Comments on: Miami 21 Updates

By: Miami 21 affected existing buildings too

Miami 21 affected existing buildings too — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:37:00 +0000

Miami 21 applies to new construction and existing buildings and existing uses.

Non-conforming structures and non-conforming uses were sveral of the most hated sections in Miami 21. Very scary to business people. For good reason.

Homeowners hated those sections as well. Hurricanes...?

By: Another Miami Disaster?

Another Miami Disaster? — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:50:00 +0000

Miami 21 did not pass. Far too many mistakes. Very poorly drafted. Out of touch staff. No sense of reality consultants. Really no concept with real life.

What a waste to $2 Mil to $3 Mil…Another Miami disaster?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:50:00 +0000

If Miami 21 passes, which I doubt, tens of thousands of properties and homes will be non-conforming. Thousands of businesses will be non-conforming and possibly they will have to vacate. Scary stuff.

Miami 21, if it passes, will be a nightmare.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:51:00 +0000

Anon #1: Most of Miami 21 will apply to new buildings.

KOF: Good points. The important thing is that the language is there allowing these bicycle-oriented policies to be implemented.

Now it’s up to the Bicycle Master Plan to take care of all the details. I’ll post an update soon with information on when the City plans to break ground with planning a BMP.

By: kingofrance

kingofrance — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:02:00 +0000

I think that bike racks are pretty low on the list of concerns for cyclists. Also, what happens when there is a “thoroughfare” with a design speed of 30+ mph and it doesn’t have a bike lane?
Here’s an example of a practical benefit for cyclists: they shortened the gates at the toll plaza on the Venetian so you can get through on your bike. It’s the little things that make a big difference.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:39:00 +0000

Dave,

I’ll have to double check on the bicycle rack mandates for large buildings.

For smaller buildings, I’m certain it is one rack per 20 vehicular parking spaces, though I’m not exactly sure how many bike slots there would be per rack.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:37:00 +0000

The free market? That perfect system that has helped bring us rampant sprawl and a hyper consumer-based society that is entirely unsustainable?

In fact, the free market isn’t a fair market at all. Government policies have guided the free market down a suburban paradigm for decades. Now, planners have to move in the opposite direction to balance out bias. Regardless, it has been proven many times over that the free market is far from a perfect system and is not the solution to everything - especially when it comes to urban planning.

The free market is far too reactionary instead of proactive, which leads to bad planning. If we were to follow your system, we probably already would've paved over the entire Everglades, because that is the kind of land it would take to support an auto-centric growth model. Then what? It's too late to just turn around and change things, because the damage has already been done.

This is why planners are supposed to guide development and land use down a more sustainable paradigm. This is ESPECIALLY important given the urgent action that must be taken to fight global warming. The free market doesn’t see these types of externalities, nor what is morally or even scientifically right or wrong.

Thus, ANY policy that is going to induce private vehicular demand is usually going to be bad policy - we can no longer afford to continue down such a path.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Question, when they say “Bicycle Rack” so they mean bike parking stalls within a rack or the rack itself. For example if a building has 100 parking spaces does it mean it must have 5 full racks or just space for 5 bikes? Or for a more extreme example for a development like City Square with its 2000+ parking spaces will it need 100+ separate bike racks or just space for 100 bikes?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:18:00 +0000

Miami developers rarely reduce parking because right now, today, it would be economically suicidal, and would ABSOLUTELY harm the building’s resale value. It’s not reasonable to expect developers to build parking-constrained buildings NOW in the hope that SOMEDAY Miami might have the transit resources to make reduced parking economically viable for anything besides the lowest of low-income buildings.

When/if the day comes that buyers cease to think parking is important, the developers themselves will be the first ones standing in City Hall asking to have the parking requirements reduced. It’s called the free market… something that most Americans happen to cherish and value quite a bit.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:21:00 +0000

Does anyone know if the future rules of Miami21 apply to existing buildings? Or do the rules only apply to new buildings?
I am very happy about the bike language and hopefully it will make Miami a safer and more pleasurable place to ride.