During March’s zoning hearing last Monday night, the Village Council considered an agenda item seeking to repeal the zoning regulations adopted in 2016 for the Palmetto Bay Village Center and revert to regulations adopted in 2008.

In 2008, Council approved Ordinance No. 08-09   allowing the development of 400 units at the former Burger King Headquarters site, 300 of which were designated for senior living facilities and 100 for multi-family residential. Under said ordinance, the owner was also granted the rights to build more than 1,000,000 SF of commercial space ranging from medical offices to a hotel. All development allowed under the 2008 ordinance was located on the east side of the property and did not include the 22 acres of a vacant land buffer abutting Old Cutler Road. Development for that area was to be considered by Council at a later date.

Later in 2016, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 2016-14 . This ordinance changed the 2008 regulations to cap the number of units to 485 for the entire site, leaving the 22 acres of buffer land along Old Cutler Road as an undeveloped area. The ordinance converted the 22 acres, along with an additional 15 acres of mangrove and walking paths (see plan) to public lands, under the Village’s control and intended to become a public park. Although the 2016 ordinance allowed for a total of 485 units, the final unit count was restricted by traffic counts. The ordinance required that the new unit total of 485 would only be approved if the trips generated by such development were the same number as the trips generated under the 2008 approval for the 300 senior living facilities and the 100 multi-family residential.

Consequently, a traffic study was commissioned to identify the total number of units based on the traffic restrictions provided for in the 2016 ordinance. The study showed that the maximum number of units that could be developed to maintain the same trip generation figures generated by the 2008 approvals is 389 units. Ultimately, an alternate ordinance was presented by Councilman Singer, and after careful deliberations, the Council voted against the repeal of the 2016 ordinance, but in favor of an alternate ordinance which caps the total number of units for the entire site to 389 and keeps the plans to convert the 22 acres abutting Old Cutler Road as a passive park under the Village’s control.

Since the ordinance was brought forward as an add-on item, the Council also voted to allow for one extra hearing of the ordinance for a total of three public readings in place of the required two.

To simplify the differences and provisions of the three ordinances adopted in 2008 and 2016 respectively, and the one for consideration in 2018, the table below is provided as reference. Additionally, a video of the meeting [link] is available on the village website and a copy of the PowerPoint presentation made by Interim Planning Director Mark Alvarez is also available online.