City Commission Meeting

testing testing testing testing the pastor is so accustomed to a bunch of stuff that I have to get him out now. I am joined by Commissioner Escalona, Commissioner Gabela, Commissioner Pardo, Commissioner Rosado, Mayor Higgins. Today, we are joined by -- >> Hari Dass, thank you, from Sacred Vedic Arts. We say our prayers in sknsrt. T. This was once spoken all over the earth. [In Sanskrit] That's calling to all of our spiritual teachers and the collective human family to bring about auspiciousness to their meeting with unity, prosperity, and spiritual growth for all of Miami. Thank you very much. We also learn in our tradition that the largest blessing is to chant together the names of GOD in whatever name we have. There are many names we say. Sole or Sun -- we refer to the same sun in the same way. There are different names based on time, place, tradition. Place join with me as I say Hari Krishna. MAY GOD bless you all. >> Thank you. Commissioner Escalona? >> Of course. [Pledge of Allegiance] >> Thank you. Good morning, everyone. >> Good morning. >> MR. City Attorney? >> Yes, MADAM Chair. >> I believe you have an opening statement for us. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. George Weisong, City Attorney for the City of Miami. Detailed information about the processes of meetings can be found in chapter 2. A copy is available online. Any person who is a lobbyist must register with city requirements before appearing. A person MAY not lobby until registering. A copy of the code section is available to the City Clerk's office or online. Any person making a presentation, formal request or petition concerning real property must make dscslsrs. Es. A copy of this code is available online or at the City Clerk's office. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the commission must disclosure consideration provided or committed to anyone pursuant to city code 2-8. Any documents not provided 7 days before the meeting will be entered into the record at the commission's discretion. The agenda and material is available during business hours at the City Clerk's office and online. The meeting of the commission is a limited public forum. Any person MAY be heard for not more than 2 minutes. Public comment will begin at approximately 9:20 am and remain open until closed. Any person making offensive remarks will be barred from further attending meetings. No clapping, heckling, or verbal outbursts shall be promoted. . No signs are allowed. Persons exiting shall do so quietly. Members of the body MAY submit written public comment. At www. Miamigov. Com/meetinginstructions. The comments submitted have been and will be distributed to the officials and staff throughout the day so that the officials MAY consider the comments prior to taking contain. Online comments will be remain open until closed. Public comment MAY also be provided live at City Hall subject to any and all city rules. If the proposition is rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard MAY be at a later date. When addressing the commission, state your name, address, and item spoken about. Any person with a standard y requiring aid MAY notify the City Clerk. There are public comment methods to notify support, opposition, or neutrality. The public is given an opportunity to provide public comment. Note, commissioners are generally briefed on agenda items. If you wish for a verbatim record, request that at the Office of Communications or view it online. Parties for pz items as well as the representatives and experts testifying MAY be physically present to be sworn in. Members of the commission shall disclose ex.. Arte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice according to the multi-family ng ordinance. Staff will present each item to be heard. The applicant will present. The city commission MAY proceed to deliberation and decision. For appeals, the appellant will present its appeal followed by the appellee. Staff will make recommendation . Please, silence all cell phones. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami tv, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and the broadcast will have closed captioning. Ank you. >> Thank you. MR. City Clerk, please, read your statement for there encored. >> Thank you. Procedures to be sworn in for today's agenda will be as follows: you will be sworn in by me after this explanation. Commissioners, are you comfortable with these rules for this meeting? >> Yes. >> Thank you, chair. MAY I administer the oath? >> Please. >> Thank you. If you are speaking on pz items, please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm your testimony is the whole truth? Your response is -- ? Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. MR. City of Miami, are there any items on this agenda that will be deferred or withdrawn? >> Good morning, MADAM Chair. MADAM Mayors, commissioner, City Attorney, City Clerk. Re2, indefinitely deferred. Re5, deferred through MARCH 12. Fr1, indefinitely deferred. Pz1, recorded as discussed. Pz2, withdrawn. Pz4, indefinitely deferred. Pz5, deferred to FEBRUARY 12. Pz8, indefinitely deferred. Pz9, indefinitely deferred. Pz10, indefinitely deferred. Pz11, indefinitely deferred. Pz6 will be heard as a second reading ordinance. That is all. >> Do you need him to go over that again one more time? Yes? >> re2, indefinitely deferred. Re5, deferred to MARCH 12. Fr1, indefinitely deferred. Pz1, recorded as discussed. Pz2, withdrawn. Pz4, indefinitely deferred. Pz5, deferred to Februrary 12. Pz8, indefinitely deferred. Pz9, indefinitely deferred. Pz10, indefinitely deferred. Pz11, indefinitely deferred. Pz6 will be heard as a second reading ordinance. >> pz6 has to be heard after 5pm? >> No, he is referring to -- it printed as a first reading item, but it's a second reading item. There is an item -- let me find it real quick. Pz6 is an item that -- >> That's what I said. >> I appealing. >> MR. City Clerk is never wrong. >> It has to be heard after 5. You MAY want to defer that. >> I want to let my colleagues know pz6 has to be heard after 5pm. At this point, I will ask my colleagues if they have items they want to defer/withdraw from the agenda. >> On pz1, I wanted to add that that gym equipment will be removed. This is part of that. To close that chapter. Thank you. >> You mean pz2? Thdrawn, and that's why it is showing as -- okay. Commissioner Gabela? >> Good for now. >> Commissioner Pardo? Do you mind if we get that equipment? >> Not at all, but we're looking at it. Wherever it can best go, we want it to go there. >> It. Is being removed from the park? >> Yes, it is not being used. You see adults sitting there and kids playing where they shouldn't be. I recommend to check it out and see how people use it. Then, make the decision. >> I -- every time I pass by it it is being used. I don't know. >> Commissioner Gabela, you know. >> I don't want to be in the crosshairs here. >> Um -- >> Commissioner Rosado? No, ma'am. >> City Clerk? >> I need to read a brief statement. Pursuant to the city code, indefinitely deferred actions will cost the city mail, noticing, and posting for applicable properties. Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. MAY I have a motion to set the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? The agenda has been set. At this time, I will open the floor for public comment. If you want to speak on any item before us on this agenda, please, step forward. 5 at a time so that we don't block the exit. Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Alexandar Miles. I direct state and local housing here in Florida for Enterprise Community Partners. Thank you to Commissioner Rosado for bringing forward pz3. We're a national nonprofit. We have been active since 1982 to help folks with our housing crisis. Earlier this year, we helped advance 1730 through the legislature. This law gives governments a clear and optional tool for faith-owned properties. Other Florida cities are putting this into practice. Houses of worships are long llars of neighborhoods. This ordinance provides clarity and predictability for houses of worship. This could lock in 30,000 parcels of land. By adopting pz 3, there's a potential for religious land for community benefits. And demonstrates faith-based planning is an important part of addressing housing challenges. We look forward to supporting more housing options. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Angelo Romusco. 1000 Southwest 57 Street. Am here on before of the commissioner who is in a meeting. She asked that I convey for resolution 16, sponsored by Commissioner Rosado. The commissioner fully supports to stop bad actors who use loopholes. Following the anonymous adoption of a similar adoption, we will not allow the [Unclear] And act as a state sponsored by terror. Miami Dade County will not be [Unclear] Communist regime. I want to thank Commissioner Rosado for bringing this item forward. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Maria Lovolla. I am the PRESIDENT Of the Coral Gate hoa. I represent the hoa. We are here to support Commissioner Rosado's wanting to name 20th Street [Unclear] Street. Let me just take a brief moment and tell you what [Unclear]. He lived all his life in the same house from being born to the time of his passing on New Year's Day. He started the hoa with other members in 1987. He was PRESIDENT Of the hoa three times. He played a vital role in the acquisition of the barricades in Coral Gate and played. A big role in our 50-year parade. He was on the [Unclear] Committee for many years. He was well-liked by neighbors and friends. I would like to thank Commissioner Rosado. I know he as well as I and residents of Coral Gate dearly MISS [Unclear]. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Chaplain Stanley Young. 500 Northwest 2 Ave. Before I start, I want to congratulate James Reyes for the post that he has taken. I have met MR. Reyes at the jail. Hoped his door and heart. My That's my passion and that's what I do. You have a good person there and I really appreciate that. I want to talk about. H 1, the community block grant that you guys do a great job reaching out to the community to help people like myself to get the funding they need to do what they're doing in the community. But this one small snag with that particular grant, you almost have to be an attorney or some very strong professional to really understand and actually to follow through and complete that particular grant that's doing an amazing job in the community. But for those ones who don't have a lot of those technical skills, a lot of emerging community leaders in our community that really need that help and support. It still needs a helping hand from you guys to help people complete this online grant proposal that you put out. That's my passion today. That's what I wanted to share with you today to really look into that. Thank you very much, GOD bless. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Erica Scott [Unclear. ] I'm in support of pz 3, an ordinance that allows affordable housing to be developed by right on land owned by civic, religious and. -12 institutions. We support pz 3 because it addresses Miami's housing crisis. We're short 90,000 affordable rental homes. The city has identified 7,500 properties that would be eligible. Every unit counts and pz 3 is an opportunity to increase supply of affordable housing. It's not a blanket increase or gateway to unchecked development; it's a way to empower civic institutions to create homes affordable for people in their neighborhoods and that maintain the character of those neighborhoods by matching adjacent zoning. We help you to support pz 3. Thank you for your time and commitment to addressing our housing crisis. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. CHAIRWOMAN, MADAM Mayor, and city commissioners. [Unclear] Miami Dade County tax collector. I'm here in strong support of re 16, sponsored by Commissioner Rosado. It addresses a serious concern in the community, ensuring that businesses operating in Miami Dade County are not engaged in activity connected to the Cuban communist regime. Miami Dade County is home to families who fled dictatorship and political prosecution. They understand the consequence [Unclear] Weak oversight and lack of enforcement. This is a national security issue for the usa. [Unclear] Oversight for our local businesses. Adu. Lear. ] My office has a clear legal obligation to deny or revoke business tax receipts. We do enforce the law. Miami Dade County must never be a safe haven for a dictatorship. Our goal is to protect the local economy [Unclear] Freedom and accountability that defines this community. Thank you and I respect your support for this resolution. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Alica Marguiles. Is there something that transforms you from citizen champions to the board of Enron/ Our streets are flooded with salt water. We're losing green spaces. The solution is to increase density. >> What item? >> pz 3. >> Building land [Unclear. ] Only in a world led by lawyers, lobbyists and developers does pz 3 as written make sense. Is the plan to leave our cars at home and walk? Where? Our sidewalks have been hijacked by developers. Try walking past the wall or oak. Street. Even Mary Street, there's a hole right in the center of the sidewalk that's been there for months. I reported it but it's still there. We're here every meeting to beg you to slow down the development train and fix infrastructure. Force yourself to resist the siren song and you will hear the beautiful voices of your constituents. Regarding pz 14, not every building has to be a sacred cow. If the building is designated historic or there's a bonding agreement for an area, that should be honored. What's the point of having laws if you will exempt every developer that has a. Ream? Please uphold the appeal. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning, my name is Edward Martos, 2800 Ponce de Leon Boulevard on behalf of Alchemy Media. Here to speak about fr 4. Alchemy Media is an advertising company. We operate across the County and in. Los. Angeles. This is flawed and does not allow for competition. It's not good for Miami or property owners. The request we have is you open this up, if you proceed, with additional competition- whether it be my client's company or any company that meets the qualifications under the ordinance. Let me talk about why the ordinance is good. Right now, you have construction sites. They are barricaded. They are in many instances not sightly. This ordinance creates an opportunity to put advertising on those unsightly locations and then does two things or the city and property owners. One, it gives a revenue stream to the city, helping your budget. It will be used to help clean up street, remove graffiti, waste, weeds, etc. Finally, just 10 more seconds please. The ordinance does an additional thing. It creates an additional obligation for the construction sites to clean up as well. Property owners have an obligation but now the sign operator has an additional obligation. Finally, this is first reading, every ordinance can be improved further. There will be people opposed to it. There's probably opposition on the dais. We can make it better before second. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning, thank you for the opportunity to speak on. R 4. [Unclear] On behalf of New Tradition Media and a portfolio company, Blackstone. We have offices in the city and are long-term stakeholders in the community. We urge the commission to vote no on the proposed pilot program for offsite commercial advertising. We have seen similar programs in other cities, including New York and Los Angeles where it led to clutter and blight, forcing cities to scale back or undo those initiatives. In City of Miami already manages thousands of code compliance cases annually. Introducing a new category of advertising tied to construction sites would strain capacity and make oversight unrealistic. The challenge is structural. It's transient and poorly maintained. When advertising is imposed on this without duration limitations, etc. It's visual noise. This proposal seems to have moved forward without meaningful input [Unclear] Safety and community visual impact. Sign operators are held to standards for good reasons [Unclear] Disconnected to long-term land use, undermining the city's sign code and setting a precedent difficult to reverse Once visual standards are loosened, they're difficult to restore. >> Thank you. >> If the city wishes to pursue more advertising formats -- >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is James Torres, PRESIDENT Of Downtown Neighbors Alliance. We're here to oppose. R4. [Unclear] The most traffic, most clutter. We absorb the impact. The residents are taxed with the. Da hostage tax, being told this will help the quality of life in the neighborhoods. That is not true. If that's the case, dissolve the. Da and allow the funds to help the community. Let's be clear about though read. E. It does not reduce construction blight, it monetizes it. It treats downtown, Brickell, and Edgewater [Unclear. ] None of this is happening in the Grove, Coral Gate, or Morningside. Downtown is the bald headed stepchild they're using this for. We were told this was about beatification and graffiti prevention. If that were true, why are we not talking about public display of art? Why are we not taking accountability for the developers having this issue? Downtown, Brickell, and Edgewater are not billboards. They are homes and communities, not revenue generating machines. We request that this commission defer or remove the item. We are tired of billboards and enough is enough. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, my name is Thomas Reyes. I am a city resident at 2820 Northwest 5th Street. I'm also a city employee for almost 20 years. This is probably the friendliest time I visited the dais. i'm here to speak on re 14. I encourage you to vote in favor of it. Our neighborhood is going through a change, having more families move in, elderly people are leaving and we have new families moving in. The mini park would be greatly appreciated. Every time I've wanted to go to a park I have to get in my car and drive. This is going to be something great for our neighborhood, so thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Morning, Michael Freedman, on behalf of. R 4. What I heard earlier from some of our colleagues is there are potential problems with the ordinance as it's drafted. I think there are things that need to be done to make it more beneficial to the city. I agree that graffiti abatement is a worthly and difficult aspiration to attain. If we leave graffiti abatement to land owners themselves and/or the city, the abatement doesn't necessarily happen. Sometimes you have to bring in a third party to work on this stuff because that's the way to abate graffiti. With that said, I believe there's a lot that can be done to make this ordinance worthwhile and beneficial for the city, and we would like to be part of that. It's set up as a sole source pilot program. Pilot programs are terrific and need to be worked on. What makes a pilot work is you get more than one applicant in the process and they can make it work on behalf of the city. We're proposing that the sole source aspect of this ordinance be stricken from it at this point in time, but we would like to see the ordinance move forward if possible and then whatever changes are necessary to make it work for the city we'd like to do between the first and second reading if possible. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Mario Torres and I'm here to support re 14. My parents bought a house, 2820 Northwest 4th Terrace, in the 70s. We love the neighborhood so much that when I got married I bought a house around the block, 2811 5th Street. My next door neighbor is Sergeant Reyes. We support this. I've been in the neighborhood 50, 60 years. You've been there 25. 50 years, and I rode bicycles on the 836 when they were building it. We're the original guys. Our neighborhood, I've never seen anybody step up like they've stepped up. I can't take the kids to the park but I can take grandkids. Thank you, GOD bless you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> MADAM Chair, MADAM Mayor, board members. Ben Fernandez, speaking as a resident of the city and a member of the Housing and Commercial Loan Commmittee for the City of Miami, in support of pz 3, which I think is a brilliant idea. The. I zoned properties are many times situated to ensure compatibility with residential development. We have a housing crisis. We see it every day and I think this is a fantastic idea. I encourage you to pass it. >> Thank you, good morning. >> Good morning. Elvis Cruz, 61 Northeast 57th Street. If you look at that door over there and that door over there, you will see that this room has an occupancy load maximum of 155 persons, enforced by the ire DR. Partment. That makes sense so we don't overload the room. What about the city itself? The city did this study in 2016 to determine the maximum density potential, and the total was 948,000 units, which turns out to be eight times more housing units than were counted in the 2010 census. We already know the situation today with our traffic, and that study was before numerous SAPs.. Before enhanced. 5, before rapid transit zoning, before transit station neighborhood developments, before this item that wants to add 660 properties covering 1,800 acres. What about affordable housing? That's the problem. If you want to solve the crisis, solve the problem which is foreign buyers that take up close to 40% of new housing purchases, and corporate buyers. Big Wall Street firms buying up housing. That's the problem. You can have affordable housing under the existing zoning with tax deductions, exemptions, credits, Section 8 vouchers, and housing projects you build all the time. There's a huge adverse impact to our infrastructure with the zoning. Not just traffic, water supply, sewage treatment capacity, garbage handling capacity, and hurricane evacuation time. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning, my name is Lee Sulton, vice PRESIDENT Of the. Na speaking on. R 4. We want to be clear, the concern is not just beatification; it's the long-term consequences of intruding advertising and the enforcement of them, especially when they're electrical. We saw this play out in New York and with the pamm billboard. It often becomes a nuisance rather than improvement. What starts as limited controlled >> Enforcements become reactive instead of preventive. These ultimately have resulted in legal battles. This is not a theatrical risk; it's a pattern. Not all activations are bad. There are examples where it has been used thoughtful for local businesses and neighborhood branding. This approach is generally very restrained, contextual, and community-oriented. We think this people reprisal ttle beyond that. External advertisers are not aligned with the neighborhood. There's long-term construction and noise disruption. Once the city generates revenue from these installations, temporary measures have a way of becoming permanent. Downtown residents do not need more clutter. I urge you to reconsider this approach. Thank you >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Pz. 3. Henriette Schwarz. 2627 South Bayshore Drive. Congratulations. I am very concerned about pz 3 I believe that it is built written, and executed for Mercy Hospital which has already gone through expensive litigation about 2 decades ago when Grove Isle demanded they not build towers there. My question is -- on pz 3, since the whole push is for workforce housing, what guardrails are you going to put into this amendment? A height restriction? A price limit? Will you? You are nodding yes. What is that? >> [Inaudible] >> We can discuss it. >> When the item comes up. >> So, you know, as a concerned resident, I live across this tree-rat. Talk to the d2 office about what we are going through as residents in an area where you promote walkability. Walkability is huge. You want to walk and go places. We can't. It's a mish-mash of closed sidewalks and roads all over the Grove, and you want to put in all these things and then give bonus height when an ordinance is improperly opened up. 8-9 properties vested in that bonus height -- magic. Am I done? >> Yes. >> Darnity. > Thank you. Good morning. >> I am here Brian [Unclear]. As a Miami native, I oppose fr4. I don't want to see my city go down the wrong path. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. [Unclear], and I am from the [Unclear] Office. As you MAY know, our organization is a nonprofit organization that helps small businesses by protecting, supporting, and helping them start their businesses including pathways to private and public contracting. At Prospera, we provide help for small businesses including one-on-one consulting in licensing, permits, financial planning, and compliance as well as business seminars on core entrepreneurship topics. Prospera expands access to capital and opportunities while assisting in legal, accounting, and hr support. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you for the quickest public comment I have ever seen. It's a new day at the City of Miami. Jose Felix Diz. . 2 Alhambra Plaze. Fr4. I have spoken to Commissioner Rosado who I know we well-intentioned the is comes from a good place. I represent Becker Boards, an outdoor ad company. We have seen this program launch in la. We are greatly concerned about the law of unintended consequences that a program like this might do for the City of Miami. We live in a city where people figure out loopholes. They figure out how to make money. I totally see a world where a construction company might take longer for the ad to run longer, or they might do something where they apply for a permit for signage because there's real money to have these ads out for a long time. I will tell you -- in ny, there was a horrible incident where somebody got killed because of a construction accident. They started to require scaffolding. The ad companies realized they could make money. The city had to come in after the fact and disallow that. People were keeping the scaffolding for so long. I can totally see that happening here. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Silvio Frank, the economist appointee to The crc. I also serve as the ambassador for the City of Miami as the Mayor's international counsel to bring the best cities of the world to Miami. I speak to you in my personal capacity. On re5, fr2, and pz13. The message is clear. Miami doesn't need more plans. We need a way to see them. Okay? That is what the Miamiverse was built to do. It's a Miami-focused p. Atform that ties mobility, housing, zoning, resilience, climate data, permitting, public works, readiness, etc. Into one unified authoritative dashboard. Imagine what your life would look like to open one single window to get a view of the city. What is flood/go. What is improving? It is all finally connected together. One place to understand everything, one shared source of truth. Otion. Waterfront, Project Aquadome completes that. We have a letters of support from the sheriff office and fwc to host this pilot. I ask the commissioners and mayor to sponsor is resolution to adopt the pilot for the Miamiverse and to adopt Aquadome and support a grant. I am Silvio. Thank you so much for your service. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you. I don't know where -- good morning, everyone. I don't know where to fit in here. I want to mention the building department. We keep changing things. I have a dedication since 2013 on my front yard on Battersea. No one else has to do it. There are tubs and ada showers when other properties are approved that didn't have to do that. We have to do everything the same or not. Mayor Higgins, I am counting on you for the permitting. '23 of AUGUST to fix a problem at my house. It is not getting fixed. I lose 2 million in profit if I knock my house down. We need to fix the problem and stop selective enforcement. The couple with the adu in the back yards, they were supposed to dda. Dedication. It is not implemented in South Grove. Thank you, Mayor Higgins, for getting this fixed. >> Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. Mitch Bearman. 2800 Ponce representing Alchemy on fr4. These comments suggest that there's a workable solution. Before we toss the baby out with the bathwater, let's work on strengthening the baby a little bit so that it can address all concerns raised by the other people who spoke about it. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good morning. Else for public comment, public comment period is now closed. Gentleman, motion to approve the city commission meeting for 10. 9? >> Moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Motion carries. Of the ca items, are there any items you want to pull for discussion? Seeing none -- MAY I have a motion to approve ca 1, 2, 3, 4 with ca 2 as amended? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Items pass unanimously. Do you want to pull any of the ph items? Ph1, 2, 3 for discussion? >> No. >> Motion to pass ph 1, 2, 3, >> Moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? >> Chair, my apologies. Ph1 is amended to remove [Unclear] By the mayor and ph2 has a backup document submitted to the record. Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. Are there any items on the re agenda you want to pull for discussion? >> I would like to pull re4 to say something for the record. >> re4. Anyone else? >> 16. >> re16. Anyone else? >> MADAM Chair, I have comments on the record for re16 as well. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. I have re4 and 16 pulled for discussion. MAY I have a motion to pass re1, 3 as amended, 6, 7, 8 as amended, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17. >> Moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Items pass unanimously. Back to re4 -- >> For re8, it will be amended to add a commission meeting date in the title. For re8, what should that date be? Does Commissioner Rosado have a -- for re8? It has to do with the fee schedule and fee changes. There was a blank in the title In section 2 found the resolution, we need a future commission meeting date for this to be brought back. >> I think MARCH. >> 12th or 26th. >> We merged them. >> Oh, that's right. MARCH 12th. Thank you very much. Additionally, for re8, there's a whereas clause for the resolution. Thank you, chair. >> re4 was pulled for discussions. >> I want to say something to the record. I want the contractors working on this business to do a better job. The new administration, James, I want you to have the proper supervision. That is not what I am seeing in Little Havana. That's what I wanted to say. >> Anyone else? MAY I. Have a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? >> Chair, this is amended for a substitution memo. >> Thank you. In favor -- ? Motion carries. re16 was pulled for discussion. >> Yeah, I pulled it. I agree totally that this must be done. I have been an anticommunist from all my life. I came from Cuba at 6 years old. The only concern I have about this is that we don't get into legal wrangling. That's all I wanted to say. I'm on board, but I suggest we correct it rightly. I believe the county is actually going to do the work. I suggest that they do the work. We MAY be piggybacking. Just be careful to maintain our fiduciary duty to the taxpayers. I don't want to see us getting into lawsuits. That's all thank you. >> I have a concern. In the legislation, what is defined as contact with Cuba? I have a lot of friends who are Cuban. They have families in Cuba. They send their families money and. Carepackges. S. They are business owners. I don't think this legislation is defiende enough. If this is just overreaching, overarching, I want to defer to Commissioner Escalona. He has most recently come to this country. One of my dear friends, her son is still in Cuba. She takes care of him. Someone else, her mom and her sister are still in Cuba and cannot come over here. They take care of them -- much like what happens with families in the Haitian community. They are supporting their families. I don't want these business owners to -- they also operate in the City of Miami -- to be pulled into this dragnet and be punished beach we didn't do our due diligence in making sure this legalisation as intended is to catch bad actors and not families who are supporting their families in Cuba. Commissioner? >> City Attorney? >> Yes, sir. >> With the new modification that was done yesterday, can we think about dealing to the county? >> Essentially, yeah. For the record, the previous iteration of this resolution called for the creation of a task force headed by the Inspector General. The substitution submitted yesterday from the d4 office changes that to the meat of the lution that ensures. All applicable federal, state, and local laws are properly followed and enforced example essence, it is designed to look at section 205. 0532 of the Florida statute authorizing a local governing authority to refuse a btr if an entity is engaged in business activities under state and federal law with Cuba. That's the statute. It doesn't provide the safeguards the CHAIRWOMAN Was talking about. It doesn't define business or prohibited activities. We have to rely otion. Federal government on whether or not these entities are in accordance with or violating federal law. There is a current lawsuite ending. [Unclear] Charters vs. Miami Dade County tax collector -- an entity was initially found to violate this. Their complaint proved they were not in They had their. Tr reinstated but alleged there were business losses, defamation, etc. More importantly, there's a request for declaration and injunction declaring 205. 0532 unconstitutional because it requires interplay with the federal government. They allege in their complaint that this is something that should be enforced by the federal government, not the tax collector of Miami Dade County. State law is presumed constitutional until found otherwise. I wanted to flavor the discussion with that, that there are issues. To answer your initial question, as written now it requires the manager to cooperate with the tax collector. >> [Unclear.] >> Do you say that? >> We have no liability? >> Well, the issue-so, do we have liability? If we were to revoke a license -if the tax collector contacts the city manager and says, "I've identified this business, you need to revoke their license" we have a provision in the city code. We would have an independent review, due process, opportunity to be heard, etc. We would be potentially entering into this lawsuit if the court ultimately finds that the statute is unconstitutional. I can't say there is no liability associated with cooperating with the tax collector. There is a possibility of liability to be heard. . As written, there are no timeframes or urgency in this. You would be authorizing the city manager and the city to work with the tax collector to enforce the statute, which is currently challenged. >> Commissioner Pardo? >> I'd also like to hear from the city manager. I know, MADAM Mayor, you had a note for the record. I'm interested in hearing that >> So, just a few short weeks ago the residents of this community and the small business owners of this community spoke loudly and clearly at the ballot box that they were rejecting a Miami that weaponized its government against small businesses. For eight years when I was County commissioner I hospital tness small businesses being accused falsely of all kinds of things, inspected in the middle of the night, reputations ruined, businesses shuttered and lives ruined. Because of the capriciousness and dislike. Of one person. I thought we moved past this, to be a government that is all about making sure we have a strong and robust economy. In this city there are 17,250 businesses with a. Tr that should this pass are open to investigation. That is the job of [Unclear. ] I had experience working with them when I was in Mexico doing anti-narcotics and anti-weapons work. They know how to investigate individuals and companies who are violating sanctions laws, cooperating with communist regimes or other horrible government such as Iran, and putting together an airtight case that doesn't end in a lawsuit. The situation we're currently facing, as the city attorney described, is we have a system now locally that is being rolled out and we are already in the middle of lawsuits. If it were me, and by the way the city manager has already advised I am not able to veto this legislation. If I could, I would. I promised the residents we would not be involved in wasting their tax dollars on lawsuits unnecessarily when we could work on projects to keep streets from flooding or improving community centers. This is not without risk to us and liability. My suggestion is we defer this until the entire case is settled in federal court. That would be my suggestion. We get the law established, and then quite frankly, we let the state and County do what it's always done. Whenever they revoke a btr, we immediately are informed. We've always been doing that. We look at that and say we probably need to revoke it as well. We follow 31, which says the person still gets due process in our city. In my opinion, we are jumping the gun on this particular item given the fact that we already have federal lawsuits working through the courts. I think it's important to note 17,250. We're talking some of the largest companies in the world, could now be under investigation with no rules. There's no process. There's no definitions. One of their employees sends their grandma medicine and then suddenly their reputation and their business could be ruined. I think there is great risk to our city. We have a federal process that seeks out these horrible businesses that violate. U. S. Laws, cooperate with regimes that are repressive to people, that dehumanize them, do not follow human rights, and we should follow that process rather than creating a separate process that could put the hard earned tax dollars of our residents at risk. Once again, we have a reputation of a city that wastes millions and millions of dollars on unnecessary lawsuits rather than the things that our residents need to live and work. And let me be very clear to anyone that does business illegally with Cuba or Iran, or China, or Russia, I don't like it. You are going to follow the law. The federal government is in charge of making sure that happens. When they tell us you have done something wrong, your btr will be revoked and you will never, ever do business in the City of Miami. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner Gabela? >> I think part of the problem is maybe these sanction laws were not applied. I suggest we write a letter as the body we are contacting the. Oj, justice department and anyone who has to do with sanctions and the embargo against Cuba and let them investigate. Some of us feel that in the past these businesses that have been doing business with Cuba, what's on the books has not been followed. I don't think we should get into that business. However, there is a big anti-communist sentiment here that cannot be ignored. We have to take care of that too. What I'm suggesting is we write a letter as a whole, as a body, with you MADAM Mayor, suggesting that what we're asking for, that the. Oj, the department of justice, and whatever department has to do with it in the federal government-the last thing we want is a lawsuit with a business that's communist, doing business with a dictatorship in Cuba. Then we're in a lawsuit, we reward them with hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is my suggestion, we write a letter encouraging them to investigate who is breaking embargo laws in the country. >> MADAM Chair? >> Commissioner? >> I came from Cuba. I think this is fantastic but I don't want to bring any liability. When I have to send something to family in Cuba, I do it through a friend. If you think this is going to bring liability to the City of Miami, I do not want to vote for it. But if you believe, based on what you told me, that this is just a piggyback to the County and we will not be liable, I'm all for it. I believe we should do more of that. That's all. >> Commissioner Rosado? >> I appreciate my colleague's feedback on this item. The initial item was much more stringent but at this point what we put forth in a substitution memo is about coordination with the County. It would not be our role to determine who is violating the law, but it is about enforcement of laws that are already on the books and as Commissioner Gabela says have been overlooked for decades. That's what this is about. The County moved forward yesterday with a companion item, the city of Hialeah is doing the same thing. This is about coordinating with the County and implementing what is already on the books, not for us to determine who is violating the law or not. >> It seems this legislation MAY be premature. We can defer it -- >> I'd like to pass it to the city manager-write a letter of the. Oj, and have them pay attention to this. I agree with Commissioner Rosado, they have not in the past. Like I say again, should we be the body that has the tools to properly investigate this? I don't want to see this go away. I'm with you, I think this needs to be pursued by the proper department of the federal government. I would say if anyone wants to join me, to write a letter to these departments that we represent-I represent one fifth of the city like the other Commissioners. >> Based on your suggestion, I have to do something with this legislation. I have to vote it down, I have to defer it. You are presenting something entirely different by sending a letter. That's not what this legislation is. >> I don't want anybody's [Unclear] Today. >> Let me take care of re 16. >> MADAM Chair, if I could add something? I don't see those two ideas as mutually exclusive. This could pass and we could supplement. >> Absolutely, but we have to take care of re 16. Do we want to defer it or vote on it the way it is? I'm not comfortable voting the way it is and I will be a no vote if you want to move forward. >> As much of an anti-communist as I am in my upbringing and background, I share a lot of the passion on this dais, I don't think it would be prudent to vote on this right now. I think there's more we need to know about and I think the mayor's eloquent comments about letting it go through the lawsuit is a wise-I understand that other jurisdictions because this is a city that's very passionate on these issues MAY be passing it in this moment but it MAY be wise on our part to give it time. >> Do I have a motion to defer? >> I'd like to move on the item as it is. >> Answer my question. Do I have a motion to defer? Do I have a motion for re 16? >> Yes, pursuant to the substitution memo as the clerk has reminded me. >> My condition is I will vote on it but the letter has to be sent to the. Oj, everybody else, trust handle s matter. At least that way we have some cover for liability. >> I accept that amendment. >> That's my condition, we write a letter and don't get ourselves into trouble here. >> George, you had your hand up? >> In lieu of a letter we could do a resolution urging the federal government to vigorously enforce these laws. That would have more weight than. A letter. >> Fine with me. Are you good with that? >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second with the amendment of what the attorney recommended. >> [Unclear. ] >> My apologies, chair. This resolution urging whomever, that's included in this resolution? Are you doing a separate resolution? >> I believe it's a separate resolution. >> So, you will need to vote on a separate resolution. >> I suggest you get through this item and then do a follow-up resolution urging the federal government and the proper authorities to strenuously and vigorously investigate ties to the dictatorship in Cuba. >> Apologies, I'm just trying to clarify the motion. The motion is to adopt pursuant to the substitution memo? >> I have a motion and second. All in favor? >> Aye. >> [Unclear. ] That was unanimous, as amended? >> As amended. Now, MAY I have a motion to adopt a resolution urging-say it. >> The federal government and all appropriate enforcement authorities to vigorously investigate and enforce laws related to doing business with Cuba. We'll wordsmith that. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor. >> Aye. >> Will you read the titles of second reading ordinances for the record? >> Yes, MADAM Chair. First readings first, right? I'm sorry, second reading ordinance. An ordinance of the Miami city commission,. R 1, an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending chapter 10, article 1 [Unclear] As amended city code titled buildings, in general building administration, fees and waiver, elevator, escalator, boiler, etc. Amending the city code to incorporate current elevator inspection fees, boiler and unfired pressure vessel fees for noncompliance. Sr 2, an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending the code of the City of Miami as amended parks and recreation by creating section 38-40, naming of Superhero Park to provide for the naming of [Unclear] As Superhero Park, directing the city manager to take action necessary to affectionate the ming of the park. >> Are there any of the second reading ordinances you'd like to pull for discussion? Seeing none, MAY I have a motion? >> So moved. >> All in favor. >> Aye. >> Items pass unanimously. Will you read the titles for the first reading ordinances? >> Yes,. R 2, an ordinance of the city commission amending the code of the City of Miami as amended titled buildings, in general, buildings administration fees, to create a pilot program [Unclear] Sustainable improvement pilot program, which incentivizes storm proofing including [Unclear] Insulation and other sustainable improvements through reduced permit cost, expedited permit review and materials to inform residents of the program, containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. There was an error in the sponsor. It should have been Commissioner Rosado. It says Commissioner Pardo. >> We're cosponsors. >>. R 3, an ordinance of the City of Miami renaming property located at 1 Southwest South River Drive to Fisherman's Park, [Unclear] Parks and recreation in general by amending the city code titled naming of Simon Bolivar Park to rename the property to Fisherman's Park. Containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. >> fr4, pz approval for temporary uses and occupancy permits by amending division 7 for temporary offsite commercial advertising to allow signage on a temporary basis for certain construction site fencing in the City of Miami urban core. That concludes the first reading ordinances, MADAM Chair. >> Thank you. I believe fr4 will be pulled for discussion? >> Yes. >> Yes, okay. >> I want to pull fr2. >> fr2, okay. That leaves only fr3. Motion for fr3? >> Motion. >> Second? >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Motion carries. Unanimously. Okay. Fr2? >> For reference, fr2, I have a question. Is this pilot only going to apply to homesteaded properties? Do we have a financial impasct tudy done after this ends? >> Good morning. Yes, the answer to the first question is yes. Homestead properties. I apologize. I did not hear the second question. >> Are we going to have a financial impact study after it ends? >> Correct, yes, we will. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? >> MADAM Chair? >> Mayor? >> To the 2 gentlemen who have sponsored this, I think this is great to incentivize people. I was wondering if you might add permeable pavements to the list. >> Definitely. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> This was brought up at the last meeting. The language is written broadly enough. Even if we didn't define something, if it fits the criteria, absolutely. >> Motion for fr2? >> Moved. >> Second >> All those in favor -- ? As amended. >> As amended. For fr4, I don't take issue with the pilot program; however, I want to exempt d5. D5 is unique in that we have historic neighborhoods. We have areas like the design district. I don't want to just blanket have legislation that covers all of d5. D5 is so unique. I would be in favor of this if you can just exempt d5 out of it mmissioner Pardo? >> I will say -- this is urban core, so it is heavily in our district. The urban core is going through enough. It is between construction, noise -- this adds an element of unintended consequences. It's single-source. There are many, many problems. A lot of issues people in public comment raised I fully support. I think we should indefinitely defer this. We need more work with the community. This has not been discussed with the district or the residents. They went through the whole billboard fiasco. We don't need another situation like that. I am okay with indefinitely deferring. If this needs to go, leave out d2. >> Same for d3. >> Commissioner Gabela? >> My only problem is -- this is for a single company. I don't want any single company to hold a monopoly. I don't mind doing it in my area. The scaffolding and everything that comes with it doesn't look right. You know? I understand the media coverage that was here. I want to see it. Maybe we should defer it. We have to take out that provision that only -- we have to open it up to multiple companies >> I think that's helpful feedback. I proposed this for 2 Rosenc8rns. One, there's a construction site a block away from my house with a mesh that's either tagged and retagged and tagged again, or its. S tattered and flapping in the breeze. It looks terrible. They look bad. Some of these sites, construction is not taking place The one close to me, construction should have started a couple years ago. In many cases, they are an eye sore. This is trying to approach that. I know it was workshopped at the dda. The construction sites look terrible. Somebody mentioned this is about blight abatement. I respect your feedback and am happy to support a deferral. I think we need better standards for how our construction sites looks. I would not throw it out completely. I think it does merit some refinement. I think we got helpful feedback from folks in the fields. I think there's a better version of this. I am happy to Southeast -- I know about an indefinite deferral. Then, nothing is scheduled for feedback. Maybe for the MARCH meeting? >> Try APRIL. You are piling up the MARCH meeting. >> Maybe the dda did work shops? D2, the whole urban core is bigger than the dda's representation. I think we bring it back after that's done. It MAY take 6 months or less, but I don't think we should put a date certain in. >> The dda has a unanimous support resolution. >> Again, I take issue with the item and don't mind the pilot program. I don't want d5 -- it is not ready the uniqueness of d5 with our historic neighborhoods, spaces like the design district. It doesn't work as just a blanket -- >> We have Coconut Grove, Morningside, Mimo. >> Right, exactly. >> I will accept the indefinite deferral. >> Moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Em is indefinitely deferred. I believe we all had a presentation on the budget. Do you need that? Or did everyone read the memo/ >> Railed it. Eo it. Y. Moving along. We will skip the discussion item and move into the pz items. MR. City Attorney, please, read the pz item titles. >> Absolutely. Pz 3, an ordinance of the commission amending 13114 of the City of Miami by amended article 4, standards a tables, by amending table 3, building function uses to estblh sh definitions for ci properties owned by a religious, not for profit, or educational entity. Pz 6, this is a second reading ordinance of the commission amending 13114 of the City of Miami by amending article 1, section 1. 2, titled definitions of terms to introduce a definition for adult daycare, amending article 4, table 3, building function uses to include a cross reference, and table 4 for parking to clarify parking requirements, by amending article 6 to allow adult daycare facilities within certain transect zones when criteria are met. This item is the item that must be heard after 5pm, so we MAY not get to it. Pz 7, second ordinance to amend 13114 of the City of Miami by amending article 3, section 3. 9, clarifying sap and amending 3. 14 about the public benefits programs clarifying how sap benefits are calculated. Pz 12, an ordinance of the commission amending 13114 of the City of Miami by amending article 6, supplement regulations, to clarify auto commercial regulations, update design standards, and streamline the process. Pz 13, first reading ordinance of the commission amending 13114 of the City of Miami by amending article 1, definitions, to introduce and clarify definitions related to vessels, by amending article 3 for off-street parking and loading, and table 13, supplement regulations to create consistency with definitions and establish and update regulations pertaining to boats, vessels, and docks, to establish a new subsection for marine-related commercial establishments. Pz 14 is a resolution. That concludes the ordinances in the pz agenda. >> Which is the one after 5pm? >> pz 6. >> Gentlemen, are there any items on the pz agenda that you want to pull for discussion? >> No. >> I want to pull pz 3. Anyone else? That's it. Okay. So, MAY I have a motion to pass pz 7, 12, 13. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor -- ? Okay. I pulled pz 3. I am a firm no on pz 3. Curiously, you did not see one pastor come before us to say that they want this legislation. Not one pastor. Not one parishioner. The only person that came to speak on behalf of this legislation were developers. I have a church in my district that is going into foreclosure because they got in bed with a developer that is unscrupulous. I will not vote for this. I am not in favor of it it. t should not be by right. If a church is dead-serious of g development on their property, they should go for the same process. We should not make it easy for our churches to lose their property. For many of them, it's historic. Generations have worked for them to acquire the property. I am a firm no. I ask my colleagues to pay attention that you did not see one pastor, not one pastor come and ask for this. Legislation. I did have one pastor in my district come to me and say, "MADAM Chair, this is great for us. " It is not. The potential unintended consequence of moving this as of right can be disasters for our churches, particularly our historic churches. They do not have the expertise to negotiate deals such as this. With it going as of right, there are no checks and balances as you will, and you will find out about it when it is too late. I am not going to be a part of that. Commissioner Pardo? >> MADAM Chair, I join you in voting no. I oppose this. This is a whole host of unintended consequences. I'm a firm no on this as well. >> Commissioner Gabela? >> Me can? >> We prepared a brief presentation. I think there's some clarification to take place. My deputy chief of staff is here. >> Commissioner Gabela? Go ahead. >> No, no. Go ahead. >> We did not do extensive outreach to the religious community. We wanted to talk about it as a concept. >> It's not a concept if we're voting on it today. I do the outreach. I have an annual pastors' breakfast. All of them are welcome as stakeholders in our community. Without input from them, from e owners of the properties. -it is not just the churches. It is the folks who attend the churches. This is a no. I am sure your presentation is wonderful. >> Agree. >> Kernel. Not move me. >> I am happy to do some additional outreach. We want to clarify a few things and address questions. >> I want to say -- not one pastor from any district showed up to say that this is Greenawalt. Lation. None from yours or yours. >> We have. A close relationships with our pastors. >> I have a fantastic relationship with them. Go ahead. >> Thank you. Know there's reference to yigby. There was legislation to allow housing on church-based sites. We call it "land of opportunity" for 2 reasons. There are a number of organizations of different types It is not just religious institutions. We have -- yes? Go the next one. We have religious institutions who are land-rich/cash-poor. We have nonprofit organizations and government at all case. . We are sitting on land we can and should make available for workforce housing. We have educational sites which includes not just school. And administrative sites that are underutilized. One of them is a vacant building that's an unsafe structure. In my district alone, my focus was d4, but it's a concept that could have wider applicability. We have St Michae's church on Flagler, adjacent to the Dade County Ardtermon. . We have the Boys and Girls Club which MAY want to do something in the future. Other nonprofits own their properties. We have 7 public schools, administrative sites, and city-owned sites. We have a site on 50th and Flagler with a library with a lease on city-owned land. Next? There are workforce housing and affordable housing requirements that are built in that piggyback off language in Miami 21. We are not talking about a series of luxury projects. These have to be housing units that serve the community. They are built into Miami 21 in tiers of how that can be done. The planning director can elberte. E the is housing serves the community. Churches and nonprofits are constantly fundraising. Our governments are looking for additional sources of revenue. In the City of Miami, what can make it hard to get housing addressed is the underlying cost of land. Construction cost is high. If you don't have to turn a huge profit, we're helping 1000s of individuals. One of the members of the public had great questions. This does not encourage luxury dvlpm This doesn't affect city parks or eliminate other requirements we have. So, other height restrictions, parking requirements, lot coverage ratios, it doesn't change them. Somebody cannot add an additional building because it wouldn't meet the parking requirements, so they're not able to do an additional building. Even though it was mentioned there are over 600 parcels that fall into the uses discussed, the vast majority would not be able to take advantage of this. It's not a wholesale redevelopment of housing across civic uses. This will help larger parcels in the district if approved. Finally, in district 4 and perhaps each of your districts this is perhaps the number one, two, or three issue. Housing affordability is something we're constantly being asked to address. I'm constantly called by people asking for rent vouchers. I'm constantly being asked to put people on the waiting list for the project on Flagler by the Related Group. We have such a massive demand to address housing affordability, I would be negligent not to put this forward. I feel terrible to hear that a church is taken advantage of, but that's a case by case situation. Other organizations are savvy enough and have enough attorneys to help them out that they should never be taken advantage of. On the contrary, they should be able to serve parishioners if they're requesting housing and religious institutions can provide it, this would help the school board which has a mandate to help teachers. Teachers are underpaid and that's not changing son. . They could add housing for teachers and essential workers. Nonprofits that constantly have to ask for money would be able to provide housing on their properties for their employees or those that they serve. Sometimes those they serve are abused women, seniors, veterans, disabled, autistic, and a variet