do not exceed the maximum illumination permitted. >> when you're talking illumination are you talking about the lumens or are you talking duration because I'm talking duration right now. Yes. Just to understand. I we did not add a time of operation. Um so far we don't think that's necessary. What we did add was a maximum foot candles we don't do lumens okay. Yeah I just I just have to state that I don't love when even even for locations such as the lotus house for things to continually be illuminated, I just think that it's just not I mean even from a safety perspective, I'm not sure that I would want the lotus house lit up all night long for random people to be like oh that's where they are. You know, I don't know I don't know anything about that. I leave that to the experts. But I also find that it also draws unwanted attention when you're like it makes it look like it's a shopping center and that's not where people should be at night. So that's my position on having things illuminated at night that are really a beautiful community center and provide value it shouldn't be. I mean I get that you want to get programing out but I'm not sure programing gets done at 2 A.M. In overtown. Yeah and I'm not sure that we're necessarily shooting for that objective right. So I think um you know we have just built in some flexibility as to what the the total is we'll obviously adhere to all of the illumination requirements which will minimize nuisance and impact to the community. Um but our goal is certainly not to be, you know, advertising even our on site services, you know, at 2:00 in the morning that's certainly not our our our intent. Thank you. >> okay. >> um do we have a motion? I'll move. Second motion in a second. Can we do a roll call please? Vice chair andre s lopez. Yes. >> member ellen montoya yes. thank you. Calling member lynette. Cardoza no. Thank you. Calling member chris. Collins yes. Thank you. Calling member maria paula. Yes. >> calling member eduardo fernandez. Yes. >> calling member. Paul. Man. Yes. >> thank you. Calling member joshua patinkin yes. Thank you. Calling member manuel badillo. Yes thank you and calling chair adam gersten. Yes passes by a vote of 9 to 1. Thank you thank. >> you thank you board members. >> thanks. Okay so I think we are on to number three. Calling item number three file id 19749 a resolution of the miami planning zoning and appeals board with attachments recommending approval. My apologies, recommending approval of an ordinance of the miami city commission amending ordinance number 1044 as amended the future land use map of the miami comprehensive neighborhood plan pursuant to small scale amendment procedures subject to florida statute 163.31 I'm sorry. 3187 florida statutes by changing the future land use designation from medium density restricted commercial to restricted commercial of the acreage described herein of the real property located at approximately 7017 southwest seventh avenue, miami, florida as more particularly described in the attached incorporated exhibit a making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. Also companion item number four file id 19673 a resolution of the miami planning zoning and appeals board with attachments recommending approval of the ordinance. The miami city commission amending the zoning atlas of ordinance number 13114 the zoning code of the city of miami, florida as amended miami 21 code by changing the zoning classification from t5l urban center transect zone I'm sorry open for the property located I'm sorry limited to t 680 urban core transect zone open for the property generally located at 701 southwest seventh avenue the 701 parcel and from t 680 urban core transect zone open to t 612 urban core transect zone open for the properties generally located at 619 southwest eighth street 665 southwest 8620 southwest seventh street 630 southwest seventh street and 640 southwest seventh street miami, florida as more particularly described in the attached and incorporated exhibit a making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. Thank you. Good evening mayor board my name is darren murphy city planning department of this first slide shows a quarter mile radius of the property in question which is the red rectangle in a clockwise fashion. Number one is riverside park to the north. Number two is um ada k-8 center educational facility. And as we go toward um southwest eighth street which is where the main concentration of these auto related commercial establishments are you have the brickell chrysler dodge jeep ram number three you have the brickell buick gmc which is number four, which is essentially where the subject property is and then you have the vertical masa and brickell honda dealerships. We did a site visit for the subject property and looking to the left here um let me get my uh my pointer here. Um the southern view from southwest seventh street you have the rear and a rear vehicle inventory for the buick buick and gmc dealership and to um to this slide here this is another view of the subject property along southwest seventh street and you have your classic um, multifamily residential, uh, three story development projects or buildings and directly um, below here is one of the properties that was not part of this land assemblage and in the background you have the the brickell chrysler dodge jeep ram building which is eight stories. Yeah. And over here to this picture um again it shows the buick gmc dealership along southwest seventh avenue and the last one is actually on the property looking directly south is the brickell honda dealership across southwest eighth street. This slide shows a neighborhood context of a court again a quarter mile radius. Um this was retrieved from the miami dade county property appraiser's office and 90% of the properties are residential in nature 3.3 is vacant and 3.1 is commercial. However, if you look at the future land use inventory of the study area which is approximately 137 acres, the two main um uh two biggest components or percentage wise is medium density multi-family residential at 47% and restricted commercial at 22%. This slide shows the actual subject property as part of the applicant's line assemblage. I call it the job site. Um this came directly from the applicant survey. Um and the city map really is meant to show the subject property and its relationship to the surrounding area and major roadways. The area of the subject property is approximately 0.17 acres which is the red dot here and it's part of the total uh job site which includes the subject property which is approximately 42.49 acres. This slide shows the existing proposed future land use changes and is going from medium density restricted commercial to restricted commercial. This slide is shows the interpretation of the future land uses um the only difference between the medium density rigid commercial and restricted commercial is really the flr um that flr um is essentially the maximum determines the maximum above grade floor area permitted based on lot area and transect zone. And this calculation here essentially tells you the maximum floor area nonresidential floor area for this subject property which is a little over 1 million. This slide um deals with the concurrency analysis and it complies with all the um all these school recreation open space sanitary sewer solid waste collection and transportation. The last slide regards the analysis that was that staff reviewed and the first one was policy lu 1.6.4 which the previous slide say that it complied with. The second one is for policy lu 5.1.7 which is to promote walkable mixed use development that supports transit use and reduces automobile trips and improves mobility. Regarding this one staff found that the subject property is located within a transit designated quarter mile transit corridor overlay encompassing encompassing southwest seventh street and southwest eighth street. These two transit corridors support this policy in two ways transit access you have multiple bus routes and stop and bus stops that connect the city's riverside and little havana neighborhoods serving the residents daily retail and service needs. The other one is the employment access the mass transit connections expand access to employment centers throughout the city and supports workforce participation. The last one is tr policy tr dash 1.1.4 and this one is yes and staff found that the subject property as part of a larger land assemblage or the. The job site complies with this policy contingent on the following stipulations for the applicant to follow appropriate transitions to ensure compatibility with adjacent properties and also coordinates with the city, county and state agencies including fdot to identify and mitigate any potential transportation related impacts in the area. With that stated, the recognition by staff is that the proposed amendment for medium density commercial to restrict commercial is consistent with the three applicable goals, objectives and policies of the miami comprehensive plan and recommends approval. I'm now going to segue to the rezoning application. Thank you. >> good evening, board members residents. My name is claudia diaz. I'm a planner at city of miami. The land development. Okay so I'm here to present uh 2pc2520149 for rezone. Um. This item six is file 19673 is a request to amend the zoning atlas for six properties in district three. The proposal would increase zoning intensity from t5l to t 680 for the 701 parcel and for t6802t6120 for the 665 parcel property. After reviewing the request against miami 21 criteria and planning policies staff recommends denial. This is the two images that you see the existing zoning and then the proposed um the surrounding area contains a mix of t4 and t5 transit zones reflecting a transition from neighborhood scale residential development to the more intense urban environment associated with the southwest eighth street corridor property located north of the site are predominantly developed with 1 to 3 story multifamily residential buildings, while properties along the south are of the. A street consists of a mix of commercial, residential and mixed use. The 701 parcel rezoning meets criteria one and two and is generally supports redevelopment trends and evolving corridor conditions. However, under criteria three staff found the companion rezoning to the t6 120 does not provide an appropriate transition in intensity because the application must be considered together. Staff finds the overall rezoning request inconsistent and recommends denial. Staff evaluated the proposed rezone from t 680 to t 6120 under the three miami 21 rezoning criteria across the three criteria staff primary concerns are the lack of demonstration need for the t 6120, the absence of change conditions supporting additional intensity and compatibility and transition concerns within the established miami 21 transit framework. Staff finds the request rezonings are not justified by the surrounding context. The miami 21 transit framework or the evidence presented and therefore recommends denial for the application. Based on the findings in the report and summarizing this presentation. Staff recommends denial of the [Laughter] Request from I'm sorry the request from my bad of the miami 21 uh portion of the rezone. Thank you. Hello. >> everyone. >> just get a little organized here. When I use. >> this one. >> are you good? I just. I don't have the right oh I've got three cables and none of them are working. So if you just give us a second we will old school email this. No problem. >> sorry about that. Sorry. Thank you. So many cables and none of them work. Thank you for your patience I apologize you think I would have this right by now? So melissa for the record melissa with offices at 200 south biscayne boulevard in miami. I'm representing mario morgado and miami automotive retail the morgado automotive group. Um so the property in question is almost two and a half acres of land just west of I-95 between southwest seventh street and south west eighth street and it's an assemblage of six parcels of land for over 25 years mario mario morgado has invested in east little havana ,transforming a neighborhood seller of new and used cars into a national powerhouse representing the finest automobile brands in the world from its flagship campus right here at their brickell campus in east little havana, calle ocho is the city's gateway to the employment center of downtown miami and brickell and is the heart of the brickell campus today, the brickell campus employs 389 local residents with an average salary of over $104,000 per year and a total annual payroll of over $40.5 million. So this is the brickell campus. Um as you'll see in the past I think many of you have been here over the years as MR. Morgado brings um rezoning applications one by one we do not while we own over nine acres of land are not contiguous. So we have to go through these individual land use and zoning map amendment applications. And today you're seeing one large piece that we have been assembling over years .The intent is to transform legacy buildings and surface parking areas that you see throughout calle ocho and under the I-95 expressway into a pedestrian friendly urban campus. So the existing and proposed use it's a brickell motors auto dealership and that's the large parcel of land which is 665 parcel and you'll see the 701 parcel that small parcel of land which is subject to the land use plan amendment as well as the rezoning and I'll get into more detail on that. So this is the overall context of the subject property both the 701 parcel and the 665 parcel it's surrounded by auto dealerships to the west and the south. The dealerships to the south have this legacy suburban style layout as MR. Morgado has assembled lands and their surface parking for both patrons and their massive inventory of cars. The dealership to the west has been recently redeveloped thanks to a rezoning and land use plan amendment into a vertically integrated structured parking along with the retail components and service components of chrysler dodge ram jeep. So this is the property you can see it's legacy building on calle ocho and it was used as a job site as was mentioned by staff as part of the redevelopment of the abutting site next door. The context of this area as was mentioned is really automotive dealership and you can see what legacy buildings look like and what the surface parking lots look like for our inventory. As I mentioned, the intent is to go vertical and this is what was constructed as the chrysler jeep dodge ram dealership just west of the property. This is a miami 21 compliant building consistent with urban design standards. It's pedestrian friendly and it has upgraded the streetscape of both the property itself as well as across the rights of ways. And the goal again is to vertically vertically integrate parking and inventory within the structured building the future context of the corridor we anticipate will also be these versus legacy buildings, these urban auto dealerships that you see also very exciting. MR. Morgado and our team have been working with the city of miami and specifically our district commissioner on an overall revitalization of the little havana area. Uh, just this month the city commission approved a business improvement district for the calle ocho corridor that really brings MR. Mercado's vision into 2026. This vision is one that has been created over 25 years and it also includes a zoning for the overall area. So our request on the 701 parcel it has a current zoning of t five limited. That limited is important and our requested zoning is to go to t 680. We also have a companion land use plan amendment for medium density restricted commercial to restricted commercial staff is recommending in favor of the land use plan amendment and denial of the rezoning specifically dealing with the zoning of the 6665 parcel from t 680 to t 612 and there's no change to the restricted commercial. These are the maps as they look like this is the future land use plan map you can see restricted commercial no issues there and then this is the zoning of how we hope that it will look like with the t six eight as well as the t 612. Our goal here is to develop a t 612 vertical structured parking garage along with retail and we need the height in order to utilize all that surface inventory parking throughout this entire area of little havana consolidated into one property on the 701 parcel and our proposed rezoning to t 680. The existing t five limited prohibits auto related uses altogether. So the 701 parcel is surrounded by the t six eight zoning to the west south and just further east across that one holdout parcel .And that is why we're asking for the zoning to t 680. Um regarding the 665 rezoning we are proposing a t 612 that is to implement the existing restricted commercial comprehensive plan amendment and most importantly to allow the height to develop an urban dealership with vertical auto retail service parts uses as well as all the inventory storage on site. This is needed in order to offer city residents and workers auto related services within proximity to not only their homes where they reside but also to and from the employment centers of brickell and downtown miami. So regarding auto related use needs automobiles we all know play a critical role in mobility and even with strides as to transit and other types of mobility, cars remain a necessity for most and I chose. Corridor is a historical thoroughfare from west miami dade all the way to the employment centers. Um we are providing an essential service for urban car owners, lessening the need to travel to suburban locations for service and retail purchases. We are also suggesting the increased stories to allow for these urban car dealerships to stay competitive with suburban car dealerships that keep massive inventories on site and simply we cannot do that using surface parking um for purposes of marketability, we want to be able to show our prospective clients, uh, their cars on site. Um, the main thrust of the miami comprehensive neighborhood plan and specifically land use 1.3 is to encourage urban infill and maximize utilization of areas within the most infrastructure in place. I'll submit to you that calle ocho is uh has a historic um transportation corridor from west aide to the urban employment centers of brickell and downtown uh um uh, retail service and automobile uses have been in existence for over 25 years at these locations. The investments continues and our goal is to modernize consistent with the miami 21 zoning code. So we're here if you have any questions and we respectfully request your approval of both the land use and the rezoning application. Thank you. Thank you. >> is there anyone from the public on either the underlying land use or zoning that would like to speak? On these? Okay, bring it back to the board. So um there's two items and one is a flume adoption which seems to be consistent with everything around it. The second is more height so you can do a garage and a bigger car dealership. But I guess I just don't see too many like plans or proposal around what that will look like. So I'm reticent to give zoning without any particulars or details around what we're going to get. So do you have any of that? So I understand that concern as many of your colleagues will tell you it's it's do we provide plans? Do we not provide plans? And at the state of the rezoning process the plans are conceptual. What I can show you is what our existing building looks like today on eighth street just across the site. So it's going to be vertical urban and the goal will be to not only contain the storage of vehicles and inventory on site but also accommodate the issues of for example, the loading and unloading of deliveries which today happen on the public right of way on seventh and eighth street. So the goal is to internalize those design plans have not been created yet. You can see in the flume application and the maps before you we have one holdout parcel that we are working on and so we want to plan for the entire block but we're not there yet. Um this assemblage along eighth street has been um a process, a labor of love for over 25 years to acquire this type of land. But the goal is vertical. Um and specifically to remove all the car storage that occurs in this urban area which is just no longer compatible with um, the city of miami to just use surface parking lots in the in the urban center of of the city and especially in an area that the city is trying to revitalize. Um, this part of eighth street as someone who was born and raised in little havana has gone through a lot of changes and in the 90s late 80s 90s when many of our families fled out west out north like mine, mario morgado was one who continued to invest and build this this assemblage for the type of economic development that I mentioned almost 400 employees earning at average over $100,000 salaries in this area. So I understand the recommendation from staff. Um I respect it. Um they're not able to account for the user as an example. Um but of course because I think that's because of the history of this corridor and MR. Mercado's investment, it's very clear what his goals are in this area. We have other applications that have already been filed with the same concept in mind. Um so we'll be coming back and I can show you w