On May 2, 2017, the Town Council of the Town of Miami Lakes directed the Town Manager to explore provisions addressing the disposition of conditional uses that have ceased operations, and to return, if possible, with an amendment to the Land Development Code (LDC) that allows such conditional use approvals to expire once they cease to operate for a specified period of time. The principal concern was whether the approval should continue to be valid even when the owner has ceased to operate the business that received the conditional approval.

The proposed amendment codifies the circumstances under which such approvals would expire. The amendment also provides for the sun setting of nonconforming conditional uses that have ceased operation for a year or more. It also clarifies that any addition, expansion, or intensification of a nonconforming Conditional Use requires a new Conditional Use review. The amendment also provides for administrative adjustments to Conditional Uses where it is deemed that such changes comply with Code and that any impact is minor.

To date, staff confirmed the operational status of the existing conditional uses authorized within the Town. If adopted, implementation of the ordinance will commence with notifying those uses about the ordinance and making them aware of the annual certificate of use renewal requirement. Any business that is not in operation pursuant to the Conditional Use approval within 12 months of the effective date of the ordinance would be deemed to have abandoned such use.

Thereafter, notice will be sent in June of each year in concert with the annual Business Tax Receipt program. Enforcement of the ordinance will be channeled through established procedures of Code as provided at Chapter 8.

On January 23, 2018, the Planning and Zoning Board, acting in their capacity as the Local Planning Agency, voted in favor of the ordinance, recommending its approval to the Town Council.