On March 7, 2017, the Town Council of the Town of Miami Lakes directed the Town Manager to explore mailed notice requirements of the Land Development Code (LDC) and return to a workshop with recommendations that would enhance the reach, quality, and clarity of such notices. The request was driven by concerns that the public was not appropriately aware of pending projects in the wake of a development cycle more active than the Town was traditionally accustomed to experiencing.

As it currently stands, section 13-309 of the Town's LDC's requires development subject to public hearing to include a mailed notice to property owners within 500 feet of the proposed project. If the request includes a rezoning or amendment to the Future Land Use Map, such notice radius is required to be 2,500 feet. Projects where only administrative level review is required, notice is sent to adjacent properties, except in the case of an administrative (de minimis) variance, where no notice is required at all. The Town Council wanted to provide a broader overall reach of the notice, and provide it in a format that clearly identified the nature of proposed development.

On June 27, 2017, at a publicly advertised workshop of the Town Council, staff presented a recommended approach to mailing notification, including changing the format to a post card, utilization of plain language to describe a project, and radii options that are scaled according to intensity of development. These notices will only be sent to areas inside the boundaries of Miami Lakes. After some discussion, consensus was reached to utilize the easier to read post card notice, plain speech descriptions of the application request, and the following notice radii:

On July 19, 2017, this item was brought before the Town's Planning and Zoning Board, and in its function as the Town's Local Planning Agency ("LPA"), voted to recommend the approval of this Ordinance.

By utilizing the above schedule, notification is now reflective of the size of the proposed development and its potential impact to the surrounding community.