South Miami tables second reading of Madison Square, affordable housing code
While able to deal with the issue of the retail sale of cats and dogs in the city, the South Miami city commission tabled or deferred several important items at its Jan. 19 meeting.
The main item
A second reading ordinance amending the South Miami land development code’s sections of “other regulations, off-street parking requirements, and space requirements” to create a new section establishing a revised parking requirement for affordable or workforce housing was tabled.
The ordinance aims to provide a sufficient level of development in order to qualify for funding opportunities for affordable housing projects such as the Madison Square project. The ordinance also says that the Madison Square site should not be expected to require as many parking opportunities as those farther away from mass transit.
“Commissioner (Gabriel) Edmond and I had a Sunshine meeting regarding parking and Madison Square,” Commissioner Bob Welsh said. “I think we need a motion on this to specify out what percent of the area median income a landlord will rent out to a person, to comply with the category of low income. Which is 60 percent of the area median income for Miami-Dade County, as defined by United States HUD. For workforce housing its 80 to 120 percent of the area median income of the county as defined by U.S. HUD. We need to put that in there so if anybody wants a break on parking restrictions or requirements, they are going to have to know what they are going to be able to charge those tenants that rent.”
Other business
▪ Restricting less restrictive: An ordinance was deferred on second reading which would amend the land development code and define the term “less restrictive” when applied to the city commission’s five out of five voting requirements. The code currently says that five affirmative votes are required from the commission “to amend land use and development regulations in any manner to make them less restrictive.”
▪ Pets in, pets out: While the commission unanimously approved a resolution to permit an animal hospital/veterinarian at 6396 S. Dixie Hwy., it voted to deny the retail sale of cats and dogs in the city. On second reading, only Commissioner Josh Liebman dissented on the ordinance. No pet store shall display, sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away or otherwise transfer or dispose of dogs or cats in the city, effective immediately.
▪ No ‘off-price’ retail: The commission tabled an ordinance on first reading, which amends the land development code to not allow “variety retail” and “retail-outlet off-price retail” permitted uses in the Hometown District Overlay.
They said it
“I want to thank Commissioner Welsh. I’ve had some great concerns about this process. I’ve agreed to meet with Commissioner Welsh. I think we had a really good, productive dialogue. I think the key is communication. You’ve got to communicate with people, particularly people you disagree with. And through communication can come understanding and from understanding you can kind of go forward from there. I thought we had a good preliminary discussion, but having said that, I think we both agree that a number of our ideas … need to be vetted legally. I can kind of give a path forward for it, because I’m not going to support this tonight. But I can give a potential path forward.” — Commissioner Gabriel Edmond
The next meeting
▪ When: 7 p.m. Feb. 2
▪ Where: City Hall, 6130 Sunset Dr., South Miami
This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "South Miami tables second reading of Madison Square, affordable housing code."