Miami Beach commissioners are set to vote on Wednesday on an ordinance that if passed would limit the size of new homes built in Miami Beach.
The ordinance is just the latest battle between preservationists and developers, and both sides are using the issue of sea-level rise as an argument to press their case.
Miami Beach Commissioner Joy Malakoff is sponsoring the ordinance. She says the ordinance would reduce so-called “unit size,” or the size of a home compared with that of its lot, from 50 percent to 45 percent, and downgrade lot coverage from 30 percent to 25 percent.
With record flooding recently, Malakoff says open space needs to be protected in Miami Beach. “One thing we call for is more green space, more pervious space so water can soak down into the ground instead of running into the streets or running into the neighbors,” Malakoff says.
The ordinance would also increase front setbacks for new two-story homes to 30 feet and make sure that there would be at least 10 feet between a new house and the house next door.
The setback issue is a big problem for Seth Heller and his family who want to replace their 1926 home with a new home in their mid-Beach neighborhood. Heller calls the proposed ordinance “legislation that will take away property rights,” and he says because his house sits on an angular lot, he would have to build his new home at the back of the lot if the 30-foot setback rule goes into effect.
The ordinance is strongly supported by Miami Beach preservationists who say many old “architecturally significant” homes are being demolished and new much larger modern homes are taking their place. Daniel Ciraldo, the historic preservation officer with the Miami Design Preservation League, says many of the new homes tower over their neighbors and a way of life is being lost.
“It’s not only about the history of the homes; it’s about the people that make up the neighborhoods, and we just think that Miami Beach is going in the wrong direction now allowing so much rampant over-development in these traditionally protected single-family neighborhoods,” says Ciraldo.
There have always been some limits on the size of homes in Miami Beach. Just two years ago, if you had a 10,000 square-foot lot you could potentially build a 7,000 square-foot home, or 70 percent unit size. The city commission reduced that to 50 percent, and many developers and architects say reducing it further to percent is unnecessary.
Ralph Choeff, who has designed about 50 new homes in Miami Beach in recent years, says new homes will inevitably tower over the older homes because they have to be built to meet new FEMA standards for flood control. “We have different global warming issues than Indiana or Kansas to the point where FEMA is going to raise the base flood elevation where a person can build his or her residence home about three feet over what is required today,” he says.
Choeff says trying to save many of the old homes in Miami Beach is a losing battle because as sea-level rise continues, banks and insurance companies will refuse to lend money or insure homes that don’t meet the new flood requirements.
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