To all in favor of a revitalized North Beach:

On May 11th, there will be an item brought before the Miami Beach Commission in the consent agenda to ask the Commission to refer the request for additional height to the Land Use and Development Committee and the Planning Board. This is the first step in public conversation on this matter. The Land Use Development Committee is where the commissioners have the time to carefully consider if the request has merit and is beneficial to the community and it residents. The request is for a height change from 75 feet to 125 feet.

The development will be located at the corner of 72nd Street between Collins Avenue and Harding Avenue and it will be comprised of retail at the ground level on Collins and on 72nd Street and a hotel above.

Consistency with the Master Plan. What is being planned is what was recommend by Allan Shulman in his 2014 study, and is also being considered by Dover Kohl for Town Center. The idea of the current Master Plan is not to shut down development for the next two years while the Master Plan is adopted by the City through revised zoning. The most important thing is to make sure that projects are consistent with the Master Plan so there is a unified North Beach Town Center.

As the development is being conceived, the desires of the community as expressed in the North Beach Master Plan Charrette by Dover Kohl have been taken into consideration:

• Adapt public infrastructure and buildings to sea level rise. This is the main reason why height is being requested. The retail should have additional height now so in the future, it can be adapted when streets are raised. Parking should also be above ground.
• Include variety of housing types and tenancies: There are no hotels currently in Town center. The planned hotel will be a mid-priced hotel with a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt flag or other similar brands.
• Add new residents that help support NB business as well as new retail and entertainment venues. Hotel guests will certainly bring more business and spending dollars to the area. The plan includes bringing in fun places and restaurants for the community to enjoy
• Parking: There will be approximately 140 new parking spaces. A hotel only uses approximately 30-40% of those spaces. The remainder of the parking will serve the community.
• Traffic: By providing enough parking spaces and internalizing the pickup and deliveries to the property, congestion on Collins will be alleviated. There will not be any more units created than are already allowed under today’s code. The traffic impact is not one car more with or without the height.
• Add new workplaces and services for residents: The planned hotel will bring approximately 125 jobs for people that live in the community.
• Maintain the neighborhood scale in residential areas but increase density in town center. There is no request for additional FAR for this site. Just height increase. The hotel can be built under today’s zoning code. The height increase is in context with the adjacent structures
• Create walkable and bikeable places. The planned development will be surrounded by gardens and outdoor spaces. The plans will be to have the storefronts about 11 feet from the sidewalk. This is 6 feet more than today’s code requires
• Utilize green building & design system. The building will be designed to obtain LEED certification.

If you support the development of a mixed-use development of a much needed mid-price hotel for North Beach, and would like for the entitlement process to move forward, please let your voice be heard by signing the petition below so that it may be forwarded to the City Commission. You may also end your own letter of support to the Mayor and Commissioners to the e-mails listed below:

MichaelGrieco@miamibeachfl.gov; JohnAleman@miamibeachfl.gov; JoyMalakoff@miamibeachfl.gov; micky@miamibeachfl.gov; RickyArriola@miamibeachfl.gov; Kristen@miamibeachfl.gov; PhilipLevine@miamibeachfl.gov;