It was another packed house at last night’s Council Meeting. (Monday, January 14, 2019)
Residents spoke up about the downtown development and its impact on our community. After all the residents spoke up and the public hearing was closed, it became time to discuss and vote on the ordinance.
During the discussion, Maria Mitchell moved to increase the minimum square foot requirement back to 900 square feet. She argued that Miami Springs has plenty of small apartments. It needs more larger apartments. Her motion died as no other councilperson seconded her motion.
Next was a vote on the elimination of the 2:1 mix ratio. Maria Mitchell made the argument that eliminating the mix use ratio would allow more apartments and less commercial. The City Planner agreed, but did not have specific numbers.
Jaime Petralanda argued that keeping the 2:1 ratio would keep the City of Miami Springs in the driver’s seat. He argued that issues that come up could be addressed with a variance. But ultimately, keeping the 2:1 ratio would put the city in control of the amount of residential in each property.
2:1 MIX RATIO ELIMINATED
When the mayor called for the vote to eliminate the 2:1 mix ratio, Billy Bain, Bob Best, and Mara Zapata voted FOR the elimination of the ratio thus allowing more residential. Maria Mitchell and Jaime Petralanda held their ground and voted NO.
COMMERCIAL DEPTH ADDED
Fortunately, the city administration did make a change to prevent shallow depth retail on the first floor with a provision requiring 40 feet of depth to the first floor commercial areas.
FULL ORDINANCE PASSES
Finally, it came time to vote on the full ordinance. Bob Best, Billy Bain, Mara Zapata, and Jaime Petralanda voted for the full ordinance. Councilwoman Maria Mitchell voted against it.