City condoning zoning incentives
By Bari Auerbach

Zoning incentives extended to developers, specifically "transfers of development rights" (TDR's), were the focus of an ordinance passed on first reading at the Dec. 18, 2003 Sunny Isles Beach City Commission meeting.
What are TDR's?
Transfer of development rights (TDR's) can be defined as "the process by which development rights are transferred from one lot, parcel, or area of land in a sending district (usually where land conservation is sought) to another lot, parcel, or area of land in one or more receiving districts (where property is desired and can be serviced properly)." Effective TDR programs can allow communities to develop in a more cost-effective manner and can increase the tax base while allowing owners of land to be compensated.
Further explanation of TDR's by Commissioner Danny Iglesias has provided insight such as, "If a developer has a piece of land and doesn't have any interest in building on that site - he has the option of picking up the TDR's on that property and transferring them over to another site upon approval of the City Commission."

Main TDR "receiver sites" in the city are the east side of Collins Avenue and the town center district on the west side of Collins Avenue from 172nd Street to Sunny Isles Boulevard.

'Conserving TDR's'

At the Dec. 18, 2003 Commission meeting the ordinance approved amended the city's land development regulations pertaining to TDR's. In accordance with a proposal made by Commissioner Lewis Thaler, the ordinance now states that no single applicant for TDR's be permitted to purchase from the city more than 50,000 square feet of TDR's remaining in the city's bank of TDR's.

The ordinance further provides that no less than 100,000 square feet of TDR's shall remain in the city's bank of TDR's for future use by and for the city for city designated purposes for the city's benefit. "This takes into account that the city may have future unanticipated or presently unforeseeable needs and reserves these rights for the city for city designated purposes," said City Attorney Lynn Dannheisser.

Zoning administrator Jorge Vera recently explained there are four city-owned sites creating a "bank" of transferable development rights: Golden Shores Park (205-191 Terrace), the active park (18115 N. Bay Road); Sen. Gwen Margolis Park (17815 N. Bay Road); and Gilbert Samson Oceanfront Park (17425 Collins Avenue).

"Calculating development rights for these sites, the total is 588,958 square feet and 339 units," Vera said. Based on development approval or pending applications requesting TDR's, a memo drafted by Vera shows the city's "bank" of TDR's reduced to 442,495 square feet and 320 units.

'Proposed Amendment Excluded'

The ordinance ultimately passed excluding an amendment proposed by Commissioner Danny Iglesias. The proposed amendment called for giving extra incentives to property owners of privately owned sites utilizing TDR's to donate parcels of three acres or more to the city. The proposed incentives included allowing developers to have an increase in floor area ratio to 4.0; 80 unit density; and an extension of up to 10 years (rather than the currently established five years) to transfer development rights.

Clarifying the amendment, Iglesias noted he didn't feel it should pertain exclusively to the Town Center zoning district and that he also felt setting a time limit of ten years or any amount of years for that matter was unnecessary.

"I don't think we should include any years because it gives a caveat for anyone who would be willing to donate land to the city to 'hold off' - depriving the city of the ability to get coveted land to use," Iglesias said. He went on to share why, in his opinion, giving the incentive of going up to 80 units per acre in exchange for the city being able to receive three acres or more of land would not be detrimental.

"You can go up to 80 units per acre by code," Iglesias said. "The comprehensive plan says you cannot exceed the maximum amount - which is 80. If they go to 80 it doesn't matter because they have to transfer TDR's to the receiver site which can only go up to whatever that [particular] receiver site is allowed to go up to. The people who buy it have to adhere to the comprehensive plan."

'In the Mayor's Opinion.'

Expressing his feelings, Mayor Norman Edelcup said, "I agree it's important to get land for the city but the Commission also has a responsibility to make sure that in doing so, we don't ignore that there are a lot of dollars involved every time we increase a floor area ratio.We have a duty to make sure we treat people fairly and don't give an inordinate profit to some people who may want to transfer or sell their land.

"I think a fair and reasonable profit should be there - but every time we increase something we're talking about millions to the owner of that property just by [the Commission] saying, 'We're going to get the land anyway and it doesn't matter about the money.' But in effect, we are creating 'monopoly money' by doing this and I think we have to look and see what's fair for all parties.

"It's fair for the City to get a piece of land we can use for a park.It's fair for the owner to get a reasonable profit - but we don't need to enrich that person with a 'gorging' of profits.

"One of the things we have to look at when we're creating these ordinances for TDR's is the fact that someone needs to do the math and see what the end number is.Today, a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 4.0 on the west side of Collins based on land values on the east side translates to significant dollars.It's like for every FAR of one point we're talking two million dollars per acre in value that we're creating by just allowing a FAR number to appear there.

"As to the ten year [proposed extension] I think again in my view it's too long. We also have to remember that when we take that property we're taking it off the tax rolls and we're relieving that property owner from any taxes in the future because the City now has it and we're sitting there with ten years of no revenue coming as a result of somebody speculating that they want to wait until the 10th year.

"I think that was one of the reasons why when we passed the original TDR ordinance we said that five years was plenty sufficient time.In my view, five years is sufficient time for someone to dispose of the property. If there is an economic downturn in the country and there is a logical hardship reason - certainly, the Commission could then extend that time. And lastly, we need to make sure the rewards to the developer for giving us that land are within the bounds of reason."

'Enough Incentives?'

Commissioner Ros Brezin noted, "I would recommend passing the ordinance without the added revision. Leave the density and FAR just as it is. We should not have [added] incentives for the city to receive land.I believe there are already enough incentives."

Concurring, Edelcup pointed out, "We never had TDR's before.This alone gives developers the incentive to take land on the west side and consider it as though it was land on the ocean. The Commission made the wise decision to transfer development rights so we can keep it 'low' on the west side and let the east side have it 'high'.The developer wins too because he gets a higher price for the unit if he builds it on the east side as opposed to the west side of Collins Avenue."

After the ordinance passed on first reading excluding the proposed amendment pertaining to parcels of three acres or more, Edelcup suggested having the amendment brought back so it could be reconsidered at some time in the future. The second reading of the ordinance was scheduled for Jan. 15 at the next regular City Commission meeting.

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