Planning Board will meet -- Tuesday, August 24, 2010, at 5:00 pm -- to discuss Alton Road Overlay District

Note MDPL position described by
Arthur Marcus Letter to the Planning Board

August 24, 2010

City of Miami Beach Planning Board:
RE: Alton Road Overlay District

Members of the Board:

Through extensive discussions with affected resident and property owners this overlay has been crafted by the Planning Department over the past four years to provide the types of necessary buffers to protect adjacent historic properties which consist mainly one and two story residential properties.

Indeed the impetus to study the Alton Road corridor grew out of a series of discussions iniated by MDPL with the former developer of 929-939 Alton Road – regarding a proposed five story mixed use building with condos, retail, restaurant & garage and discussions that ensued about what constitutes the proper meeting of two very different zoning districts. .

Specifically regarding some the issues:

The .5 FAR Bonus for mixed use should be eliminated. The City of Miami Beach eliminated practically all building bonuses and design review bonuses long ago, once it was clearly seen how easily this bonus system could be abused.

Maximum Height of 43’-0” should be maintained. And the height at rear yards must be reduced to 23‘-0” as maintained in the report. This rear yard height restriction is essential to maintaining an appropriate transition from a five story building to the exiting one and two story historic structures adjacent.

Rear Setback Requirements are essential to this transition between structures. Accepted urban design principles support this. And this is not burdensome to re-development. As we demonstrated in the 929-939 Alton Road project, the massing of proposed building elements can be shifted and re-shaped all the while within the allowable F.A.R. Just retain the right architect!!

Two Story Retail should be prohibited on the east side of Alton Road. The west side of the street is more appropriate for the more intensive retail and related activities in a two story space.

Conditional Use Approval for establishments of more than 10,000SF should be maintained since they do have a different impact on the surrounding neighborhood than smaller establishments. More traffic – more noise – more valets – more garbage collection – more deliveries – more intensity – more – more – more. This requirement is different than other areas of zoning law because we need a new model for development, and this Alton Road Overlay District provides such a needed model. We thank the Planning Department for their work these past four years in creating this new model for new development adjacent to historic districts.

Compatibility of New Development with existing Historic Districts is the primary issue here. We agree that Alton Road is an ideal corridor for retail and office and related garage development. This proposed overlay district is essential to guide new developments and ensure that they are compatible with the adjacent one and two story residential properties. On the east side of Alton road.

MDPL supports these Planning Board recommendations and we urge the Board to vote in favor of this overlay district.

ARTHUR MARCUS / for the MIAMI DESIGN PRESERVATION LEAGUE