Message from the Mayor

IMPORTANT: Message from the Mayor

(Thursday, August 8, 2019) – 

We heard you! On August 28, 2019 at 6:00 pm there will be a Special Commission Meeting in the Sunny Isles Beach Commission Chambers to vote upon a proposed building moratorium in the Town Center District. A building moratorium automatically stops any new development project. During the moratorium, we will find an acceptable solution to move forward and address development issues in the Town Center District.

The Miami Herald published an article recently (click here to read) that provided a much clearer description of what the true problem is and how we are proceeding to fix it. The Miami Herald article is materially different from what had been reported in the Community Newspaper and letters from the RK group (Mr. Katz and son), which are inaccurate and sensationalistic. Below is a recap of the facts to date:

  1. The City and its experts have been attempting to correct mistakes that were made between 2007 and 2011 regarding the Town Center District.
  2. These mistakes were discovered when the Infinity Project, a newly proposed development, was submitted for approval. That development has not been approved and is currently not under consideration for approval.
  3. These prior mistakes resulted in the completion of six buildings that will be deemed non-conforming if we do not amend our comprehensive plan to correct them. This would cause substantial economic hardship to these six buildings and residents, and in some extreme cases, could put homes and businesses in jeopardy. Our top priority and duty is to fix these mistakes.
  4. The initial recommendation from the City’s experts was to simply revise the comprehensive plan in the Town Center District to uphold prior approvals. This would have fixed the problem. However, this original proposal is what created much of the public concern – even though it appeared the most expeditious and efficient way to ensure that the affected residences and businesses would not face additional exposure. We did not move forward with this proposal and are now considering alternatives.
  5. Our main priority now is to find a legal solution that protects the homes and business owners in the affected buildings, while also mitigating any concerns of granting other land parcels the same zoning as the prior approvals.
  6. Despite what has been disseminated, these proposed changes to our comprehensive plan have never been about up-zoning. There has never been any project or plan to approve 9,000 additional units. It is these misrepresentations that are generating a lot of the unnecessary concern.
  7. The upcoming vote upon a proposed building moratorium in the Town Center District is to ensure no development can move forward while this administration finds an acceptable solution to the problems described above that were inherited and recently discovered.

Once again, we have an obligation to find a solution to protect these homes and businesses while preserving the rights and quality of life for all of our residents, which currently is our top priority. I invite you to join us at the August Special Meeting.

Mayor George “Bud” Scholl

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This meeting is currently noticed on the Sunny Isles Beach website and the official notice will be published on Thursday, August 15 in the Tropical Section of the Miami Herald.