Miami Beach Creates a Resilience Fund to Address Private Property Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience (UPDATED)

(Miami Beach, FL) Nov 18, 2020 -

Today, the Mayor and City Commission passed a resolution creating a new Miami Beach Resilience Fund and allocating up to $666,666 annually for a Private Property Flooding and Sea Level Rise Adaptation Program. The fund is intended to seed a new matching grant program to incentivize private property investments that prevent flood damage.

“Private property adaptation is a vital component to Miami Beach’s overall climate resilience planning,” Mayor Dan Gelber said. “The city continues to do their part by working with global experts and investing in public infrastructure — ranging from road elevation, stormwater infrastructure, water treatment systems, and the efforts to dedicate more green space and trees to create more resilient, absorbable swales and surfaces. We are in this climate challenge together.”

For individual private properties, resilience investments could include matching grants for up to $20,000 per property and include green infrastructure additions such as rain gardens and bioswales; replacing impermeable with permeable materials; appliance and equipment elevation; dry or wet floodproofing; garage floor and yard elevation; installation blue or green roofs and more. The grant program criteria and details will be further developed as part of the 2021-2022 budget process.

“Generally, investment in private property is the sole responsibility of property owners, but most of my colleagues and I agree that we must play a leadership role by incentivizing projects that complement our various public efforts to strengthen Miami Beach’s resilience infrastructure as a whole,” Commissioner Mark Samuelian added. “Reducing the likelihood of flood damage will help to preserve and increase home values.”