City of Miami Beach Wins 2019 Planning Award in the Category of Best Practice

(Miami Beach, FL) Oct 11, 2019 -

The City of Miami Beach is excited to announce that the award jury for the Gold Coast Section of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association selected the municipality’s Town Center Core (TC-C) District as the 2019 Planning Award winner in the category of Best Practice. The TC-C ordinance was adopted on November 14, 2018 and incorporates the elements of design in the North Beach Master Plan and in the voter guide from the 2017 ballot measure approving a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) increase in the town center area.

“We are thrilled to have been recognized for the TC-C ordinance, which provides a well-balanced approach intended to spur sustainable development to revitalize North Beach,” said Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy L. Morales. “A special thanks to the Planning Department on their collaboration in this project, which will now allow for a more uniform and cohesive town center area, as well as the seamless distribution of allowable FAR, height, setbacks and uses.”

This ordinance established a TC-C, Town Center – Central Core zoning district with a FAR of 3.5, and replaced the TC-1, TC-2, TC-3, and TC-3(c) districts within the boundaries of the area established by the FAR referendum. The adopted regulations are consistent with the recommendations of the North Beach Master Plan and the referenced guidelines in the intensity increase study prepared by Shulman + Associates in 2014. The Shulman study analyzed the impact of allowing buildings with increased height and FAR and made recommendations as to setbacks to ensure that views were protected, sidewalks are sufficiently wide, and that air and light corridors are accommodated between towers. The ordinance also includes a Public Benefits provision for additional height to quickly jump start development within the district.

The honor was conveyed at the Gold Coast Section awards event on October 10, 2019 at the Miami Center for Architecture and Design.