North Miami Beach Zoning Board OKs Larger Developments
February 14, 2006
By Hortense Leon, Southeast Correspondent

North Miami Beach, a generally low-rise, Miami suburb, is going vertical.

Yesterday, the city’s planning and zoning board approved changes to the city’s land development regulations, which, if approved by the city council and the state of Florida, will make it possible for developers to build up to 75 units per acre and 18 stories on certain designated parcels. With developer bonuses, the limit will be even higher--100 units per acre and 24 stories. The current maximum density allowed in the city is only 32 units per acre.

The approval of such measures will only apply to so-called planned unit developments, which are allowed to be mixed-use and have more density than conventional developments. It's expected to spark dramatic changes in a city that today has no buildings larger than 12 stories. With conventional zoning districts, the height limit is 15 stories.

Of course there are naysayers. Critics believe that ramping up the density in an area already choked with traffic may have dire consequences. Tripling the density on some sites in the city is not his idea of "gross management," Tucker Gibbs, attorney for the North Miami Beach Citizens Coalition, which opposes increased density, told CPN.

Even before these changes receive the blessings of the city council and the state, developers are lining up. One land owner, for example, who owns two car dealerships next door to each other, wants to develop a mixed-use project at the site with 1,798 residential units, at the same time tucking the car dealerships in on the ground floor.

The changes in zoning regulations are planned at a time when North Miami Beach’s neighbor just to the North, the city of Aventura, is reducing its density after years of high rise development. Joanne Carr, planning director for the city of Aventura, pointed out that on Feb. 7, Aventura passed an ordinance limiting the density and height throughout that city.

http://www.cpnonline.com/cpn/specialties/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001996914

Then again, maybe not:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14600395.htm

North Miami Beach high-rise plans back to drawing board

BY TIM HENDERSON
thenderson@MiamiHerald.com

Faced with disapproval from state regulators and a citizens revolt against its high-rise redevelopment plan, the North Miami Beach City Council has decided to reconsider and negotiate with opponents.

''Our election is one year away. I don't want to see a city divided by a redevelopment plan,'' said council member Myron Rosner, who moved Tuesday to negotiate with opponents. Rosner also suggested that voters get several alternate plans in a referendum on redevelopment.

The city, which now has a 15-story height limit, had planned to allow buildings up to 24 stories in areas near Biscayne Bay and along West Dixie Highway. Opponents have gathered more than 3,000 signatures against the plan.

''I'm glad to see the council taking a different tack,'' said Bill Borkan, a leader of the petition drive. ''We are and wish to continue to be a community of neighborhoods.''

The 5-2 vote to seek common ground, and possibly let voters decide on building height with a referendum, came over the objections of Mayor Raymond Marin.

''Limiting development in the city is not in the best interests of the city,'' Marin said. ''At the end of the day we will win this.''

The state Department of Community Affairs issued a report objecting to the city's plan for flexible ''planned unit development'' areas, in which the city can grant extra height and density in return for concessions like public amenities, Deputy City Manager Keven Klopp said.

The city needs to designate areas that will be primarily commercial or residential, rather than waiting for developers to make the decision, Klopp said.

''We wanted the flexibility to go to the developers and say, `What do you want to do?','' Klopp said. ''The state is saying, 'No, you have to be more specific.' ''