##VIDEO ID:B7ZITnsX1JY## hey hey he heyy [Music] he he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to begin remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public [Music] record please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 [Music] 1 good morning and welcome to the November 5th meeting of the design review board of the city of Miami Beach we have a full agenda today um and so we're going to try to be as efficient as possible we also have a hard stop at 2:30 due to another meeting following this um at this point I'm going to turn it over to reelio to go over the agenda okay so good morning everybody first of all I'd like to confirm that we do have a quorum um all six members are present um and uh and if we can move on well to the City attorney updates sorry it's all right good morning everyone today's meeting of the design review board has been scheduled in a hybrid format with a quorum of the board physically present in the commission Chambers at the city Miami Beach City Hall and applicant staff and members of the public appearing either in person or virtually via the zoom platform webinar in order to participate in today's meeting those wishing to participate via the zoom platform webinar may dial 888 47544 N9 which is a toll-free number and enter the webinar ID which is 8227 3941 924 or log into the Zoom app and enter the webinar ID which again is 822 7394 1 924 any individual wishing to speak on an item must must click the race hand icon if they're using the Zoom app or dial star9 if they're participating by phone now before I swear in those that will be testifying today I'm going to read into the record the city's notice regarding lobbyist registrations if you are appearing on behalf of a business a corporation or another person you need to register as a lobbyist with the city clerk's office if you haven't registered yet you should register before you speak to the board you do not have to register as a lobbyist in three limited circumstances first first if you're speaking on behalf of yourself and not any other party second if you're testifying as an expert witness providing only scientific technical or other specialized information or testimony in this public meeting third if you are appearing as a representative of a neighborhood association without any compensation or reimbursement for your appearance to express support of or opposition to any item expert Witnesses and representatives of neighborhood associations shall prior to appearing disclose and writing to the city clerk their name address and the principal on whose behalf they are communicating if you're an architect attorney or employee representing an applicant or an objector you must register as a lobbyist these rules apply whether you're appearing in favor of or against an item or encouraging or arguing against this passage defeat modification or continuance um now I would like to SAR in those who will be testifying today uh if you're physically present please stand and raise raise your right hand and virtual speakers will be soring one one by one at at the time of their presentation do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do all right thank you uh you may everyone um you may proceed thank you okay so we have a few requests for continuances uh if you'd like me to start with those Madam chair y okay so the first one is drb2 4 1040 that's 1500 Bay Road uh the applicant uh is working out some some issues with uh um other uh residents of the building and so they are requesting that the item uh be continued to the December 10th meeting um so if we have a motion in a second make a motion to defer a second um all those in favor I I motion passes okay the next item is um uh drb 24-10 38 that's 1265 North biscane Point Road um this is for a single family home and the applicant is requesting also the same to continue to December 10th 2024 make a motion to defer okay Motion in a second all those in favor I okay motion passes and then we received one more request last night uh that's for item number8 that's drb 24-10 31471 North Meridian Avenue Penthouse unit 21 um the applicant is also requesting a continuance to the December 10th meeting make a motion to defer second okay all those in favor I motion passes all right so moving on to the um Regular agenda we have item number four which is a modification to a previously approved project aland if you can read the title um number four now yes West Avage an application has been filed requesting modifications to a previously approved design review approval for a construction of improvements in the right of way for the areas generally Bound by a street to the South Colin Canal to the north just west of Alton Road to the west and biscan Bay to the east including all sides streets in between previously approved as a file number drb 21704 specifically the modification is for the approval of Street lighting and Generator screening okay so this is uh an application forio I think we forgot to approve the minutes oh I apologize you correct I make a motion to approve the minutes of the October 2024 meeting second second by Miss Len all those in favor I I motion passes thank you I apologize for that okay so uh back to drb 24-105 um this is Rel to the West Avenue rideway improvements it involves a slew of improvements West Avenue raising the road Drainage Systems um landscaping and all sorts of things uh this was previously approved by the drb um in 2022 June of 2022 the drb at that time said that everything is approved except the generator screening and the lighting and the drb requested that the generator screening and the lighting come back before the board once that was uh fully detailed so before you are two sets of plans one set of plans is for the lighting um the lighting um is intended to be of a contemporary design with round tapered poles flared edges stop based housing fix uh fixtures pedestrian lighting will consist of pulsen fixtures uh with flat molded fiberglass shade tops um in both fixtures the poles are black consistent with lighting installed in other parts of the city and staff is supportive of the lighting and then for the pump stations um there's three pump stations um one of them is located at 14th Street that's pump station 33 two at 17th Street that's pump stations 27 and 28 um they're proposed to be uh landscaped around the uh around the generator station the the the screening of the generators is what had to come back so they're proposing Landscaping to screen the generators um using Simpson Stoppers trees um staff is supportive of the screening and uh staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached draft order and the applicants will have more uh more to show good morning my name is Jose Caro with CES consultants and with me is Sergio Williams of CES consultants and we're the designers on the West Avenue project so I guess we'll get right into this um presentation there we go okay so we'll get right into the presentation since this is a a revisit um we're going to keep it brief we want to look show you the locations of both the lighting fixtures and the um generators and then we'll go through the existing and proposed renderings um so you can have visual of what they're looking at and just the material it'll be relatively quick hopefully why is it going backward oh this way so the project has actually been slightly shrunk because of budget budgetary reasons it's bound by Lincoln Road and then we scroll up to 17th a bit uh on the North side so the cins canal the bay to the West Alton to the to the east same as it it just shr at the bottom it's actually limited on this phase to 14th Street now the lighting will be all throughout West and Bay and then the generators um are actually there's two at 14th there's two existing pump stations at 14th and we're going to add backup generators to each one of those pump stations for emergency purposes and then there's one existing Pump Station at 17th Street at that triangular Park and we're adding a generator for uh emergency purposes there um so we'll get right into it this is 14th Street between the street end the 14th Street and the bay there's a little Park in there there's actually two pump stations located there um in this drawing it's hard to see but they're basically on the North and South they're they're on either side of the park we're we're putting in this darker area the two generators now they do have to be side by side instead of one large one just because the large was really really big and obstructive um and so we're putting them side by side on the North side and we're surrounding it with these um Simpson stopper trees and we did or we will adjust the sidewalk I apologize adjust the sidewalk um because it the generators to move it out of the generator's way and also one pedestrian light inside the park that helps illuminate the park we're going to put it on the south side of the generators cuz if not we'd block it basically make it use render it useless um so right now this is an image of what the park looks like standing at the street end and you see uh like in the bit of the distance you see those hand rails and all that that's what the generator I mean the existing Pump Station platform is at the electrical platform um if you look at the picture on the left you see all those that little forested area that would basically be the full grown Simpson Stoppers around the two generators and on the right it's the image on the right so you're facing towards the bay so it'll be on the North side or on the right side um you know fully grown we shouldn't be able to see these generators at all now 17th Street has one pump station at that triangular Park between the Collins canal and 17th and and West and the pump stations on the west side we're planning to put the generator exactly like you see it on the right side of the Triangular Park and same function sorry wrong direction same function this is the park how it looks like right now and you see we're just going to make like a little Forest around the around the generator to to be able to screen it um and again it'll add trees to the area I guess you can it'll add trees to the area but it really adds coverage to this um generator now with regards to the street lights uh we came back because the drb when we came in 2022 asked us to validate the street lights for for cohesiveness with the neighborhood right in different neighborhoods that have different lights so we actually this is an actual corner street corner that's existing 14th and and West Avenue has the old street lights and the new street lights because originally they had done 14th street from the bay to Alton and they added those street lights and pedestrian lights that you see on the right and we'll zoom into them a little more but on actual West on the left is the old silver Cobra heads so this is an actual this isn't a rendering this is an actual Street Corner that has both Styles and what we're suggesting in this is to use the ones that they used on 14th Street to make all of West and Bay cohesive with 14th and with 10th that were these lights were used on and so again this is a bit of a zoomed in the existing is that classic silver and we're using these black with a little little hats on top um and they are specific uh uh lighting uh units so getting into the materials we covered or we're going to we talked about the generators and again we're using we're suggesting these Simpson Stoppers they're kind of bushy they're bit off the ground but they really provide a lot of coverage and again you can see on the left the fully grown mature one and on the right is one from a nursery um the lights so The Pedestrian lights that go on the sidewalk are going to be these pulson um and so again they're matching exactly what was used what Public Works installed on 14th Street between Alton and the bay and on 10th Street between Alton and the bay and and and and then this is The Pedestrian light again this is as you can see the sign in the back Alton this is actually a real light it's not a rendering and and again we're just going to mimic the uh same light that's used on 14th Street so so it'll make the neighborhood the West Avenue neighborhood cohesive with the lighting and I think that's it that's all we got thank you very much are there any members of the public wishing to speak anyone on the phone anyone on Zoom please raise your hand if you'd like to speak I see no hands raised okay I'm now closing the public portion opening it up to the board for comment I just want to ask we've talked about these Little House on the Prairie looking lights where versus those saucer lights and why nobody seems to like those oldfashioned looking lights in the city like why can't we do all those saucer looking lights because they're everywhere too well I'm I mean I we were simply from our point of view we're just trying to make the neighborhood cohesive and it's already been installed on 14th I mean I guess Public Works could go back and reinstall those what we were thinking from our point of view is that we didn't want to create a West and and Bay Road Set of Lights and then right at 14th Crossing it they're just different different light that was our only reason for picking those we've had the conversation and nobody seems to know how this decision originally was made to do those I don't know those those oldfashioned looking lights versus the saucers and that's all I'm asking is why we keep perpetuating those when they they just don't seem to fit any style that we have I I I understand I I don't know when I think in on 14th on on 10th installed them back in 2015 or something like that so we're the design review board can we make some kind of motion to not use those lights anymore yes I mean I would like to do that you know what can you bring up um in the presentation page 17 yeah of course um and that shows I think it's I don't know what street this is maybe it's eth um because in the foreground is the light that they're proposing but then in the background on the other side of Alton is this very I think lovely modern light fixture that might be more what you're going it's p 17 in the presentation um it's you're talking about this where it's like in the background is that more like right here this guy yes I mean would that be more yeah I mean these these lights are sorry but they're just ridiculous in this town we have no architecture that is even close to anything that that is appropriate with I have a question on page 16 The Pedestrian sorry saucer light is there not an option for this light fixture on the street light I mean if we're looking to find cohesiveness I mean that might be that's the other question are those tall lights required they are so they're for the actual so these are for pedestrians looking ones and the other ones are for the vehicular traffic so they extend over and they illuminate right on the asphalt right I understand but I'm saying typically the when you know fixtures are designed there's a series of them so it might be like this is The Pedestrian option and this is in the same line the traffic option but is that not the case with this yeah if I may this this one specifically the traffic lights uh those are or the sorry the street lights they're directional that's why they kind of have the that shape pointing it towards the roadway uh to prevent that light spilling uh to Residents into people's windows things of that nature uh so that might be the reason why the The Pedestrian light has that uh 360 kind of angle to it where the street light cannot do that I mean we don't mind look we don't mind looking into it the modern one like Sarah said though why why is that not an option I mean I I sorry the linear one that one in the background yeah I mean it can be an option we're just trying to mimic what was already there right but that's already there so why are we using I me that's out on Alton but again I mean from my point of view I'd be happy to I mean I don't really I'll put that no I mean I was Scott and I were both on the board when this first came up and and I remember that this conversation and I think that if I recall correctly that you know the direction we wanted to go in was more modern less I don't know n Tucket little house you know and and unfortunately it was it was the opposite you know at least what you're showing us is more of what we were you know we were trying to become more mod especially you know we're seeing all these very modern buildings going up in this neighborhood and that certainly that would just make more sense aesthetically if that's an option I I mean again we're just the engineers and the contractor so the City Public Works would have to approve it but I don't see why they is there somebody Public Works that could um let me see if I can reach out to somebody and I apologize for not first saying thank you for trying to be consistent yeah other it's just frustrating that these lights keep popping can we do this in order of um in an effort to move forward can you meet with Public Works uh with our request and I don't know if this would make sense with our request of the board assuming we all take a motion and we we agree to it um that you meet with public works and ask them if it's possible to use the more um modern uh Street lighting um that really Cor responds more with The Pedestrian lighting and if that would be okay and second what would be the possibility of them extending that more modern Street and pedestrian lighting to the side streets the finger streets yeah um yeah and if if that's a Poss because I know there's also an issue of maintenance on these lights uh storage of supplies you know there's other issues that are involved um so uh um if if if they agree then great we move forward if they don't then I don't know if it would need to come back to us as design review board if we don't have much of a choice I don't see why even coming back to us would be necessary to picky back on are you the lighting just so we know the scope are you going are are is part of the scope of your project to do all the lights on West Avenue and all the side streets or just 14th no no no it's it's all of West Avenue all of Bay Road from 14th to Lincoln all of Lincoln and the side streets have lights to all the side streets everything everything in that the street that's not included is actually 14th oh right so it's it's possible that they can um and are do you know by chance if these lights that were referring to The Pedestrian U that you're proposing and the um traffic lights that are more modern if they're utilized anywhere else on the beach um because if they are then they have the ability to repair maintain and store the supplies necessary for them I mean I I I honest I'll be completely honest with you I don't have the answer for to them but I we I don't have a problem going in and speaking to them about that I mean at the end of the day what we're trying to accomplish is is a project that satisfies the city and all members of of that City yeah and that was also so part of the discussion in the past that it just needed to be consistent that that's what we brought up that it seems like there's so many different types of Lights um that we were just trying to be consistent both for aesthetic but also for maintenance and it just seems like better policy to have them all be the same um I wonder the and the um the other issue with the screening just in general again as a policy question do you find and maybe this is more for Public Works that um maintenance maintaining a tree screening is easier than an actual physical physical screen screening again that's so on on this project we're doing a physical like staining steel aluminum aluminum aluminum screening on the pump station generator at and the and the electrical panels at the actual West for the West Avenue project which is in the old post office parking lot yeah um but Public Works directed us to use you know shub on these I guess it's maybe initial cost I mean I didn't get too much into it and Sarah that Park is basically turning into a garage with a little bit of grass now it's got so many so much equipment in it it's got pumps and it's got other things so I think the screening with trees is really important okay do you have any images of the screen for the other generator that you just talked about because I noticed in the presentation we don't really see any and I mean I wasn't here in 2022 but again I understand that this is a section of the city that's being implemented but the goal is to holistically have an approach right and I feel like um it would be great for us to understand what is sort of the framework for different uh installations right so at certain conditions there is this aluminum screening that you said I would assume it's perforated I would like to see what it looks like um in another area there's just landscape uh but you know like when and why do we decide which uh response is garnered right like cuz there's going to be areas where we don't have room for landscape to provide a buffer so then what is that architectural approach I just it seems like it's um this area is getting done and I know you guys are responsible for this area but then there's who's ever I feel like public work should be the ones presenting this to us so that we could have a conversation about the larger accountability of consistency throughout the city because because there's going to be I don't know if this is Phase 8 there's going to be a 9 10 11 12 right and you guys may or may not be involved to implement it consistently or correct me if I'm wrong maybe you are going to do all the phases well you're correct about that so um there are multiple you know this is going to be happening for the next I guess 30 years because Miami Beach is large and all the areas need these upgrades with regards to the pump station screening at at the ual art Pump Station I don't have images of that today here that was under a separate drb number that was approved because it's in a private property so we kind of split it up into the pump station parking lot where it took a lot of focus into redoing the parking lot and Capt recapturing that parking and then screening all those very large components and then the right of way which is the lighting landscaping and then these miscellaneous generators fell into it um but I don't mind I mean I mean they're just very much the the more that we move in this direction they're they're part of our urbanism now right and I think the goal is to say what you know we're at a moment of planning and implementation so how do we plan for the urban characteristics that we want that potentially can evolve as the city continues to evolve and I don't know so I don't know if it's a question you I I think what's happening is that it depends where these generators or pump stations are for example there's a Pump Station on 51st at the intersection of 51st pine tree and Lor drive and to put screening that is metal or anything of that nature would be difficult um or dangerous because of the traffic so it's buffered with trees Landscaping there's going to be generators and pump stations on 63rd and uh Pine Tree Drive and all of that is Going Underground it will take the exact amount of space of that empty lot all of that will be underground so that the upper area can remain as a open open Park it's a city-owned property so I think it depends on its relationship to the traffic and the um surroundings I guess if it's in a park it makes more sense to put Landscaping so that it doesn't stand out if it's in the middle of the street you don't want it to be dangerous to un coming traffic um and footprint constraints are another one yeah um any word from public works I'm reaching out I've reached out to the project manager and I'll I'll is there any way that perhaps because I think we maybe we can wait a little bit here another would you mind waiting I think the item can be tabled perhaps you can go reach out to Public Works in the they're on the fourth floor or or CIP and the other I think CIP is in charge of this project CIP is in charge of project yeah so um but Public Works I think would be the one making the decision because they're the ones that own it at the end once CP is done with the construction and I'm also getting the sense too that it seems like we're okay with the screening it's really just the lighting question yeah so so I guess we'll check it out and we'll come back and hopefully we can slip in yes yes we'll see you come back so definitely yeah um so do we have to vote on that or just sort of agree we can table the item and then and then come back to it okay thank you much oh yes thank you okay um moving on to our continued applications drb 23960 7484 Street dbora Bay 2 uh this application has been filed requesting design review approval for a new four story multif family building with one or more waivers to replace an existing residents to the on the site um I don't see the applicant again and Yanina oh no she had an issue on the family she told me she would last month and she told me she would be here today um I guess maybe we move on okay and if they get here before I apologize yeah uh so the next two items are hers um deor Bay 2 and deor Bay 3 okay so moving on uh to new applications drb 24125 2011 North coconut Lane thank you this application has been filed requesting design review approval for the construction of a new two-story residents with an under story level including one or more waivers and a variance to reduce the open space requirement in in the front yard to replace an existing residence okay so this um this is an underst story home um that the applicant is proposing it's a 7,000 500t lot on Hibiscus Island the home is designed um in a contemporary Style with contrasting materials and recular rectilinear forms um the front um elevation features a a stucco dominant stucco grid frames the walls and the planes of the gra of the of the glass um and projecting uh balconies stagger each floor that are located on the front and rear elevations um the first fully enclosed habitable floor um is is located on elevation of 15 ft the overall home uh height of the home is at 24 ft so that's within the allowable height limits um staff is looking at at uh adjusting well the height limits in the RS4 districts but this would be totally in compliant with that um the applicant is requesting a waiver related to the open space requirement for two story elevations that exceeds 60 ft in length um in this case um it's 63 ft so they're only exceeding that that Dimension by 3 10 in um um but the design does incorporate open space it just does not comply with the minimum standard um and so staff finds that the that the elevation um does comply with the intent of the code and breaking up that massing and staff is supportive of of uh of issuing the waiver um Additionally the applicant is requesting a a variance um from the front yard elevation um for the for the uh front yard um the code requires that 70% of the front yard be open space uh currently the applicant is only has only has 51% um sorry they're occupying 51% so leaving only 49% open this is because they have a garage the lot is very narrow and the driveways and the walkways leading into the garage there's really no other way to design them so it is a practical difficulty due to the narrowness of the lot um and the limited access from there's no other access points except the front yard um so staff is supportive of the issuance of the variances um so with that staff recommends that the application be approved including the variances subject to the conditions in the attached draft order good morning board nice to see you all uh my name is rapael Levy from CHF Levy Fishman 8425 biscan sweet 2011 um it's a pleasure today to present to you 2011 North coconut Lane the be residence um it is on Palm Island uh here's the location um it is in an RS4 District uh a bunch of the houses around it are are relatively low scales but we are seeing uh a bunch of new developments come up that are conforming to the new codes including the underst stories uh this will be one of them um an elevation that you can see in context um so as you come in you're presented with the garage the volume of the house is sort of conceived of as like a big stone block that's kind of carved out and has the uh balconies kind of projecting for it to um break up the facades um and then there's a kind of white stucco canopy that wraps the facade to kind of encapsulate everything and create spatial um uh moments with the exteriors and have a relationship to the street um here you could see the under story we have the the wide driveway we are asking for the variants as reelio said because we are in a narrow lot and our Drive driveway allows us to approach our garage with two cars um we have uh just the center of this the lot is occupied by a lobby with the elevator and stair and the rear of the lot is reserved for a pool deck and the pool which we've kept uh flush with the grade of the site and not elevated um on the first floor you come up a grand staircase up to the front door and just to the left of you you have a very long reflecting Pond that occupies our Courtyard on the west side of the house um we're asking for a waiver on this side of the house because our Courtyard is just not quite 8 ft deep it's uh 6'8 but it stretches about 70 plus% of the uh side of the elevation so we feel it at least meets the intent of the code if not the letter of it um and you know the the uh sorry we have the public spaces sort of facing the rear we have a bedroom facing the front and again the core circulation vertically is happening at the center of the lot um and then upstairs we have our Master Suite facing the water another bedroom facing the front and then a roof deck above on the up on the roof um we are staying within our sort of typical pallet of um tropical modern materials the the bulk of the volume will be clad in stone um there will be a canopy element which will be painted stucco and then some accents and some surfaces which will be um clad with a wood material whether it's natural wood or a synthetic is to be determined but we we've been going more synthetic lately for maintenance reasons um the one thing that we would like the to ask the drb for that hasn't made it into our application yet is when we were looking at the drawings um we set our first floor elevation um 10 feet above grade but our under story is relatively flush with the street we'd like to raise the first floor 2 feet to raise our understory and make the structure more resilient so right now we're proposing in our application plus 15 we're asking if the board would allow us to go to plus 17 which will allow us to take a the the full three feet um that the drb has the description to allow to allows for additional heighten and underst story um these are some of our axonometric views as you can see we we try to articulate every facade of the um of the building equally including the side elevations and then here are some of the renderings um that will show you the articulation of the architecture of the volumes how the materials play with each other and create the volumes of spaces that I've been describing and that's the presentation thank you very much thank you very much are there other members of the public wishing to speak anyone online anyone online please raise your hand nobody with their hands raised okay I'm now closing the public portion opening it up to the board for discussion I have a couple of questions Ro Helio or yourselves what is the dimensions of the lot for this property I no it w I just need to know the width 50 by 150 I'm sorry 50 ft by 150 ft okay and um the side setback that you're re uh requesting uh the open area um Ro Helio if you can explain that as to what's required and what they're actually proposing the the so the the if you don't request the waiver you have to provide an open space on each side on each Frontage that's longer than 60 ft that's equal to 1% of the of the lot size and has a depth of 8 ft they're proposing an open space but it has a depth of 6 feet 8 in deep um and then it also has a reflecting pull at the ground level I think the code does require that it consist of open space so the fact that they're putting a reflecting pool instead of um uh Green Space would not comply and the depth does not comply they 2 feet short um a little bit less than two feet short um so so that's the issue that's why they're requesting the waiver and the so the design that they're proposing does break up the mass it complies with the intent of the code and the reflecting pool that they're proposing is a is a nice addition a nice feature uh for the design so as as one member I can only speak on my thoughts um I I think that you're correct in that the breakup that they have on the side does um present the um intent of a code to break up the mass on the side and does it nicely with the um element of the water feature as to the lot having a width of 55 from personal experience I can say it is extremely difficult uh to design something and and most homes do have a two-car garage so I can understand that you need um that area to be covered more than uh the 70% that is required um so I have no problem with the front um uh coverage for the entrance to the garage as to the additional elevation of 2 feet I don't know if legal can direct us as to whether this requires the notice to be reissued because it is an additional uh request that may not have been advertised pre uh in the original advertisement what are where are the parameters turn on your microphone so that is something that the height the additional height when you're going above 24 feet is something that the drb has to approve as a waiver um we did advertise that there were several waivers we did not we generally we advertise specifically what variances are but waivers we sort of leave it open-ended in case something like this pops up um so I think the height so we're covered with this all right I'm fine with that then thank you I have a question does your intersection uh sheet a31 um have show that additional 2 ft for the ground or do you have a proposal of how you want the relationship of the building the site and the existing Street to be with that additional two feet uh the section is a 3.1 but this is the previous one we are basically looking to raise what you see here as 15 ft of the first floor elevation to 17 ft right so I guess in general I don't have any issue with raising it but I my concern right now is when we look at um sort of the architectural code and then the intent of the understory together I feel like there's going to be some conflicting issues so I I have no issue with the form of the building but it being a reflecting pond on the West Side especially if we're raising that you know we need to absorb as much water runoff as possible and I think the point that that should be open Green Space is for that and then again if you're raising the site um you know I think it's really important that we understand how are you treating the site what is the landscape function what is its relationship to the building and to the existing context which is then the street so again I don't have any issues with the request but I don't think that you've are showing us how it's actually going to benefit the larger Contex when you take advantage of those waivers which they're in place for sort of this new urbanism of you know a raised Miami Beach versus the individual house so I would request that we have uh drawings that show the relationship of the landscape the raay site and the building Ralph choof uh Cho leevy Fishman so what we're talking did you want to say something I think she it was a similar it was a similar point I my I again don't have really any issues with what you're requesting here um but the interplay I guess maybe it's just the renderings but the the lack of landscaping against like a stark white we have a full landscape presentation this is just architecture and we don't necessarily like articulate all of our landscape supposed to be part of your presentation yes we have our landscape architect here actually who can speak to Okay we have our landscape architect here also um by code uh we have to have a civil engineer to keep water runoff on site and that's all done by calculations and we'll never get a permit if we don't prove that the that the water stays on site that's why we have a civil engineer uh and civil engineering drawings as part of our package not here but as part of the construction drawing package in the end the intent of the code to set it back a 1% or 8 uh feet uh as a depth uh not exceeding 60t length what we've done here is we've provided this really beautiful reflecting pond with uh an entire facad of sliding glass doors that when open exposes actually the inside of the house to that and who was ever inside the house when they're walking through the corridors actually gets the benefit of that water uh right there as they're walking into the house so um I think that alone is is a beautiful feature that is quite costly to the owner and um and it does serve the intent again it's it's all about the intent of why that uh code was uh made up was to break up exteriors on the side I agree with you that it serves the intent of that part of the code and and it serves the owner and my response and my comment was then again in the front part you know you're also asking for more impervious and less open space so when we look at the design as a whole and I I think this is why we're up here and why the understory projects are coming to the drb so that we understand its relationship to the community and not just serving the client so yes I think that the reflecting Pond and and the adjacent windows are great that's going to be enjoyed by the client but then you know it's like where where are where is the design giving back to the to the community a little bit with the intent well the T so so you have to set back 8 ft and it has to be 1% of the lot size we're setting back 6' 8 in that means we're short 1' 4 in but we're making up for it the Forum I'm fine with but it's supposed to be open space so you're also we feel we're giving back to the neighbors quite a bit if you look at all the elevations if you ever seen our architecture our side elevations are not flat our side elevations are always interesting um and um and this is one of the is that that it is I think we're giving back uh in this form also they'll see the front of and the back of the residents now regarding the front area we only have a 50 foot wide lot and we have a two-car garage which they're entitled to and so that alone is why we have to ask for a waiver at at that point otherwise we wouldn't be if it was a wide enough lot of course we wouldn't be asking for a waiver if I could say something too um I know I can uh so I I have to say I like I very much like the design and I would say to your point the East elevation in particular was something that I found really striking with the spiral staircase and the floating staircase lovely um I think that this issue my one concern that I had with the project as proposed it you know sort of bookend uh sha shaa and Laura's concerns I'm I want to know I again I understand why you have this double wide driveway um and I also went to the site it is a small lot um and also that I do know that these islands have been notorious for having bad flooding um let me quick question do I notice that a bunch of the homes on that block and I didn't notice of this one the street has already been raised and they are you go down um without the additional raising would this property also do that we were not I think rough no we would be above the street we would be above the street when do it and so if if you weren't able to do the extra two feet it would still be above the street yeah previous it would be more or less flush right flush okay that was question PR previous designs did not have that commodity available to them the the building department changed that rightfully so to avoid flooding so now instead of going down we're either flush or a little bit above okay so let me ask you a question um how come because what you're asking for with the driveway I mean it is it is a lot more impervious space is there a different material that can be used for the driveway yeah I mean if if the drb would be more comfortable approving this driveway if it was like a Terra or something porous or something that integrates Landscaping I think we'd be totally open to an option like that I mean I I think that that would that would resolve some issues again because these properties are known to flood and I mean this is why you're doing the under story to make it even more resilient and environmentally forward I think that would be a good decision um also and then yeah you know I let me askio the underst story I could have sworn and I could be wrong that last time when we reviewed a large under story home also on these islands there was an issue with the carport and I could have sworn you said that there that the under story is designed to act like a garage so that under story homes don't have garages but now this is one of two proposal that have both a garage and an understory so what um I think it it depends on the the the way the width of the lot and the ability to accommodate the cars so in some of these proposals they're much wider lots and they have the ability to sort of accommodate the cars really far into the interior of the understory space so that you don't have that garage effect in this case because of the narrow of the lot it's really difficult to have the car go in and make a left turn and and have a garage that's far more concealed uh from view the code doesn't prohibit the garage being located right on the edge of the under story almost like a like a traditional home where the garage is right in the front um so that's that's really the issue here and I think why why it was designed that way ideally it would sort of be pushed back into the under story but in this case I think that would really eat into their usable space um and and sort of eat away much of the intent of the under story which is to create additional living space for the resident okay yeah no that was so essentially it's just the garage it just has an additional retractable wall as opposed to being open is really defining it by a garage or not a garage so then moving forward on larger properties it's not it can't be enclosed but on smaller Lots like this it can that's the in larger propert it can be enclosed but they typically enclose it further back recessed into the facade so you don't see it from the front I see I see okay that was yeah so and I I mean I I think too that yeah it I mean if you're willing to create to use a material that is um prvious and and I also think that have what they're required that um well as proposed it seems like you're not I mean that was the issue uh I mean the code require as is written requires it to be Paving on grade or something like that so it's going to be porous to some degree I think you know a large slab of concrete is going to have a different kind of absorptive property than a Taver so yeah I mean even though these things are set on on on uh Sandra what have you um and it will have some porosity there are definitely options that can enhance it yeah I mean so I would support the variance I mean because we're talking about over 20% difference in what's required versus what you're proposing so I I if if there would be a different choice of material and maybe it's something that you know can be suggested by another board member to use I could support the variants because it would you know let me add this um I thought Ro Helio that we were required to have pervious material on a driveway in the front and as well as in the back um to allow um for the water to percolate into the the ground is that not the the code requires either perious or high albo which is a light color that would reflect heat and minimize the urban heat island ideally you would have both but the code sort of gives you an option of one or the other um I think in this case it is prudent to to uh to require that because of the the more the the increased lot coverage uh in that front yard so I think it would be a prudent request the other um option is is it possible for that driveway it starts off and ends at the garage with a two-car width you know a a driveway for two vehicles can it start off narrow and then sort of cup up as it reaches the entrance of the garage so that you would have more more perious area I can answer that okay the lot is very narrow and uh in in in such we want the cars to be able to drive into the garage and then be able to pull out and have enough room to maneuver if we were to make a portion of that Nar I think it would make it harder for the cars to get it would be okay to get in but to get out would be quite difficult as it is right now they're going to have to back out all the way because of this width of the lot so um that's why we kind of hesitate to do that can we do it yes we can um is it practical and feasible uh in this application not really so yeah I I tend to agree with uh staff's analysis that the the the narrowness of the lot poses a practical difficulty that warrants the the granting of the requested variants may I ask one question too about the the front wall um do you have you guys chosen a material for the actual gate that's going when the gate is closed uh not yet um my preference would be to do stone but um often times the cost isn't there and you know it's getting covered with Landscaping anyhow so we haven't quite gotten there I think right now we're proposing it set back 2 feet so it'll be a 6 high wall are gates are typically metal and uh you know designed to appear consistent with other metal features of the house so it may have a louvered kind of appearance to it um and be painted the same as the window frames um but aside from that I don't think we've we've sort of gotten into those details yet okay yeah because I think the site May benefit from like a Louver or or perious Frontage there to break up the white wall yeah and if you look on the their homes on the Block they at least the one to the left didn't have any fencing at all I don't remember so having and and this is a street there's no sidewalks so it's really you know up against the street I I I would I would recommend that the fence could be pervious as well just because there's such the the home itself is going to create such a big presence um and it's it's a tight Street a narrow lot everything is very close that's what I would recommend um and I would also say too we started talking about the Landscaping before I think that having you know it's just the presentation the Landscaping that you show in the presentation doesn't really do it justice I think that was you know part of the issue but I I would hope that I think soft line Landscaping would do a really good job I I like the sort of the boxiness of the design but you know it needs some softening and certainly the Landscaping would be the way to get that done and I also think that with a driveway having you know being a little bit more to the code um would also help with that softening okay okay oh and I had a question too what is the material that you're going to use for the railing for the front stair is it glass yes didn't really say yeah all our railings here are glass okay any other comments does everyone feel satisfied are we going to get a landscape presentation or not yeah well I don't know that we have one uh loaded up there was some land are some plans listed there is a landscape plan that was submitted well I feel like the the rest of my peers probably just are in support so I'll just make a statement that you know of course there's a civil engineer of course there's calculations but I guess we're up here and the reason why these types of residence projects come to our board is to talk again about cohesiveness the architect's role in leading that integrated design and not just saying the civil engineer will do calculations how is landscape absorbing water maximizing you know the rainfall we get we can do calculations but we know things don't work the way that they're supposed to work on paper so I'm just asking for a little bit more responsibility from your guys' team on that but that's my comment and we'd also be happy to accept as a condition for approval uh you know to work with staff on you know precisely those issues to the point that they're satisfied as you know as as a condition of our approval Also to clarify and I don't know if this makes a difference or not I notic that the pool is not at grade the pool is at the first no it's floating or it's at the understory level is it the what it's at the understory level it's not elevated up to the first floor the pool oh it seems like first floor yeah P yeah if you look at G 4.4 the is is the pool at the underst story level or the first floor level no understory level CU it's not what's here on the plan on the plan it looks like and maybe I'm wrong it looks like the pool is the first story can you show on the screen for purposes of those right no that's no I guess I meant the reflecting pole not the reflecting Pond yes yes the reflecting Pond is elevated at the first floor yes you as come up to the front door it'll be right there next to you so eleves that affect what you were saying about you know I mean I'm not in support of that they're basically building in the open space so but uh it's covered as we would normally be permitted landscape space at that elevation if I'm not or normally there would be nothing there or or uh equipment is allowed in that space too so OCC so so so here's the the the code if let's say we we went to the in to the law on this and we set back 8 ft and uh the width equal 1% of the property size and it goes all the way down to grade and this was this void space and it would not be architecturally pleasant but we meet the code and what we did here is we did something that's a lot more costly to the owner it'll face the neighbor and it's 6t 8 in set in for quite a long length so when you walk into the house you're walking right next to this reflecting Pond which is a beautiful feature so you know could we have gone back 8 ft and left it as a void yes but architecturally it's would not be very pleasant what are the sides of that's where landscape comes in sorry that's where landscape comes in and I think on your L1 to the point you're showing a gravel path and some plants but then the reflecting Pond would be right above that so I guess are we is stuff going to grow under that you know I I just think there right it's it's almost like it's acting as an extension of the underst story as opposed to an open space which is your point can you bring up the rendering of the um you know what you can see it on the presentation on page 25 you can get a unfortunately the writing is blocking the important part of that rendering isn't that it right there yeah but uh if you take that off you'll see the reflecting Pond and how it um how it works with the underst story and with the oh there it is I'm sorry oh oh I was like what writing sorry okay I was like I was looking at that so yeah so that's that's the elevation so you could see that facing forward we have a series of voids back and forth we have a a lot of glass facing the front and we have almost an old glass facade there um how does the space below it work well we're going to have a civil engineer we're going to have a landscape architect uh make sure that all the water stays and if it if if it requires us removing a gravel path then we remove the gravel path and we put in uh we put in uh grass in that area and we burm it or we put French drains how whatever we have to do but it is the code that we have to maintain I think it's the first inch of water on the on the site and that's what's going to happen or else we can't get a permit and we skipped completely over the fact I think you did an amazing job with both side elevations I mean you're really the attention to detail you keep upping the game with that and I think it's worth mentioning thank you thank you that's why I'd approve of it yeah I I do think that it meets the intent of the code like it is open um it's not it's still I I think that the reasoning behind this code is so that the adjacent neighbor is not staring at you know a a flat wall and certainly there's movement in it and yeah I mean it is a challenge we are I feel like this there's been more than one proposal of an underst story that shows Landscaping under the underst story which I too always question um but there are I'm not going to assume that there are plants that don't you know low light plants that can grow in these areas correct me if I'm wrong um uh like I said Chris our landscape architect is here yeah so what is your plan I mean I think to to alleviate Sean's concerns morning everybody Chris collie it's really nice to be here um on sheet L 1.0 there's um a landscape plan and it's pretty graphic and easy to read and it shows how the landscape on that western side comes up under the the reflecting pool which is one level above and definitely it's all shade tolerant tropical plants there some lady palms and some monstera and everything that would grow really well in that type of condition and you know over the years once the underst stories became a thing then obviously you know this brought up a series of challenges and so we've gotten used to how to deal with these spaces in a better way over the years and so we do have all of that understory planting which we think will do really well and then just as a side in the rendering that was shown where it had the reflecting pool on that West Side on the second level on the landscape plan I know it's hard to read these landscape plans it's all these little shapes and symbols but we do have really nice tropical screening along that side right there so that when you're inside of the residence and you look out of that beautiful um large window you would see this really awesome tropical buffer and then the last thing I would mention is that you know especially on these sites on this island because they're so narrow and they're so tight the simpler the scheme the better the chance of success you know and so the landscape plan we've done a we've really tried to think it out um really well and make sure each component piece Works to support and um help accentuate the architecture and so we have a nice coconut palm leaning in the front and we do have nice plantings in front of the the wall adjacent to the street like like Rafael mentioned the walls set two feet back from the property line which gives us a little buffer there and then the majority of the trees and the palms and the hedges along the side are all Native species so we feel we feel really strongly that the landscape will help accentuate that the residence so thank you very much um I know or does that affect your concerns or somebody want to are we ready to make a motion you guys can make a motion and I don't think my my comments are being absorbed can I ask you one quick question what are your side setbacks on the proposed I believe there's s and a half on both sides let me just verify yeah seven and a half okay thank you I'm ready to make a motion that we uh what am I moving let's see um that we approve the uh additional two feet um ation so far so good roia oh oh oh wait I I have a question actually related to that so the streets in this area have already been raised mhm so is it necessary to have and this home has an underst story is it necessary to have that I mean because forget my my impression is that we're giving this extra with the intention that streets will be raised but I don't know if the streets this is one of the few examples where the streets have already been raised so is it really necessary so the under story level now is I think it was 15 it's at an elevation of 15 but do they they show the future CR of roation can you open the the it's I believe it's already been raised we got our determination from Public Works the 4.87 is the raised Street elevation so 4.87 they're at 15 so you have a height of about 10 ft mhm clearance yes but that's with the understory more or less flush with the with the street we'd like to raise the understory elevation a little bit just so we have some resiliency from any flooding that may occur on the street so so that is allowed um they are allowed to go to raise the yard up to base flood elevation um I would say there if the street has been raised to four that's that's probably not the highest that we have that's that's um we're in many other areas we're looking at five six seven in some cases um so I think that is pretty low so it might not be a bad idea to allow them to raise the yard a little bit more um yeah okay and then you can all help in with the uh okay feel free to help in okay so I make a motion that we approve the additional 2 feet elevation so can we just C so that would make the maximum height 27 ft um in total in total yeah mhm that we approve the uh variance for the 49% of the required Street side yard um opening um which is currently required at 70% with the with the the different material though with previous pavers pervious but that would be for the front driveway not the side yard the variances is the variance the side yards are waivers the sidey yard are waivers the variance is is the driveway so I'm going by page number two which says a variance to allow 49% of the required Street side yard I think what we need to do is have a a motion for the design and then a separate motion for the variance and I think that would make it a lot more clear and that's what we've done in the past so maybe if you want to make a motion to approve the design with the waivers which and then have the variance which has to do with the driveway that's fine Ro Helio what I would like you to do is enumerate the waivers because the page two of this report only talks us talks us to the variance uh to allow 49% of the required Street sidey yard should be the front yard maybe that's where the problem is that it should say front in instead of Street front yard yes okay all right that's the yep um okay so make a motion to approve the design um number one number two make a motion to approve the variance of the front um Street yard um to go 49% instead of the required 70% however with the caveat that they would include um pervious material on that driveway and there's a a third and that is the waivers one of them being the side um yard setback the open space the open space on the side yard on the let's see on the east side I guess it is okay and approve the waivers do we need to add any more specificity to the waivers no I don't I think I think that's understood y thank you okay we have a motion um do we have a second second okay motion by m mut buak AI second by Mr Sheldon uh all those in favor I I I he opposed no I uh motion passes 5 to one thank you thank you thank you so much I see our Public Works team is back if you want to come back and we can hear that next again okay so have you been debriefed as to what our main question yes yes good morning chair and board members John Carlo Peña assistant city engineer polyworks so in regards to the West Avenue lights and on May 2020 the city went through part of wors went through an update of our city lighting standards so the lights that are proposed for West Avenue are consistent with our our standards so that's why you know this been used and it was proposed in 2021 and now we're contining with this because in an effort to eliminate the different lighting there are within the city you know we went through this process and we and we proposed two two options one is the loose P pulson lights which are consistent with the West Avenue Sunset Harbor which is a mix of of of and there's a more residential which is the aorn lines that you can see in Flamingo and more you know residential neighborhoods so that's part of our standards and that's you know where this allows our operation and have you know uh stocks and be able to change them or replace them in the future right so can you elaborate the Lewis pulson lights that you what are those the ones that are presented yeah those are the ones are presented at the saucer ones that's the saucer ones and then what was the other option acorn acorn light lighting yes they're more for so they're both very traditional forms as opposed to more modern what about the and I forgot what page it was on um that showed 25 I think here go back that one that one did you see the one in the background that's on the other side of Alton Road that looks very modern yeah that that that's an FD yeah that's FD that's an F Dy road so they have their different standards I think they've been so that that's not a city um light so you don't have that light we don't any other city street they are only on that portion of Alton Road being an F do Road F do yes that's that's that's the and they maintain those lights they maintain those lights and if if if we have an agreement they'll have to you know for this lights we my understanding we don't maintain this kind of Lights okay and so do you know what type of lighting there is on the other side of Alton and this is let me I'm not sure which is this one this is 10 Street right 10 Street if we cross into the flamingo neighbor then we'll see the the acorn line which is are the more more residential lighting which looks like these right right there I could provide the details it's a different detail that we have in our standards is a yeah is that your acorn light on the screen no the acorn street light no no this is the one that has this is the the loose Lo if yeah this is the one that has been used for for a mixed use um area which is you know have commercial commercial you have residential like West Avenue Sun Harbor all these areas so we want to be consistent through this Corridor so once you go through West Avenue you you you enter s Harbor in this seamless transition of lighting and and we can maintain and and operate but then you're talking about changing it to this one so now there's going to be one in sunet Harbor one in West Avenue and a separate one in Flamingo no flamingo is the only one that is different to Sunset Harbor and and cuz it's not a mixed juice going to be proposing this light fixture in Sunset Harbor as well it's already installed in Sunset Harbor this one yes with the with the with the pedestrian which is a flat that you show in in the p with that one and that's already there and there's no yeah that's already there and that's been installed so that's why and so that's why we have this presentation to say okay there needs to be yes and you see the differ but because that's that's right in the middle between West Avenue and Flamingo which is Alton Road so Alton Road is a is a FD road so it's maintained by them so they they pick their and they've been change yeah they maintain their own lighting so we don't maintain those and there's no way that the city could have those lights ER we'll have to basically make an amendment to the standards pow workk standard which was approved by City Commission in 2020 so that's a process because there was like I mentioned there was a process in which we look different alternative we try to you know and we select it based on that and you know okay that I'm noticing that the ones in Sunset Harbor I'm just on Google Maps are are white would would do you think that would help like they're they're painted right I mean I I think that the idea is that it just be consistent they may be aluminum that are the on in sunet Harbor aluminum or or white or the bronze they're white they're white and and what that's you know that's why did they change to Black all of a sudden in some places I'll have to that's cuz I think the black also peels does it not they're both painted they all they both painted so they're all paint so that light that we were just looking at though is different than the acorn pedestrian light that light we were just looking at that's in Sunset Harbor you want but it's white That's The Pedestrian light and it's white in Sunset Harbor and the reason that maybe they're switching to bronze or the dark color may have something to do with graffiti maybe I'll have to check I'll have to check I don't have that information but we could provide that information this light is not The Pedestrian light proposed what we were just looking at yeah it that's the same one it's not an acorn looking that's the that's the traffic light the acorn is the um put it back on Park they're using that is the street light whereas the disc more modern is The Pedestrian light we'll have to light one is pedestrian which is a shorter one and then the one that you show that one is a 25 foot for for for the cars V col traffic and so this is what's already in Sunset harbard but it's white as opposed to black yes and the and the light Po the Peds as well they're all white in West Avenues are black so right and the side streets to West Avenue are also so dark they're going to be Chang they're going to be changed all the size streets so the entire neighborhood from from Alton to to the Bay it's going to be all homogeneous but it will be the dark color not the white dis Point yes unless we require otherwise I mean changed some of them is what I heard before is that 14th Street for example was already changed yes and it's that was the first phase of West Avenue so that's was already completed and this one my understanding is that the Contra this was start in 2021 so the contractor already I think has purchased some of the because we already submit that before purchase yes purchase some of them I don't know the amount but that'll be a change as well so I just want to so if we request that the lighting be white to be consistent with sunet Harbor there's going to be one street where it's already installed that it's black it's going to be S it's going to be 14 10th Street H West Avenue from 6th Street to 8th Street because the lighting is already installed there they're already installed they already that from 2018 so basically we need to you're not really giving us a choice here this is already existing and if we want to be consistent we have to just do this I'm I'm I'm explain you can yeah I mean it's fine I'm just trying to get a sense of what is being required of us you know okay we're not the commission here we're not going to kill you you know I just want to I'm like wait a minute I just want to make sure I'm understanding what's happening okay so cuz the impression that that I think certainly I had gotten was it the whole area was going to be redone and our goal to make things consistent it seemed like we had a bit more of a blank slate to say okay this is what would be better yes there's there's a phase one that was already completed so we're trying to to yes okay is there other than going back to commission and saying we would like to change the design of our street lighting um and the fact that um we would have to increase the variety of inventory that we have for the repair and maintenance of the existing pedestrian and not pedestrian but street lights that we have that look like the acorn is there anything else that we can do so that it becomes more of a modern light similar to the one by F dot this is the first time that we as residents probably at least I as a resident want to mimic F do you no typically that's not the case but is there anything we can do to have more of a um modern type Street lighting yeah what could like we I could bring this to to to upper management so we can investigate the the the options that we have but it will be updating the standard which is a process that we have to do and then we can update it and then we do updates every certain years usually no I would like to do that because it we just finished one we just finished one this year so we take yeah I don't think that drb ever had a a a say in what the commission passed because it doesn't have anything to do architecturally with anything in the city that's all I would like to make I would like you to do that and I if if not now at least for the future to explore I not keep putting these horrible lights everywhere I I think for now we should approve what is before us with the caveat that going forward the next time 10 years from now probably when you do go with another um design for pedestrian and Street lighting that it be brought for recommendation or input of the design review board understood okay yeah because it seems at this point there's not that many there's no option there's not a lot of options this is it and you just need a yes to move forward and we're holding up the whole thing so I make a motion if we're ready to approve the um pedestrian and uh Street lighting um for the West Avenue uh project and to request uh City Administration in the future to um obtain input from drb on the design of the street lights I apologize would you like that to be a separate recommendation that we can transmit to the city commission as an LTC sure yeah I and can I edit the recommendation slightly like I think it's more than the street lights I think it's if there is a holistic plan that we can see that so we can comment on all aspects of the material there is it goes with um waste baskets um bus benches uh sign talk about like The Pump Station enclosures and that okay I second the motion so so um just procedurally so so can we look at the project first and then a SE a second motion for the LTC a separate motion because this was just approved by commission so we're not going to change it at this point they've gone through a whole process on it um but I think Ro Helio when it goes to the city commission if you can explain in that correspondence why you know that we would like to um and and holistically at a whole project you know of Street furnishings and um generator enclosures Pump Station enclosures just yeah that's the street uh signage um although signage was recently after many years of quarreling with fot it finally got approved many many years of painful painful painful okay so for the project we have a motion do we have a second for the second second by Miss Meer all those in favor I I opposed can I check every CP just does that also include the uh the screening approval yes screen the appreciate it than um and then for the L to an LTC to the commission do we have a motion uh to transmit an LTC with that recommendation to the commission I'll make the motion okay motion by second that motion okay uh all those in favor I I I any opposed no motion passes okay thank thank you thank you very much okay moving on to our next item uh drb4 10391 1691 Michigan Avenue an application has been filed requesting design review board approval for a proposed valet pickup and drop off service area to replace a drive-thru Lanes in existing office building oh um I think I don't think all the clients were here to be sworn in if oh guys quickly um if you could please stand and raise your right hand uh do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do all right thank you okay so um this application is related to the office building at 1691 uh Michigan Avenue um the office building was here before the board in September um to approve a complete uh redesign of the exterior including recladding uh of the facade so you may recall that item um now the applicant is here in regards to the driveway uh SL former Bank drive-thru that's located off of 17th Street on the Eastern end of the property they're proposing to redo that driveway to turn it into the the bank formly is a bank bank drive-through teller uh to turn it into a valet drop off area um so as part of this they're reversing the lane So currently you access that area from Lincoln Lane North and you exit onto 17th street they're reversing it so you enter through 17th Street um and exit out to Lincoln lane north um as part of this they're proposing to enclose that driveway area currently it's completely open facing a residential building that's very close um to the um to the to the building and so they're proposing to enclose that which should help minimize any sound um and so this will become the valet SL signature entry for for the for the building including um um the office tenants and they recently received a variance from the board of adjustment um to allow for an alcoholic beverage establishment a bar to be located on the third floor um which is primarily going to be used during the day as an amenity for for building for the tenants it has to be used for tenants during the day and then at night it would be open to the public um part of that variance request required that the drb look at this and and to ensure that the that the driveway be screened from the adjacent property um so they're doing that they're proposing to to fill to create a solid wall um so that it's um so that it's uh buffered from the adjacent residential property um staff does have concerns there is a small setback uh from the property line to the building um there's some minimal Landscaping there and there's no fencing so that can create some security concerns people can get into that so staff does recommend um that there be some fence a fence place there to to seal that area off and protect that area um and there's a utility poll in the front that could use some improvements so we would recommend that they work with FPL to to improve that that structure which I'm sure they would want to do anyways um so with that staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached draft order ready so good morning Madam chair of board staff Michael lurin representing the applicant forgive me I'm working through a little bit of allergies today I I thought the Allegra would kick in but it has not yet so I will Soldier on though um here repres the applicant with me from the applicant is Robert ravani and Patrick Cory we have Jose goz our architect of record we have Carlos riguez our designer staff as R noted is recommending to approval we accept all the conditions set forth in the staff recommendation a h also told you Robert uh has purchased a long-term lease interest in this office building some months ago now it's situated the corner of uh 17th Street and Michigan Avenue the southeast Corner Nick can you pull up the upon the purchase of this leasehold interest Robert immediately and preparing plans to improve the building he coined the class X it's what he would like an office building to be in the future with all sorts of different amenities that even a Class A office building at this point in time would not have um you all have already approved a redesign of the exterior elevation now we are back before you all asking for your approval for a redesign of the ground floor driveway that goes from 17th Street to Lincoln Lane North this will be converted from what was probably used as a driveway extension for Jefferson Bank which was there as the original Bank tenant on the ground floor um now we' like to convert it to a valet to serve the entire building when you park in the garage is a little an awkward experience in that if you're visiting the office building or tenant there you have to exit the garage go out into the sidewalk come back into the lobby there's no interconnection that's internal between the garage and this office building as a result Robert is proposing this valet area to meet the needs of tenants and visitors me do the these are just different pictures of the uh I don't want to make mistake Ralph did as clear uh these are different pictures of what it looks like from 17th Street and then the one with a portapotty is from Lincoln Lan north um different views of it is going to vastly improve from its current condition um we are sensitive to the needs of our residential neighbor to the east regarding their peace and quiet they don't like the current condition the openness has always bothered them so what we are proposing and we've entered into a support agreement with them is that we will construct a wall that will be the whole length of the property it as um as a additional profer it includes foam within the core of the wall which acts as a noise absorption material um So based upon that they have entered into a support agreement with us and they are pleased staff also raised that as one of their concerns so we're also addressing staff's concerns by having a wall go along the length of the property um and with that I turn over to our design team and they'll walk you all through the remainder of the presentation good morning Madame chair other board members my name is Carlos Rodriguez I'm the principal of its scal Forma studio um the continuation of this design approach is taking into consideration the design language that was established on the facade we want the uh experience to be continuous so as the main approach into the garage the building pulls you in and we conceal currently um mechanical equipment that is exposed in this entry and we support the traffic flow within this area there is really u a confusing pattern whether it be the drop off as Michael discussed on um Michigan versus Pennsylvania so this design attempt is is to really create a condition where the experience is in design continues from facade exposure until the front door of the structure so as you see here we're carrying a variation of split face which is seen above um right here in the sample in the front and we are carrying the same design language of this curvature kind of luring you in into the that condition the this wall that separates the Residential Building um we have introduced a water feature that becomes a a whim Whimsical standpoint where it softens one the noise of a car uh coming into the space and it um takes you out of the condition of uh Miami Beach Street um as you see we've interlaced a bronze material that becomes a divider on the black uh gra uh quartsite material that you have in front of you we have first tried a lighter material but we feel with the use of the space car tires and marks this is the more forgiving attempt and it also links in that beautiful white vein um so it's not such a directly harsh black line so that's pretty much it can you show sorry can you show the exit of the vehicle the drawing that shows the exit into Lincoln Road lane or Lincoln Lane okay I also have a question too is the garage still going to be open to the public yes through a different entrance or there's a or no so there's there's an entrance there's entrances on Michigan and the Jefferson side that will still be self Park per the lease with the city it's required to remain open to the public okay but then if you were to come in off of what is it 17th does it also connect to or is that coming from 17th just for the tenants so any anybody would be able to use the valet correct I think anybody visiting the building would be able to use the valet they would have to come out onto Lincoln lane and then use one of those the entrance on Jefferson is where they would use to go into the garage but the the general public parking is it's the same event they all come together and it's sharing the same okay and the the uh valet Lane it's two lanes both heading southbound correct yes okay so um right now with this condition we're also um in introducing if you see where the mouse is the beginning entry where that curvature that um exactly that driveway changes the condition so now people that are going uh vice versa on 17th are not trying to go against traffic trying to come into the space there's only one flow from um 17th into the parking now unless unless you're coming you're heading west on 1th then you have to cross over you have to cross the street to turn in to that's prohibiting that so you can't make a left from 17th because oh because of the curve currently have that problem where you have that uh condition so in this introduction we're prohibiting that we're introducing that kind of medium that creates the barrier so the person heading westbound um how does he get into or she get into the valet drop off go ahead we have a traffic flow yeah so we can look at it through the so this would be the valley route but a person coming West would either have to make a u-turn at the Jefferson light or have to make a U-turn um or make a left and come around the block uh you can't just make a left from 17th there's not really a turn lane dedicated to go into this so it would be an illegal turn U so we can't allow them to make so making a uturn the quickest route would be making a U-turn on 17th in Michigan right correct and that's allowed currently yeah not for our valet but for for members for anybody as they can make the turn has there been discussion that people are going to try to do that anyway you know try when traveling less to come into the they're going to try um of course it's a human error um but how we designed it it it becomes a little bit discourages it it discourages it and it also becomes a little bit more of a difficult condition in the approach you see that barrier before you see the entry so if you look at go back into to the you'll see it previously here oh yeah so it becomes an aggressive push into that lane so it's going to deviate people from crossing over and how come you made that choice you just didn't want to back up traffic on 17th or I mean was that part of the discussion um that I I don't that wasn't a part of our part of our request that was that came about from from there TR it's a design decision because it's just an illegal turn there is no turn lane on 17th dedicated for this driveway so you'd have to cross a double yellow line you'd have to stop in 17th Street and then turn left and basically stop traffic so so you cannot turn right now it's an illegal turn if you turn in the middle of the block that's existing right you have to go to the light at Michigan and either turn or and maybe most of your T traffic generates going eastbound not westbound generally we believe so yes we don't have a a trip cardinal direction associated with this application but yeah we think so I mean I think this is one of those situations where you know how do you do you design to prevent that knowing that some people are still going to try or I guess the question is can you can you prevent that from happening and is the way to do it can um if you all know Marthur cosway now in the last 6 to n months they've installed I don't I know poles cuz people would go in the center lane and then try to jump over to the left lane to get onto the Alton Road flyover right so fot installed the series of poles um to prevent that last minute type of crossover it led to a lot of accidents um so similarly here we could work with the city's public works department to come up with see if they would be in favor putting like polls there they're not the most aesthetically pleasing thing but they will address this potential illegal traffic maneuver cuz I know that that's s that's what happened in front of the Trader Joe's where you know people were trying to turn mid block you know that's what happened in front of Trader Joe's where people were trying to turn mid block and then because it was hard to get into the entrance to that space and granted there's a lot more people going in and out Trader Joe's than there will be of this building but it's it's it's definitely a huge mess and a big problem that entrance though I think is a straight on entrance whereas this one is curved because of its design it discourages you from doing that that doesn't mean that some people will try to make the the turn in the middle of the block as they may be doing now all along 17th Street and the only thing I would add because it's super frustrating to me is that when you're trying to head westbound through the alleys that's the one alley that is one way uh East bound so you'd be in kind of this vicious circle of trying to unless you make a U-turn somewhere I mean signage would address it I don't think it's going to be a lot of traffic Ving in that building quite honestly I think it's going to be very minimal and and I think the design by the way is beautiful the materials are really nice and the the thought into it is really nice yeah okay just yeah no I agree I love this black and I think um also going with the dark color the especially this material it gives gives it an extra sort of level of Lux that I know is you know a part of the conception of the entire project so very nice I wanted to ask about um well the question I really appreciate and we did get an we did get um letters of support from The Neighbors in the adjacent building that in and I'm just bringing up a point that was made by staff about putting in that area lighting or security cameras is that something that yeah we're in agreement with staff's conditions we'll just work with staff us to the level of lighting to make sure that we don't the lighting doesn't become a Blair I was going to recommend too to work with the neighbors you know because yeah you want to live but not in their living room right okay I wanted also to commend you guys on the design proposal and appreciate bringing sort of the curve language you know from the main feature of the building into this space any other comments no does somebody want to make a motion I'll make a motion that we approve the valet um drop off uh proposed for the existing office building replacing the drive-thru lanes that are there now I second all right all those in favor I I I motion passes thank you thank you everyone okay by farewell moving along um drb4 1043 1015 Still Water Drive this application has been filed requesting modifications to a previously approved design review approval for the construction of a new two story residents with an under story and a variance for a height of the home specifically the applicant is requesting additional height as is permissible per the Land Development regulations all righty um so this is an application for a home that was previously approved it was approved on October 4th 2022 at that time the applicant had requested a variance to exceed the maximum height of 24 ft um to go to 25 ft a maximum height of 25 ft now the applicants uh since that time the the the city commission has authorized the board to approve a waiver to allow uh for a height up to 28 ft so they're they're simply here um to to apply for an extra uh I believe it's a foot uh 1 foot 8 in so so nothing else in the design changes they're just here uh to apply for extra height uh for their understory level um they feel that their understory level would be would be uh significantly enhanced if they had that extra head space um and it would be much more usable for the the resident so nothing else in the design changes um everything else stays the same I believe they've already started construction foundation work um so they so they wanted to get this approved before proceeding okay thank you so much um good morning members of the board thank you for your time my name is I apolog were you sworn in in the morning uh no okay yeah let me just do it real quickly um do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and not nothing but the truth I do all right thank you please proceed okay so um I'm Denise prel I'm the architect of this project and as explained by roio we had it um reviewed and approved by the drb on October 2022 at that time the coding effect allowed for a maximum 24 feet high and we were granted an additional one foot because this project uh is a twostory home with an under story so we were dealing with you know being able to fit everything correctly um the project has already started a foundation construction and the client uh here in this slide you can see exactly what we are requesting uh the client is a little bit concerned with the amount of space that we have in order to fit everything on the under story level and the ceiling height that we are going to get as previously approved so basically it's a small modification you can see on the left side uh the section showing how it was previously approved with a building height uh from freeo to the top of slab of 25 ft and on the new uh proposal on the right side you will see that H everything above the first floor would remain the same the only thing we're proposing is to raise the first habitable floor to 1641 versus 14.7 6 which was previously approved that's about 20 in and that would give us a little bit more space for the ceiling height and correctly placing all the systems within the plenum space under like between the first floor on on the under story um the building new building height would be 26 Fe 8 in and as you know we could potentially go up to 31 um so we're basically only addressing ing that concern uh the rest of the presentation shows just what was previously approved some comments we received from staff and in the side plan and the under story uh you will see that the only change it's clouded in red is we added three steps to the original uh staircase that leads from the under story to the first floor in order to achieve that height um since we're under construction we are eager to see these favorably reviewed by your end thank you thank you very much are there any members of the public wishing to speak no online we have two online um the first person is Dax secre he Dax secre hello can you hear me yes uh yes we can hear you Dax um I need to before you speak please do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes all right uh you may proceed thank you thank you for the opportunity um I'm the owner of 1025 Still Water Drive the property that's uh the neighboring property uh to the project um to the the West um and I'm not certain uh if the way that this variation or is being described correctly it seems that all of the floors are going to be affected not just the ground floor um and the project is already ongoing such that the tie beams have already been formed for this U ground floor so I'm presuming that those TI beams are at the height that they're requesting the variance for and not um the previous height that they were approved for my concern is that the uh Terrace that's adjacent to my property which seems to be being built not as per plans um this lot is um it's not a rectangle it has a it's more narrow on the Bay Side than it is on the street side and so if you look at the plans the building is supposed to be built those walls running parallel to the the lot lines and so it looks like they also have a a an area on the Terrace which is going to be the second floor or first floor from the ground floor um that's going to be at 11 ft um elevation and it has sort of a wraparound balcony aspect to it which is less than I think 5T from the property line so essentially I'm going to have a a big balcony um that's going to have people who are going to be uh overlooking basically my pool area making my property feel like if I'm in a zoo you know being uh looked upon by by the the ONG goers and of course this isn't you know a property that's being built for the the resident who's going to reside there this is a spec home that's being developed by the developer um to go ahead and flip and so I'm a contractor myself my experience with construction workers left to their devices they're going to build you straight lines rectangles squares 90° right angles which is what what is normally built um and I had sent you know some photographs taken from my property to show the point that I'm making that it appears that this building is not being built you know as it is planned here uh but rather is is sort of rotated on its axis towards the Northeast which makes you know these balconies that the neighboring property has even more harmful to I guess my privacy um and so I would request that the the board you know not approve any further um height variances um that to this project um in addition to the the terrorist that's that's of concern you know the the roof also is going to be what 30 ft up in the air that's going to have a roof Terrace and uh the the the setbacks to the side of the property are are not being respected Ed um and from my vantage point and I imagine they have a special inspector who was going ahead and you know doing the the inspection for the the construction um who's not going to care um like I do or like a city inspector would um uh with regards to the the the respecting of the the the setbacks and and how the the walls of the building are supposed to sort of parallel the um the diagonal nature of the of the of the side property lines which it doesn't appear that they're they're being built that way and my concern is that once they pour the concrete you know this is not something that's going to be easily changed as it is the the seaw wall um was also uh not shown on these plans but it it protrudes past the property line 4 feet into the water um which I can see from my kitchen window uh so you know the once that conrete pour you I'm sure that the the the building department is not going to be you know asking them to tear it down but this is the stage in which these things can be thank thank you thank you for your call D let me ask you a question D Dax what you're to the west of this property or to the east your home can you that's the yeah can you can you repeat again that your home is to the west of this property or is it to the east of the property I'm to the west of the property I think Paul is here he's to the east of the of of of the property okay um thank you uh stay on the line we'll bring this up the next person is Matt Voit Matt I see you've unmuted yourself I think you can speak we can't hear you how about now now we can hi Max um I need Sor I need to swear you in before you continue please do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you'll be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes all right thank you you may Pro and you have one minute thank you okay thank you all right my name is Matt Paul voy D referred to me as Paul I go by my middle name pa um I live on the other side of the subject property at 105 Still Water next door I'm tell you the east side I think there was a little confusion I think Dax had said that the he thought that he was saying that the house his the proposed house may be rotated towards the North East I think Dax I think you meant north towards the Northwest towards your property um anyway I live North next door to the east uh Dax and Mr Sr and I of course stand have stand at the most to lose the most by being affected by this property and I'm bringing up up a different point this is a 50 foot wide property with setbacks of I believe eight or 10 feet so it's very close and so every foot of increase in height is an incremental loss for us as Neighbors of Sky views of sunset views of of an increase in the canyon-like effect the claustrophobic effect of having higher walls next door and they really you know when this house was first planned or when the plan was going through planning I believe in 2022 that the height allowed in this neighborhood was 24 feet because of the small width of the lots and so now from what I'm hearing today the height has been increased to an allowable 28 feet and he's asking for an increase from 25 fet to 268 Ines I believe I had to sign off on the previous waiver um when he was asking for the additional one foot now the plans have been approved for that additional one foot but to go one another almost two feet 1 foot 8 in you know is just an incremental loss and this as as Mr s said this is a speck house you know when I signed off I thought I was signing off for the neighbors and for this uh neighbor intent but it's a speck house and he's the developer is trying to maximize the the area volume of the house and in ordered for personal gain whereas we will lose you know uh just do the additional Sidelines like I said before um so I stand opposed to this uh proposed modification I allowed the first one and I and I just wonder why I wasn't asked to consent to the second one uh and I have other points but it sounds like I'm running out of time but anyway please put me on record me and my family is being opposed to this incident I mean this I'm sorry this in uh additional increase in in height variants thank you thank you very much for your call again we will address your concerns is there anybody else wishing to speak no other hands are raised okay I'm now going to close the public course and open up to the board for discussion um that's a the Dax has claimed that the building is not being built according to the approved plans is a pretty strong claim how how do you address these things or or what can be can we send somebody out there to can I make a comment to that I mean in the building process at each stage you have incremental surveys um so when the foundation be they have to lay it all out before it's poured or before they get the permit approval you know each step during the building there's a review process and so then uh when it's it's laid out they get approval then it's poured and then the next one is probably when they set the tie beams but they have to get surveys incrementally through now I mean the neighbors comment about is the city going to make it change but I would say yes because otherwise everybody is going to make you know oops I put it in the wrong line um to the Terrace now I wasn't here when we approve this but um the ter it does look like the lots have a 7' 7 in side setback that is supposed to be parallel to the piie shape but the terrorist was approved to intrude on that setback it does doesn't Dimension the plans don't Dimension how much it's intruding but it looks like oh yeah they do 1'8 in so um that was approved in the original design sorry I didn't mean to cut you off also but what we could ask for is and maybe you as the architect you should be able to tell us um you know the contractor is the one that gets those incremental reviews you know where are you in the as built survey process yeah okay so well first of all um as we said it's being built the what we did is as a preliminary uh review with a structural engineer we consulted this increasing height if it's going to have an impact in the beams and in the loads that are going to fall in the foundation he gave us his preliminary calculations and how that would affect the piles and the foundations and the client decided to ER even if it's a little bit um I would say over dimensioning the structure and it's going to be more costly he decided to accommodate those larger piles subterraneous because we wanted to have that in place If This Were to be approved I know that was H what was sent to the to the GC and it was also discussed with the inspector and it's like an oversizing in the foundation that it's underground that's what was discussed I know that they have been progressing on the job site but the idea was that they were not going to obviously proceed until we had this hearing and until we had a resolution um sorry is the Terrace in that sort of first I'm just addressing I'm addressing like underground referring to what's being built now okay now for the terce we but hold on one second can you make a clarification where do do you have an image of like the site today and how it's coming out of the ground and how it has progressed because I think the neighbor the first one Dak suggested that that first floor is already framed yeah no I don't have uh I I have the presentation of the plans I don't have that but we could request that from the general contractor and have it sent over for for your review as well but I know the convers like what I'm explaining is the conversation of the underground Foundation happened and we had to um understand what would be the implications of this additional hype in that Foundation um that's to address that and then I see the the projection on the on the West Side H if you see it on our presentation it has a revision Cloud that was one of the comments we received from staff it is um it is proposed at 1 fo8 and that's at 25% of the of the side setback which is as Allowed by code because it's it's a it's just an a if or I would say like an overhang a concrete uh overhang I can show you let me see some visuals one second okay so if you see that's the the rear view so towards the um right side you have the the concrete well to both sides you have a concrete overhangs and the idea is to make it feel it like a lighter structure uh we also Incorporated the the openness in the sight elevations per code so we are really not requesting any variations from the the current code on the projections or on the side elevations um if I can um ask uh or to comment on the inspections done during construction my understanding is that during the structural pores and beams um the structural engineer of the project comes out and signs the required forms and sometimes it it is accepted by the building department and they in turn do not physically come out on site when they do do come out on site what they're looking at is the structural Integrity of what's being done not necessarily if if they are staying within the required side setbacks boundaries shifting of the property that is more roel you correct me if I'm wrong or right uh they don't really look at the boundary survey to see um if it is being built according to the plants that is something that's done by planning unfortunately planning does not get to the job sites until the very end when the permits are closed um that was my understanding from Tom Mooney some time ago on a different project so that being the case what I would recommend is that we have the planning department go out and check to see if in fact the rotation of the building be it to the northeast or to the Northwest is actually happening two if the side setbacks are being adhered to three if the balcony is being adhered to as to how it it is being um constructed and as to the request for the additional height to 26.8 268 in 26 feet 8 in they currently are at 24 Ro Helio they are they they are at 25 they Reed the VAR the height limit used to be 24 they received a variance to go to 25 back in 2022 and they now want to go to 268 268 and what is the my understanding is the code allows 31 the code allows um 31 this is in the RS4 District so it it is Rec it is uh in progress to likely be changing back to 28 in the RS4 District um so 28 is is what we're we're not recommending that anything go above 28 at this point okay and they're requesting to go at 26.8 so my as one board member I would recommend that we go ahead and approve this um at 26 feet 8 in but with the caveat that the planning department together with building if necessary I don't know that building needs to go out I leave that up to the city but that the planning department go out to assure that things are being constructed as to the plans and the boundary survey that was um turned in at the time of Permitting can I make a comment to that so the tools that the planning department would use would be those incremental surveys done like planning department can't just go out there and they're not going to be able to measure things so I would say that if we amend the language to for the planning to specifically review or request an asilt survey at the current stage of the project my understanding is that there's a boundary survey elevation and boundary survey turned in at time of Permitting and then it is also turned in and only turned in at the end of the project I don't believe that there's surveys being done throughout the life of the project well every other municipality has it I guess I can't speak specifically to Miami beach but there's always the incremental surveys done yeah I guess maybe raelia what could you what did you suggest is that how I'm I'm I'm so I'm not an expert the building permit process and how often they're turning in the surveys I I'm I can't say that I'm super familiar with that um what I can say is I'll I'll reach out to the building department right after the meeting and and figure out what we can do to make sure that they're complying with their setbacks that are approved um in my conversations with building as well as planning unfortunately we don't have those incremental surveys unless it's changed in the last few months uh we do have one at the beginning one at the end turned in with the as builts uh unfortunately planning doesn't go out throughout the life of the project it goes out because of lack of Manpower or what have you goes out at the beginning and at the end um to do their inspection and I even discuss well you know that creates a problem because after the building is built let's say there is an encroachment into the side setbacks let's say there is a shifting of the building to the Northeast Northwest after it's built it's built and that un unfortunately has happened in a few homes um without saying their locations but it has happened um and I don't know that our so can we ask for just a a survey right now then in the process because I mean that's what planning like if we want planning to go out there fine but they would need to take the survey with I think it's planning that has to go out there maybe with building but I think the survey the the stakes are on site as to where the boundaries are and they can I believe if they need another survey so be it they can request another so they'll need to get a revision to their building permit if this is approved and we can put a condition that as part of that application they have to submit um an asilt survey done within the last couple weeks um and so that that's before we can approve the building permit to ensure that they're complying with the required set but that's specifically Planning and Building take a look at this to address the concerns brought up by these two neighbors um I know one the first neighbor Mr sack expressed that uh they were going up to uh that you were currently at a higher elevation than than is being presented so there there maybe also some misunderstandings as to what actually is happening I'm not sure but obviously um he believes that the that the property is being built higher than approved I will also say to you in the information that we got they said a variance to exceed by one foot but now it seems like it's almost 2 feet that they're asking for not one foot I'm I'm I'm very inclined to be concerned by the comments made by the neighbors um you know I these are these are narrow properties the homes are very close and I completely agree that one and a half more feet will have an effect because the properties are so close to each other have an effect on the residences that are existing now um I'm also going to point out too that you know we hear these projects all day long and people don't necessarily call in I just want to make sure that you know these two people these two neighbors took the time to call in and express their deep concerns and I personally you know that's something that I take very seriously that I don't think that this project was already approved with an existing height I don't see our particular reason for them to increase it like that they have aside from you know that they want it it it doesn't seem to have public good they already got a variance to go higher um and just because it took them a long time to build this I I don't see a particular reason because there is neighbor concern to Grant the additional height however I just want to make sure that they were given a variance for an additional foot to go from 24 to 25 but they're proposing now to go to 26.8 and they are allowed in that area in that zoning area to go to 28 so they're still below what is allowed um okay correct that yeah the maximum height limit changed within that intervening per taking advantage of the change in the code which I will also say too you know the code is everywhere throughout the city when you look at this specific context of this neighborhood we're actually seeing another property on this street and that also they wanted more height and the staff comment was that lots of that that the homes in the strip are all very low and recommended against it and here we are raising the height of a building so I think that you know we are allowed the drb is allowed discretion for these types of situations and that context is so important I'm I'm in favor of the height variance um I think the one that we previously approved you know I I do understand the the neighbors's calling but I feel like I would only be in favor of it if we had an as built survey done and made sure that it was being built as per approved plans and if they've already built the first floor you know tie beams at the higher height then I would be inclined to not approve the high request you know because that means they sort of have a disregard for the process so I'm wondering if we just need to continue after these things are reviewed well because I mean we can you know based on what I think that also gives the aquent an incentive to adhere to to these concerns and it I I think it sets it up to your point that there have been things that have been built that aren't according to plan this creates a little bit of a safeguard to the process what we can do to not have to bring this project back is say we approve the additional height of 26 ft 8 in however there first has to be a um site plan done or provided to the city that shows that there is that the construction that is occurring at this time is in accordance with plans and that that must be reviewed first by building and planning in order for them to proceed with the approval of this board's uh height increase that way if and if it isn't if they're not building according to plants that has to stop right away anyways it's not something that we have um and and that would also then reverse our approval for additional height Ria what do you think would be the best way to safeguard that things are built as they should be I I think we're comfortable either way if if it gives you a little bit more Comfort to review the the survey before beforehand and then feel free to continue the item um otherwise I think staff is comfortable reviewing a survey uh in advance of approving a building perit I this house has been in construction for years I don't think an additional month is really going to make a difference and it will safeguard you know there are there's been deep neighbor concern and if they are not building it appropriately you know this gives people an additional motivation um as to your point it's harder to go to change things once they're built I think that're catching it at an ideal time and I appreciate the neighbors calling in I I'm okay with staff reviewing um if it's roh Helio you know in conjunction with Planning and Zoning but if they're going to provide the asilt survey it's going to be very easy to see if the dimensions match I don't think it's going to add that much time right and I think I would request that photos be submitted of the current stage of the process okay so does anybody want to make a motion I can try to repeat the motion so uh I motion excuse me let me just add one thing I think that um what you're all saying is fine but it will stop construction at this point there's no question they shouldn't have made the mistake of possibly not building to what they told us they were going to build an Alle that's an allegation and I I it may be a true allegation and it may not be but um what I'm saying is we can approve the height increase but there has to be the first review by the city building and planning to assure with the proper docu necessary documentation that they require to assure that none of these items brought by the neighbors are accurate if they are they're in violation and the project will be stopped immediately it will be red tagged it will be stopped I don't understand what we're saying that's different than what you're saying she's saying let it let it go based on hopefully they'll do it versus what I'm saying is we going to have an additional layer of again like an opportunity for the neighbors to come in additional layer of checks and balances an additional assurance that this is going to get done appropriately and they're motivated to do it quickly because we're holding up the rest of the process let make a motion and say capture it so I make a motion that we approve the additional height dependent on a reviewed and approved as built survey as of today and pictures of the uh existing construction process by staff I second okay and then my question if it's not built according to then what happens if it's not built the building department will red tag the building and it will stop because it's at that stage it will not be allowed and it should not be allowed to go forward well would say in in terms of what's being brought to the drb if it's not being built per what's previously approved then we deny the additional height yeah yes right but if we don't the only way we can do that is if we do a continuance at least that's when I'm getting this on that's why I want a continuous to make sure that it's done before it's not part it can't be part of the condition if they don't meet it then it's denied or if they don't meet it they would have to make whatever change is necessary to meet it and wouldn't necessarily come back to the okay yeah I would I would like there to be a penalty if they've right that's what I'm saying if you structure it that way there's yeah okay so then what was your most do you want to continue or approve I don't know how everybody else is feeling but I guess let's continue do you do they bring it bring it submit to staff the current as built and the current pictures of construction if everything complies they come back to us and we approve the height increase uh is there a is there a second that any I'm sorry can I second it I think you the chair can second that motion I second I don't think you should come back if they are in in agreement with their plans if they are in agreement with their plans and they can proceed to go forward if you all as a board agree to the additional height otherwise in order to come back to this board what is the lead time now going to be three four months we if they need to do another another application it would be three or four months toing back so that would holdt construction I'm saying there may be a problem here and they there may not be a problem if there is a problem it's going to stop regardless of us as a board if there isn't a problem and we approve the additional height then they can go forward they don't have to come back to us I think a motion has been made and it's been seconded and so that would be continue to the December 10th meeting uh with direction to the applicant to to provide an ASU survey done today or subsequent to today um to ensure compliance with approved setbacks and plans prior to the appr um and as well as pictures of the ongoing construction can I can I ask a question because oh wait we still have to you have to vote on it MH yeah yeah we have a motion uh by by Miss Meyer and we have a second by chair Nelson so if if we're ready to vote all those in favor I I opposed I oppose so five to one the motion passes can sorry uh I so this means that we're going to have to apply again for the drb and no no no continue but you're you're on the December 10th agenda um typically two weeks prior to that meeting I needed I will need uh to be able to get it to the board members and to be able to look at it and analyze it before it goes to the board so that would be uh by November 28th I would need uh a survey and photo a survey an ASB built survey showing that you're in compliance with the setbacks and the plans um as well as photos of the of the ongoing construction okay and the the concern is with the setbacks encroachments on the site that that's a concern and that's why we need to show in this in the survey right correct well and also the rotation is the other concern that that sack the neighbor Express the rotation both of them actually sack and mat the rotation as to the northeast or the Northwest and also the encroachment of the balcony I think the concern is we just we want an asilt survey of what's built on the site right now okay and that it complies with the approved plants permitted plants okay and sorry just to clarify so if we have that and it shows that it's according to plans then the additional height would would be granted that that's what you're saying well no it's going to be continued n we'll decide that okay no because I what so once we get an approval we have to get all the construction documents the engineering plans everything done to then be submitted for permit so this is going to add a lot of time and cost for construction and again this comes well again you're the one that's changing the design you know that's what's going to add time and cost is you're changing the design we're just ask we're just saying that you can or cannot do it so what's really holding out the process is double-checking to make sure that everything is being built as approved and it seems like it's just going to be a few weeks delay um I might make a recommendation I don't know if this is appropriate the um that the neighbors that called in to maybe email you their concerns so you have it exactly and can you know discuss it appropriately sure so CU you know Dax and Matt you talked you didn't have a lot of time so that might be a good way to convey their concerns via email yeah we would be happy to receive that and also we can get the general contractor on board because I didn't know that was going to be part of the whole conversation so you know they have more knowledge of what's happening and how it's been built okay thank you very much I'm sure that we can find a way forward together thank you I appreciate it um did are the the D Bor yes okay here nice so we're going to go back now that an applicant has arrived we're going to go back to um here drb 23 0960 704 84 Street this application has been filed requesting design review approval for a new four story multif family building with one or more waivers to replace an existing residence on the site okay so last month uh sorry the month prior in September uh 3rd the drb uh reviewed this application um and continued the item um the drb had several concerns with the design of the project so the applicant has revised uh the design of the facade uh in order to uh meet the de Direction um so these changes include a lighter exterior colors which are more compatible with the surrounding neighborhood the height of the screening panel that surrounded the front staircase has been reduced uh decorative exterior screening now terminates at the top of the canopy structure instead of continuing all the way to the ground um and then an expanded aluminum screening um was uh replaced was replaced with a preforated uh wood finish metal panel um for the uh for the ground floor screening um so staff believes that these modifications are consistent with the direction of the board uh it creates a design that's much more uh compatible with the surrounding area and staff recommends that the proposal be approved subject to the conditions in the attached draft order Hi how are you well Janina here from red octobus and julana we're part of the design team um well we like like raelo mentioned we address the changes on the design like the layout it's all the same um as was R before uh what the idea is to change the heavy and dark colors that we had before for more light um like sand idea color we have some uh sand color bricks in the in the front wall and the idea is to use this um uh material that it's like an aluminum like for the mesh that you see there it will be made of aluminum but covered with a wood finish um has the frame around the screen or where does that go and there is a frame around the the the screen making like a like a neat finish for that uh a shape for that rectangle do you want to bring up the presentation oh I think it was it right so it's that that's the M the grill mhm um the idea of the frame is to highlight the entrance and to be continue with the with the roof in the entrance and in the in the walls of the balconies you can see the the light color bricks like a sand color beige um so the the darkest the darkest color is just a brown it's not black anymore and it's only for details like framing and the columns in the in the ground floor the the rest the the square will be like a white stle yeah well just to reminder like the the mesh the rectangle of the mesh is to cover the stairs that needs to be toward the front of the property for for the users to have the stairs as soon as they enter the building that's part of the requirement and uh we filter that that stairs with that mesh not being such a high like a heavy element what material is the mesh it will be like this it's like like an aluminum uh mesh but cover like in in a light wood finish okay so so they look like that who's the manufacture of that do you know who's the manufacturer I don't remember right now and just a question do you know if that is painted or printed on there it is printed on printed yeah it's it's made for exterior yeah actually um sorry uh we are working with a scho firm that is you know a really major company uh for finishing for this kind of project so we are working to together to find you know like the best solution for the project to find to get at the end of the project this build uh while you're talking about the material sorry that we're interrupting you but you're referencing sort of the screen as a mesh where your renderings I actually thought it was like a masonry block screen but can you talk about the type of material that is the the mesh you're proposing sorry I I I the mesh didn't follow the the mesh is the one around no no that's what I thought Oh you mean you're making a grid it's like a grid made of out of that material yeah it's perforated aluminum how is it joined it's it's uh one uh it's layer one in front of the other okay the idea of how you know this mesh on the front of the building is to cover the stair yeah yeah no I love the idea of the mesh I thought that it was Amry material and it's going to allow you know like a the wave just going the wing and to have the open space the Chade that is going to have at effect of the sun to have you know like something different is going to cover the stairs but it's going to be part of the of the facada and that is going to be uh with think that is going to add some value to the neighbor and it's going to yeah cover that functional St that we have in the front are the dark trim elements the same is that just a darker finish yeah it's a darker finish okay yeah still aluminum is there more to your presentation or do you want us to start asking we have well we have a few more views if you want to if you want to show the screen um well basically like to not make it like a like a heavy volume again it is uh separated creating continuity in in the staircase but at the same time trying to make it lighter so that's what you see there in the isometric that that it's not covering the entire stairs and the inside of the balcony uh walls the inside balcony walls are beige color okay the same thing with the wall that I see on the right hand side of the building mhm that's just paint different color of paint or is that a different texture the white frame of the balcony is white outside and a Light Beige in inside right and on the side and then and then the the wall of the department the apartment will be like in a beige brick and then on this side uh we are uh doing like the the same beige color which is a paint it's not any kind of texture or material all the way on the right hand side of the building all the way towards in the side faad mhm uhuh and in the in the in the back uh that is the small image there uh we are proposing the same is the white frame uh with the beige color in in the inner sides of the of the square and uh like the walls for the apartments with the with the bricks so only on the sides uh like the side facades will be the the V to off like match matching the one inside the frame balcony mhm can you show the side what you're referring to well the the the colors um but I I don't know if I have actually that's the only one that we have yeah the symetric will be the the one showing more of the side no the original one so the idea is to have the box is going to be white with this interior color that is going to pump the elevation and then the other part of the building is going to be in this Brickle base that you going to have add some texture uh to the building and and then in the back we are going to have the same condition that we had in the front that is the Box in white to so that brick that you're referring to was in a previous picture where is that placed is that on like in the in the front and in the back uh the side of the building the side of the building okay in the front of the building when we have the railing that wall is going to be with that texture mm can I ask a a question I know that we're talking about 60 now but 61 is sort of part of it and I know we've talked about the two projects before and I'm wondering if it's your as a your architectural intent to have a shared design language between them or not or you prefer not to no actually the the other one is completely different yeah I know but I I was going to make a comment based on your and it was it was more similar maybe at the beginning but with the neighbors uh feedback on the first presentation we change it for more uh like they were asking for Miami colors H trying to to H do a modernized version of what they have around um that's why it changed that that uh drastically well I I'll just say that I appreciate um wait a minute let me see so is that the end of your presentation thank you very much don't know um are there any other public comments anybody online hands please raise your hand no okay great I'm closing the public person sorry sha sorry I was jumping ahead I just want to say that I appreciate your guys's um continued effort to respond to Miami context neighborhood context um and still try to bring some you know originality to the building's design um I'm surprised by the proposed material for the screen but in terms of an architectural design I I'm all support what we're seeing here and um I I hope that you guys I wish you luck in detailing the screen um um so I don't I don't know I I support this I I really appreciate the way that you sort of make the building porous along the east side um and and articulate it I do wish the west side was articulated a little bit more but I understand you know with the plans and trying to fit you know units in here that we we can't get everything that we want you I was going to say too this is such a I think this is the most dramatically different project that we've ever seen and good job um thank you so thank you for that and also of course for the other one um my it's funny I think we all had a different response or interpretation of what this screening is again I think it's a beautiful idea my I initially read it as um like gold aluminum actually as circles that was punched out which really would give the building a very sort of myo flavor um and I I think it reads in these materials almost like a caning um effect I would encourage I almost like the idea of it being more you know bronze or gold more in terms of a tone as opposed to a wood tone and would want to I just think it it would provide a really interesting contrast to have that a little bit of I don't know metallic shiny feel um if you can choose whatever finish is possible which it seems like it is I don't know how anybody else thinks but I thought that that that's initially what I read it as not from that manufacturer but we we can check the only concern that I have with the metallic is what happens with the rain you know if it end up like all like uh with the with the drops stains and you know that's what I don't know how I mean bronze not a bronze like a an aluminum you know like a brass an aluminum brass okay that would be you know I also thought that the holes it the holes were sort of punched out as opposed to this grid that you're proposing you know yeah that's what I so that's what I thought um my I am a little bit I I don't really know how I feel though about this this brick texture effect um what I don't want it to appear as is more um like concrete block so it has this institutional feel um I I don't know if I really like the I think it's necessary and I think it's a really good idea to have a texture especially there's so much of it I don't know if the brick pattern would be the the residential brick not the not the CMU brick will be like you know I don't know what are I'm looking at on the materials board where it says beige stucco brick texture I'm assuming it's beige sto and then you just sort of imprint the pattern oh no yeah yeah so I'm just I I don't know if that's the texture or again I don't want it to make feel more institutional that was also my my one concern with it as well I mean I'm thank you for listening I think that this is very refreshing and great overall design that was just the one confusing piece to me was the stucco with brick texture it just didn't seem to go with the rest of the design which is very sophisticated I don't know it's not going to be the staco texture it's going to be like the the the Finish breaks you know what can you bring up the picture it's page nine of the presentation it that's the materials board yeah so I think the legend is wrong it's not the sto it's like the Finish you're going to see the the regular old bricks the small ones that uh it's a thin a thin like a tile application so it'll be actual TI brick a veneer a brick veneer I think exactly it's not going to be the stco Prest in no and is that like a natural stone or like what that's why we are like applying it especially in the front and in the back because it is obviously expensive for all the side setbacks um so can you show where that's going to be versus just painted so so like in between the windows in the front and in the rear facade like the the you have you have all the can you go to page seven it has I think better renderings that you can yeah there okay yeah so basically all these walls in the front are going to have that briak like in what is like remind reminding after like the the windows right or the sliding doors and and in the in the back will be the same it will be here so basically we have like a smooth beige in the interior of this large frame here that will be like a light beige color and then we're going to have the texture with this similar color for the bricks here the bricks be here and on the side and on the sides we don't have uh like very much detail on those no on the side of the bu building yeah you had a there let me see if I have elevations here's drawing you were on it before that page seven so uh yeah yeah so like in the S it's going to be sto you're not going to see the bricks but painted beige but painted beige okay to to keep it with the with the same language but you know like that finish for like the entire side of the building it's a like a lot of money okay basically maybe also I guess in the sample that you gave with the brick I guess cuz there was the seams I I don't know it's just you want me to go to the materials yeah it's just sort of R you know we had the same concern so just want to make sure that it's not no it's going to be the V it's not going to be the stle printed with the texture is going to be the real one okay and what is the veneer is that like a natural stone or is that I don't know what they made bricks okay and it's in the color tone of okay I have a a question for you the the proposed height of of the four story is 40 ft and the maximum allowed is 50 but your highest projection is 55 is that up on the roof where the equipment is yes can you show that um so that's that white the the building height it's measured to the to the slab so like it will be this this L this line here what is above that is the the Machinery of theor okay An Elevator Shaft okay and then you have seven units but five parking spaces are being provided there was no room to accommodate a parking space for every unit it it was You by traffic and it's impossible okay I also had a question to also listen the materials board is a white vinyl fence where is that well it will be the vinyl fence I'm not sure if it's going to be white uh where is that along okay we propos the white but it can be changed it's like the idea to have the the vyl that's the the border around it yes but if you want another color we open no it was more the material you know fin is a little cheap yeah because we we think the options are black or white so because this project is more like a brown you not got to have this different tone we just want to have the symbols and we think with the landscape it's going to much better so do you rather have an aluminum one the idea is to cover completely they have a 100% coverage for the Neighbors sure I mean is it going to be covered by Landscaping ultimately it also so it doesn't well I mean it's going to beot though it's how tall is the fence I think yeah 6et is is the maximum allowed U yeah we are in compliance what the co is asking uh depends on the on the location of the fence and we have the Landy design also in the sides of the setback so that's what I remember what is the height of the Landscaping on the setback where that fence is um eventually what is it proposed to grow but it's not going to be that high sorry it's not always lower than the fence yeah for sure what I mean is the colors when you are seeing the the total picture you going to have the green and the white that is going to be the fence and then you're going to have the building so we just want the intend is to have um a linguage between all the elements so the current proposed material for the fence is is white Vil vinyl vinyl okay and I'm sorry I have one more question just back to Shauna's point about consistency and I realize that that's they're they're far apart geographically so I understand why you're not doing that um but one just one thing I noticed that there's signage for that says Debora 3 on the subsequent project that we're going to see but there's no signage at all on this kind of identifying that was that just a a choice by the developer or no we didn't address the the signage actually it wasn't something was in the volun Tre that we add the sign and for this one because we have the the mesh disper we don't want to add more elements we just want to keep it clean for this project okay okay thank you someone want to any other comments someone want to make a motion uh I motion to approve a second okay oh there was a lot of discussion though about the color of the mesh or the material aterial should we make a friendly amendment that the material is as presented or what is going to be used or explore the pallet right I can make a friendly amendment that the the Brick be you know the brick veneer brick material not a stamped stucco um that the the fence be explored um and then I think the screen we look we said you know that the screening element as the prime feature on the front facade you should explore the finish for that and the screening too it it goes in all not just the front facade right I mean but those big AR elements it should be consistent but maybe it it has a different finish in exploring sort of the actual articulation of of the physical screen do we need to make a point about the brick texture on the front since that's inconsistent with what is in the presentation or because it says stco right now yes yeah said that it should be that it would be brick not Soco do you want me to start over can I just so you're talking about the stucco finish on the side elevation well I guess honestly that's there's either inconsistencies in your guys's presentation um I think what we would like to see is no stamped brick on the stucko anywhere and in your guys's renderings I don't know if you want to bring it back up you definitely show more brick like on the main mass of the building the second Mass oh okay like uh see that middle Mass that's rendered as brick but you're saying it's not brick like on the side you said yeah this yeah that whole Mass yeah you've shown that as brick and what is the intent there well the idea is not making it so expensive like that vine is expensive maybe we can use so I don't know if it's color I don't know if it's painted the same color as your second color on the interior of that but I think we would rather see it just a color but not a I mean they could explore you could explore a textured stucco but not imitating brick I don't know and the same I think it's the color col seems to be where you're trying to get to yeah so maybe just horizontal score lines but not the the vertical score lines that would make it appear like brick I wouldn't want it be that limiting I think they could explore well yeah like just a textured pattern not imitating brick yeah okay got it yeah we just want to make it consistent with what they're saying what we're seeing what you guys are reviewing because the presentation just says that it's um stule but then the The Legend is WR that's the the confusing but then on the the front in rare facades there is it's a a tile or a brick or a non stuckle material and that to work with staff on the colors and tones of the mesh screening and I would I mean I'm sort of envisioning too with the the I I wish I could remember what building it is but often times you'd see in myo architecture to have like a you know a brass an aluminum but in a brass color screen I'm going to I'm going to search up for options yeah either way just like to to mention that in that pattern it looks really nice especially because you see like like a big panel so at the distance it creates that kind of like a a fa fabric yeah feeling mhm okay so did we you you made the motion I oh yeah I make the motion I think melio is recording the friend L amendments amendments okay I got them yep the explore replacing stucco brick texture finish with other texture finish subject to review and approval of Staff work with staff on on revising colors of mesh screening um and I think that's those are the two two big ones unless I missed anything and that I sorry where the where the brick actual like where it's shown as brick it's actual the brick material not stco V veneer or rck veneer yeah yeah okay I guess I'm just not seeing that in the but they're saying there's there's an inconsistency so we'll look for that in the Legend um I think it was page seven Legend of materials shows the break and the legend shows it to be stuckle instead of a brick veneer but but also to be clear that in their renderings they're showing the same rendering representation but they're actually proposing two different material so like on the front in between the windows that'll actually be a brick veneer product but then on the larger mass that middle Mass where they're showing in a color that's going to be a different color sto stco with a texture but it will not have the brick veneer the brick veneer yeah we veneer actual Bri okay I think I got it all right so I have a motion by Miss Meyers second by Miss Bui um all those in favor I I I any opposed motion passes thank you um and now let's hear uh for the next one right this next one drb 23961 2125 Bay Drive this application has been filed requesting design review approval for a new for four story multif family building with one or more waivers to replace an existing residence on the site okay so this is uh Dora Bay 3 yes um again same same this this project uh was reviewed on September 3rd um the Dr sorry came before the board on September 3rd the drb continued the item um to October 1st um and now we're here today October for the November 5th meeting and they've made some changes to address some of the concerns that were raised by the drb um so specifically these changes are the use of lighter and brighter colors that are more consistent with the architecture of the city um the wood screening in front of the stairs above the ground level and and ground level facade were replaced with two different types of screening the screening in the front of the stairs above the ground level is proposed to be a yellow stucco with a smooth finish and then the ground level was replaced with vertical louvers um however in this case we'll note that the material is not listed in the materials Legend So we do recommend that they clarify that to day um and then a met metal canopy structure was added to the ground level yeah um and then the expanded aluminum screening was replaced with a perforated wood finish metal panel um so staff believes that these modifications are consistent with the direction of the board as well as previous recommendations from staff and represents a significant Improvement in the design of the building and staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached order so well with this one uh as I mentioned before excuse me um we just realized that we did not swear you in since you came in later so I'll just do it really quickly um do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you gave and you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes all right thank you you may proceed um well um at the at the end of the first presentation we have uh a conversation with the neighbors um basically they uh requested to respect more like the identity of the of the those uh blocks surrounding the project um and basically what we try to to address here is again with the lighter color no industrial look at all and uh with the with the addition of some texture and some colors trying to make it uh more simple in shapes uh but respecting the the the past past pel colors of Miami um and well uh with no uh so many shapes not not so loaded in the facade that's what uh we played with and while in the in the ground floor trying to cover the entrance and the garage and playing with those vertical uh Stripes where the pedestrian entrance is more uh per able uh and we think it looks pretty open does that conclude your presentation uh well yes basically the layout is similar to the to the other project and it that didn't change from from the uh first presentation so uh all we are addressing right here is like the aesthetic of the facade yeah so uh I would like to add like I we were looking just find you know to play with the elements to find a composition that is uh is a balance between the empty and the F and the solid elements just to you just to have um some kind of um Harmony Harmony and the faada so that's the reason why we're playing with the vertical elements the solid elements and the on of the entrance just to have you know like a a interest building of the Vol tree yeah thank you uh is there anybody uh general public speak like a few additional perspectives U just for you for your reference uh we are continuing with the with the um I call it Flamingo color the flamingo color like on the on the side of the of the building too to give it like some Unity to what it's going on around um the same with the with the yellow uh block that it's uh helping to cover this stairs same situation as before we have the stairs pretty much in the front facade so we're trying to uh Des simulate that they are like the main element in the front so that's why we we play with the volumes um I think that uh yeah well in the in the back we have the same color like it's like a like a stripe that it's uh cutting by contining in the same uh height and dimensions all around the the building so you can see it better there and we still have the the yeah the covering of the corridors with those uh um it's not a mesh it's um like a w wired a trellis it's not not the trellis vertically the the two corridors are continuing we have like a like um like a Pao in the second floor and it's giving uh the idea of continuing with the green giving this I don't know if we have like an interior perspective here no okay um yeah like a light wall but permeable not so dense it's not like a green wall it's like the wires H let letting the the ve the vegetation to to Rise um and it's a beautiful feeling I don't have the in in this change I don't have the the interior perspective of the corridor but you have that shadow of the plants it's it's very biophilic let's say okay does that conclude your presentation yes yes okay fantastic is there anybody anybody members of the public wishing to speak anybody online uh we have Dak SEC hands raised it may be from the previous application I'm not sure if you have any comments on this item I'm sorry I was email address of so I can send the photographs that I just took the video of the condition of that project at 10:15 you know what Dax we've actually moved on if you could submit your materials directly to the planning department you you can email drb miamibeachfl.gov thank you thank you okay I'm now closing the public portion opening it up to the board um I will say I think this is fantastic and what again massive transformation um I'm so glad that you took the time to chat with the neighbors and it really I think and I hope you will everybody on your team will agree resulted in in a much better beautifully building for this Miami Beach location so thank you thank you yeah I agree I mean the only thing I'll say is I don't know these colors look a lot different than well they those are like standard colors they have but they can customize the colors as exactly as the render because I like those like a little cliche to me um but the yeah the colors in the presentation are great so that's really all want material though okay material got it they they can customize the the the exactly color code that we provide yeah unfortunately you know because it's a small piece it took so long to find the right color so we try to have several um samples but of fortunately we yeah there was not enough time but the idea is to use the aloon that is going to be a custon color okay thank you yeah the colors in the presentation are gorgeous so yeah I agree just wanted to clear that up thank you yes thank you I I Echo um what was just said the colors are very nice I have one question um you have the sign on this building the Dora sign what material is that well um we that probably is going to be an aluminum too mhm aluminum color I I believe so it's not uh decided yet but most likely uh I really appreciate appreciate again the effort um the care to detail you know I think you guys are providing the right amount of Design Elements uh creating a language without it being overly fussy so I would be excited to get this uh see this uh project built it feels Miami Beach meets like Palm Spring and it kind of excites me about sort of the future of a Miami Beach design language you know it pulls from the past but looks forward so I'm excited about it yeah I agree and I think that is this um these new regulations get realized as structures I think something like this is is and the other one too but this one even more so is going to be looked at by other Architects as this is what because you did take that requirement of that the stairway needs to be in the front but added you know just enough artistic screening to it to have it feel cohesive um a statement but not an overbearing ing one um so it's it's amazing to me what a change of palette and you know certain forms can do um I'm a little concerned and it's just because I've been noticing this in different buildings around town um the the the TR the the I don't know what to call it the trellis detail with the the green green the green strings just because I was just taking a walk last night um and you know walk by a home it was a new home um and they had that and it it it it wasn't it wasn't successful and there's also there's a building on Alton Road that also has it you know also not successful and that it just look you know the vines are dying dry yeah the vines are dying it hasn't it's sort of filled in but it it's just it just looks like it's struggling and and I want I don't know how if there's a process in place or how to ensure that that doesn't happen because I think if it works it does look lovely and I like the idea of it filtering in but I think if it doesn't work and um and are these going to be rentals or condos rentals you know I I want I would think there going to be a management I would say like you know maintenance is a concern so how what is the system you know what's the irrigation is the light correct you know what what are those is it just wire what does it look like before if the if the pl in the meantime they they check which plants go better I believe like the landscape architect will will decide which one is more um strong to survive um there's going to be irrigation and the idea is not to be like an entire green wall all covered the idea is to make it light like lighter in density and and you have those wires already as the mesh and the rest is uh like a companion like like growing together you know uh I do believe that there is a lot of buying plants that can survive I believe that depends on the selection I'm not an expert on PL so have you done this previously and seen it succeed uh no that's the first time I proposed this yeah I I would just request that as you're looking at the design and layout of it Envision it if if it doesn't take as planned you know to make sure what is that going to look like because a screen and of itself you know a mesh itself can be nice as well um I mean I want it to succeed but from what I've SE that's my idea that already already owe those uh wires uh to create already like an aesthetic look in case that they want just to remove the vine and it still look nice yeah yeah that's all I was going to say is I think it's the scale of the installation you know like if the wires thems have a nice filigree and texture which that's how you've been describing it then if the vines aren't there it's still beautiful and I can't speak to the one that you saw but I know sort of at the larger commercial scales often the buildings that that's the bigest there before we change the industrial [Music] look I was just going to say that sometimes when this is applied at a larger scale than like the scale of the the um architect Ure is kind of ugly if there's nothing to cover it but if it's done at the right scale it can be nice if there's no plans you know just making sure because like you said it could have a good effect just and and I I agree with you like I I like the project to continue with the purpose from the beginning to the end it's not like you finish the project and like right you know yeah well and like I said I just saw this last night and thought Oh that's on theirs um and it was you know it was It was a multi-million dollar house so it's not like they didn't have the budget to maintain it for whatever reason it wasn't succeeding and the light like all the elements were there for it to succeed and it wasn't so just a cautionary tale anyway any other comments anybody have any I mean I'll just add that I mean there's a building close to where I live that I've seen is successfully done so if you want to go by like at it's on West and like 12th or 13th um so maybe consider it's a big a bigger scale building but they successfully were able to do that which is I think it's the Morano is that it's right across from the Bikini Hostel if you know what I'm talking about um yeah maybe 1250 West the address okay yeah I'm going to take a look yeah there's also the ballet valet parking garage that's been in existence now since the 1995 and it's all Shrubbery on the outside and um it's on um colls Avenue in about sixth or 7th okay Street perfect yeah thank you thank you for the suggestion um does anybody want to make a a motion make a motion that we approve the um design project project design second Motion in a second all those Motion in a second made all those in favor I I any opposed motion passes congratulations thank you see you next month December 10th and December thank you for another Pro um is is the lunch here yet or lunch is here yes I wonder if we can take maybe a 15minute lunch break I know that we still have a full docket so I don't want to take too long does that seem appropriate okay so it is 12:05 uh will reconvene at 12:20 to continue thank you thank you e e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey hey hey hey hey hey heyy heyyy heyyy [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to begin remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public record please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 Welcome Back to the November 5th meeting of the design review board we are going to continue with our agenda with uh drb number 24-104 5437 West 31st Street this application has been filed requesting design review approval for the construction of a new two story residence with an under story including a variance to reduce the front setback and including one or more waivers located on a vacant lot okay sir um okay so this is an application for a for an understory home um this is on on probably the most irregular lot that I've seen in the city it's an L-shaped lot um and so as a result of the configuration of the lot they've had some interesting issues that they have to uh navigate in order to fit the home on the site um so on the on the l-shapes lot they have an East West portion um there's really it's very narrow there's really not much you can do with that portion of the lot so they're not proposing to build any structures on that it would just remain as open space on the on the on the more standard configuration portion of the lot is where the is where the where the primary home will be located um the home is of a a contemporary style um they are requesting a setback variance in order to be able to fit the unit size that they're allowed to build on the a lot um and so the the the the variance that they're requesting is to allow them to have a 15t setback as opposed to what is what is typically required which is a 30 foot setback um staff is okay with the variance because it is compatible with the with the setbacks of the homes along uh West 31st Street um most of the homes do have a 15ft setback so it would follow that line that that the that the existing homes on that Frontage follow um and it does um it does it is a practical divil that they wouldn't otherwise be able to fit the unit size that they are allowed to have on the property um one issue that we do have concerns with is they are requesting an overhang um that would sort of reduce that setback so this would be on the top level um that overhang would would go out um about 9 ft so there so essentially that set that would only be set back 11 ft staff is concerned that that projection is a little far um and staff recommends that that projection not exceed one foot from the facade of the from the primary facade of the building um the applicant is also requesting waivers similar to some of the previous applications um the the code requires that for uh two story elevations that exceeds 60 ft in length that you have the the open space requirement in this case their elevation exceeds that by 5T um and so they are requesting a waiver to not provide that open space um they do um they are providing some um some um design some recesses in order to break that facade break up that facade and meet that intent however staff does recommend on on one of the planes staff does recommend that they uh explore incorporating additional recesses and wall ples on the East facade so on the west facade they have a little more movement on the East facade staff is recommending um that they explore with us ways that they can incorporate some recesses in order to provide some more movement into that facade um this they have another waiver um related to the uh Second Story setback so there's a requirement that there be an additional um setback uh of 5T for the second floor elevation um um and so the uh I apologize I misspoke on that that's not a the third waivers yes okay no I so the second feed is requ the second floor um is required to have a setback of 5T from the first floor elevation for a minimum of 30% of that facade um and they are requesting a waiver of that requirement um given the design of the home um it's it's not really needed it's a contemporary home the the the way it's designed sort of provides that movement so staff is not opposed to the issuance of that waiver um so with that um staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached draft order and uh inclusive of the requested variants um um with the condition staff propos that the that the overhang be reduced um and that there be additional that they work with staff to incorporate additional recesses into the East facade thank you begin good afternoon Madam chair M of the board I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you um but were you here this morning to be sworn in okay perfect okay good afternoon Madam chair members of the board Mickey morero here on behalf of Sue Al parza the new owner of this property with me today Jose Vidal from V3 architecture and my colleague Ben Sherry uh we as as we noted and if we can get the our presentation up on the screen thank you um as we noted this is a very very unique lot frankly when we saw this application for the first time I had to look at title to make sure the lot was legal it is it is a legal lot but it's just very very bizarre I I it's hard to figure out how I got there but we went back several several uh conveyances and and it's been consistent through decades so it is a a valid lot just definitely unique if we can go to the next slide so as you can see this is you can see that really we say L-shaped lot this is truly an L-shaped lot um and it is between uh Sheridan Street Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue on 31st Street uh the property is 6,25 Ft so it's pretty small for that area as it is and of course the buildable area that we can work with is is more further constricted uh by the the the shape uh next slide property Zone RS4 uh obviously single family zoning and as you and with these are context photos and the lot's vacant it's kind of an isore they bought it to to develop it um they're they just bought it at the end of last year so very quickly hired Jose and his team and we started working with staff on this application so we're excited to move forward next slide so one thing that roio mentioned we are requesting a 15ot setback there is a significant amount of swail in front of the property line and the the development pattern of this area is 15 ft so we're not asking for something different from the properties around us all the existing development does go to about 15 ft so that's that's why we believe the request is further appropriate and with that I'd like to turn it over to Jose so he can go over the design with you and and what he went through to make this unique property work and I'd like to take it back from him at the end to discuss the hardship criteria and the variances thank you hi good afternoon everyone uh my name is um as as Ro mention and I Mak it is a kind of a very RealD lot it happened because over a modification of a lot back in the days you before we were all here um and as you can see on the top portion on the North side uh we have a very much of a sliver of land there 13 feet or or less and we're we're really not developing anything so the request that we're asking as Mickey mentioned is that in L of the 30 fet we're looking at being able to do 15 feet setback and one of the things that we did to provide even more comfort you know to the neighbors is rather than going from end to end of the property we went ahead and we kept it like two feet away from an additional two feet and change from the neighbor to the west the go ahead so this the right represents there the area that we're discussing and by the way the right away in this area is 70 ft so the houses are fortunately very far apart from from me shoulder um this are just on diagram showing you know what we're trying to do is to keep a lot of distance from the rear you know we're we're also incorporating the pool aspect into the side of the on the story to really create an amenity there A lot of times it's just used for parking Etc we really wanted to create not only the the concept where we're concealing the cars while bringing them further in but also creating a nice area for entertainment and so on and really making something out of it with the with the pool engaging and so on yeah okay so uh this diagram I'm going to go very quickly through it it kind of shows uh you know a what we are what we're confronted with the distance from from east to west on the shore side is very small the actual lot itself is 45 ft so it's in addition to you know the sliver that we have back there which is almost unusable except for Green Space is a very compact size uh again we're looking at all the setbacks so so that that kind of tells you what how we were able to drive the program to keep it a very uh compact uh footprint so we work with roio and his staff to you know to during this whole process he clarified a lot of things that helped us to to develop the design one the parces that we're requesting obviously is the front set back as you can see from this rendering we're right at the uh um you know from the papers in the front of the house we're at the uh street level so it's quite setback the is well in any case the one of the things that we did if you look at the image oh thank you if if you look at the image if you look at the image on the right the what we did here is the the code requires this is one of the waivers that Ro mentioned is that the second floor be set back an additional five feet from the from the set Bike Line and what we what we suggested is that instead of instead of uh you know just doing that we actually have a both stories are set back uh 6' 7 so we're actually setting back even further we uh and also um you know in in this area here this is the uh What U Mr mentioned about you know the roof that we're trying to keep what we did is you know after we got the staff comments you know uh we you know we went ahead and we are going to show you towards the end of the presentation the difference that we see if we do reduce the roof overhang the roof overhang the what we're referring to is one you know it's been proposed that it goes back to one foot what we're actually doing is uh 3 feet 8 Ines right now which sounds a little bit you know like splitting hairs but to us as Architects that look can't Del makes a big big uh uh it makes us happy so we'll show you we'll kind of compare that you know uh at the fact next so again these are just some different shots showing the property okay so the as R mentioned the other way that we're seeking is in L of the permitted 60 feet uh we the house extended 65 ft so in regards to uh on this side there was no objection to what we're doing we have the staircases with plenty of glass Etc on this side of the home staff mentioned on this side you know that something should be further set back in this area and we certainly can work with staff to try to make that happen one of the things that I do like to point out though is a perhaps there's something we can discuss with roio and and the rest of the staff is you know maybe what we can do in L of that is to create more glazing along that property to create more openings uh the reason I'm making that suggestion is because inside of the home including the corridors we only have 15 foot uh to make those things work so uh and we have the dining room we have living all of those things so it will make it very small so perhaps one of the things that we can discuss you know the possibility of creating more glazing in those areas uh this is showing the rear of the property um basically how we are engaging the pulling to the home uh and again here is some my matrics of what we're trying to do this is just showing the you know the further side back of the of the property and again what in in this diagrams here you can see that the red do line are that we're working with that actually we have more space uh than required there okay so we H we are not requesting any variances for the for the height of the home or anything we're going exactly by code H we're doing you know based on the floor design elevation criteria everything uh this is the west side of uh the I'm sorry this this is the east side of the home this is where the comment was about perhaps you know bringing in the volume a little bit and again we we will be very limited to actually do that maybe we can do a foot and again it will be fairly tight space perhaps what we can entertain is you know uh working with a staff to provide more glazing that kind of thing uh this is the uh the website where we have a lot in there okay this is just sections okay so in this area here this is uh if you uh this is the front of the house what we are this is actually our 15t setback line which is what we're requesting so we're permitted to have a 25% overhang uh from your setback with a canopy so at this moment on there's another slide that shows it what we're doing is we're projecting that element 3 feet 8 in and what staff is recommending is to bring it back to one foot um next again this is the crazy s okay um and keep going as well I'll let make you take over and then I would like to uh show you the uh the proposed uh roof differences so thank you again uh just wanted to point out a couple of other things and yeah just clarified it just to ra you mentioned 9 fet it is 3 feet 8 in the overhang and it didn't addition to you know it being important to Jose's team from architectural standpoint the the owner I spoke to her yesterday really does prefer the additional overhanging just a little add some more interest a little more shading and we don't really think it makes a huge impact again because we are providing the 15 ft that's consistent with the rest of the block we're not imposing beyond anything and there's still plenty of room given the fact that the lot itself is so narrow we do think it's it's warranted uh staff agrees with the you know that we meet the hardship criteria um I can go over them individually but I think your report tell list them well we believe that that this is really we talk about variances sometimes and it's tenuous we could have like two more minutes we talk about variances sometimes whether we meet the hardship or the Practical difficulty criterias sometimes that line is is is very gray here I think it's very clear the lot itself is is is unique and provides that that necessary hardship one thing that was not in the report was not in the in the staff's materials because it happened during this hearing and I I emailed Rio I don't know if you saw it we did reach out to some neighbors we did get two letters of support from folks on the Block during the morning portion of this here ing I sent them to reelio but I can tell you it's the owner of 521 West 30th Street and 3141 Sheridan Avenue all within proximity I know our client reached out to some neighbors not everyone was available but at least we have two letters of support and we don't know of any objections uh that have been put in the record um with that I I'd like to conclude and if was has anything else I would like to say one thing uh we we're happy with st oration of approval with regard to condition e on recessing the the East facade we would we understand the the comment and as Jose mentioned we'd like to keep the condition it but work with staff and it glazing be an option because again indenting it back further just takes away from the space on a very very narrow lot as it is even if we do nothing it remains very narrow so if we can make that articulation with with glazing or additional other elements we'd be happy to do that and again we we would like happy to discuss it but we request that condition F be removed and we be allowed to have the three-foot 8 in overhang if you all see fit and if I may I I know we're all of time just to show you the comparison between the two Roots uh we can if we just pull the presentation back up oh sorry I'll make it very quick so so this is uh this is you know as it is right now with a 3 foot eight over hang on the side back next one and then this is the difference then go the next one so again 3 fo8 and then you know when we show my back I know it's splitting hairs but you know those canopies again is something that we find is going to give a house a very different flare when you see a lot of the motor HS uh that are built right now they're very boxy and they don't have all these projections and things that I think is what really the code tries to do with this head I I'll be thank you very much are there any members of the public wishing to speak uh I see no hands raised okay I'm closing the public portion opening it up to the board for comment who would like to begin um so I I agree with staff's uh analysis that the irregular shape of the the property warrants the variance they of course uh staff um propos that in order to to mitigate um the impact that this can be be reduced from 3 fo8 and a half inches to to one foot Mickey as you were addressing so as a as a non design per person help me to understand what this one foot um canopy would would even look like um I mean I think it sounds a little silly I'm I'm inclined to to to Grant the variance you know as requested with 3 feet 8 and a half inches um but just you know I don't know if there's anywhere in your slide or just something something help help me sort of help us sort of show those last two that you just show visualize what this is going to look like you know with a one foot foot you know one foot projection instead of okay with the difference in those two 2 feet 8 and 12 in so so so if I may uh on in essence the code allows you to project 25% assuming that we're granted the 15ot setback you know this is technically allowed obviously a sta you know is is trying to be very careful on everything understand the result so but what we are what we're saying is this this projection that we have here here the house is 7 the the right away of this home is 70 ft away from the other property which has another 15 ft setback for the most part across the street so it's quite far back in reality that separation if this is when we bring it down foot is minute but as an architect you know you see all these beautiful buildings where you see this glorious camps and stuff like that and to you know it to some people it really doesn't matter but it's kind of like uh what you mentioned about the color palette you know it's a little bit off on the ship that she was presented and it looks great in presentation which by the way always happens to us because in one monitor it looks one way and in the other to all those kind of things we notice as Architects uh the client also is is in love with the design she's this is going to be her home and you know again it's it makes a a difference to us it's minute what listen as as a as a non as the non-design person um on the board um I can I can see the difference I can see why you know that why the the larger projection is preferred um you know and to the extent the other members of the board are are also inclined I'm I'm inclined to Grant the variance without the requirement of um of the canopy projection being reduced thank you um I'd like to say too um I think that this is a I really like this design in general um that this is a small lot I went and I looked at the property um and you've really been able to pack a lot into a very a compact space um so thank you for that and I I would be in support of the waiver for the side to add glazing that was actually going to be my recommendation before I came to the meeting so I think from my perspective I think that would be fine I've also been inside houses that have these awkward niches in them and I do understand that that and especially with a smaller house like this um I also think you know we're going we're beginning to see we're actively exploring the underst story as a home typology and we've seen a lot of homes that are large and so I think that this is an interesting first step in what would an understory home look like within a smaller neighborhood property um so thank you for that and I'm sure it's going to be a model for future designers and Architects and I think you did a nice job with that um however because these properties are we're going to in interior and it's not like it's on the waterfront and it's a big there's lots of space these are in small Lots within a denser neighborhood that I think that there does need to be some more attention being paid to the impact of the additional height that an underst story allows which again we want the homes to be for resiliency taller understandable but I think that we also just need to be even more sensitive to what the impact of buildings like this will be especially in a neighborhood like this where it's all lower single family homes so in general I love a candal lever what I really like about the front facade is I like that it almost feels like the roof is floating because you have that recess detail so again a nice gesture um but having I purposely went and looked at this property because of the comment that staff made that I I I wanted to make sure that this extension wouldn't be overbearing um and as much as I like the design I had the same concern standing there on the street looking up looking at the their properties um so I what I was going to suggest is if there's some sort of compromise here where and I don't know what that would look like but I I'm I am concerned at the impact that this home is going to have and I don't know if it's something and you might hate all these ideas even just you know if the Calver is the threefoot Calver is the detail that really is you know making the design for the homeowner I don't know if then Shifting the whole property back you know the house back a little bit because you do have that extended sidey yard you're not really going to you're never going to lose that you have that extra property but that way because at the other side of the coin I would support the 15 the the 15 foot setback um mostly because as staff has pointed out that um the home next door to it also has the same setback and I think it makes it gives it a nice um element um to the street I think it's a good Urban practice to have the homes aligned like that so because I am supportive of the severely reduced setback you know it makes the it makes this overhang a little bit harder to swallow so I don't know what my other colleagues uh on the board are going to feel but that was my initial impression I'm curious to hear what everybody else has to say I don't know any other thoughts so I totally get the set back thing but I I mean the over I see it's a big architectural feature and there's not room to back it up anymore I mean I get what's the size of this house we're right at the sideb line on the rear of 20 ft so we wouldn't be able to go there what's the what's the size of this house how many square feet is it about 3,00 just just a tad over 3,000 square feet yeah well and it seems like you're only able to build the size of the house that you have because we're being we're granted the 15 foot setback yes right because it seems like that okay and how how how tall is that thing the house I'm sorry the house is yes uh proposed height is 26 26 26 and um and I can give you the height of the go back to this and how does it relate because the other houses that's the side of their houses right well the the code here allows for 30 for under stories in this District 31 ft I'm just saying like the set so next store on the west side side the house actually it's a very small block and so the house actually faces I guess it's it's not going to affect it and then but on the other side it's a small house and then across the street there's small single story houses and the street itself is not very wide so that that was I think if this was a normal wide Street it wouldn't have the same effect again you're they're moving nothing is very tall everything along 31st Street or that section is very very low and there's actually a lot of trees so that's why it I went in hoping that it wouldn't but I can very much see what staff's point was that it really will make an impact and I don't I so I see 9 feet as being excessive I also see one foot as being inconsequential it's got just before 9 ft is I think I believe or hell you misspoke it's three and a 3' 8 in I'm referring to the setback from the property L okay got it the overhang the overhang is 3' 8 in so the overhang is so you're proposing a 3ot overhang but what we're saying is it it would be one foot to stick to the code right code allows either one one because it's a 25% projection so the with staff and obviously I don't I'll Le speak for St but what I understand from the report is that they you know they acknowledge that the irregular shape of the property creates a hardship warranting the grant to the variant but that the uh canopy may be viewed as imposing on the street um at its proposed that uh I guess depth of 3 feet 8 in and so they're proposing a two foot 8 and a half inch reduction of that to to mitigate the the imposition of that feature um you're saying I don't I don't you know having having reviewed it and again I'm not a design person I don't believe that it's you know I don't believe that it's imposing um and I think that it you know it it makes for a better design to allow the house to be built as proposed than to cut you know two feet eight and a half inches off of the projecting canopy and if I me ask SC question a the we're allowed to go to 27 ft we are currently at uh 20 26 feet from the design FL elevation the overhang itself is only 2 feet uh above the 26 feet which you're permitted to go to 3 feet we actually kept to the lower you know to give some you know a little bit more and I think the concern though is the ver like vertical coming out vertically and the effect that that creates for the whole structure and I actually think in regards to that matter when when you look at these homes and and and we do the comparison with the existing homes of in the area those homes are obviously well below Flor criteria and this is part of the the resiliency issues that we're dealing with so I am in complete agreement that we don't want to use that as an excuse to be overwhelming in our height because a lot of people are doing that not for the right reasons so we literally kept the house you know a little bit where under where we need to be but I do think that when you see that thing your your line of sights uh you're looking at a building where that is a canopy over there you know the the actual 2 feet extra is not going to make a difference from the person that is looking at it across the street but the the silhouette of the building itself is going to have that light and Shadow that we want to be able to cast I think you know it would actually be a much nicer Str that was my whole point is that one foot is really not worth it like it's not going to do the effect of having that and two more feet it's like my it's it's two and a half of my tennis shoes 24 ft away from you I don't think that that is going to overwhelm I just my thought and I appreciate step's input but I think it's like somebody with bangs when they're really short ridiculous versus so it's just a thing yeah from an architectural standpoint I think your case would I would like to hear your case be made about south facing overhangs providing as much shade as possible um I love deep overhang so I don't have any issue I agree with it at the height it's not going to be that perceived but I do also understand staff that you know we're setting a precedent that we're letting a building part of the building come within 9 ft of the street and I think that's more concerning going forward so maybe there's a way for us to just be aware of that um the thing that also concerns me though is and I don't know if you want to go to your page like the roof is like you said it's a form of prote for the house and for the walls we have overhangs for shading but also to keep the rain off of our walls and as much windows and um try to keep water out so if you go to the rear like if you go to your renderings in the rear you let the walls not be covered by the roof and actually come up higher than the roof which you're setting yeah there and I go back uh that so you're letting you're setting yourself up for you know cracking in the stucco uh there's no detailing at the top of that parit at all so I mean again I like the Deep overhang but what I wish you would be coming to us with is about good construction methodology and the longevity of the building and if that was the case then we wouldn't be seeing this detail at the rear of the house where those walls are exposed and just asking for deterioration so that's my friendly advice but so would you extend the roof in the back um I mean yeah it's I was looking through all the presentation and it's hard for me to really at first I thought the walls were different heights and unlevel but I think it's the angle of these presentations but I mean yes like the roof is a protective element so I would never propose you know to to treat a wall like that and by the way this is I understand about the constructibility and all that which very good points however this is one of those cases where in this case for us to extend the eyebrow I think would be more detrimental to the neighbor on the back because we only have a 20 foot setback so in this case we'll be casting a lot of Shadows on the neigh that's the north side yes so it's not going to cast a shadow but you still but visually you will still be a lot closer to the neighbor yeah I don't think you can sorry one com using the argument that the two feet in the front is going to be imperceptible but all of a sudden it's terribly imposing in the back I don't think it's consistent in the you have a 7 right away where here you're 20t away only from the neighbor I personally like the um the back as it is because it shows if you bring up the the picture again it shows the an escalation of the uh first floor habitable floor being out further the second floor goes up goes back a little bit and then the roof goes back a little bit further so it there's an escalation and so I like that design I would leave that one as is as to the front I like the uh Cal lever of that roof going out but maybe it goes out too much um so my question to I guess Ro Helio and all of you is there a way to reduce the 3 8 in um and go somewhere between the one foot that there're proposing and the 3T so that there is projection but not as much as the 3' 8 in would that do to the design if we can get 30 inches we will make this architect very happy and I think I don't think you know we will be setting a a bad present I mean we are you know again the homes in this area they're all set back at 15 ft right now in in the future uh all these houses if they are redeveloped some of them are very good beautiful homes that are there that shouldn't be uh modified but some are not of the same caliber you know they're going to be at the same uh height stand all that so if we can compromise on 30 Ines you know it you know I would be extremely happy so with that having been said I guess what I'm hearing from the group is my sense is we do not have five votes for a 3 foot 8 and a half inch um projecting canopy um and so in in order to in order to peel off um you know the the hold outs you know what what would be acceptable with 36 in which would be eight and a half inches cut off with he's saying 30 in he's saying two and a half fet is he's that's the least we can he's saying so so I and Ro can we take up the the variant separately we can so so um I move to Grant the variance um subject to the condition that the canopy project no more than 30 in Ro you I'd like to more comments okay I'm sorry motion sorry there was some other things I wanted to comment um like design related or related to this um it's all I'm sort of looking at so I'm going to I'm I'm going to withdraw my motion and I'm I'm going to let Sarah but then revise sort of so I'm curious it it seems like or what Myra was saying was I saying like there has to be room for compromise and that sort of wasse so I agree with I mean Shauna's recommendation about extending the roof along the back seems to me very reasonable um I just want to say that it's not a reason I'm not not going to vote for it but I'm surprised that you're so against it um the other thing that I wanted to ask you you about I noticed and maybe it was just not on the plan but it seems like there's on in the under story there's no wall between the the garage the cars and the pool area was that just an oversight or is it supposed to be all the way through actually one of the things is who try to keep it as open as possible uh the the coing t is not to block it off so that you look like you have a three-story home so we actually intentionally kept it as open as possible on the on the lower level so that even if you're in the pool you're going to be looking at the cars I think one of the drawing shows a metal fence no yes I'm sorry I mean I misunderstood you I was referring to the size of the house we do have a privacy gate along the front of the house so you do have privacy from from the exterior of the property and then obviously when we're also going to be doing the interior design for the home so we're going to be playing a lot with Furniture uh screenings and un spok that so there will be a Division I I was it was just sort of an odd thing to have not be included um and I was wondering if there was a reason why um okay Myra did you have other yeah no I just I have a concern in the back if you extend that roof line it's going to it will create more shadowing is it possible that that would create more shadowing on the pool because already as it is the pool is covered a good portion of it by the first floor first habitable floor so that's the north side so there's no Shadows uh no I understand I still get some sun from the north side and not direct but some sunlight I'll call it you bring a you bring a very good point one one of the concerns that we have is that this family Su and Ali they have two kids and while we do have a very long yard that you can play shuffle for and it's really not conducing to them playing so part of the reason was we wanted to engage the pool on the inside but also to allow the kids to have at least 20 feet in the back to play because again the the l-shape configuration that you have is only 13 ft and it's really not conducive to much other than you know to have landscaping and you know that kind of item I mean to me it looks it looks a little unfinished that you don't have that little bit more you know it's not like the the wall is extending it it you you've clearly spent a lot of time refining the design of the south facing facade and so that's why you know it's like I said it it it seems almost unfinished especially if you're looking at it from the side um I thought it was a very good point that sh brought up I sorry and one of the things is and and I'm going from memory here but uh as uh the board as as you mentioned you know one of the things that we did in order to be able to accommodate the problem here is we do do the stepping back so I'm not even sure that we can expand that roof based on our uh lot coverage and again I'm going from memory um have a lot of things to to remember but extending that roof and I do feel that while a foot or something is not going to make a difference in the front of the house if I'm your neighbor and I'm 20 right up to your property line you know I think you're going to be doing a detriment to to have that closer in towards the old neighbor I mean I'm just sort of suggesting do you want to bring up maybe um oh I'm looking at the architectural plans um page eight it's not the presentation though is it a rendering because page 15 has the view from the yeah maybe that's I I mean I'm not suggesting a full overhang I'm just saying and I think cover the wall to the end of the wall so that the roof ends where if we can do that based onod again I I don't remember if if that is going to impact the I wonder if I can bring up the page in that it's not that it's it's a rendering of the east of the west elevation yeah yeah I it will go back there like why don't you just extend it to the end of the wall okay so one one of the design features unfortun let me see if I can expand one of the things that we're trying to do again Ling with the camp R of of the project is you know to create this area here where the walls are are serving as a let me see how I can get to that side on this one we're trying to do these things where the ruls overh hands create this camp rever and then the walls are two planes that uh that extend throughout the house so for that reason on the west I'm sorry on the east side of the house on the left you know we kept separation to make that c liver again look like it's floating H however is that's something that that you guys are very adamant about we can entertain extending the roof there again I'm not sure we have no space to allow to do that based on the lock coverage house if I can make a suggestion just so because I think I obviously hose's looking at it but we don't want a condition that ultimately triggers a lock coverage issue or something else can we put a condition we will explore with staff the extension of the roof to further cover the back and and work with staff I mean if it can be be done and it works great but if for some reason it triggers another problem we don't want to have to come back and delay the project sure I mean I think part of the suggestion too is this this seems like sort of a minor change you know I maybe I'm maybe I don't know I don't know if you're I alternatively to put to altering the roof can we not shift the the walls back towards the house and then we don't touch the roof but we have we don't have the coverage issue and you still have that plane effect that you're looking at if I'm understanding correctly I mean what you're referring to is perhaps shifting this wall further you know yeah like to be more in line with thec all the things that we can discuss with roio and his staff uh and again we can look at these things from our preference we would keep the gap which I think it actually gives a lot of character with all the floating elements but we certainly again if if staff is avable to doing it that way we can discuss with them how we can work with this if the code allows us to extend this I don't think that's something that my client would reject can I ask why you have the gap on one side but not the other because sure I get the Gap um it's not on both sides that wall is touching the roof the entire house is asymmetrical so we didn't want it to you know to we want to keep that thing going throughout the entire house so for instance like the reference one of the uh Architects so we looked up for inspiration corus here and you know he has v Shodan you know which is a beautiful V in India where he has all these overlapping elements but again it was intentional in the sense that we wanted to keep you know everything asymmetrical not to not to Anchor like with book and so yeah well I guess in terms of design review advice there are great ideas in this project you guys have thought about but it's like uh there's a lot of ideas being introduced like at this right rendering where it's a floating element over the box I get that and I get exaggerating the overhang and I can support that but then when you come to the back you've got one where it's it's not you know from the front it doesn't read as these two sheer walls with a mass or a roof you know resting on them because it's reading is a hovering plane above so like they're two contradicting ideas and so the house can't be everything so just purely architecturally speaking I would choose one of those ideas and then express it architecturally but the hovering of a roof plane and then having two walls with a roof rest on in between is two different things yeah I think it undermines the can ofver effect that you can see the in the back the Wall go all the way up that if it just ended at the roof yeah we we can can we can we can work with staff on on modifying those things if that's I mean I just think it it's going to make the design more successful you know and it's to your point it is about the small details and the interactions of the planes and that you know you're really you feel very strongly about this can lever which is great then really make it about the can of lever you know and if that one detail is preventing that effect then that's the detail that can be modified you know however that is um okay Laura did you have a comment no I'm good thank you did you no again I'm fine with the design and back but as to your concern um with the loot coverage if you reduce the front um overhang and you increase the back overhang um does that then take care of your lck coverage issue yes that will create that that balance so if we if we keep it at 30 instead of 38 whatever we take away from the front we can compensate on the back ex yeah that's a good point yeah okay so um I'm going to again move to approve the variance um subject to the condition that the proposed canopy be reduced to 30 Ines a second second I'm sorry before that Ro heli are you all right from this City standpoint with the 30 in versus I think it's certainly improved from what they're what they're proposing Our concern is because the setback is already so narrow yeah having a structure so close to the property line but you know reducing it to 30 in helps so so that certainly helps mitigate that concern mean it's a it's a reduction of um 14 and a half inches yeah so which is something over a foot so we have a second um all those in favor hi any opposed no motion pass the variance passes thank you so we still have to look at the design and just before we make the final motion just want to remind you all condition e to I think everyone's in agreement that we can add glazing as an option for the uh articulation there thank you we hadn't forgotten about that I know I wrote it down okay does anybody want to make a motion to approve the design uh I'll approve the design with a motion that they review with staff the extension of the roof at the rear or the taking off of the of the I guess let's just say the relationship of the rear wing walls to the roof second oh and then what about the waiver with the the side waiver ad glazing to include the side waiver to add glazing I don't know how to say that in the language but I think if I could help condition e to add glazing as an option condition e to add glazing as an option y shall incorporate recessed walls or walls or glazing perfect to break up uh further the facade as reviewed by staff as yes correct to work with staff uh second motion by Miss Meer second was by Mr Sheldon okay uh all those in favor hi hi opposed motion passes congratulations thank you all enjoy the rest of your day I want to thank uh roio and his staff they were amazing to work with this wasn't an easy site and every time we had a question they were right there for us like the same day we were answer that's one Hur of so thank you they're Keepers right thank you thank you so much thank you okay moving on to uh drb 24146 1480 Still Water Drive an application this application has been filed requesting design review approval for the construction of a new two-story residence with an under story including one or more waivers to replace an existing residence oh okay so this is uh an a a proposal for an understory home um the the proposed home is of a contemporary style um has uh varying walls planes and material accents uh the primary facade features Florida glaz Florida ceiling glazing with vertical wood louvers screening portions of the front facade for privacy and uninterrupted glass shaded by large by a large trellis structure um on the rear overlooking biscane Bay so this is a waterfront lot um the side elevations are predominantly finished in aaco and glazing and incorporate PL pular movement um and champagne metal accents for interest um the the applicant is not seeking any waivers however uh staff has concerns with the height so this is in the RS4 District um the there's currently zoning in progress to limit the height of understory homes in understory uh in RS4 District to 28 ft um so that that rule doesn't necessarily apply here because they already have an application in progress but staff is recommending that applications comply with that limit um so staff is recommending that the understory be reduced by 2 feet in order to reduce the overall height of the home um to 28 feet um so with that recommendation that the height be reduced staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached order okay thank you hello again um I'm the architect for a 1480 steel Water Drive um we are proposing as you know a two-story home with an under story this uh home was designed with a current code um and we are not seeking any variances we are adhering to all setbacks and all the zoning regulations um the idea is to create a very contemporary light uh structure and to maximize as much as possible openings and the sense of of lightness within the site um we are working on an RS4 lot uh it's a a narrow 8,000 square fet lot which as you probably know it's sometimes a challenge in order to be able to accommodate all the program uh we are incorporating openness in the sites and in in all the facades uh here is um a a study that we did of the steel water drive there are some pictures of the existing uh properties uh nearby and we also mapped H sort of a study of what's happening with the recent projects that have been approved in the area H there are approvals for um new contemporary homes uh they they have also recently been built and they have also um higher ceilings and they are addressing uh sea level rise for us a a a concern really in this project and many projects in Miami Beach is the fact that we are getting a lot of flooding and sea level rise and we want to start to correctly address the and this is why the client has requested a home with an under story uh that being said here are some diagrams showing compliance with unit size uh compliance with lot coverage um all the the compliance with the under story edges and under story open space as well as the front and rear setbacks with the percentages of the open space are being accounted for and we do have a roof deck uh that is also compliant with code we are accessing it through a lateral stair um staircase and the idea is to be able to Overlook at the beautiful Bay views uh we don't have any structures other than just the the roof deck and the necessary uh glazing for full protection uh you can see the the floor plans we have a very open under story level is accessible from the East side uh a pedestrian axis and we have a central uh modulation sorry circulation area the the actual enclosed garage has been further set back like I would say an additional 20 ft from the 30 ft setback so it's really pushed back um the idea is to have some parking outside of it and interior parking as well and to have a really open under story floor plan with a pool full deck everything integrated to the view to the Bay uh if you continue going up we have a very open floor plan the social areas looking towards the bay and the secondary bedrooms towards the street also the master looking at the beautiful views and this is also a the the roof deck um this is the the proposed elevations you can see that we are proposing uh 30 F six uh Building height from freeo um in compliance with the current code and we are working with um pet of very light materials and we're introducing warmth with a wood composite sofits and wood composite louvers in order to give uh interest and dynamism to the design uh there are more views of the elevations the sections to further depict the the conditions of the height and we did some also some uh thorough studies of the Yards one of the opportunities that I would say that the this uh project has is that we were able to have the level of the under story raised from grade about a foot because of the additional height and that really addresses Our concern with flood which is really a concern uh in other projects that have have been previously approved these are a metric views that shows that we are uh presenting openings on the side facades per code requirements and to finalize some views uh we made an effort to show dynamism and lightness towards the street even though we have a a a structure that has a contemporary design we did staggering of the volumes to have that dynamism and we incorporated the warm materials to portray worm and dynamism to the street the you can see that the second floor has been further set back the louvers on the second floor are now at 5 feet further back than the 30 ft but the actual line of the facade has been even further set back five or even 10 fet it varies it presents that a variable facade in the back very clean open we want to incorporate light and the views to the design we have sculptural staircase uh round staircase from the under story going up to the first uh floor balcony this is an additional view of the back and some massing rendering so you can appreciate the openings on the sides and the facades and in terms of landscaping we made an effort in order to preserve the existing Palms trees in the site to incorporating incorporate them in a very tropical landscape design um we worked with Native species uh that meet and exceed the the current requirements um to really blend in and complement the architecture so if you have any questions thank you very much there anybody wishing to speak if um I'm not sure if uh the city or yourselves um the homes in that neighborhood that have underst stories or that have been built to sure I'm sorry okay sorry hold that thought are there any members of the public wishing to speak um I see no hands raised on Zoom okay closing the public portion sorry continue okay so the homes that have been um raised with an underst story or that have been raised simply without the underst story to be at base FL elevation plus one or higher how many of them are in that neighborhood and what is their current height I will say because I went to look at this I don't think I'd ever been on Still Water Drive and I went to look and although in the presentation they included a number of newer homes the vast it the vast majority of homes in this area are low and they're older and or if they're new and it shows it in their renderings they're still not as tall nearly as tall as the 30 ft that they're proposing yeah yeah that I believe is the situation in most neighborhoods throughout the city but I'm saying in contrast it's a lot lower it's not like Alton Road where you have a lot of variation it's all very low together AR they're super close together and there's not a lot of I don't even know if there is sidewalk there's not a lot of trees it's just it the lots are very well I mean we saw it before there's there's a a picture I don't know it's hard to the homes are very close together I'm familiar with the area I just don't know the number of homes and I believe the situation that our chair is referring to exists throughout our entire city on all of our neighborhood streets because not all residents have gone forward or can go forward with raising their homes in with or without an understory so does anybody know within that neighborhood okay go ahead may I may I also so I actually passed by right today okay I'm going to interrupt you too because on page seven of the presentation it also shows the answer to your question I would recommend bringing that up absolutely absolutely agree okay so in here you will see there's a few homes from the homes that have under stories I think it's 1211 steel wat is the one that currently have an underst stor it's under construction and it also what we what it's uh portrait here it's the current status there's also an additional um structure so it's an accessory structure that goes above that top of the building and it's more or less like 8 fet just so that we are aware of so that's the number six that we currently have there there's a few homes that are being built not just on still water but on the Bay next to steel water especially I think today one came s similar situation under story same three Heights I think it was the first um presentation that was on and it had the same condition so it's not necessarily the same street but it's the parallel street so there's a few developments that have been going on and especially I I believe because it was a code that change recently I believe it's something that it's going to start uh showing because it's something import I I it's it's an important issue that is happening throughout Florida that it's the sorry in the in the uh screen you have above there's on the top row of homes there seems to be the second one the third the second and the last the fourth are those those those I have on like the second one has an on story I know the the the one that one has another story that one has another story and I most of I think there's two or three that have the accessory structure above so you're not looking just at the first and second floor but you're looking at the first second floor and then a Terrace throughout the the upper part of the roof I think the second one is the one we looked at earlier today yeah exactly yeah and if I can add up to that because the second one we developed it in our firm with a a more restrictive height so this is a conversation that we are getting all the time from our clients right we have a concern with flood and with water management but we want a contemporary design High ceilings so how can we address sea level rise and how can we get these higher ceilings and this beautiful design I understand that there's a context as well and it's it's a changing City but this is also happening to whoever is faced with the decision of what to do with their home so also we don't want to to H not provide this solution in the case of the second one we did have to compromise the level of the under story we had to set it almost at the natural grade elevation which to me really it it poses a a problem because when it floods we are thinking of the first habitable floor but are we thinking about the under story and how is that going to be affected in this one I I was happy to see that we have an update to the code because we can have the opportunity to raise the level of the under story with a gradual uh slope we have more space to do a more efficient civil engineering project to do swes to do the catch basins and have a better solution towards the street but then what are we compromising and what are we willing to compromise and what is the client willing to compromise those are the questions that what are the ceiling Heights in the first and in the habitable floors what are your ceiling Heights let me uh bring that up I will also say too if if the city code is about to go from 30t to 28 ft for these districts then obviously they think that 28 feet is enough or they wouldn't be changing it so you know I I think making this decision based on the recommendation that staff is getting again context is very important which is the 28th to make the structure 28 ft as opposed to 30 feet still allows for plenty of resiliency planning but also makes the structure more compatible with the neighborhood yeah 100% And remember before it was 24 so it is a difference and we are completely open to looking at it and studying it uh but I just want you to also bring to the table what we get from the design point and also from our clients and and what also are the opportunities of the this new code that compar to the old code what are the upsides and downsides so I think there's a relationship there like a a thin line that has to take into account and we absolutely understand also the recommendation can you can you go back to the question I asked what are the ceiling Heights on the first second and third so right now the under story we have 9 ft on the first floor we have 10 ft and on the second floor we have 9 and a half and that is on the most um favorable situations when we have dogs and beams we're trying to do that in the bathrooms and the closet's going to be lower the other only question I have Ro Helio is to the city where does the city where is the city on the process of changing the code from a maximum height of allowed of 31 ft versus 28 ft it's in zoning and progress it went to the planning board last week as part of an ordinance related to administrative review for for understory homes um the administrative part doesn't get zoning in progress because that's less restrictive but the the part of 28 ft is more restrictive so that's currently in zoning in progress they put an applicability Clause that anyone that had already filed an application prior to the date of the planning board can keep their application with the height going as high as 31 ft so so that regulation technically doesn't apply to them but but that is something that staff is going to be recommending for for all applications moving forward that are in the RS4 District so rs12 and three tend to be larger lots and so we don't see these issues with compatibility as much because there are larger setbacks there's there's there's more room um than you than you see in the RS4 districts do we incur a legal issue if we as a board request that it not go to the maximum but that it go to the max maximum allowed by code which is 31 but that we go to the zoning in progress that's occurring now of 28 ft I I think the height is within your purview you've always had the ability to to require a lower height so um so I don't I don't think that you do but yeah I agree thank you Scott were you gonna no I was going to say that some of these other houses that are not tiny original ones that were built maybe in the 80s or '90s look gigantic and bulky compared to the newer ones so I just I get it that neighborhood does not have a beauty of consistency to it anyway like you said so I kind of think that it's not as applicable as far as ruining the aesthetic of the neighborhood the the neighborhood is very hodgepodge with what it is right now it's not like it's all consistent it's not like it's you know so anyway and some of this really bad architecture that we through it sorry it just was it was really can I add to this um I I agree uh with staff's sort of recommendation to say let's come up with an approach obviously I agree with the understory approach for our community moving forward um and if we as a group decide to sort of limit the height I would just request that we provide specific information like I would would hate to see them lower the sight like that's that's a good strategy can we have 8 ft clear you know under story and not nine you have 11t first floor like even if you know I think we could take 2 feet away from there without compromising the space of this structure so I guess that's where I would come down maybe to peel a foot away from the clear height on the under story and from the first floor and just ask it to be reduced by 2 ft yeah there may be a compromise you can provide but my concern is that this still is zoning in progress so it requires commission approval correct Ro Helio correct it it will we don't know yet what the commission is going to say in fact they may say no we want you to leave it at 31 or they may say we want it lower than 28 for all we know I you know so my concern is that um we we are not consistent with the code if the code allows it um I understand the situation of some Lots being smaller than others where the impact is greater on the he with the height but um I also what Scott is saying is we have a variety of heights and styles and and homes on that street and as we go forward 10 years from now it'll probably be a lot more homes that that are renovated and and brought up it's my concern um can you bring up thank you can you bring up uh page 31 in the presentation because we've been talking a lot about oo back it's 8:31 or 31 page 31 go back I think go back to it's just a a front for side that one yes front side so because we've talked a lot about the height but we haven't really talked about the design right and I would say um for me they're very interrelated um in general I like the design I like that you've designed on all four sides as opposed to just two um which I always appreciate I like this design but one of the things that this design does is it's very very vertical you have along the left side these two double height columns that are arguably those columns themselves are probably higher than the home next door and so what's happening is not only are we having a discussion about the overall height of the building but what's compounding this effect and we're talking about giving you more height but what's compounding the effect is the design and that the design really emphasizes the tall and the verticals and I think that a design like this could work on other parts of Miami Beach I mean it would it would seem a little bit more appropriate for S of Venetian Islands um but you know where the lots are longer larger but I just think especially in this case again in the context which is so much of our purview that this the design itself is um too much and not compatible with the neighborhood and and I wonder if there's other design choices that you can make that would I just feel like from what we've seen in other areas in the past like this house is really going to stand out amongst its neighbors in a way that it shouldn't and I I I think that there there could be some design modifications made so that even if it it is going to be taller and again that's fine it's good for resilience we all want the homes to be taller but there's also some choices that can be made along the way to and and that's you know a big part of what we do when reviewing these understory homes is is making sure that yes it has the resilience but also it still works understanding that there's going to be bumps and things aren't going to be as smooth in transition but that was just my comment in general okay and I don't know if like sh I don't know if you agree without her if you like the design in general it really emphasizes the veral can you letter I was I I don't think we see a side like I was looking for more of a side for those columns like I I do think the front is nice the way the they off the box is sort of offset but we don't those the so that's the front columns that we're talking about yeah um I mean I didn't I appreciated the articulation of the the design and the fact that it's not um but you know just a straight wall and you guys meet both the intent and um the design those one columns feel a l a little bit out of scale compared to the other vertical elements I can agree with that I think it's that's the word like it just seems like it's not the right scale okay the the the side columns okay I mean it affects the design in general but sh were you going to continue no that was all I was going to say I think that you know maybe what's also contributing to it at least to me because I I really like the verticality of it I think that that's very refreshing but what's to me is what's weighing it down maybe the garage door it's maybe if you make that more open and then it maybe the house looks like it's floating more and it would contribute less to I don't know if that's is that garage door set back yes it's it's very set back it has a the garage is set back like I would sorry I would take like an additional 15 ft from the 30 no or actually 20 feet from the 30 uh feet setback so I would say like 50 feet more or less or 45 or 50 ft from the front of a property line what it is I think also to pay back into you're saying is maybe it's it's so solid that what's happening is it's creating this pedestal effect which I think is again making the whole structure just seems so much maybe something can be done with a garage door design may I ask if if we're open to reducing those columns and have it can delivered so so that you still have this stackable effect but you don't have the verticality so we can try to work with structural in order to understand if we can leave more or less the same idea of having two stacked volumes but not necessarily having a pure that it's as tall as the under story plus the the first story so that we can keep on with a little bit more air flow through that area I liked that Canal effect and and thought it prevented that wall effect like you see with these other bulky houses there I really did I just I just think it's a scale issue it's just I I I I that's what I'm saying like I like this design okay but I don't like this design for this location and it it it is I I think it's it's yeah you have it it does give a nice solution to a side and does open it up and it's Breezy but I think there's just quite a few design elements that are coming together to contribute to this overall effect that again we have this very solid pedestal on the bottom and then all of your I mean there's a little bit of a frame around the volumes okay but everything is very very vertical enhancing the verticality um and again this is a low home neighborhood um I I think I like the idea that you're playing with these volumes but to play with large solid volumes that are already very high yeah yeah May personally I just think that this is going to be the future of a lot of neighborhoods on Miami Beach as time goes by but I I actually like the The Columns I they don't bother me I don't know if maybe you can come up with something different to to satisfy other concerns with the columns but if I were a neighbor I'd rather be a neighbor on the left side than on the right side only because it creates more open area without having a wall coming down so I I agree with Scott that it I like the shifting and the uh can levers um I agree um with my partner here that um I don't know some's off with that garage door I don't know if it's the color the texture the design of it I don't know I think it might read more like a twostory home with an under Story versus this kind of looks like a three-story home and that might be contributing to the height issue or at least you don't really see that it's set back another 30 feet from the front setb Okay okay what can you show the next one which is the rear I mean that has such a different effect so much it's so much lighter and it's much more horizontal and it it doesn't have yeah I mean I think that that that sort of I think proves my point to go from one to the other where again like there's some interesting Design Elements no I would go back but that just doesn't seem as tall okay and and we've seen time and time again where this happens again this is a this is something new we're all exploring and that you know how do you make a three-story structure look like a two-story home this is the problem that we're all so it it takes a little bit of finesse so in your under store you have a 9 foot height M and and you're requesting a height of um 30 30.6 uh 30 feet 6 Ines um we're going to go from 31 if the commission approves and the rest of the process goes forward to 28 ft is it possible to adjust the height of that under story absolutely because adjusting the height of the first and second habitable floor they're currently you're saying 10 ft and 9 and a half fet you know that's that's about what someone wants at least what I would want in my okay room height ceilings isn't the first floor 11 ft though I think the first floor is actually 11 ft clear it has it has uh has a lower ceiling over the kitchen but it's really 11 F it's uh in some areas we're going to be able to get to 11 ft so maybe what we can do is we can work with a foot on the under story and maybe we can play with six inches and six inches on the top floors and we can we can definitely uh look into lowering it again it gives us much more flexibility than the previous code so 100% so in total you feel you can adjust it within the three levels um by about 2 feet yeah absolutely is that what you're saying okay which would bring it from 30 feet 6 Ines to 28 which is what staff recommended um 28.6 is that okay roio we had recommended 28 but it is you can you can approve 286 if that's okay yeah um can sorry I didn't you were just saying that that wasn't a motion yet right no I I was just asking if that's a possibility I would it as a motion but I think you all are still discussing well I just wanted to add on to that that the future adjusted grade is plus 6.52 so the understory ground level is proposed at plus65 6.65 so I just want to say when we get to the making of a motion point I'd like it to say that we maintain that under story ground level and then the two feet come out of the clear from of that but what is the I I think I sorry if I may add I think if we're going to get really to the 28 ft H which was the recommendation and we are now a little bit higher than future adjusted grade we might probably need to place it at Future adjusted grade that is still higher than the other case that was really concerning right I think we're giving you maybe 286 and then you can keep your future adjusted great that's great okay okay thank you for the clarification for the is any other comments CU we should I'll make a motion then oh sorry I just wanted to know what is the elevation of the under story and the elevation of the street yeah give me a second okay so right now um the average sidewalk elevation is 5.05 and the under story is placed at 6.98 okay yeah so you do have a little bit of a to PR the water we put it just above future adjusted grade which is 6.65 okay um before I move forward I would just like to say this to my point I would support it seems to me like the front facade does need a lot of work to achieve the effects that we want to avoid um I would support a continuance because there does I mean to rework for the facade is a pretty comprehensive task so that would be I don't know if staff has the time to finesse it through to the point where I think it needs to be so I just wanted to throw that out there I'll just say that I can't really make a motion including that because I I don't have some of the I know there was some conversation about changes so if somebody else feels that way and they want to make a motion including those changes but I feel like it's for me it's close enough that it could be handled by staff but I think if there's others that want to make motion that have very specific things they want to see I I can support that I can is what I meant to say yeah I mean I don't have an issue with the columns so I don't know if you guys do I I was just more the garage door so I I think that that could be handled through staff just you know working through some Percy there but um again if you guys well I'm fine with the columns it's the garage door that even though it's set back so does anybody want want to take a stab at a motion that can include recommendations of how staff should work okay sure okay so I'll make a motion to approve with the condition well about the height so we need to reduce the height um the the to 28.6 the um the reduction will come from the upper floors not from the under story um and then also approved with the condition that you all work with staff for the front facade garage or under story is do you have any specifics with the garage or what it like to give direction to give more permeance in the in the understory um so that it looks more like an understory not like a level to the house I think that 28.6 um is to be acquired through the three levels because they may want to reduce a little bit the understory ceiling height um ofing you can just say 28.6 and let them work it out with staff that gives everybody a main story and work it out within the yeah the ground remains as proposed right yes so there was the garage the 28 height was there anything else 286 28 you're leaving the columns or keeping the colum I was going to leave the columns what I was going to leave the columns maybe to work with staff to reduce the overall verticality I mean does that seem like does that seem like a good compromise just reduce theit revisit the columns with the verticality with staff okay okay perf that's my motion revisits revisit cols I mean I would H toate you could keep the it's just that all of the elements on the front facade are vertical and if you had some columns that were being off set by something horizontal whatever it is it's the work with staff to reduce to adhere something more horizontal so that when you break it out we understand your your concern and we're going to try to address it so I understand maybe first when we lower those two feet and maybe those squares could be reduced a little bit so that you have a verticality at the front that it's horizontality sorry that it's thicker then you end up having more that visual of that horizontal line so we understand your concern and we absolutely will work it out I want you to to understand that no and I want to be able to give enough leeway in the in the order in the motion that you guys have an opportunity to absolutely assess it out in absolutely but also give you Direction okay great so so work with staff to reduce the verticality of the design and add horizontal elements something or even just reduce whatever it I don't I want to let you guys figure that out perfect and I have the three the three issues um and I have a motion by Miss Luan I don't believe we received the second yeah yeah I did do a second but I you know my problem is I don't have an issue with the verticality but if they want to discuss it with you and see if you can come up with it that's fine you know I my issue is more with a garage but I'll second it for that thank you um all those in favor I I I uh any opposed yeah motion passes congratulations thank you you appr appreciated thank you thank you see you next month thank you um okay we're now Gonna Hear drb 24 1048 11112 MacArthur Causeway this application has been filed designed to be approve on an advisory basis for the mechanical Rehabilitation and hardening of the water booster station on Terminal Island the hardening Works includes storm proofing and waterproofing the station and the construction of an overground generator and fin okay so this is uh an application from the Department of Public Works we have a representative from public works here um and it's on an advisory basis the the the review of this project um the project involves the installation of equipment that will improve the resiliency and reliability of the pump station on of the water booster Pump Station on Terminal Island um so this is a pump station that involves boosting the the pressure of pable water and it's not a storm water pump which is what we've typically seen before this sport um it's located on Terminal Island uh includes the insulation of a permanent generator replacement of an air handler unit replacement of perimeter fening and the new access gate and door frame improvements um and then there's additional underground infrastructure work that's also happening uh the portion of the project that will be most visible is the new generator which will be located immediately to the east of the building of the existing building so this is an existing station um and there's additional um infrastructure work that will take place inside the building um it's located adjacent to the MacArthur Causeway the fiser Island Ferry and garage um and the Coast Guard Station Miami and and also there's some surface parking nearby um so there's no residents there's no condos there's no commercial uses in the vicinity that would be affected by this um the the facility is lined from view from the MacArthur Causeway by by large trees and shrubs um so this won't impact any pedestrians walking along MacArthur Causeway and and the visibility of it will be minimal you you may see some portions of the generator it is very high but it's just going to be very minimal what you're going to see um these changes are necessary to improve the functioning of the existing water booster station um and ensure it'll be resilient to natural events so the generator intended if the power goes out anything happens um this will still be able to function um and it will overall benefit the surrounding neighborhood in the city and the Beach's pable water system so with that staff recommends that the drb discuss the proposal and provide any recommendations to the city commission and we'll transmit those recommendations via LTC so hi good afternoon I think we have a presentation and the consultant is on on online so we're going to be presenting as Ro mentioned we're going to go through the project and agenda and show where is this the specifics of this project so oh uh G Mendes hand is raised I think you're is that the consultant correct yeah correct good afternoon everyone can you hear me yes do you need to in uh hi do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do all right thank you you may proceed thank you and once again good good afternoon everyone my name is Greg Mendes I'm a principal engineer and the Miami office leader for Chen Mor Associates I'm here to present to you today as briefly as I can um the terminal Island water booster plump station hardening project that we've been uh working on for for quite a bit now with the public works department next slide control I'm not sure who's advancing the slides perfect go go ahead thank you excellent thanks John Carlo so these are just a few items that we're going to be discussing over the next few minutes I I'll run you through the existing conditions of the station where it's at what what it currently looks like today uh Identify some of the site constraints and then we'll get into the scope of work um which I'll clearly identify uh what portion of the project is going to be funded by the Deo grants and which portion is being funded by the city of Miami Beach um finally we'll move into the proposed exterior improvements which is what I'm sure you're interested in seeing so we'll run through uh the proposed generator Improvement the new fencing the new roof access ladder and the exterior doors and then we'll follow it up with some any questions that you may have next so project location um as Rio pointed out a few moments ago this is on Terminal Island which is essentially just off the MacArthur Causeway if you look in your top right corner the inset there uh we're in the the northeast corner of terminal Island that's basically adjacent to the entrance to the Coast Guard base uh just off the causeway next so existing conditions this is an aerial view on the right hand side of of what the station currently looks like and just rolling around uh I guess from top dead center around to the right uh in numerical order uh number one is that dark black line which represents our project limits that's essentially the the limits of the property line that the city owns number two is just just pointing to the station itself so this is the building that contains these booster pump stations and controls number three is an existing Royal Palm that unfortunately will have to be removed as part of these improvements I'm sorry number three number four uh is also poined to that same line but it really is meant to identify that existing 6ot High chain link fence which is in bad condition in uh in most areas and that's uh running along the north and east sides of this property that's intended to be removed and replaced number five is just a location of the FPL Transformer you'll see that in a couple of photos later in the presentation number six is the staircase which is on the second floor there's a there's a platform there which you'll see some good pictures of here uh shortly where we're going to be proposing a uh a guarded uh staircase that gets us up to the second to the rooftop rather for maintenance of the bump station number seven is just pointing out the location of the US Coast Guard uh guard house so as you enter the base that's the guard house that would be immediate to your immediately to your left prior to checkin number eight is an AC unit enclosure that is currently fenced in with your typical City of Miami uh White um 6ot tall uh aluminum fencing which we're going to mimic and you you'll see more details on that here in short order and then number nine and 10 is really just pointing to an existing sto uh I'm sorry sanitary sewer uh Pump Station which is in existence that is also owned by the city of Miami Beach we know that's on our property and we're very uh conscious of the fact that that's that's going to be impacted by some of this this work so just to give you an idea of what this looks like today um this this is a photo of of uh of the pump station building you can see it there in the foreground with all the glazing and the angled front this is from the causeway looking Southwest so if you look in the top right there's a little indicator of a a a Viewpoint if you will and that's approximate the location that this photo was taken from so this is basically sitting Northeast of the building looking back at it and you can see the parking garage for the Coast Guard there in the uh I'm sorry for teral island in the in the distance there off to the left so this is the opposite corner so now this is sitting near the Coast Guard uh check-in security um Booth you can see the booth there on the right hand side just cut off in the photo there this is what the station looks like today and you can see a lot of different Vehicles parked there some should be there and some should not most of those trucks in the back are public works and operations buildings some of these other vehicles in the front should not necessarily be parked there and that's that's one of the issues that we're hoping to tackle uh with with this uh with these proposed improvements this is behind the building so if you look at on the right side on the inset this is uh now moving off the causeway clearly onto the property itself so this is uh just looking uh towards the northe I'm sorry towards the Southwest or South Southwest uh from the northeast corner of the building that's the FPL generator there uh in green that I pointed out there made reference to earlier next and this is standing the same location but angling a little more towards the right so you can see in the foreground that that tall uh Royal Palm which will be in direct conflict with where the proposed generator uh will sit you'll see that here in just a moment but we're basically taking this photo right from where the generator is going to be sitting next so I mentioned earlier a uh an existing platform and some doors so there's a few improvements here that we're going to take a look at here in close uh in U in a little more detail here in just a moment but that is the second level platform where we're going to be attaching a roof ladder from that platform between the door and the edge of that railing there's plenty of room there the photo may not look like it but there is uh to get up to the rooftop with a secure ladder and then of course part of our improvements is also going to include replacement of those two uh steel doors on the second and the first floor it's a double door on the bottom and a single door at the top those frame and doors are in terrible condition they've been eroded they're rusted and falling apart so part of our proposed improvements is going to be replacing those okay so site constraints uh clearly part of these improvements as Rio indicated uh does include some underground components as well so uh one of the first activities we undertook was to really identify uh the mish mash and Maze of utilities and other apperances uh that exist on the site but well either grade or below grade for that matter uh so this identifies a lot of the FPL duck banks that Meander throughout the site the location of all of her underground uh water mains and force Mains the extent of the sanitary sewer pump station and everything else that we need to make we need to be we needed to be aware of in order to design these proposed improvements um it also uh really played a major role in dictating where this generator could or could not be placed um and I'll get into that in just a minute so so uh here's the identification of the full scope of work everything that we're undertaking under this project the Deo funded Grant funded items are uh denoted in red and the City of Miami Beach funded items are denoted in blue so just going around these real quick if I may uh item number one you know what can I can I interrupt you sorry I'm sorry but we have a hard stop in about 20 minutes so I think it would be helpful to all of us do you have images of what you're proposing absolutely maybe skip to that if you don't mind that's that's really what our are not a problem at all we want it to be a little more thorough we can certainly truncate it so no problem um so I mentioned the generator would be located in the northeast corner and that's essentially to avoid a lot of those underground utilities that we would never have access to once this generator's in place so really the only location that really makes sense is in that northeast corner that you see they denoted by number two the this example of photo that we just put up is of a caterpillar generator of course there the contractor would not be uh relegated to Simply choosing a caterpillar which tends to be yellow in color next slide they could also go with something like a gener which is alant in color you may have seen many of these at a lot of the storm water pump stations around the city I'm sure you're familiar with these next uh generator on slab uh so this is uh not not a rendering but it's meant to indicate what the height of this uh of this uh generator is going to be essentially um the top of the El the top of the generator is going to be at elevation 22 to almost 23 ft and gvd so that's plus 23 the existing ground in that area just for reference is about 7 and 1/2 to 8 so you're talking about a 15t roughly 15t tall generator the building itself is uh at its high point is about 28 and 1 12 ft tall and you'll see that in a moment next slide so this is a rendering of what from that same Causeway photo I showed you earlier what that generator would look like in front of that building in that same location at that height next this is rendering of that that uh fence that we're going to be installing all the way around the perimeter again to control access to it but also improve the aesthetic a little bit in this photo you can also see off to the left some additional um uh Shrubbery or some screening that we're going to be installing between the pump station and the sidewalk uh that exists north south there near that sign uh The Pedestrian sign off to the left and then off in the distance you can see the uh the second floor ladder that we've added to this rendering as well next it's just a standard detail of what your Miami Beach fence looks like the only difference is that this is going to be 8 feet tall for security purposes and in L of the standard six feet next just a close-up of what this roof mounted or wallmounted roof AIS ladder is going to look like with its security cage next more of the same and then these are just an example of what these doors are going to look like nothing fancy these are they're basically meant to replace uh the doors these are stormroof doors I'm sorry windproof doors they are not stormroof doors it's definitely not necessary on the second floor uh on the first floor next slide we're also going I'm sorry next slide again we're also going to be installing um these flood proofing panels on the first floor to further uh make the building more resilient against resilient against uh storm surge and the like and that's essentially it pretty basic thank you very much any other pleasure is there any No Hands raised online okay any comments from the board just so I understand what you're proposing essentially is putting the generator in front of the existing building that's there now can you go back to that slide that shows what where the generator will be located I think it goes between the existing building and the causeway and then they're going to buffer it my understanding with plant material yeah is that oh wait go back yeah let me get the location oh it's right there number two so no no no I think we wanted to see the the image yes that one there that one right there so so all of that Shrubbery and those trees are existing today that's what it would look like if we did nothing more than install the generator where it's proposed and so you're proposing and and again to make sure that I got this correct that that generator that's the only location that makes sense for that generator it's really the only place that it can go sadly without impacting or sitting over the top of of existing facilities that should a breake ever occur or should we ever have to replace it or get under there we never could after this generator's in place and you will be doing I'm sorry you will be doing Shrubbery or plant material around it so that it's not as you don't see the white or beige box or you don't see the generator from either uh the causeway or the um a bridge going into um the Coast Guard area no So currently there there is no vegetation or screening proposed at this time in the project and then you showed us the yellow one was that also it could be beige or yellow was that depends on the brand oh depend on the one that you yeah just depends on the brand and of course there's always opportunities to paint it and do something simple something a little more uh a little easier to maintain um but yeah the we're also constrained on space so if you if you zoom in on the right side there I know you can't zoom in on a slide but if you look at the right side the aerial view once that gener ators in place with its laab and the platforms with the access stairs to get it to either side of it there really doesn't leave much room between that and the fence just a couple of feet I as one member of this board I I I can understand the situation you're faced with I don't have an objection to what is being done I would just request that there be Landscaping to camouflage the building or the generator I'm sorry as much as possible from um MacArthur Causeway at least okay we could look into that and see we are putting we're adding as what was mentioned we're adding a landscaping to the sides of the next to the new fence and there's already Landscaping but we could look at something that will grow and and and and eventually you know we'll cover and we'll hide as much as possible so yeah I think it's a it's a shame that that has to be located in the one spot that covers up a pretty nice utility building that covers up some you know utilitarian things but I yeah I can see why it would need to be I I agree that there should be some sort of screening sha I mean uh again I I sound like a broken record today but you know as our city transforms these types of um well and our population increases and our density increases these types of systems are only going to get bigger and and um more po ated throughout our urbanism and so I just feel like having a strategy you know that we approach when we have all of these situations is a better way to come at this like this is a 15t tall you know enclosed system that yes then you need access to it's going to have maintenance and it's at the scale of a building it's not like a little you know like air conditioning unit so and there's no image from the inside of the building but this happens to be a glass facade right there so I'm just saying to me it's so much I know cost is a factor I know time's a factor but again if we want to have accidents you know all through our city we're going to get this or if we say when it when it's this type of change it actually becomes an extension to the architecture it has an architectural language and it's inhabitable and and that's the approach versus trying to pretend that we can just add this little thing next to it cuz it's very big it's it's very big and I and I think we have to address it like like we do like the city is so great at with water living with water not trying to pretend we don't have water around us and this is very much part of that water system so how do we Embrace these infrastructures that that would be my request can you go back to the screen where it shows the first one you had on that one uh no no no the original yeah uh no doesn't no I I can tell you when Marthur Causeway um on that bridge and I it's not reflected here you really don't see what's going on into the and that's the part of the island of terminal Island that we called Coast Guard uh versus the front part is where sanitation and Fleet Management are housed and you really don't either you don't pay attention to it because you're looking forward to getting into South Beach or what have you or because I believe the ramping of the bridge going into the overpass and going into into um fist stre is higher um so you don't really feel like you're that's right next to you U but maybe art in public places um has something that they can come up with to screen or give recommendations as shaa is saying to generators and pump stations that are in visibility of the public yeah what's a shame is clearly the other building that's there went through a thoughtful design process and here we are plopping something in front of it that's just going to block it so I think it speaks to both of your points that there just needs to be a little bit more thought and she's right this is turning these these look like those porta potties that they put at big events with stairs up to a trailer basically and other ugly thing I mean they're really ugly and and this this island is different I mean it's it's it's clearly a industrial area for us but going through the city they're they're really ugly and there there needs to be a better solution holistically than just plopping them in and putting trees in front of them and Rio I know before we'd mentioned and you said oh a recommendation to the commission I mean could that you know I I I mean even to have somebody work with Public Works which they do a great job of managing all the water like everything all the stuff but their Engineers not designers not their Forte yeah it's it you know I would never deal with plumbing I would never I know I barely know what a generator is you know you don't want me doing that but we need to have this and yeah it's only going to get bigger that would be part of that recommendation well and again I apologize for not having a long history here but you know a couple meetings ago we saw a great um thorough presentation from Brook Scarpa you know that isn't looking at resiliency but was looking at some of the sort of urban language in parts of the city that it's transforming and so I'm sure I know the city went through this process probably several years ago now maybe 2016 because in 18 it started being implemented but is there a language back like can we return to that framework for advice at this moment or if it wasn't that comprehensive or anticipate these applications then can we revisit that sort of process to expand that framework so there's a language that we're we're looking at that would be my request to the commission I I would also yeah and to to use us as a resource for guidance on how to to the Commissioners um this is are we making a motion on this or it was just our recommendations to the city it's it's your recommendations City but it we would we would need a motion outlining exactly what those recommendations should be and then we'll draft to LTC that has those recommendations that will transmit to the City commissioners okay so does somebody want to make a motion I can try to make a motion saying what I think we heard so you want the recommendations to the commission separate is that what you said or as part of this just as part of a motion okay so I think we make a motion to approve as presented with the um condition that there be more As Much landscaping added as possible to you know at appropriate scales to help I guess buffer this but um again I know that sort of inhibits air flow and doesn't really go with what needs but anyways the landscaping and then to the Commissioners to um sort of revisit the framework that established these um projects these Citywide projects and and say is there a langu an architectural language and urban language within those Frameworks that we can return to and if it's not there then can we revisit the development of that framework may as a start thank you to the commission and the city Administration for moving forward and doing this project it's been long overdue and we are very fortunate as an island to not have septic tanks but to have sewer lines and to have the water pressure that we need in order to meet our insurance criteria that we as homeowners have um in our premiums so uh I thank you anyways for all of this yes anybody can second I can second that second second oh sorry okay so I have a motion by Miss Meer second by Miss buoli uh all those in favor I I any opposed motion passes thank you thank you thank you so um thank you everyone thank you um the we're supposed to we need to stop at 2:30 we have about 10 minutes do we sort of read it in or how should we proceed I think we can read it in maybe if we go a few minutes over we we might be able to but hopefully not but yeah okay okay sorry okay next our final okay go for it are they here are they online are you are you guys here for 3101 okay sorry if you can please be as concise as possible when you present I'll try to Podium this is the last item on the agenda the B 24151 310 South coconut Lane and this application is requesting design review approval for a twostory residence with an under story including one or more waivers to replace an existing residence okay so this is a two-story residence on a regularly shaped uh Waterfront lot on Hibiscus Island to replace an existing residence um it is an understory home um the uh height of I'm just going to be be brief the height of the home is proposed at 28t 6 in is consistent with our other recommendation we're recommending that the height be reduced to 28 ft so that would be a 6in reduction um the understory area contains um concrete pavers landscaping and a pond uh the pond is proposed as proposed encroaches into the understory Edge along the north side of the yard and connects to a large pool in the rear yard overlooking biscane Bay um staff does recommend that that that pond be moved in 5T from the northern exterior side um underneath the first habitable floor above that's because there's a requirement that there be an understory edge of 5T which is supposed to consist of open space primarily um for the purposes of drainage um the the home is designed in a contemporary style um and is distinguished by a half cylindrical volume in the front elevation that is clad with Limestone um and accented with Landscaping staff does have some slight concerns with the opening openings um and staff does recommend that those openings be increased in size a little bit um in order to reduce the massing of that volume on the on the front um front elevation um Additionally the applicant is requesting a waiver of the uh of the required open uh space on elevations twostory elevations exceeding 60 ft um in this case they are pretty much uh conforming with the intent they do provide the open space however the architectural design does have a beam on the second floor which would uh prevent them from from essentially complying with with that requirement um so staff is supportive of of the requested waiver because that that beam does add to the uh to the architectural uh design um and staff is not opposed to that um so with the change that the pond B moved in 5T that the height be reduced by 6 in um and that the openings on that front elevation be be uh increased in size a little bit um staff recommends that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the attached draft order good afternoon Jose Sanchez principal with practice architecture uh today we have uh on Zoom also the owner and the landscape architect the owner wanted to address the board but given the time limitations I think we're going to have to skip that um going right into if you want we can just continue it and then there could be more time for him to speak if that's what you choose well if if we if he could speak and if necessary we we continue then that that would be the best okay okay go for it so uh Mr uh Pier dagostin the owner we have uh he's online uh Pierre datini yes if you can raise your hand please all right if we can unmute him hi Pier can you hear us yes uh I um I just need to swear you in really quickly before you proceed uh do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you will be giving in this proceeding is the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes I do all right thank you you may proceed thank you I don't want to take too much of your time I understand that there's a time constraint however I just wanted to say a few words number one I bought this property 31 years ago 31 years I cannot believe it and I always bought it with the intent that to build my house dream and now I am in my 60s and and I appreciate the fact that I'm in front of the dbpr for you to uh to to to move forward with this permit the intent uh and what that's why we hired the office of uh uh of Mr Sanchez and practice architecture was really we want to improve the community we want to make a great great piece great property for for my family use but we don't want to do ask anything extravagant and that's why I think that you will see the design pretty much in line with what respected I had asked the architect to add some elevator because unfortunately with time I cannot walk as well as I used to uh and walk up the stairs apart from that I wanted to say that I really appreciate the work that you do I was for a long time the president of the homeowner association of pal biscus and styland and I've seen how by caring about the architecture and what's being built on those islands and around the city of Miami Beach we are making a beautiful city so I I I am honor and I hope we can move forward with my uh small contribution and with a place for my family to to to to to leave uh I was going to say happy ever there after you don't know how long that last but at least to to to move forward so thank you for your attention and I have I have heard the comments the Prem currents the architect is going to comment also uh uh but we of course we will take uh we will do whatever is needed to make this beautiful project happen thank you again for your time thank you so much okay if we could please go to the presentation Here's the the the first image the front view of the house from the street and um there are um three factors that basically drove the design of the house one is the fact that it's a very narrow load relatively narrow 55 ft on the front and we're doing an under story home so it it was going to be obviously very vertical so we had to work with the volumes to create a certain profile so it doesn't look like a complete three story house we we heard in a previous presentation um the concerns about the expression of the full three story house here we have most of the house it's two stories and only in the center it's IT projects into and you can see the full three stories so that was part of it to create that uh profile uh the uh vision from the owner to create a house with a a very unique character um U so it could be a little bit more expressionistic you know driving around the house we could see some of the more so it's the Contemporary houses and some are a little bit on the boxy side and the client wanted something different so uh that's in part way it's very unique and also its location it's at the very West End of of hibiscus with um a fantastic view of down of downtown Miami and the arena it's basically uh the The View that many people in the world have in mind or one of the views of of Miami of the the open Bay of biscane down downtown so we felt it was appropriate to create um um a very unique entrance that it sets the stage for for that spectacular View and that's why we have the the frame on the right side with the uh circular stair that goes around the the circular volume so that's the um main view from the front and here's the location on the west side of um Hibiscus Island here you can see the house um not at high level but further up so you can see the articulation and the entrance and an an entry Courtyard that it's um that it's the the the first space that that you see and and continue into the fer uh the material palette it's um o uh Limestone that it would be need to be uh cut you know in bands but mostly a vertical pattern to address the the curve uh then uh White uh stock of frames uh with um the the inset is just uh in a darker color you know within that frame um bronze uh color glazing uh dark uh or warm color paint and some uh lers in also everything in in the darker color inside the White frames and moving on this is the the rear of the property that uh it's simpler uh as we cannot obstruct the the views but it does have a um curved wall that uh relates to the front and it's uh on the on the North or left side and it just uh it's uh continues from first to second floor and they pull uh it's hits to the wall it just ends at the wall you know and that's part of the reason why we are asking the the waiver for the uh water that and the 5 ft set back from the edge of the upper level because it's an important aspect of the architecture and we would we will be willing to provide more setbacks on other sides 7 feet or 8 ft if we are allowed to do to uh to get close closer uh to to that to the wall there and pass the set back um by a couple of feet and these are the side views with the um Courtyards um entry Courtyard on the North elevation and then a um a required Courtyard on the uh South for also for light and ventilation these are uh views uh closer into the into the entry Courtyard space and the the pull with the Curve wall that I was mention before the the wall the I mean the the the water hits the uh the curved wall you know it's I don't think it's seen from that uh level but we can see it in the floor plan uh here's the side plan with all the technical information it meets all the requirements and here you can see the floor plans with the um garage we located the driveway uh a little closer to the center since the front Mage is very narrow so we can have more Landscaping on both sides and it doesn't feel like you have the uh driveway right next to the small yard and the rear it's all pretty much open and uh the it's actually a a a pond that extends um into the entry corer and about the curved wall that's on the top uh left there the first floor plan with uh two um rooms a small office and a guest bedroom and and they open to a private Terrace and it's uh the rear is pretty much the typical common areas of a house you can see as as you come up yeah the the stone goes inside the house and it continues uh through the curve uh stair into the foer and from there it opens up to the open plan of the house second floor with three bedrooms in the rear and one in the front typical condition but you can see that we have less volume in the front to address the massing and and and the scaling and the upper level with access through a spiral stair that's uh completely cover so you only see a cylinder uh so some of these um semicircular geometry is repeated in in different places that's are the technical drawings hard to understand because of there are many different planes there side elevation with the courtyards and the shading may help to visualize something and this is the south side with a large glaze area where the stair is located that's you know right in the center and and you can see the spiral St access to the roof from From A Balcony or terorist rear elevation sections and that's basically it for any questions comments thank you very much any other members of the public wishing to speak I see no hands raised on Zoom okay great thank you very much oh um so how should we okay I have 233 how should we proceed I I I feel like and I don't know that there should be a bit of a discussion about this project especially because there were a lot of recommendations and I don't know I mean are they gonna our Communications team our Communications team do you how much time do you need to turn around the is it okay if we continue a few more minutes or for the 3:00 start time yeah we have 3:00 start time so uh we might have to uh wrap this one up unfortunately okay okay okay I I apologize I wish we could have gotten to it today but it will um I'm sure that next time you will get a lot of really helpful feedback so um okay is there so it'll be moved to the December 10th meeting um I have a quick question is is uh is there do we have any first impression feedback that we want to provide um or just so if there's something to work on between here and December 10th or that doesn't work I don't know you feel free if you'd like okay to do that just have one one comment I I like your design very much I like that it's not a box on top of a box and um but I have a question you're proposing a height of 28.6 the maximum height allowed is 31 feet but this is also zoning in progress that you're going to 28 ft so um um that just may be something based on what you heard in previous presentations something to consider for the next presentation to see if you could reduce 6 in actually go to 28 look at that my question on height to is the elevator is going to the roof completely above that 286 I'm not I don't understand how that works with code that's an allowable height exception elevator yeah it just the the the height limit is to the top of the slab and so this this is allowed to exceed the top of the slab but this it's not just an elevator overrun it's serving the roof yeah it can go into the to a roof deck yes okay so then that I guess yeah uh I'd like to know well that's so it's 386 overall um when you go to the top of the elevator yeah taller and then my cons I also because this is very these lots are very very close to one another I did have a question if you were able to speak to the neighbors and show them I know at least like it seemed also the neighbor to the South had a lot of Windows that were going to be facing onto this and that was a concern that I had of this is definitely going to impact their home especially because the properties are very tightly nestled so that was just a concern something to think about for next time yes we haven't but we are willing to uh High windows or put a a Lou in the in the stair um GL glazing because we have to have glass for articulation but then the Privacy we have to address that but uh yes I mean on those elevations we are most of the windows are are provided because of the articulation but we would like to me my my comment was just and I'd love to talk about this next time just to reach out to the neighbor and and work them because it was very it's it's going to impact them very very much it's always good to get letters of support from your neighbors on the project my last other request might be I know that you have the side views like if you could have more renderings of the building at an angle because it's hard to read the elevations they are rendered but they're like flat so like I'd like to just understand the building more three-dimensionally yeah especially I'd like to see that the corner of the front where the curve becomes a right angle just seeing how that looks in a perspective view um on the front yard if you know what I the angle I mean okay yeah we will provide several will we have time to submit additional you can submit those as part of your presentation as part of presentation prior to the meeting all right because you're not changing unless you do something that changes the design then you need to have it two weeks prior okay so it would be additional visualization do we need to make a motion to continue or does it automatically uh it would be good to have a motion to continue okay make a motion to continue a second all right and all those in favor I okay motion pass did you have a quick comment before we have to yes you'd have to step into the please sing in the microphone and we do have they're gonna kick us out well chair and members thank you very much for uh opening this up to the public I'm a new Resident to Miami Beach so I do appreciate being here today and you know as a a wind and water sports Enthusiast I really do care about the environment and how all this is going to work together so um over and above the Aesthetics of the generator my question was really about the background of the functionality and what is the purpose of the generator and what will that do how many megawatts these type of considerations so maybe if that's a agenda item we could bring up in our next meeting would love to I wonder if the I don't know what you say the best to be for you to get in touch with somebody at Public Works the gentleman that was here from Public Works he could specify we'll get you his contact information it's it's basically if the power goes out that pump station can still continue to function because it has its own power backup um as far as the megawatts the power and all that of that I'm not an expert in that and that generator is basically for two pump stations one is for the sewer and the other one's for the water okay no I just like to more understand what the inputs and the outputs of that of those Waters and how that's going to affect what quality I I'll get you the contact information now of public work so you can thank you you're welcome and thank you thank you very much and before we adjourn welcome to Miami be thank you before we adjourn I did want to um bring up something to the board that um next month on a first reading the commission is going to hear a recommendation to take away the understory purview from the drb so if anybody um has an opinion about that now would be the time to get in touch with the Commissioners to any concerns so thank you very much and we'll see you in December um roio is there um the commission memo for the first reading of the commission uh from the planning department um can we get a copy of that when it it's once it's approved by uh the city manager off we can let okay thank you e for