Doral rep says he worked with Fontainebleau lobbyist on bill to allow water park
Miami Beach officials are pushing back against a provision in a Doral Republican lawmaker’s bill geared toward forcing through a controversial water park plan at the Fontainebleau hotel.
On Monday, state Rep. David Borrero filed an amendment to his bill about urban development that may require Miami Beach to sign off on variances from the city code to allow water slides in the Fontainebleau’s pool deck area, a project that has been met with huge backlash from residents.
A House panel approved the amended bill Tuesday. Its next stop is a vote by the full chamber.
In response, Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez placed a resolution on the City Commission agenda for Wednesday to formally oppose “this dangerous preemption,” as he described the bill in an email to his constituents Tuesday after the amended bill passed.
“This represents a fundamental erosion of our historic preservation protections,” he wrote.
Borrero’s amendment allows up to 20% of the area of any “large destination resort” to be redeveloped without a vote by a local board, as long as “such changes are consistent with the existing permitted or accessory uses.” The bill would seemingly require the city to “administratively approve” variances like the ones the Fontainebleau is seeking.
Borrero told the Miami Herald after his amended bill passed that he believed the Fontainebleau “would be one of the properties that specifically would benefit” from the new provision.
“The Historic Preservation Board has prevented their project from moving forward,” Borrero said, referring to a Miami Beach board that currently has oversight over the proposal. “It’s a simple project to put in certain slides on that pool [area]. It doesn’t affect the historic elements, or the historic components of it.”
Borrero said he “worked with a lobbyist that represents” the Fontainebleau from Corcoran Partners on the amendment.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Fontainebleau Development did not specifically address whether it lobbied for the bill or might benefit from it but emphasized that the legislation would apply to properties across the state.
“It is independent to Fontainebleau Miami Beach or to this Historic Preservation Board application,” the statement said.
The changes in the bill were flagged to the Herald by investigative reporter Jason Garcia, who publishes the Seeking Rents newsletter on Substack.
After opponents of the Fontainebleau project packed City Hall during a Historic Preservation Board meeting earlier this month, the hotel’s development team asked to delay the vote. The team has been preparing to bring its proposal back before the board in April, according to Fontainebleau Development’s statement.
“From the outset, this effort has focused on reinvesting in one of Miami Beach’s most iconic landmarks in a way that honors its historic character while thoughtfully positioning it for the future,” the hotel’s Tuesday statement said. “The proposal does not expand the resort’s footprint, increase density, or generate additional traffic.”
Opponents of the plan have griped about the height of the proposed water slides, changes to the Fontainebleau’s historic character and the potential for added traffic in the already congested Mid Beach neighborhood.
Mark Weiss, a Miami Beach resident and attorney who has spearheaded activism against the water slide project, told the Herald on Tuesday that he believes Borrero’s legislation is an attempt by the Fontainebleau “to gut local governance and home rule,” meaning the ability for cities like Miami Beach to govern themselves.
“It’s anti-democratic, it’s anti-American, it’s anti-home rule, and it spits in the face of every governing authority in Miami Beach,” Weiss said. “It’s a Pandora’s box that we’ve warned of from day one.”
The House State Affairs Committee passed the bill, HB 399, with a vote of 16-10. It was the third and final committee stop before a full vote by the chamber on the floor. The vote would have to be soon, since the legislative session is scheduled to end on March 13.
Rep. Fabian Basabe, whose district includes Miami Beach, was among those who voted against the bill.
“The amendment was added late without full committee vetting,” Basabe said in a statement. “Major changes deserve proper review. When policy is drafted so narrowly it benefits only one or two properties in a built-out community facing infrastructure strain, that raises fairness concerns.”
A similar bill, SB 208, is moving in the Senate, but it does not have the same provision that seems to relate to the Fontainebleau.
‘Stalling improvements’
Borrero added the language that would likely greenlight the Fontainebleau’s water park roughly two weeks after the Fontainebleau on Feb. 10 requested a deferral of a Historic Preservation Board vote on the project.
The Fontainebleau cited the absence of one of the board’s seven members. Five votes are required to approve the project.
Borrero told the House panel Tuesday that he added the provision to the bill because certain historic review boards “unreasonably restrict simple upgrades to properties.”
“It’s in the best interest of public policy, of the state, to allow developers to remodel their properties as long as it meets zoning and land use code,” Borrero said.
Borrero said he is targeting “a small handful of properties” with his new provision.
“My estimation is between five to 10 properties,” Borrero said.
Borrero told the Herald that the Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort could also “potentially benefit” from the change, as well as “a couple of others that are under that historic overlay.”
“Why are boards like this stalling progress, stalling improvements?” Borrero said of the city’s Historic Preservation Board. “Miami Beach residents have cried out for making the city a more family-friendly place, making it less transient.”
He added: “This actually helps to make it a more family-friendly place.”
The Fontainebleau’s plans include several slides just for children, though it is also planning some meant for adult visitors, the Herald reported last summer.
Borrero’s amendment defines large destination resorts as those with at least five contiguous acres, 500 rooms or more and an average occupancy rate of at least 70% in the past three years. The Fontainebleau has over 1,500 guest rooms and suites, according to its website.
The amendment carves out an exception for structures or sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Fontainebleau, designed by Morris Lapidus and opened in 1954, was added to the register in 2008. Fernandez, the Miami Beach city commissioner, said the amendment is worded so that the resort’s pool deck would likely fall outside that exception.
Fernandez told the Herald that the proposal was “yet another example of Tallahassee attempting to override Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board.”
In recent years, the state has passed legislation preventing local voter referendums related to land development regulations and giving developers more power to knock down historic buildings near Florida’s coast without interference from local governments.
“Every session,” Fernandez said, “Tallahassee tries to become the Miami Beach zoning board.”
