Miami 21 Will Not Delay Landplan Update

By Risa Polansky
Though Miami 21, Miami’s proposed new zoning code and blueprint for growth, is stalled in its planning stages, the city must move forward in formulating and adopting amendments to its comprehensive plan before a state-imposed deadline passes for the second time.

Miami had already received a one-year extension from Florida’s Department of Community Affairs allowing a reprieve from amending the state-required future development plan as Miami 21 was drafted.

With that year over and Miami 21 still awaiting approval, the city now has until August to incorporate into the comprehensive plan ideas suggested by its Evaluation and Appraisal Report, adopted by city commissioners in 2005 and approved by the state in 2006.

The assessment report, required every seven years by the state, was developed in 2004 through a process that included five public workshops.

The 350-plus page document identifies four major issues that need addressing during the comprehensive plan revision process: the need for, and impacts of, equitable redevelopment and development; preservation and enhancement of natural, historic, archeological and recreational resources; neighborhood integrity; and transportation.

A team of residents selected by commissioners met Nov. 1 to begin looking at how to form ideas suggested in the report into formal comprehensive plan amendments.

"Some of the recommendations (in the report) were a little more general," said Hal Ruck, the city’s chief of community planning. "We’ve got to look at them little more closely."

This "kickoff team" selected to begin the process will probably meet once more before the city announces dates for public workshops, he said.

The city "will follow the recommendations (in the report) as outlined because that’s what we’re required to do," Mr. Ruck said, but will also consider residents’ input.

While Miami 21 and the comprehensive plan are technically independent, each would reference the other.

Elements of the plan are intended to be enacted through documents such as the zoning code, which Miami 21 is intended to replace.

The city added an amendment to the comprehensive plan last year "to be able to implement Miami 21," said Luciana Gonzalez, spokesperson for the planning department, but that would not preclude needing to amend it again should Miami 21 be approved. "For consistency purposes, we’d have to go back." Advertisement