The aim of the proposed ordinance is to respond to concerns raised by the residents of the Town as reflected in a motion of the Town Council on December 6, 2016, as they relate to construction sites. The proposed ordinance provides measures that seek to manage potential impacts of construction sites such as securing the perimeter of the site with fencing, site access, construction phasing, and staging of equipment. The ordinance requires development projects to provide a detailed construction staging and management plan prior to issuance of building permits including the erection of fencing prior to the commencement of any construction activity. The ordinance is offered in addition to those already required by the Florida Building Code and Chapter 8, Building Code, of the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances. The request is consistent with the Town's Comprehensive Development Master Plan and the Town's Code of Ordinances.
On June 20, 2017, the Planning and Zoning Board, acting in their capacity as the Local Planning Agency (LPA), recommended approval of the item to the Town Council. The proposed ordinance presented at that time included provisions for perimeter fencing of properties determined to be abandoned. That portion related to an action taken by the Council on October 4, 2016 relating to eyesore properties (abandoned properties). The LPA, had concerns over the need for this provision identifying such challenges associated with enforcement, compliance, and whether the proposed remedy would result in a greater eyesore. Ultimately, they recommendation was to exclude single family residential lots.
In consideration of LPA's discussion and suggestions of the matter, staff reevaluated the practicality of fencing abandoned properties and found agreement with the LPA's concerns. Implementation, would be challenging, achieving compliance even more so, and the net result may in fact be fencing that is more of an eyesore than the abandoned property itself. As such, staff has removed from the attached proposed ordinance those portions which address abandoned properties. It is therefore recommended that those properties shall instead be managed through existing code compliance procedures and regulations.
Other modifications to the proposed ordinance since the LPA hearing involved removing redundant code provisions, clarification of proposed provisions, and a reference to Chapter 8 of the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances.
On September 5, 2017, the Town Council moved this item on first reading without any changes. For ease of use, the proposed ordinance is attached to this memo.