members please chairwoman Phipe here vice Chair Mcde here board member Montisier uh board member Pierre Lewis
here board member Monestine board member each here board member Barto here board member Flint here we have a quorum thank you
uh and with that uh we'll ask our attorney to explain the procedures by going through the announcement thank you Madam Chair this is a summary of the procedures applicable to all of the items on tonight's agenda these rules apply to applications on specific
parcels of land like zoning map amendments special exceptions variance and and conditional use requests the board will sit like a court hence the term quasi judicial reviewing the facts presented at the hearing applying the adopted rules as explained by staff in
the staff report and verbally board members can make site visits but must disclose the evidence upon which they intend to rely from that visit board members will disclose at the beginning of the hearing whether they have had communications with individuals on behalf of the applicant or otherwise including who the communication was with
and what the topic of discussion was all persons intending to speak to the board will be sworn by the clerk the staff will make a presentation and the board may ask questions of staff the applicant will make a presentation including expert witnesses witnesses if any and the board may ask questions when the
public hearing is open the public can make comments on the application limited to two minutes each citizen testimony must be factbased not opinion the commission or board may ask questions and and the applicant's attorney if any may ask questions for on
cross-examination members of the public can decline to be cross-examined staff may present additional testimony to supplement or rebut arguments made the board deliberates based on the evidence presented the board's decision must be based on competent substantial evidence
meaning based on the record staff presentations expert presentations and factbased comments by citizens according to the standards for approval set forth in the city code the board may then approve deny or continue the item while staff previously read into the record
emailed or mailed comments since most of the since these are not competent substantial evidence for example not sworn testimony subject to cross-examination the board's decision cannot be based on what is contained in the emails or mailed comments but they can be used to identify issues and help
identify sources of information that do contain competent substantial evidence upon which the decision can be based written comments submitted before the meeting are part of the record and available for review by the board lastly we ask each of you to treat this proceeding with respect and proper decorum no calling out interrupting
speakers or disrupting the proceeding please give this proceeding the same dignity and respect as if you were in court disruptions are prohibited and enforcable pursuant to the city code please also silence your cell phones thank you thank you
and because it is quasi judicial anyone who will be speaking on any of the items tonight whether you are for or against applicants as well as representative of applicants need to take the oath and it
will be administered by our staff anyone who is planning on speaking this evening at all please I need you to rise at this moment please rise stand stand thank you okay do you swear or affirm that the testimony and
evidence you are about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth thank you you may be seated any amendment to the agenda no Madam Chair there is not okay may I have a motion for approval of the
minutes so move second okay moved by Mr mcdade and seconded by Chief each i'm sorry I call him chief all the time that's okay okay communications and if it's on the
individual items we'll do disclosure at the time continued petitions we have none so new petitions first item uh which is uh SE-6-25 special exception exception to
permit a gun range use 1999 Northeast 150 street and thank you madam chair for the record Safi Bename senior planning technician office of land use services
so as stated this is a special except a special exception ception a special exception used pursuant to article 4 division 2 section 4-202 of chapter 29 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances land development regulations to allow the proposed gun range use at
the property located at 1999 Northeast 150th Street within the M1 commercial district said special exception is to re is to be reviewed under the criteria set forth in article 3 division 5 section 3-504 of the LDR ours
so what we have before you tonight is a special Can we do disclosures first oh I'm sorry can I I'm sorry any disclosure i had a couple of citizens I spoke with about nothing
okay that's it all right so what we have before you use is a special exception request to allow a gun range use at 1999 Northeast 150th Street North Miami Florida this site is located in the M1
district um to the north of it to the north of the site is a light manufacturing business to the east we have a warehouse south an office building and then to the west is an enclosed arena so they're surrounded by industrial uses
this is the current conditions of the property this is the survey showing what is there now and this is the proposed site plan in order to accommodate the excess parking that will that they will need for this new use the applicant has went ahead and given staff a site plan that
shows adequate parking so when staff did their analysis we found that the applicant met all of our criteria so just to go over them for the record the use is a listed special exception in the district where the property is
located there is appropriate provision for access facilities adequate for the estimated traffic from public streets and sidewalks for this one staff says yes there are appropriate provisions along Northeast 20th Street and also along Northeast 150th Street
number three there aren't adequate parking areas in off and off streetet truck loading spaces where the anticipated number of occupants employees patrons and the layout of the parking is convenient and conducive to a safe operation we says yes we say yes the proposed use does require 53 parking
spaces and the applicant has provided that amount of parking spaces number four there is suitable landscaping or fencing along side lot and rear lot lines adjacent to residential uses or residential zoning zone districts there are no residential
uses or residential zone districts that um are adjacent to this property the next one the proposed special exception is reasonable in terms of logical efficient and economical extension of public services and um facilities staff says yes the property is an existing
industrial property that has existing public services and lastly the proposed special exception will constitute an appropriate use in the area and will not substantially injure or detract from the use of the surrounding property or from the character of the neighborhood this
one staff says yes their gun range facility will be will be a new recreational activity for the community it is an indoor facility so the noise will not injure or detract or detract from the neighborhood thank you oh this is a typo staff is
recommending approval they meet all of staff's criteria so we are recommending approval i do just want to add for the record that staff has added a new condition to um to the special exception request we just asked that anyone under
the age of 18 be accompanied by an adult we did speak with the applicant they are okay with that new condition but that's something that we decided to look at last minute and make that addition make that addition thank you so we do have the applicant here to um provide us a brief
presentation i'm going to pull that up yeah hi good evening uh Michael Pizzy uh 6625 Miami Lakes uh drive the uh the second best city in Miami Day County after North Miami miami Lakes is
I I used to tell uh Kevin Burns at the League of Cities Miami Lakes is second best and yes Mayor Burns North Miami is first always uh but I'm I'm really proud to be here it's always good to be here uh I want to thank um Miss uh Benemy and
your entire zoning and planning staff they're really amazing people and from the uh the beginning they make everybody feel comfortable they make it uh go smooth and they they're demanding but they make it go smooth they're always available to answer questions and help
with the paperwork so I want to thank your your North Miami staff for being so nice and being so customer friendly uh I'm really proud to represent the Apex Shooting Center and the the Founder Shooting Club what they operate they
have a a new concept really called uh gun trees and what that means is that uh they're more than just a uh a gun range they are a uh a destination location where people can u you know uh practice
their firearm skills but they also they have uh trainers who train people and they also offer training services for the uh local police departments who they always partner within their cities and they also uh offer educational classes
on gun safety for families so what they uh specialize in is yes they have the gun range uh but they also have uh you know a sauna like a a gym a little lounge uh and they partner with they offer training uh facilities for local
police departments and uh they do educational classes for children on gun safety and uh some of their locations uh have donated as much as $250,000 a year toward uh the uh the city foundation in the city uh
charitable efforts to help help the community uh with all sorts of helping people get uh scholarships for school and helping them uh uh assisting during uh the holidays uh so they're a destination location but they're
operating right now in two locations are operating number one in Boston and uh in Boston's been a phenomenal success and they they work very closely with the mayor and the police chief of Boston's on their board
of directors and in Boston and they do fundraising drives every year during the holidays and they're very successful in Boston and then when they decided to come to uh Florida you know who who wants to be in in you know 20 degree weather you know uh year round so they
decided so when they decided to come to Florida uh their first location was uh the city of Fort Lauderdale and they opened up right next door to Extreme Action Park so right now they're in Fort Waterdale if where Extreme Action Park
is they're next door where a Seaman Seaman's uh uh used to be and what they did is they took a an abandoned you know closed closed Seammens that had turned into an eyes saw so they took a they took a seaman's that in Boston they took
a warehouse and turned it into this great destination uh and and in um in Fort Lauderdale they took a seaman's that had become an eyesaw and it had been a vacant lot for 10 years nobody wanted it and now it's this beautiful luxurious
uh uh gun safety range with all sorts of accommodations and programs for families and u memberships and and it's so it's kind of a a place where people go to their location from other cities meaning people from other cities will go there just to be part of their uh part of
their uh program and I think in North Miami I think I said the same thing when I came here on Desertland Park i mean 12 years ago is that you know you want places to come to North Miami aside from the fact that they meet the criteria it's always good to promote and encourage places in North in North Miami
where people from Fort Lauderdale and Miami Lakes and City of Miami are going to come to the city of North Miami to go to the amusement park go to the country location and then hopefully stay and eat in the restaurants here and and enjoy
the beautiful city uh just briefly I would note that um we have full staff support uh Miss Benemy noted that this the staff found that it meets the criteria for a special exception uh and the staff has granted approval the uh your staff has after a thorough and
complete analysis your staff is recommending approval with conditions and uh we are happy and delighted to agree to all of the conditions including the condition that was profered tonight uh it some of the positive things are you know it's in the M1 industrial
district uh in the SDOD uh special transportation overlay district so it's it's in a warehouse intense you know in the M1 in the the in an industrial district it's surrounded by warehousing and somewhat intense uh industrial
usages so it's perfectly compatible and under your code uh in the ST dod more importantly in the M1 uh it states very clearly that a uh uh this type of usage the gun range is is is permitted as a
special exception uh and it's in a location that's perfect for this and also I would note that uh in addition to being compatible they meet the they have the parking spaces they've got the landscaping they so they got the parking they got the landscaping they're compatible with their neighbors uh and
being that it's indoor it's really less intense than some other locations i mean here it is it's an indoor range so you're not really bothering your neighbors i would note something else that's really good is that for traffic purposes that because it's it's you can get to it through Northeast 19th or
Northeast 150th so if someone wants to go there you can enter on the corner from Northeast 150th or Northeast uh 19th uh what I'd like to do is I like to briefly work through some slides and you know whenever I do a screen share in
court I try and find somebody in my office under age 30 who knows how to do the screen share because I don't know how to do it so whenever I go to court I say get me somebody in the office under 30 to do the screen share because I don't know how to do that so uh Safy is going to do it because I don't know how
to do it so she's going to do the slides and as she goes through them I'll offer a couple of uh a couple of comments uh and that is that and you can you can go the first slide the executive summary as we noted uh they're in Boston western
Massachusetts and Boston and they're in Fort Lauderdale and they've my understanding is that uh you know the city of Boston and the city of Fort Lauderdale they love the facility they do a lot of uh the BSO sheriff is there all the time doing training for police so they become an important part of the
community you know anybody can say whatever they want to say but in Boston Fortale when they've open they've been open for a number of years now uh they've never had a problem they've never had an incident there's never been a code violation all those cities are very very happy with them and I would
note that you know everybody kept saying "When are you going to come to Miami when are you going to open up in Miami this is this is great we don't want to drive to Fort Lauderdale." And I'm I'm very very happy that in Miami Day County which has a lot of cities they chose the
city in North Miami city of North Miami to open up in so I'm very very happy that of all the cities in of all the cities in uh Miami Day County uh the one city they chose to open up in as their first ever location in Miami is the city
of North Miami so this is that's really going to be good for the city uh I would note that we have some Matt Mlaughlin the president u is here and he's here with the uh the architect Mark Shosan and he's here with one of the supporters
and members of of the club uh I would note that as I said uh they they they they support the gold star mothers they support the United Way the for water chamber of commerce uh they support a lot of programs and with the uh they
contribute over 250,000 a year toward various their members toward various uh charities and events um and they're hopeful that uh their goal when they open up in North Miami is to follow that same pattern and to work with your city leadership and find out where the needs
are so once they open up they want to sit down with your leadership and find out where you have needs uh to assist your residents with various programs uh they're hopeful to form a partnership with your North Miami Police Department and provide an opportunity for the North
Miami Police Department to have uh uh you know a really outstanding five-star uh gun range for them to train in uh they're looking forward to doing gun safety uh gun safety programs which they're very very uh very very big on uh I would note that the
um I'm going to show you some of the pictures the next one the Western Shooters Club uh if you look there it's you know it's it's really it's been there for 10 years and it's really five-star uh if you look at some of the highlights uh they've been in you know B
the Boston Globe Boston magazine uh they bring great PR uh to the city uh if you go to the next one in Fort Lauderdale um the Founder Shooting Club Fortale they spent $10 million on a buildout
they currently have after being open only one year over 500 members in one year and if you look at the facilities you know this is not just a typical gun range in a warehouse i want you to look at the pictures of the founders shooting
club in Fort Ordale uh and if and if you look there that's really a beautiful VIP location uh you know if you're gonna have a gun range it's got to be nice to have h have it be as as classy and wonderful um as that uh they made who
was South Florida already uh and finally I go to the next page which is if you look at the community uh they're they're pictured with um uh Chief William uh Schultz the Forta police chief running a
gun safety and awareness fundraiser and they can't wait to do a gun safety and awareness fundraiser with your police chief in in North Miami and and work with your mayor and your commissioners and your council members on these types of programs and if you go to the next page there's uh Sheriff uh Tony uh and
other leaders from other cities who were there uh getting training for their cities and finally you know their gun range is is safe they've never had a problem never had an accident they're obsessed with safety as they should be and if you look at the one that's
founders club amenities you know it's really a nice place to go to you know they have TVs and people so it's not just go there and shoot at the range and practice you can go there and you know watch TV and engage in fellowship have community meetings there uh so it's
really board reading they have a board meetings a fitness facility so uh what I would tell you is is they're going to take they're going to go into a warehouse industrial area M1 and they're going to build something
that's never been there before that's not there now uh and spend millions of dollars building something real that that the city of North Miami can be the first city in Ma in the first city in Miami Day County to have it uh and also be something that the city of North
Miami can be proud of uh and they could they're going to turn an industrial warehouse type space into something really special that with that the city can be proud of and they're really honored it's an honor to be here in front of all of you it's good to see all
of you again uh and I'm here to answer any questions but uh I would hope uh that you would support the application and I want to I want to thank you for your assistance thank you i will open public
hearing anyone who would like to speak on this particular item now for or against you may come to the podium state your name and address
enrique Russio i should just also mention that they have two minutes okay yeah two minutes yeah enrique Reio uh 13501 Northeast 24th Court um I'm a big advocate for gun safety in fact I came to this hearing today not knowing that
this would happen and um I just want to say a knowledgeable user that has a firearm is a safe user and one of the the biggest issues we face in this country are families that own firearms that aren't trained to use them and that's how accidents happen so I'm all
in favor of this and I just wanted to let you all know that today thank you thank you okay public hearing is now closed board discussion i have a question for the applicant okay mr veretta
what kind of of uh guns or rifles are going to be permitted in that location i'm sorry what kind of guns or rifles are going to be allowed or permitted in that location well they're governed by
you know all gun ranges uh aside from going through the site process they have to be certified uh by the state and and they can only u bring uh recreational firearms that are uh you know certified and permissible by the state of Florida
so the state you know when you have a gun range what's good about that is there's an extra layer of protection because the state of Florida has to certify their trainers and certify that that they they're only using recreational type firearms and the one thing I would note with the gentleman
noted is they've got the best uh uh trainers in the world i mean they've got the whole place is full of you know retired police officers people who have who've been uh who've run who who are experts in gun safety and and their main
emphasis is gun safety even though you know they they train people on gun safety on proper storage and what they'll do here too is they'll have nights where they'll invite your police chief and they'll invite your families there and offer free gun safety lessons
in terms of storing firearms and keeping keeping them safe and learning how not to have a have a a problem and again in all their years they've never had uh a complaint or an issue okay thank you
any other discussion i was just wondering was it going to be a 25 yard line i'm sorry 25 yard yes 25 what are you going to use in the back bullet trap or turn your microphone i'm sorry what's that what are you using as a back stop
rubber or the bullet trap or Let me check give me one second that's interesting i'm I'm I'm I'm in favor of this i think it's a good idea you know it's an excellent question and we have uh Matt if you don't know nobody will know so why don't you answer that and and thanks for the and thanks for the question we appreciate it sure the back
stop is granulated rubber sir name and address name and address hi my name is Matt Mclofflin i'm the president of the company uh 180C Island Drive in Pontabita Beach Florida um the uh the back granulated rubber granulated rubber sitting sitting on a metal ramp yeah uh
and that that rubber absorbs the bullets and is is then cleaned out about once a year depending on how many shots are fired and you're going to be training the local North Miami will be able to utilize your your range and it's 25 how many lanes you're going to have uh six
and five it looks like 11 lanes right now in in two separate bays um good yep 25 yards thank you thank you and they've met with my understanding is the the CEO has had contact with your your chief and the
North Miami Police Department and and they want to invite them out there and partner with them on the training and the safety and and make make the place available and I think mo the police departments like this because it's really nice to have a something like this in your own city where you don't got to travel you don't you don't got to
travel to one of these other cities and you know it's right it's right the police can go right there a few blocks away in your own city you don't got to drive to Fort Lauderdale or the city of Miami so the police usually like this yeah we we used to do it every 3 months and you had to travel this is right up the street there and you're going to be
open 24 hours that's going to be great it's open 24 hours your police officers can go there 2 in the morning if their shift ends at 2:00 a.m they could go there and and they won't have to drive three hours away to go to training save
a lot of money there convenient okay no go ahead uh so I was curious about alcohol use the range and I looked up the rules for Foundershooting Club and they seem very strict and I was wondering if the same
rules apply i can read that they are they are very very strict on alcohol usage nobody's allowed to go on to they've got an army of trainers nobody's allowed to uh go on to that range under the I'll go ahead and read it for the
record so just Yeah they they they have they have uh strict rules on alcohol and they follow those religiously right so from the Founders Shooting Club uh this is rules and
regulations no firearms are allowed in your possession while consuming alcohol firearms must be secured in your locker or vehicle prior to consuming alcohol alcohol is not permitted on the range any person having consumed alcohol would not be permitted to shoot on the range
for eight hours following their last drink yeah they're really they're they are really thankfully thankfully obsessed with safety and not a lot the good thing about a place like the Founders Shooting Club is that they've got rules like that
it's other rangers maybe someone's going to have a drink of beer in the car and walk in but they are so strict about that because they haven't had a problem in you know uh all these years and and they're not going to have one now but you're right they have they have the strictest regulation on alcohol correct
so you would represent that these same rules would apply yes sir i would to this facility yes sir i would i will represent on the record that those same rules of alcohol safety will apply in the North Man application thank you Mr mcd um yes Madame Chair in
SE6-25 I'd like to move approval thank you second okay moved by Mr mcdade and seconded by Chief Each and we'll have a roll call if there are no other discussion
okay chairwoman Phipe yes vice Chair McDermade yes board member Pierre Louise yes board member each yes
board member Barto no board member Flint yes the motion passes with two three five to one vote thank you very much it's been a privilege good
to see you all again thank you and God bless you thank you very much we appreciate we're very grateful thank you all right moving on to our next case which is V-06-25 a variance to the minimum distance separation for community
residential homes it's 960 Northeast 136th Street and I will ask before we start any disclosure on this particular item no I didn't speak to anything okay no
all right item V-6-25 a variance to article 5 division 2 section 5-203 of chapter 29 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances land development regulations to allow a
community residential home to be located 756 ft away from another community residential home where 1,000 ft is required at 960 Northeast 136th Street in the R2 district said variance is to be reviewed under the criteria set forth
in article 3 division 6 section 3-606 of the LDRs so to give a little background on the business this business has been in operation since 2015 this business this community residential home has approvals from the state the department of health health
the local fire department as well as the AHCA however they missed that last step when it came time to apply for their certificate of use in BTR um in back in 2024 um our neighborhood say our neighborhood services department did
issue them two co- violations that that basically say states that they don't have their CUBTR when they visited the office to come into compliance they did learn that there is a desk a distance separation between community residential homes of a
thousand square feet so once they did do that radius survey they found that there was another one um that is 756 ft away which is why they are here for this variance tonight so this property is located in the R2 district to the north there is a
religious institution to the east there is a multif family family residence to the south and to the west there are single family residences this is the distance separation survey that was provided to staff this is what let us know that there is another community residential
home within that 1,00 ft um requirement when staff did their analysis we found that the applicant met five out of the six criterias criteria number one do special conditions or circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or
building involved and which are not applicable to other land structures or buildings in the same zoning district staff says no staff says no the number two the ind the there are unusual circumstances or conditions necessitating the variance staff says yes there is another community
residential home within the 1,00 ft had there not been another one once they did this survey they wouldn't be before you tonight this would have been something that would be permitted by right they would just file the um the appropriate paperwork which is their certificate of use application which is then followed by the business tax receipt
application number three the requested variance maintains the basic intent and purpose of the subject regulations particularly as it affects the stability and appearance of the city staff says yes the proposed use is cons is consistent with the basic intent
and purpose of the LDRs and we do not believe that this will affect the stability and appearance of the city four the literal interpretations of the provisions of these LDRs would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning
district we says yes the literal interpretation will deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed as community residential homes are allowed in the R2 zoning district number five the variance requested is the minimum variance that
will make possible the reasonable use of the land structure and build and building yes staff says yes this variance would allow the current community residential home to operate as it has been operating since 2015 and lastly the granting of the variance will be in harmony with the
general intent and and purpose of these LDRs and such variance would not be injurous to the area we says staff says yes this use is permitted in the R2 zoning district and other community and the other community residential home is 756 ft away it's across West Dixie
Highway in a completely different neighborhood so we do not believe that this that the approval of this variance will injure or detract from the neighborhood it from the neighborhood itself so staff is recommending approvals we just ask that the applicant
um finish out their CU process and then apply for the for the BTR and then we ask that the applicant complies with all federal state and local um regulations and the applicant is here tonight do you want to just one question Safy you said they
start they o open or started operating when in 2015 thank you good evening all board members um I Kimberly Alex from Maryland Adult Family Care Home 960 Northeast 136th Street
Miami Florida um 331 uh Miss Safy went over everything and kind of elaborated on our facility our facility is open to mental health um the elderly those that are in need of a home assistant
um I would say that um I'm here to support and represent um my facility of coordination of care of our resident and serving our community um it's with great gratitude that I'm standing before you guys today um I would want to say that
we are family oriented with our residents that stay there um we we provide full care um which means uh we provide with bathing um assistance with bathing um food we cook them hot meals
um breakfast lunch and dinner as well so um we're basically their family in another sense i don't like to say caregiver because I don't like that word i feel like we're more than just caregivers um I just wanted to verbally
um introduce us in a very positive aspect we don't pose any threat to our community we actually um I find it very important that we have more homes like this so that we don't leave um residents out that are capable or get approval to
have a home where they can sleep and get the proper assistance that they need um we have grown and are committed 100% I would say because I'm there as much as possible 247 on the clock making sure that we give all of our residents the
equal and um right amount of care uh I would also like to say that some of our residents have been there for years and um they have already established a quite amazing uh environment for theirelves
they're able to go outside um and we also take them out if they need help for example we had uh one resident who was on parole and I was able to get him to his parole office every other Friday or
every month or so um and I felt that in my heart that's where it's important to have these type of homes that we can give the proper care to those that need it or in need of a change in their life um and we find that we're very equipped
and prepared we have passed up all of our um health inspections food inspections we are very strategic with what we do here at our home and um for some way or somehow this went this is an obstacle where we know that we can
overcome and we benefit to our community we don't take away from and we don't hurt anyone so you know we would like to have you guys um take on decision and believing that we will um give proper care to all the elderly and those that
are in need for this home thank you thank you i'll open public hearing anyone would like to speak on this matter public hearing is closed board discussion okay
i just have a question for the applicant yes how many residents do you have in your possession or as of right now we have four male residents four we had five but we have four now okay and and typically they're they're for what duration or just varies depending on
their each situation depending on their situation so if um we're open to mental health we're open to uh dementia we have Alzheimer's uh we had an elderly lady that went on um her name was Bernice and
we'd had her for wow a very long time since we opened and since the passing of her going on um and she was 97 or 98 so we took very good care of her so what is your capacity uh we're betted for six
okay yes i have a couple of question for staff um one question I'm confused this facility has been operating since 2015 and why is now
um or only until now 10 years later is issue being discussed that's that's question number one question number two um it say that there is also in the an arro but is that overlay
still in the in the LDR for that property because I I don't understand the arrow has been changed and the fifth one is but excuse me and the third question is why you keep thinking or or saying
that the the the criteria number five that comply that this is the minimum require requirement for the proper use of the land uh I think personally I think we should allow this use and I
think I will I think I will be in favor but I don't understand why you consistently keep saying that the criteria number five is met because that means that if the criteria that you are using is
that they have everybody that came with a variance request uh is complying with criteria number five then that criteria has no sense because consistently the staff has been claiming that that's the minimum
uh required for the proper use of land and I think that interpretation is not is not correct thank you so to address your first question as to why um this is being brought before you today um this is being brought before
you today because last year neighborhood did services did drive around and they found that this business was operating and in efforts to kind of crack down on businesses that have been operating without CU and BTR they have been very diligent and this is one of the ones
that they were able to find that didn't have their CU and BTR so they went through the you know they they're now you know trying to do the proper thing they're trying to apply for their CU um and apply for their BTR they have nothing against that it's just this
one small obstacle that is getting in the way of that which is of them being with within 1,000 ft of another community residential home quick with the interjection on that point um the other one was start to operate before yes okay
thank you so for number two regarding the NRO the NRO is no longer existent however the NRO has no there's no it has nothing to do with this application this is um a use that is permitted by right in the R1 and the
R2 district the NRO doesn't um prohibit it it does it didn't allow it through the NRO so the NRO doesn't have any correlation with this variance application and as far quick quick intersection on that that the question is because that is mentioned in the
packet in the packet they say that the use is R2 and NRO but if NRO doesn't exist what is we are still mentioning that in the in the packet for today just a typo we will be sure to address that in further staff reports okay thank you
no problem on the third one and as far as applicant number five the reason why staff believes that this is the min minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land structure or building is the fact that this has been operating since 2015 their
facilities is for six six I think is for six it's structured that way so if this variance is not granted they will not be able to use the building as intended which is why this variance would make possible is the minimum variance needed
to to operate their business yeah but but the criteria not necessarily in the LDRs reflects or is related to the use of the property what what that criteria said in the LDR is if the property could be used not if the
property could be used for that specific use that is being requested and that's that's the reason I don't believe that that criteria has been properly addressed but again um it's it's just uh for taking into consideration for for
future in this case I agree with the with these variance and I I I will support thank you thank you any other discussion yeah um to staff um now the facility is
um the facility is um licensed correct yes sir correct all the licenses are there yes sir they're just missing that last step which is obtain their CU and BTR okay well I think that this is a very valuable um resource to the community um back in the day I was one
of the people who was involved in the original group home bill uh at the state of Florida uh and it's a great alternative to in institutionalization uh such as the horrors we had at Florida State Mental Hospital uh and this is a great way to get people in the community
and give them that community feel rather the institutional feel so it's I think it's very valued um so Madame Chair in V-06-25 I'd like to recommend approval second i have a question before the vote
yes go ahead Mr h okay so Sophie the zoning permits six persons or less and the testimony is that they have six beds but the request is for five persons so the request isn't
regarding how many people are in the home the request is to allow their community residential home which is approved for six or less to operate less than the required 1,000 ft away from another community res but the zoning
permit six is the intention to have six because you have six beds or for five uh for five right now until we decide we want to go or somebody wants to come in and get um come into our So you're open you have a bed available they're
available but it's nobody so but the zoning approval should be for six okay well we will make that decision they're not going to come back for a public hearing if somebody else comes along and seeks understood and then when we're um issuing them their CU and BCR we will be
sure to make note of that um discretion versus the the title permits the title doesn't restrict it to five so since zoning permits six uh and what about their license be allowed for six is your license for six
um we are yes okay yes everything else other than the city yes permit six correct correct just to comment on that point then actually there are two variances if we are approving for six
and and it's allowed for five what are the two variances no no no the the the the first variance is the distance which is fine but variance for six six is allowed six is allowed okay thank you that's Thank you Mr h thank you okay the
item's been moved and seconded you got moved by Mr mediam and seconded by Seconded by Okay seconded by Yeah I did i got Kenny all right by board member Flint yes thank
you okay yes cheromoman Phillipe yes vice Chair McDermade yes board member Pierre Louise yes
board member each yes board member Barto yes and board member Flynn yes absolutely okay motion passes unanimously thank you so much all
right uh and before we move on just on this because I didn't want it to be part of the discussion it's 10 years they've been operating that we've got to do something in our system where if the person is coming in
to turn on water or something like that you know we've got and even the use of it are people should be able to see well for such a place it's a high rate maybe
it's not just a residential you know uh somewhat I I I don't think a lot of people want to go into business and not do all of what due diligence but it's it's happening too much okay so I don't
know one hand needs to talk to the other or put something in place if you go to that location to get something done oh well you know you need this as well yes ma'am and there has been conversation between our department the neighborhood services department as well as the build
building services department that we are in constant communication with each other to make sure things like this don't happen next case uh V-07-25 a variance to allow paving to
encroach into the sideyard and the location is 13507 Northeast 24th Place any disclosures okay none
all right so as stated this is item V725 a variance to article 5 division 1 section 5-113 of chapter 29 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances land development regulations to allow the
installed imper impermeable materials to remain in an area located 0 feet away from the property line where 5T is required at the property located at 13507 Northeast 24th Place in the R5 district said variance is to be reviewed
under the criteria set forth in article 3 division 6 section 3-606 of the of the LDRs so for this specific application it's very important that we kind of understand the background of why we're here today
um in 2019 the applicant did reach out to former Councilman Galvin and our former building official Steven Pazillo asking if the work that they do that they do intend to do needs a building permit in that correspondence the um
former former building official did say that they would need a permit for the patio slab in 2020 after that correspondence the applicant did apply for a building permit BPA 20200012 during that building permit
review that permit was denied by zoning it was denied by by building and zoning and it was denied because it encroaches into the required paving setback of 5T this specific regulation is put into place and it is intended to help property owners retain storm water on
their own property so once that denial was given and sent out to the applicant the the permit application was left untouched and the work was done anyways so now here we are in 2025 the applicant
is intending to sell the property and when you're selling the property you typically have to close all your permits because that previous permit was expired um staff over in the building services found that the work has been done so they applied for an after- the-fact
permit during their submitt of the applica of the after the fact permit that application was again denied by the zoning department for the same reason it was denied back in 2020 so when looking at the surrounding uses the subject property is located in
a town townhouse neighborhood and to the east there is a multifamily residence i do also want to note on the record that in the applicant's letter of intent they stated a list of addresses that have similar work done i personally went through our online permitting system and
I went through each one of those applications and no other no other address has had permits pulled for for paving so if they do have similar paving paving that mimics the applicant's paving then it was not done um through
building permits so these was this was the um conditions of the lot before the work was done um it is a it is a legally non-conforming lot because you as you could see the tile is 3 ft away from the property from
the property line so it was already non-conforming and then after the work was done we see the amount of paving that is there now majority of the lot is paved and there's not much space left for to allow for storm water retention and I do want to add that um there is a
new Miami date county ordinance that is going to be requiring single family homes to maintain storm water on their property and this is done to prevent flooding so when staff did their analysis we found that the application satisfied two
out of our out of the six criterias criteria number one do do special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land structure or building involved we say no are there unusual circumstances or or
conditions necessitating the variance requests that are present in the neighborhood and are not unique to the property staff says no for number three that the requested variance maintains the basic intent and purpose of the subject regulations particularly as it affects to the
stability of the and appearance of the city staff says no the requested variance does not maintain the basic intent and purpose of the LDRs this development standard has been put into place to maintain consistency throughout the city this is a requirement that
isn't just for single family homes this is a requirement for any development in the city that you are required to have a paving setback of 5T not only from the side but from the rear as well number four the literal interpretation of the provisions of
these LDRs would deprive the of the applicant's rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district under the terms of of these LDR staff says no as previously stated this five- foot requirement is required throughout the city
number five the requested variance is the minimum variance that this will make possible the reasonable use of the of the land structure or building we say yes particularly as it speaks to the structure itself the structure is there
so this variance would legalize the structure that was done without building permits and lastly the granting of the variance will be in harmony with the general intent and purpose of these LDRs and such variants will not be injurous to the area involved for this one we
says we say yes um just due to the fact that for town houses when it comes to the internal lots you do have a zero a zero setback requirement for the prop for the structure itself so we say that this generally align aligns with the
LDRs in this aspect lastly so when it comes to our recommendation staff is recommending denial i do want to stress that approving this variance now would set precedence it will set precedence that you submit for your building permit once
you get your denial if you are not in favor of this denial you do the work anyway and then if you have the means to apply for variance you just come in you apply for for your variance and then there's an opportunity that the work you will get that you have done is um is
able to get approved and that concludes my presentation thank you is the applicant here good evening name and address please good evening thank you for your time and um I don't
have a gun range and I don't have a a home um I have a planter which is 21 ft by 3 ft what happened in 198 and address sorry your name and your address sorry craig Jarrett uh now 697 Tall Grass
Drive in Benbrook uh Illinois um but I was the former the owner of the house uh 13507 Northeast 24th Place so I put did the application and um what happened in 19 I was doing some work
with the city on habitat restoration and also helping with the uh against FIU for opening 135th to the university because they wanted to open all the way so I didn't really know what to do but I spoke to the counselor and then to the
building manager the building director and the manager and asked I sent a photo of the area what I wanted to do um and and asked what permissions I would need and was told that as long as I changed the uh wiring for the actual planter and
the bench to solar I wouldn't need to get a permit for that but it's true that I would need a permit for the patio the work commenced in early 2020 when COVID happened so I tried to get things sorted i reached out many times but nobody was
able to come i reached out to the counselor i reached out via email and some of the emails were in my application um and I I didn't get any uh responses the actual contractor um I paid him for the concrete and I paid the
concrete truck for the concrete and he disappeared before the job was complete so I had to get more work done at more expense it turns out it's the most expensive planter and probably real estate in in Miami date um the original plans on the and the contract and the
designer did have wallto-wall to-all concrete if if anybody looked back at 2019 when the application went in it was concrete all around and the response was if you did it to the current border which was two to three foot with the
neighbor and then put green uh plants and soil you'll be okay because it will allow for storm water to go into the ground also to update the planter area to allow for permeable water to go to the ground which it does we planted
native plants to make sure that we were in keeping with the area we also we didn't do paving we did stamp concrete because it is permeable it doesn't hold water it doesn't direct the water into the street um and we also um made sure
that the entire area is is safe you know we removed what was there which was ceramic tile and was a trip hazard um which was also in the application for the for the varants uh one of the postmans uh slipped on our the path was uneven outside our gate um if you know
the townhouse is in 135 uh on 135th there's a there's seven on either side and they have an enclosed courtyard which already I would say is is probably not in in keeping with the v with with what I'm asking the variance
you know it's already it's a townhouse there's no paving there's no sideyard and the title on this case is paving to the sideyard we don't have a sideyard and we don't have paving we have stamped concrete so thank you and hopefully we I
can answer any questions Madam Chair i No I got I got to announce that I I spoke to a couple of people yesterday at the townhouse oh your disclosure yeah yeah uh I I stopped and I the you weren't the gentleman I spoke to
yesterday no I spoke to the uh the occupants of the townhouse yesterday so I don't Are they here tonight did you own it i think that's the one with the issue okay okay i thought Did was that
sold or I'm sorry i I'll open public hearing and then we'll have our discussion okay uh public hearing is now open hi Karen Dillio 1935 South Hibiscus Drive in Keystone i manage property in
the area including one that's adjacent um I feel bad for you unquestionably i do support what staff are saying though i'm very concerned about flood waters i'm very concerned that there's sufficient drainage and I've seen on
those um properties more and more that there's a kind of a free-for-all attitude that we can do whatever we want in our property in that area and I'm just concerned about that so I am not an engineer um but my my concern is flooding so I would just respect what
staff said in terms of that thank you thank you anyone else good evening board members my name is Edward Dvido 13510 Northeast 24th Place i've had the property for over 30 years my mother's is originally my mother's
home unfortunately she'd love to have been here but she passed away but um unfortunately I've known Craig since he's moved in and if there is one thing I could say I wish we've had more neighbors like him um aesthetically and
visually the property looks great and if there's anything that he's brought to the neighborhood he's raised the bar um I wish more properties actually looked like his and um I hope you guys vote in favor of him because like I said his
home looks really great and I wish we had more properties like that in the neighborhood thank you public hearing is closed now chief you may I stopped by the property yesterday and I spoke to a couple of people did you
sell that property or is a rent you did sell it yeah we did a conditional reoccupancy because the Those are the people I spoke to yesterday exactly the new owners yes and when did you move to Bowling Brook i moved uh I actually started the drive last week last tonight last week with my dog my cat and my
partner where did you move to in Bingburg sorry where did you move to what was the address uh near the prominard where near the prominard so you need to be the chief of police there years ago oh well it's a it's a great area and I didn't leave North Miami for any other reason than the job
opportunity because what you guys have done with the city is pretty uh pretty phenomenal it's it's great it's only grown over the last eight years so thank you any other discussion i just want to make um the comments for stuff
okay Mr vera got it you have a comment and you have a question okay question um first is um what are you planning this is more a question what are you planning to do with all the other properties that are
non-compliance for with similar situation the second is a comment i think you are absolutely It's helpful if you do them one at a time okay okay and just go ahead yes so as far as what
we'll be doing so we will be letting neighborhood service know they are code compliance so anything that goes against the code they are the ones who would go out to the properties and just ensure that basically in well
in this situation because if there has been any new work done that was imper unpermitted they would um issue code violations and then those property owners would have to come into compliance okay and the second I my comment is that I think you are absolutely right in your suggestion for
denial my only uh objection or comment is that in the criteria number five they don't comply number five either then will be only one of six and and just one question for the for the previous owner if you didn't get the permit why you
decide to still go ahead and do the do do that that work so the work it started based on the email reply we had off the building director I didn't really know I'm not from you know USA and and It said you are good with this so that's
why we did it when we removed the river stones that was there on the original picture I wish the pictures were shown because I put all the pictures the original plan was river rock it was a solid base with river rock on top and then the tile when we removed all that it was already a solid concrete base and
if you look at the backyard the same setbacks applied to the backyard yet that was wallto-all to-all tile as well so we replace what was there with with what's there now which is better than what was there because it was a trip hazard and the other thing I forgot to
mention was the setbacks the list I sent to Safy was actually not not um violations it was actually houses that are the same house as mine with no setback requirements so we have setbacks the actual setback says 5 ft from the
west east border line and 25 ft from the sorry 5t from the north south border line and 25 ft from the east west which our yards 21 ft long so that was the list I sent that many houses have zero setbacks according to Miami date county
register do do you believe that because other properties are in violation you are entitled to also uh do not comply no not at all and I um I pulled permits for everything else i did permits for you know stuff that I
knew like I said the work started um because we'd already paid a deposit that was based on doing the bench and the and the planter the patio um yeah I the work was done it was adjusted from the original plan and I was told again by a contractor that it was going to be fine
um unfortunately like I said I paid the contractor and I paid you know a very expensive price i paid for the concrete truck and I paid for the um for the contractor who who did completely ghost me during CO thank you
Madam Chair lewis oh I'm sorry if I may yes just a point of clarity again debbie Love Director of Development Services when you are denied a permit you are not allowed to go in and do the work unpermitted that is a code
violation as Miss Bianime said every property is subject to this you have a zero lot line for your primary structure but you still have to maintain that five- foot setback for any type of paving any type of impermeable service
has to have a 5-ft setback so this is applied across the board we are in the process now of identifying properties that are non-compliant for storm water purposes because it is a critical issue here in South Florida um we have a lot
of folks who have decided to move ahead and do things such as this gentleman did by putting things completely up against the property line that's not allowed uh we are recommending denial uh this is a an issue that you have to decide if you
want to grant that variance but as Miss Bianame said you would be setting a precedent that you can go in get your permit denied build it anyway and then when you're caught come before the board
of adjustment and say "I need a variance for this." Um it would be different situation if it wasn't wallto-wall um because there's no there's nowhere for the storm orders to go and it is
simply straight up in our code black and white that this is a code violation we appreciate that thank you can am I can I It's am I able to speak it's we still have board discussion i have a board
member go ahead Miss Poise so question for Miss Ben or Miss Love so if we deny the variance then what is he required to do in order to rectify the situation the structure would have to be demolished and then he would have to
replace that area with with permeable materials he would have to remove it as we have told him since this violation was brought forward you need to remove the paving and it is completely up against the property line so that has to be
removed in order for it to be in compliance it's not the It's not the house it's just that painting just the qu Yeah so um he showed me the photograph so you're talking about just that entire bench structure all that
would have to go the paving underneath it has to go the paving underneath right the bench is the way the bench is built happens to be over that concrete and the planter um is a planter that at the
bottom of it it's sitting on concrete so we could almost have said well that could have been a wall but he wanted to come forward to the varants to maintain that concrete
all the way up to the property line that they poured without a permit mr mcto might as well and I was going to ask the question of our attorney in reference to setting a president which is obviously
something we don't want to do but what is the But anyway that's I think Debbie answered that question can they remove part of it rather than tear up the whole thing nobody's asking them to tear up the entire patio you just have to remove
that five feet that is not in Oh so you're just talking about the five feet that's correct yes that's all we told them they have to remove okay is that five feet of the concrete that goes all the way to the all the way to the So if we if we deny then that they're going to
have to remove the just the five feet correct correct yeah is Is that five feet on both sides it only goes to the one side right i I'm lost here yeah it's only on the one side of the You got two sides of the property line sir so is that five feet on both sides
of the property line or is that just five feet total you can see the five feet on the one side sir right there wait Mike i'm sorry arrow to that up on the screen sir okay so you're looking at two and a half feet on both sides or
5T on the one side so you're looking at 10 ft no sir he only needs to remove 5T on the one side sir that's what I'm asking just 5T on the one side let's uh you just brought out a good point you got that planter in there but you have concrete underneath that planter no no
it's um drains to the ground back in June the 12th when we had that 21 in of rain here no I'm talking about the planter you got the bench how wide is the planter i was there yesterday 2.7 ft i'm sorry 2.7 feet 2.7 feet
and then you have concrete underneath that no because it drains to the ground okay that doesn't You would have to remove the concrete under the bench exactly and that would give you the 5 ft so if you remove the concrete underneath the bench and keep a dirt under there and put your your bench on top you're
you're in business i don't and that way then you would comply with what we're doing over here there's no concrete under I I I'm confused this is what's confusing because No no it it it's you got to have a total of 5 ft per for percolation right okay your planter has
the percolation there's no concrete under what they're saying to you is that wooden bench your your gray bench here okay if you could you you want to leave that concrete wall up fine but you get rid of the concrete underneath it underneath the bench or in underneath
the bench yes you make that dirt for the water can percolate the water cannot percolate that's what we explained you got one part of it you can percolate but the other part you can't percolate how percolating but I guess I'm confused we would we
would look at that planter as a wall as long as it wasn't curved you see it becomes a planter because now it's a curved it sticks out beyond where a wall would hit the property line we say "Okay you you have that wall because you can have walls fences and things like on
your property line it's where it curves around that then it becomes sticking out into no longer a wall." That's correct sir so we had recommended that he could keep that remove that circular piece there we
weren't even going to force that issue um because we tried to give some maximum flexibility but we can't we can't we have to have that percolation area and We have to see that that because we weren't privy to this thing being built
and didn't have didn't have review plans for it we don't know we cannot confirm that it goes all the way to the ground either so then he's going to have to do he's going to have to uh at least dig some part of it out remove the dirt for we can take a look and remove your gray
bench am I correct on this remove the gray bench a and that part of the concrete that's at ground level you're going to have to break it up and then put your bench back and then you have percolation yep because the bench then then you're in compliance and then we
can sign and then your new tenants can move in there you did a nice job on the property i I got to tell you I was very impressed with it and I I know your neighbors are impressed with it and that's what we want to see but storm water is a problem and you know I I read your letter 24 in during
the high storm or what the heck was it night 2024 it is a problem so you really have to why don't you agree to comply with that and and for we can go out and inspect it and then we can come back and get you your people in there get you a variance it's not going to be that much
trouble to do because if he does this he doesn't need a variance i'm sorry ma'am if he completes this as we have tried to get him to do before he came forward he would not need a variance not a variance but permit but you need to get the permit right that is true you'll be
within the code and you're all set you can go back to Bowling Brook in a winter and freeze and board member each the building official has spoken with them he needs to have structural uh design for that wall because it is there's no there's no
building permit that that was pulled that allowed even the construction of a wall so because it is actually a concrete structure and not just your typical fence it requires structural designs so the building official has advised that he would need to produce
those structural designs for that component of it removing the bench is an easy peasy i'm assuming that's an it's just like a some sort of connections but it has to occur in order to be in compliance unless you all decide this
evening to grant him a variance from the strict application of that 5T requirement well what would he have to do to make it structurally sound well I'm not saying I'm not saying it's not structurally sound because I'm not an engineer it needs to have a
structural engineer he he's already the applicant has been advised by the building official that they he would need structural somebody a civil person a structural engineer to sign off that that structure is sound and safe all
right otherwise it comes down you might as well do it and get it done otherwise I I've done I've complied with all this i this is the most I've ever spoken i had to reach out a lot to Miss Love and Miss BA in AIM and I reached out to a lot of people i've never been so
stressed and work so hard on something so small i'll be I mean yeah I I I tried to do everything right by the city um and granted the pavers were removed and then a new concrete uh stamp concrete
poured over the top we've never had flood problems there's flood problems in North Miami it's not in 13507 Northeast 24th place and there's no runoff from my land going into the city that would cause any more of a problem on my street
motion I'd like to agree with you but I I think that the issue is so blatant that you I would like to make a motion go ahead Mr vera i will make a motion to deny the burdens
okay motion to deny do I have a second well I was going to say but I'll second it but What I think you should do is continue this get with the building official find out what you have to do then come back and let's settle this where your people can move in there you got Miss Love over
here and you have the building official you know what you have to do i I I would continue the continue this let you get the opportunity to go out and fix what you have to fix and then bring it back if it won't come back well it won't come back it won't come back to you motion to
deny you second it all right no other discussion wait who is the second second is chief okay okay motion made by Mr beretta was that a second yeah I seconded with an explanation and
and I'm just saying that that's what he should be doing coming back and that way we can resolve this thing he wouldn't come back to you sir you're what you're asking him is to come go to the building department yes ma'am obtain the proper permits yes ma'am do what is uh the building official says he needs to do on
the structure part right remove the portions of the concrete that are intruding into the 5- foot setback right and he could get his building permit and we would we have offered to expedite that process for him and we are still
standing ready to do that for him because we understand his particular situation he won't need to come back we won't need to come back okay he would not need to come back okay and roll call thank you get ahead no no no roll call roll call okay rob you have a
song the applicant wanted to make a comment now in the middle of a vote no no no no i think I was just No I I think that's that's it we are going to go roll call is beginning chairwoman Phillip yes
vice Chair McDermade yes board member Pierre Louise yes board member H uh board member Barto yes and board member Flint yes
okay um motion to deny recommendation to deny has passed unanimously thank you good luck buddy okay again uh it may not be Miss Love
but as staff we get these issues and and it's not just his neighborhood that is happening it's happening around mine and I'm not there to be tattletelling okay but I understand his issue i when when Irma knocked my my
fence I had to replace it i have a concrete slab and my sister kept on saying "Why don't you move the fence all the way back?" Da da da da da and I'm like "No it's illegal because I will be going against." No but it will give you
more places to plant but they don't understand and I'm seeing a lot of these concrete going around right next door to me right down the street they get the rain i don't because my place is not
fully concrete and people don't understand we are in Florida we don't have sewers like New York the water needs to go somewhere we We got to do better at educating for folks they're spending all
this money but it's not helping us all right you know the fact is that he did go to the building department and he he was told what to do to begin with and like you said you're setting a bad president i I I I mean the place he did
a nice job on I went to visit the site the place looks beautiful and all right you know it is what it is next our last case V-8-25 a variance to permit a reduced rear setback for a multifamily street
1155 Northeast 123rd Street any disclosures no disclosure any disclosure yeah I I spoke with the architect when he was
1155 120 Durst i spoke with them about a month ago and then I remember when they built a project on 128th Street 1540 i I met with them back then and then I spoke with them back then also all righty last last item
V-8-25 a variance to article 4 division 2 section 4-203 of chapter 29 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances land development regulations to allow a reduction from the required rear setback of 25 ft to a proposed setback of 10'1
in on the property located at 1155 Northeast 123rd Street in the R5 district said variance is to be reviewed under the criteria set forth in article 3 division 6 section 3-606 of the
LDRs so this item we have before you today is a variance to decrease the required rear setback of 25 to a proposed setback of 10 ft 1 inch to the north and to the east of the property are single family homes and to
the south is a single family home and to the west is a multifamily residence i wanted to clear up some confusion that could have arised in this submitt so on the site plan on the ground the ground
floor area is the setback is 12t 1 in and on the site plan itself it shows an overhang of 2 feet however when we look at the plans of the second level that extra 2 ft is actual livable and habitable space it's um an extension of
the living room so that's why in the title we do state that the setback is 10 foot one inch so these are just some renderings that were provided by the applicant of what the property is proposed to look like once built and
then and then here we have staff analysis so when staff did their analysis we found that the applicant um was in compliance with one out of the six criterias criteria number one do special conditions and circumstances exist which
are peculiar to the land structure or building involved and which are not applicable to other lands staff says no number two the unusual circumstances or conditions necessitating the variance requests are present in the neighborhood and are not unique to the property staff
says no number three that the requested variance maintains the basic intent and purpose of the subject regulations particularly as it affects the stability and appearance of the city staff says no the rear setback of 25 is to provide a
buffer between the existing state family home and the proposed development um decreasing the rear setback could potentially pose a negative impact such as reduced privacy and and noise intrusion
number four the literal interpretation of the pro provisions of these LDRs would deprive the applicant of rights commonly commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district under the terms of these LDRs staff says no we staff believes that the applicant
um is able to construct a building on the property condition criteria number five the applicant requested is the minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land structure or building staff says no as stated we do believe a um a
multif family home is able to be built on the property uh maybe a different configuration other than the one proposed but a multifamily home is able to be built on that property and lastly the granting of these v of the variance will be in harmony with the general
intent and purpose of these LDRs and such variance would not be injurous to the area involved for this one staff says yes the intent of the R5 zoning district is for multifamily use the single family homes the single family home um are non-conforming but they are
present are but they are present new multifamily development should adhere to the required setbacks to ensure there is adequate buffer between the two between the two different uses so staff is recommending denial however should the board moves to
approve this project I mean this variance um we believe that the applicant should go through the development review committee for site plan approval they are in that process during our review this is one issue that we that we found so we so we had to halt
their review um second condition that the applicant receives all building permits through the building department that the applicant applies and receives a certificate of use and business tax receipt and that the applicant complies with all federal state and local regulations um that concludes my
presentation um the applicant is here and does have um a presentation for you all tonight good evening how are you members uh good evening um first of all I appreciate to for you to taking time to hear my case
name and address my name is I know my name is Gabri Valenuela um I am one of the property owners and also the developer uh my address is 20 I'm sorry 2301 Laguna Circle in North Miami
33181 i am a resident of North Miami since uh 2020 my name is Sandrian Santana and my address is 6770 Indian Creek Drive in Miami Beach and we work together um uh I have a we did a presentation but uh also
I printed out May I can I can we can I approach the board sure thank you okay that's fine um I um I um I recently build a nice forpex and I
took on that project because I have been wanting to contribute to the growing neighborhood of Miami i strongly believe that the area needs more affordable homes within the luxurious and semi- luxurious market and I wanted to build quality housing that elevates the community without price pricing people
out um you can see in the in the first slide is the is the forplex that I built in uh in the street 128 uh it's for apartments uh with the best design that I could do however uh I didn't request
any variance uh it was however challenging to accommodate the parkings and but that time I have all the support from the from the from the staff of the of the soning and and it took me five years however but um the
feeling after that effort is like the second rooms in each apartment is very very small and some of the I mean I'm I'm a small developer and some of the developers that I do just to copy and that and that's that is is not my
purpose i want to do uh every every every project better uh in the yeah in the second and the third floor you can find the renderings actually I already have plans or
architectural plans and also civil plans uh signed and sealed by by a professional we are like working with the DRC uh I started uh since July last year i'm in the second rounds uh of comments from this uh particular uh property so I'm
today I'm seeking a variance for my property located at 1155 Northeast 123rd Street as the current zoning regulation present a hardship that prevents me from fully usually signs the the property in a reasonable manner the unique
characteristic of the lot spec specifically the excessive setbacks requirements as a corner lot with two two front setbacks the minimum is uh 25 ft second front set back 15 uh feet
minimum rear set back of 25 ft plus um I only have one side set back but because there is an R2 uh sun property so also I have a minimum 25 feet uh set back so
so it really make it challenging to me the the standards of the zoning requirements so if we move to the next to the number four the property is at a five to clarify uh at at the at the at the south
um at the at the south location of the subject property it is R5 in the west it is R5 on the north it is R5 and in the in the east side is uh is the R2 so I have 10,200 ft² uh is is the lot
is suppose that I can build maximum building footprint is 3,894 suppose that I can do I can I can have like a minimum space uh minimum minimum open space is 20% but but the reality is the opposite looks like I
only can build 20% uh we can move to the to the next one so I represent the buildable area uh in a green color as a buildable and in the red color as non-buildable
uh when I start uh approaching the the staff in July last year they denied the possibility to have 10 houses because there is a regulation that is 150 uh
sorry 150 ft uh minimum front uh frontage line and I have uh 136 however I have a second setback but this how the staff interpreted the codes so I cannot uh build 10 houses so I move to the
multif family because R5 is is the purpose is to build multi families at 10 houses so I keep working in in the design to have a multif family so I think also the possibility to build this is three stories what I proposed i I consider the possibility to
build four stories but we found that instead of having 25 ft from the east I need 35 so it reduced my buildable area to 2,130 which is actually the similar to
the current the existing existing building which is a duplex and uh well that's that's what I'm dealing with the hardship so in the in the next page uh just I put the survey just for as a
reference uh so in the next page I uh we just in uh superimposed the footprint of the existing building and versus the proposing footprint and you can see the the the blue color the dark one is what is
already there and the green one is uh what what I want to build it's not that like I'm I'm asking for like a crazy It's not crazy and the the currentru I'm sorry the current structure actually sits uh 19.1 ft away from its property
line so what we're actually requesting is just to have an additional 7 and 1/2 ft from what they currently have uh so it's really not that much of a difference from what they have but for the build that we want to do it it increases our buildable footprint a lot
yeah uh also I propose instead of because the design I'm trying to find the best design uh and the best way to build so instead of have 25 from the front from the front to the back we propose 29 we're going to do 229 to also
accommodate the parking and and make sure there's enough ingress and regress for for parking so you can move to the next one because also um the hardship I mean other other required is to have a 24 wide driveway
two ways so uh also need to comply with landscaping so you can see the you can see the in the page number nine the that's the the ground level it's the first floor uh
you can see like a more than 50% is just to accommodate the cars and what is in blue is the part that is under AC in the first floor um I'm going to use that to accommodate the the so essentially we're just we decided to do just one room at
the first floor at the ground level which is a small room that is about 10 ft which isn't much with extra storage um and then going to the second story is um is practically to to accommodate the the stairs yeah the stairs
um as you see there is no room for pool show in the next page um yeah we had a sim he had a similar um challenge in Miami Beach where the lot was also challenging with all the setbacks so what he did was to
accommodate a pool on the second floor as you can see this is what he did in Miami Beach Island what what I want to do is is bring the idea of this uh this uh development that I I have done is already built in Miami Beach uh so the
idea is for the tenants or the buyer for this property in in North Miami so imagine you get inside your home and uh you find this in the left or the right this little space that people can use as a I don't know gym um office then you go
to the stairs to the second level you find the the the living space the living space looking up to a pool and then you find out in the second floor u is I mean it's a great idea in Miami in 2019 for
in Miami Beach was like a a crazy but now everyone is doing because well well we have in Miami really really appreciate and enjoy the pools and for me it's important to have amenities amenities in each uh in each unit so if we move this is
the this is the proposal area so we're going to be 25 29 feet in front and back in the back 12 11 but from the second floor is 101 um and the beautiful thing about this this
design right now the existing property the entrance is in the 133rd street so I want to maintain that that that direction and also because uh in the pool we have a sunlight um the whole year almost the the the
whole day uh because it's towards south uh if we move you can find the the elevations so I am require you can see in the second in in the first floor the second floor is something that we start as a
allow overhang because also there is as per code section 5802 excellent element balconies to break up the mass walls however yes I I am using some space over there practically to for the for the landing
of the stairs to the to the to the second floor and also to the third floor and you can see uh the DRC also require that I need to install wall mounted mounted ladder to reach the the roof so
but but in the third floor you you can take a look we pull back again to 121 the the whole the whole building so in the next in the next uh page number 13 you will see that my my neighbors in
the whole block uh I I have my red my my rear set back uh in align with their size set back so the minimum required right now for them for the whole block is 7.5 so I'm asking to be a 1211 and
from the second floor 101 and also in the same block in the opposite corner we have a a commercial property that the city decided to I mean to change this a while ago uh and they as a lake also for
se uh front set back se back and when it's at 10 at 10 rail set back 10 ft uh so essentially what we're trying to say is by you granting this setback of
1211 or or 10.1 as as Sephi mentioned because of the second floor we're still aligned and actually the buffer between the two properties is still will still be greater than buffers in the same zoning that are at 7.5 each we're still
going to be you know we're still going to have enough space so uh I have explored the uh different alternatives and solutions uh that I have found them to be unfeasible uh as I explained all the possibility tenous says uh now after
reading the the staff uh what what Sophie proposed that is to change the orientation towards the 11th place uh I mean uh I can prove that doing that
way I'm going to have my setback my size set back will actually be seven and 12 ft in seven if we change the orientation we'll actually have an actual setback which will need to be 7 and 1/2 ft following the code however if you take into consideration of the second floor
with overhang of two feet will actually the buffer will actually be reduced to less and and I have to do some design like a like a u oldfashioned way to do the developments i I need to start like uh
finding the way to accommodate also the parking the parking lots the 24 which is in gray is is the driveway and this 24 width so and I need to push the the the mass of the building towards the the now
should be my size back which is the property that is in in the north plus remember the the the code I need to add balconies so the real buffer is going to be only 4.5 4 six
I mean to my property line uh I mean yeah to the property line and um I mean looks like it's very difficult I I try to explore different ways to to develop uh my idea my idea is is is to
make people happy is to bring uh different kind of possibilities to to the community in North Miami um I live also here in North Miami i I like the vision that uh the city of North Miami has uh oh okay also in the last page in the
same block this uh city allows um a commercial oh no I'm sorry i'm sorry yeah the alley so towards to the I'm sorry to the page number okay um not the last one the
previous uh I took a picture about the alley that is there normally the the the normal alley in the in the county and the brow is 10 ft wide width and uh this one is 15 plus some green area so it's 18 and
that's where the R2 single family um is so we're I think what we're trying to to to make the point on is because this on on the on the east side of uh 1155 Northeast 123rd it's an
R2 property so it's abing to an R2 however there's already a buffer that's been created by that alley that is wide enough and in addition code says that we have to have 25 ft which we didn't actually realize and we're asking if it's possible to actually wave the fact
that we will need to require an additional variance for the property to have an additional 25 ft and just allow us also to have 13.6 which is the 10% of what we will be allowed to build because that buffer is already created by that alley which is 15 ft um and the last
page in the same block in the in the opposite There's a new construction going on on C3 on the opposite side and their buffer on the side is very small it's 10 It's probably just 10 ft and the city approve and also the staff uh the
staff uh recommend uh in the in the I mean the in the heating uh recommend to to approve and it's already under construction is a mass building which is I mean I happy because I like I believe
a building and do new things is is progress and that's why we need but it's 12 12 ft uh I'm sorry 12 stories and I I measure it and only has like 15 rear set back and zero set back in front zero in
the east and west so anyway I I don't think what we're asking is crazy there's been you know very similar variances that have been approved by by the board for these specific instances um somehow even on some properties less 25 feet to
six feet we are set back i was looking at the different agendas and minutes and I found various properties so we're hoping that you'll be in favor so other ways also I mean I I'm as a surficider I allow to build I just can build like a
kind of cubes and massive structures and try to you know to keep going with but it's not that's not what I want to do yeah the thing is changing the orientation will if we try to change the orientation we will be stuck having something that is more of like a U form
which isn't very modern or having something that is very asymmetric more like blocks of concrete instead of having a nice I mean uniform built to build uh hidden but that's not what I want to do so this request is in
uh line with the previous variances granted in the area and would negatively impact neighbor neighboring properties in fact the project will contribute uh the increase of property values and providing a living option and also um I
have the support of my neighbors uh part of the community who are in favor in this project as it aligns with the goals and improving the area while uh respecting the existing surroundings so I have the approval from my neighbor in the south which is R5 i have the
approval uh from the my neighbor in the in the west side i have the approval uh towards the I mean actually the the property that is uh being like affect with this variance that I request that is in the north and also I have uh I
mean I have five five letters notice I send it by by email but I would like if you may I can I hand it over also we receive okay okay thank you all right i see some Madame Chair i just
kind of wanted to clarify um a couple of concerns that we're that I've seen from residents i just want to clarify that what we're approving here tonight is a variance it's not approving the projects not approving the site plan they're still going to have to come back you know do the standard DRC approval but I
do know that was some concerns um by some community members so I just wanted to state that on the record and with that Mr love you have something to add i do okay the transitional area is what he is asking you to vary that is
a standard that is something that we don't even vary i don't know what they're talking about because none of these developments were granted a variance these larger scale developments the transitional standards are to protect the single family residents from
from massive development adjacent to them so the language is very clear that transitional standard has been it's in our comprehensive plan and it is a protective measure for the residents um
of the single family structures that are adjacent it actually covers if you're in a district a single family district so if you have a single family district you also have to meet that standard if you have a structure that's single family and you're they're in a multif family
district you still are subject to the transitional standards staff does not recommend approval because this is an important transitional area particularly when it's a new development project if it was an addition uh where they have already
something there on that ground that they're trying to work around that's different this is new development it requires them to become creative in their design and how they're utilizing the space it is not your your job or
your responsibility to say you can of course you can but it's not your job to say we're going to grant you this variance because you don't want to redesign it you don't want to design it to meet all the standards of the code new developments should be held to a
higher standard to meet all the requirements of the code when they come back for a conditional use permit one of the standards asked will this require a variance does it require a variance to do this project and I would say have to say yeah it would require a variance to
be able to do that project and that CUP would be denied because it doesn't meet the conditions of a conditional use permit uh staff is really concerned that new development which has the opportunity to use the property in a
proper manner should be required to meet all the standards of the land development regulations when you have a you're starting from the ground up thank you for your time i'll open public hearing come on up state your name and
address and remember two minutes uh Heather Isaac 12220 Northeast 12 Court can you move closer to the closer to the mic uh Heather Isaac 12220 Northeast 12 Court um I've been traveling for a while
came home to some surprise signs around the corner right from my house i have a lot of concerns about something of this scale going in in our um neighborhood as as uh the lady I'm sorry I forgot her name as she just mentioned um this is a
single family neighborhood almost every single house on our block has kids i am directly in front of um David Lawrence we have a ton of traffic issues with parents shooting down that street every day to drop off their kids i have I
brought one of my kids with me today i have two more and almost every single house has kids we already have tons of traffic problems because there's no speed bumps there's horrible regulation there that's a whole another conversation to be had so for a development like this to be going in
right on the corner makes me really sad um it also brings up lots of safety concerns i don't see how it's humanly possible to put something of that scale anybody who drives through our neighborhood can see that we love our quaint little neighborhood um we love our single foottory homes there's only a
twotory right beside mine which also is a monstrosity um but we we love our neighborhood we love our quaintness and yes there's bigger developments going in but those are respectfully on 125th with the exception of the uh larger unit that overtook a parking lot directly behind
the bank the the uh Yes so it changes the vibe you know I moved to North Miami because I love the vibe i love the neighborhood that I walk the streets almost every evening with my kids and that's unsafe to put something
like that on that corner a lot of traffic gets detourred down that street because people avoid the school buses and it's it's just crazy and it's already unsafe and I've been trying to fight to get speed bumps which if anybody can help me with that would be delightful also but um respectfully
please this is not safe for the neighborhood it's not in it's not inconsistency with everything that is going on in the neighborhood and I adamantly do not want this to happen thank you thank you next uh good evening brian Jinx 860
Northeast 122nd Street um I walk that uh area probably three four times a week i think it's a beautiful design i I don't think that's the proper place to have it though um I do ask everybody if you can
to drive by there park for a minute and kind of get a feel for that area there the single family houses etc i just don't think that's the spot for it you know when I sit here and I hear Debbie Love the boss lady sit up
there and talk about holding them to a standard new development and that that's the gospel you should be listening to it's coming from the preacher herself there you know and the variance going back we also look at here goes in more
concrete we're just talking about percolating a moment ago for somebody who wanted two feet of concrete out there i understand there wasn't a permit pulled for that but uh now we're putting down more concrete and just the way the design looks the four 10 ft out with the
parking there it's really not a good fit and please just go by there i know uh the gentleman on the end here uh has been over there and looked at it and we talked about it the uh the other day go take a look i just don't think it's a good fit and I did hear them also say
something in their presentation that we didn't know something going into it i don't know if it was the alley or something like that as any investor or any developer knows you research the property you're getting into you kind of know what you're going to go in and do
do you have everything in place for that i don't think this is a good idea again when you look at Debbie Love she comes up here she tells you that staff has says it's reached one of six uh items i think it's kind of writings on the wall
for you there i would just say don't move forward with it for the gentleman and the investor involved with that I think you got a great property if you went there and built a rockstar single family house i think you could make a good return on your investment and still walk out with a profit thank you
thank you good evening my name is Irasma Pis i live in 810 Northeast 123rd um I sat in here when the big building in front of a Villa Maria for 15 floors we were able
to cut to seven my concern is like the other two concerns number one new developers are coming and they're bringing all this concrete that really does not fit this beautiful neighborhood really does not uh number two the amount
of of a of a traffic you know people are not really thinking of that and changing this beautiful neighborhood like she said the previous lady we love our neighbors we we like to know who is living next to and all developers are
buying land very cheap and and and becoming very oh I want to build this and then possibility of not four but because we're not getting let's make seven for seven floor so please please please the city listen to us we live
here I live here for 22 years and I love this I don't want to see this this little town be changing into blocks of houses ugly blocks not pretty our houses are so pretty individual everybody is different and now it's you looking in
everybody's boxes boxes and boxes so please please please listen to Miss Love she really I love what she said do not give in for developers and listen to us residents thank you good evening Alina Medina
close to the mic close to the mic alina Medina 1270 Northeast 124th Street uh good evening i I oppose the the variance requested of the setback to be 12.1 or 10.1 it it does not make the the area
beautiful it does not and uh so I am concerned uh like my neighbor Heather was saying about the traffic that would be generated with a multifamily uh building in this area we have like she mentioned we have a school at the end of 12 court that people come in speeding into
that school and actually there they go into the back of the school because um Biscane uh Biscane Park or whoever changed the entrance of the school to the back of it so we in North Miami get all the traffic in and out to that 12th
court into that into that um school and that will be dealt with eventually somehow um but it it does not add to the uh you know to what we consider to be quality of life in our area so I hope that you don't approve this uh I wish the gentleman the best you know that
maybe can make some money with another structure in in this area that's not a multif family but quality of life is very important to us thank you hi Karen Deleio 1935 South Hibiscus um I understand the the variance request is just for the setback is my understanding
um and I just want to speak for single family homes and I think we're at a fascinating time in this city where we have so much development going on i've almost become I feel like my my mission in life has become to speak for the trees for the flooding and for the
single family homes um and it's citywide right i've been here for the White House in property we'll probably be back um what I I really ask in if as you go forward and I'm sure many of you live in
single family homes however we can help with those transitions that we need to make from the single family to the higher stories whatever we can do to help those transitions be uh welcoming
uh permeable so more less less cement on the ground more permeation more space um I height traffic all that i believe that really has nothing to do with this at this point but if we could really think about those transitions to
make it a little nicer for the single family home citywide thank you enrique Rio 13501 Northeast 24th Court um I do believe that a beautiful property can be built there um something amazing can be happening but it needs to
stay true to the Could you speak a little the neighborhood it needs to stay stick true to to the culture and the look of the neighborhood so as developers consider potential properties they carefully evaluate zoning regulations lot dimensions and any associated restrictions to determine
their maximum square footage they could build this analysis informs whether the project is financially viable from their perspective however many developers are increasing are increasingly seeking variances not to meet community needs
but to maxim maximize profits by expanding horizontally and vertically beyond what current zoning allows these requests often financial I mean these requests often prioritize financial gain over the character and integrity of our neighborhoods with
little regard for the impact on existing residents granting this variance would compromise the privacy scale and family oriented nature of our community it sets a precedent that threatens to erode the very fabric of our neighborhood replacing it with dense developments
that are incompatible with the surrounding homes and lifestyle i urge you to consider the long-term consequences and deny this variance request thank you thank you hi uh Deborah Davies 1165 Northeast
127th Street i I agree with everybody um I think you should deny this variance i think setbacks are really important for many many reasons um by single family homes as I have been very impacted um as
I'm seeing also with this design if if I'm understanding correctly that that second floor even comes out even further in terms of the setback which I have been impacted by and I didn't from looking at the plans I didn't realize where I was living with the gardens that
that was going to happen so I agree with everybody um having so much cement right around the property the setback is just like super important i don't know the design i don't know where these cars are supposed to go in and out which is
another super important um issue for the residents who live right by there so I highly um ask you please deny this variance thank you we'll close public
hearing board discussion i have several questions um for the staff and for the applicant if I may go ahead Mr betta um first question is this um land or
this lot is already R5 correct yes that means that multif family is allowed anyway yes then either if it's uh with those setbacks or not the multif the four units could be built there yes then
I understand perfectly the concerns i have been there as community but there is a big difference here these R5 son was already in the comprehensive plan correct yes okay then developer is not
trying to change the comprehensive plan no sir it is it is an R5 they are permitted to do multifamily okay now the other question is have we approved previously uh other setbacks to but Mr
as chair I have to say we can't take into consideration whether this board made a decision unsimilar because remember everything that comes in for before us must be looked upon as
separate yeah understand okay that that's fine i I ju just a question i'm not I'm not implying that we have to approve because previous set has been approved i I'm just asking if previous setback has been approved we haven't reduced for new construction
we do not reduce any transitional standards or setbacks for new construction not through us and we've never brought any sort of new construction for reduction of setbacks for new construction to the board of adjustment
or conditional use permit we do not allow the reduction of the transitional standards that's one thing in our code that's prohibited to be reduced through a conditional use permit thank you M love now are this unit um for sale or
for rent is are this going to be condos for the applicant well the idea I mean could be look this is the thing that the one that I built in 128 is supposed that was is for rent and it's supposed to be to be there but last year was a
difficult year um one of my nervous try to buy it also I I lose the the the property um so so what I what I what I want to clarify is is I'm not trying to change the transitional i just try to al
also to agree with what what my my the neighbor said that's the reason I try to find the way to minimize the the the impact however uh I don't know if they're aware that I by the rights the
land uh I can build up to 75 feet and I can I I can by rights without variance I can build uh four units and I can accommodate in in in other way there is trees that's the reason I went to to cut
the trees uh to changing the orientation towards the the 11 place um and actually I was just to to uh in my plans already there is an ingress and a because it's a duplex and the idea is to use them uh
not to change you know how is right now the the yeah the parking um however I mean the property has rights and I have the rights and everyone has the rights uh to build um and as far as other
variances that have been approved there has been in even other district our two districts for example there has been varian rear setback that went from 25 ft to 7 and 1/2 ft uh and that was new construction there has been I went through all the minutes and agendas from
since 2022 i mean I didn't print all of them but there has been for new construction variances that have been approved for new development with different rebels i mean we're not asking for something that's huge here but what you're asking for is a structure over 35 ft no no no no no what What is your
height it's 34 we're under 35 why are we bringing this here is it a transitional just a setback so you're talking about a 35 foot height building that's asking for
that's asking for a reduction of the rear setback and they are adjacent to single family homes how many years no no adjacent you are adjacent to single family homes no requirement i mean it's adjacency a road does not break
adjacency okay and this was also explained through a um an initial DRC meeting from our architect we can hear I just want to this was explained to the applicant through a DRC meeting not only by staff but through our architectural um
consultants as well so there we the the rear setback variance that we're asking for is it should if we change the orientation of the building which is what you were requesting yeah everything would be nice everything would be fine and we would have seven and But it's going to be it's going to be
massive for the single family will be even worse we're actually keeping the same orientation as the duplex is right now and we're just asking that duplex is sitting on a 19.1 setback we're asking for this to be reduced by seven feet but
if we change orientation our setback is going to be seven and a half so we're going to be closer to the stable i mean but it's okay i I just try to do something The rear is not going to change the rear of your property is the rear of the property oh regardless of
how you orient the building no the reason why the rear now it's because the front is on 123rd so if we use the front to be on 11th place then what is the address of the property so I don't know why the staff recommend to change orientation
the building orientation that's still going to be your front yard excuse me your front is your address yes that Yeah that you can still change the orientation of your building but that doesn't change where your frontage is your front and your rear you still count
it as the same okay so it's not something that I say it's something that the staff that you guys had recommended why and and and it's and it's in the package and I read it and for me it's new that was new because I understood I cannot I cannot change
the recommended how many units it's four and I'm allowed to So you're doubling the the number of units on the Yes yes because it's multif family so you're taking a lot that was built for a duplex that is now zoned for multif family and what you're saying is you don't want to
go as high maybe I can we can we can understand so what you're saying is you don't want to go as high but you still want the four units so you're still trying to fit 10 pounds of sugar in a five pound bag right because you can't meet all the setback requirements is that what I'm
hearing that's correct so that's why you're asking for the reduction in the setbacks but it's the reduction is only seven seven feet from what there currently is it's not a huge reduction well it's non-conforming as it is already the building that's there it's
not even conforming to what the code says which it's nonconforming so once you remove that structure you remove the your non-conforming protections so those those buildings were built when the code was a diff was a different why this this building is an issue when
there's been other buildings in Miami that have been I mean I I I understand I understand the point the thing is I have right now three projects and one of them without variances and it's very difficult and very rough with the we're trying to build something nice here that has square footage for you know people
to want to move to North Miami that can have something affordable with enough space and it's just becoming very difficult with all the different you know the codes and setbacks one question again I I I couldn't understand clearly you said that the
staff told you that you can change the orientation but now we are understanding that you cannot because the address is on the 11th yes she's saying she's saying that if it is we can comp if we change the orientation of the building we can
comply with all the codes so if we I don't see how this could be feasible okay thank you is is any rule in LDRs that prohibit them to change the orientation of but how how would you have an alley on one side and you have
the street on the other side you get your address off of 123rd Street you have a I said 1155 123rd when I looked at it you have A and B so you right there that and then you have the alley that goes right alongside you to the uh
east of it can I ask you a question how many square feet do you have in that townhouse not the townhouse in the duplex right now how big is that do you recall do you know what the footprint is it's in the survey that's in the presentation it is currently
Yeah for the current is uh okay I have I have uh in the front I'm sorry I can hardly I can hear you there is uh Hold on your
footprint i have to pull it up from I don't know exactly the but approximately the 2,000 yeah 19 that's for both both buildings is 2,000 square feet on the outside yeah the the foot the current footprint of the building that is existing it's about 2,000 ft okay now
what do you and what's going to be the footprint on on this new one how how many uh what's what's it going to be per unit about 2,000 per unit the the buildable footprint we're asking for it to be uh
3,6 no it's going to be less less it's 200 something i I'm sorry uh I I I understand we we are trying to get to an information here but bottom line is they're
building their front of their property is always going to be the front of the property 1155 and based on that according to what Miss Love and what Safy says based on our code they're encroaching you know it's
you know we've got to look it's They're going to have neighborhood they're going to have a 10 foot setback from the property to the north of them at least actually or 12 ft it's on It's 12
121T the ground floor what what you know I I we're looking at two more units going in there yes okay instead of the four that you have now you're looking at a total of four units yes yes you did the same thing on 128th
Street in the same type of a neighborhood and you sold the property and you had four units in there and it was absolutely stunning a stunning project okay 1540 128th Street around the corner in
fact I wish you guys were next to me to build this project when we talk about increased traffic I don't see increased you got a duplex there right now let you call the Let everybody else speak and then I'll I'll wrap up i I I I got some I want to get my my point across here i
don't have anything okay what what I see here is you know people are panicking okay you should have got with the neighborhood i honestly and and showed them what you were doing there you're going to go three stories well okay we got houses in Keystone Point that are three stories looking down at one-story
homes i I I I I find the argument you should have met met with the neighborhood that's your your first mistake here i think this is a great project personally I I have a lot next to me i wish the heck you guys were building on over there what I seen you
do at 1580 or am I correct 128th Street or 1540 was absolutely fantastic that you improved that whole neighborhood a and the project is absolutely gorgeous you're not increasing traffic in fact a man if I'm
not mistaken from Michigan bought the whole place and he moved his whole family in there they had four units absolutely what I see here is the same thing i seen your quality of your construction i seen how you do things and you improve that neighborhood yes and that's what and you know we're the
board of adjustment and we want to see things come into the city that are beautiful nice and within scale to me this is within scale in that neighborhood it's not going to hinder that neighborhood it's not going to hurt that neighborhood somebody said "Oh I lived here 30 years." I lived here 50
years okay i lived here 50 years and I I see all types of changes and I know when the city went downhill I know it's going backhill up i don't have a problem with this uh you know you're asking for a three foot three more feet from a 10
it's we got to use our imagination this this project here folks if you look at it on 128th Street absolutely gorgeous this is what we're all about in this city and we want to say "No because you got this you got that." And with the traffic what traffic are we talking
about you're talking two more uh places what the heck are we talking about two more cars two more families moving on that street you got a twotory across the street for God's sakes on to the to the south of you you got an alley to the uh east of
you come on folks the rules are the rules but let's put a little common sense and humanity to this thing this doesn't I I I'm just absolutely flabbergasted at this i I I really am but anyway I said what I have to say if I may
maybe if I may i'm done okay my main concern is not with your project i think your project is a good project i like the project my main concern is with
the contradiction that this board and city has in terms of development miss Love says something very important and is when a developer buys something it should abide for what they purchase but
we have seen developers here that they push us the land they know what are the rules and they went all the way because they have a big pocket and a lot of money to change and double from 100 to
200 in front of single family homes and in this case we are you what you are asking is keep it and I don't see a real problem with your project i see a real
problem with allowing um bonus units in a 200 in in a 24 floors i see a problem in a massive building that has uh is being uh
proposed for 260 units where there was 40 that I see the problem but in this case I really don't think that is too much of an issue uh and I think eventually I don't know if you can uh
reduce 1.5 feet in the back to keep it 15 or something like that but I don't really believe that this is the kind of project that is going to cause the issue the ones that are create massive is when
you have projects three projects in a line in one block that are going to have 500 units and more than a thousand parking that's a problem but four units in this lot I really have to agree this
time with Mr h that this is not an issue i I think it's okay any other discussion mr you had something to say i'm good you're good Mr lewis that's close okay well then Well I'm going to make a motion to
accept this project i will second can I just clarify one thing we're not approving a project i know u we're speaking a lot about the project but we're speaking on the setbacks they will still have to go through normal
DRC receive approvals from zoning architectural public works so right a lot of the nitty-gritty stuff will be addressed at DRC approvals but tonight we're just approving the variance just wanted to clarify that for the record so rephrase i'm making a motion to grant
the project no no I mean not to to pass the varant the variance okay i second to approve the variance okay motion to approve the variance chairwoman Phipe no i'm sorry no no okay
uh Vice Chair McDermade yes board member Pierre Louie no board member each yes board member Barto yes board member Flint
yes the motion to approve the variance passes with a vote of one two three four to six I mean four to two thank you all right thank you thank you so much all right
uh any old business any new business yes i do want to let you guys know that we do have an interactive session that tomorrow night um at 700 p.m here in council chambers we will be discussing um the new LDRs so
I know we do speak on a lot of things regarding the code up here so I do want to let you guys know that this will be held tomorrow night at 7 p.m here in council chambers if you guys do wish to attend will it be televised uhu yes okay so I don't
have to come here yeah we have that's our planning commission thanks to do happy to come tomorrow 7 p.m yes seven i think it's officially a planning commission meeting but you're all invited okay it's an
interactive galaxy communication all right okay then motion to adjurnn so move all right thank you see you folks to you Jennifer good to see you
oh my gosh