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HomeMy Public PortalAboutLTC 038-2024 -New Items Since 2-20-24 OFFICE OF THE VILLAGE MANAGER LETTER TO COUNCIL NO. 038-2024 To: Mayor Jeffrey P. Freimark and Members of the Village Council From: Jorge M. Gonzalez, Village Manager Date: March 1, 2024 Subject: News items since 2/20/24 The purpose of this Letter to Council (LTC) is to share with you recent news items that have appeared since February 20, 2024: Bal Harbour, Whitman Family Batle On Live Local Act Heats Up (therealdeal.com) Live Local Act Changes 'Favorable To Developers' Approved, But Batles Likely To Rage On (bisnow.com) Florida Legislature Approves Live Local Act Amendments (therealdeal.com) Bal Harbour approves 3 ordinances to counter Florida's Live Local Act (Video) | Southeast Florida (spotonflorida.com) Bal Harbour approves 3 ordinances to counter Florida's Live Local Act - CBS Miami (cbsnews.com) Bal Harbour: Separate entrances for rich, working-class housing development renters could be blocked - CBS Miami (cbsnews.com) Village ordinance could hamper Live Local Act development at Bal Harbour Shops - South Florida Business Journal (bizjournals.com) If you have any questions or need any additional information, please feel free to let me know. Bal Harbour development rules could hinder Whitman's Live Local Act project Council will take final vote Tuesday on slew of new regulations Bal Harbour officials are passing a slew of new development regulations that could bar Whitman Family Development from pursuing its Live Local Act project in the village. Whitman Family Development, owner of the high -end Bal Harbour Shops, wants to add a mixed -use project on the 18 -acre mall site, using the Live Local Act. The state law, approved last year, allows developers to build taller buildings with more units than local regulations allow, in exchange for including affordable or workforce units. Developers that designate at least 40 percent of apartments for households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income can whiz by the approval process administratively, without going to a public hearing. On Wednesday, Florida lawmakers approved tweaks to the legislation that further benefit developers, though the changes aren't final until Gov. Ron DeSantis signs off on the changes. Whitman Family Development's proposal has touched off a firestorm in Bal Harbour, a small coastal municipality that's largely home to wealthy residents, and that prides itself on its strict development regulations that restrict the tallest buildings, usually luxury condos, to the oceanfront. The Miami Beach -based family real estate firm, led by Matthew Whitman Lazenby, wants to build up to 275 -foot tall towers with 528 apartments, of which at least 40 percent would be affordable, as well as a 70 -key hotel, a private 200 -member club and 46,000 square feet of retail on the northwest corner of Collins Avenue and 96th Street. The maximum allowed height on the site now generally is 56 feet, though garages can go slightly higher and an area within Bal Harbour Shops can reach up to 69 feet, according to a city memo. On Tuesday, the village council will take a final vote on the ordinances that could hinder the project. The council tentatively approved the new regulations last week. The village is considering ordinances that would limit the allowed construction noise, as well as create new parking and setback requirements. Another ordinance would relate to the allowable floor area ratio, or FAR, a measure of a building's massing that dictates how big projects can be through a ratio of the total floor area and the development site. A major change in the village's development regulations would invoke a "poor doors" ban, which has been implemented in New York since at least 2015. It would prohibit separate entrances, exits, elevators, stairs and amenities for renters in the affordable and market -rate apartments. The ordinance would mandate that affordable and market -rate units are mixed in the same buildings, instead of having separate buildings for differently priced units, and that all apartments are of equal construction quality. Also, the ordinance says that the unit sizes have to be somewhat equally distributed, meaning that if 25 percent of the market -rate units are two - bedroom apartments, 20 percent to 30 percent of the affordable units have to be two -bedroom apartments. At the Feb. 20 council meeting, Mayor Jeffrey Freimark reiterated that he and other village officials are not against affordable housing in Bal Harbour and support the Live Local Act's intention. But the legislation is "poorly worded," he said. "We have an obligation as a village to make sure it's not done in a prejudicial manner and treats residents in affordable housing fairly and with dignity and with respect," he said. Whitman Family Development's proposal "shows affordable housing clearly segregated from the rest of the luxury amenities, literally back by the trash cans with no parking or direct access to the development's luxury features." In a statement to The Real Deal, Freimark said the "developers chose to spring their application on us unannounced and incomplete." If the Whitman Family had approached the village "collaboratively and civilly," Bal Harbour would have given the firm a say in the ordinances. John Shubin, Whitman's attorney, said that Freimark is merely concerned with preserving Bal Harbour's "affluence and exclusivity." "He's doing everything possible to preserve the status quo in the Village of Bal Harbour, which means working class people will continue to be burdened by housing costs — and forced to commute hours to work each day," Shubin said. Separately, in a Feb. 19 letter to the village, Shubin said the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill -designed project would have "one entrance for all." In the letter, Shubin objected to the "poor door" policy and the rest of the ordinances, calling them a "pretextual attempt to prohibit affordable housing" and said the village needs "real leadership to educate them about the salutary benefits" of the project. The village's use of the word "poor," as in "poor door," in media comments "is a shameful and defamatory 'dog whistle' and evidence of the village's less - than -honorable intentions," Shubin wrote. "Are 'poor' people not welcome in Bal Harbour? At the very minimum, all your police and first responders who would be great candidates for this future housing deserve an apology for this very poor choice of words." The noise ordinance is a "thinly veiled attempt" to disrupt ongoing construction at Bal Harbour Shops and a "direct retaliation against the Whitman family for having the audacity" to propose the Live Local Act project, Shubin wrote. And the FAR ordinance is another way to "stop the only project that can bring affordable housing to Bal Harbour." It's unclear if or how Bal Harbour's preliminarily approved FAR restrictions are at odds with state legislators' tweaks to FAR for Live Local Act projects . Under the state changes on Wednesday, the FAR can be 150 percent of the "highest currently allowed" FAR in the county or city. The "highest currently allowed" excludes other Live Local Act projects or developments that received special exemptions. Bal Harbour's ordinance would lower the highest allowed FAR in the village from 2.8 to 1.3, though it allows for developers to get bonus FARs if projects comply with incentives for buildings to be compatible with surrounding properties and neighborhoods. The ordinance, however, bans incentives to accumulate to allow for a FAR of more than 2.8. The dispute over the ordinances is the latest chapter in the battle between the village and the developer over the project. In January, Whitman sue Bal Harbour, alleging that instead of processing the application, the village "promised its residents a moratorium," according to the complaint. A week before the suit was filed, the council had directed the village manager to protect the village's quality of life in response to the application. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Bal Harbour last week, the village argues the developer "purports to take some sort of moral high ground in its alleged disdain of 'NIMBYism," yet the Bal Harbour Shops' owner lives nowhere near the village and has made no claims that the salespeople and waiters at the mall "could afford to live in the 'affordable housing." "The Live Local Act is not intended to be a bludgeon, carelessly swung at municipalities by greedy developers in the name of 'affordable housing," the motion says, "without regard to a local government's ordinances, rules or regulations." Live Local Act Changes 'Favorable To Developers' Approved, But Battles Likely To Rage On February 29, 2024 I Matt Wasielewski, South Florida (https://www.bisnow.com/author/matt- wasielewski-673138) (mailto:matthew.wasielewski@bisnow.com) The Florida Legislature (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/florida-legislature) passed broad changes to its year -old affordable housing law, closing what many developers and land use attorneys saw as loopholes that allowed local governments to block projects while adding more rules that municipalities could potentially leverage to hold back projects. The Florida House of Representatives passed the changes by a 112-1 vote on Wednesday, three weeks after the amendments to the law known as the Live Local Act (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/live-local-act) unanimously passed the Senate. The legislation will immediately go into effect once signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/gov.-ron-desantis), and it includes provisions to give developers with existing proposals under the law the opportunity to amend their plans to fit within the new standards. "As written, it is definitely more favorable for developers," said Keith Poliakoff, a land use attorney at Fort Lauderdale -based Government Law Group. But Poliakoff said the broad changes only added "more confusion to the bill" that will ultimately give municipalities more ways to push back against proposals that the law aims to compel them to approve. "Although some of the fixes were good, there are still so many open issues that there's no doubt that more litigation is going to ensue, that more municipalities are going to figure out ways to block it," Poliakoff said. The Live Local Act first passed the Florida Legislature with broad bipartisan support (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/102/? Tab=VoteHistory) last year and went into effect in July. It's meant to spur the development of affordable and workforce housing through a mix of tax incentives and density bonuses. It also includes a rule that compels local governments to approve projects without a public hearing if they maintain at least 4o% of units as workforce housing. Among the most significant changes to the law passed by the Legislature as SB 328 (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2o24/328/? Tab=BillHistory) this week was the addition of language that prevents municipalities from using floor -area ratio, a measure of density in a development commonly referred to as FAR, as a criteria to deny administrative approval of projects. The omission of FAR was flagged by land use attorneys as a gap in the legislation when it initially passed as a way local governments could try to exercise control over the approval of projects. In the most high -profile example, Miami Beach (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/miami-beach) used the lack of guidance on FAR to push back (https://www.bisnow.com/south- florida/news/construction-development/plan-to-replace-iconic-clevelander- hotel-in-miami-beach-revised-after-outcry-121300) against Jesta Group (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/jesta-group)'s planned redevelopment of the Clevelander (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/clevelander) South Beach hotel and bar into an i8 -story residential tower. The new language added to the law compels local municipalities to administratively approve projects so long as the proposals don't exceed 150% of the maximum FAR allowed under the area's development codes if the project fits within the law's other provisions. The Live Local Act applies to residential developments in land zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed -use that have a minimum of 7o units and set aside at least 4o% of those units as units affordable for tenants making no more than 120% of area median income. In Miami -Dade County, that's a salary of $86,760 (https://www.miamidade.gov/global/housing/income- limits.page) for a single person, in Broward County it's a $80,640 salary (https://cdn.pompanobeachfl.gov/city/pages/planning_zoning/2o23- Income-and-Rent-Limits-Broward-County.pdf) and in Palm Beach County it's a $81,840 salary (https://www.wpbha.org/housing/2o23%2oIncome%2oLimits.pdf). Initial amendments proposed in January (https://www.bisnow.com/south- florida/news/construction-development/legislature-considers-live-local-act- changes-as-proposals-roll-in-and-municipalities-push-back-122362) sought to remove industrial zoning from the law's scope, but that change was ultimately walked back. Poliakoff said the first round of proposed amendments were mostly offered by local governments and that the Legislature reconsidered their impact on the law's effectiveness. "The initial proposal was borne by the municipalities in an attempt to render Live Local useless," he said. "All of those changes that they tried to make, including limiting where it can go, limiting the height, limiting the density, limiting its applicability, were all killed by the Legislature." The current law ties the maximum height of a proposed development to equal the allowed height of any building within a i-mile radius. Amendments proposed in January sought to reduce that radius to a quarter - mile. The changes passed this week keep the i-mile rule but exclude any existing buildings that received "any bonus, variance, or other special exception for height" as an incentive for development from being used to calculate a new project's maximum height. Legislators also created new rules in the law for projects with at least 25 single-family homes on at least two sides of the proposed site. The legislation limits the height at those parcels to whichever is tallest between the site's maximum allowed height under local zoning rules or 150% of the tallest adjacent building, but no less than three stories. The amendments passed this week also expand Live Local's reach into parking requirements for proposals near transit stops, which had previously not been addressed in the legislation. It allows proposals within a half -mile of transit hubs to include 2o% less parking than required by zoning in many cases and eliminates parking requirements entirely for mixed -use projects in transit -oriented development (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/transit-oriented-development) zones seeking approval under its rules. Other changes were made along the margins that affect which sites qualify under the law and, in some cases, the minimum number of units. Projects within a quarter mile of a military installation cannot be administratively approved, and the law, once signed, will not apply to parcels directly under an airport runway or within federally determined airport noise zones. Properties in "areas of critical state concern," which includes (https: //www.floridaj obs. org/community-planning-and- development/programs/community-planning-table-of-contents/areas-of- critical-state-concern) the Florida Keys and other environmentally sensitive swaths of the state, will only need a minimum of 10 units to qualify for consideration under Live Local Act provisions. Rep. Ashley Viola Gantt, a Democrat whose district includes Allapattah (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/alapattah) and other parts of Miami -Dade County, was the only state lawmaker in either house to vote against the amendments. A spokesperson at her office didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment. The changes to the law do little to quash unease and pushback from local governments about the loss of control over project approval. In South Florida, Doral (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/doral) passed a six-month moratorium (https://www.cityofdoral.com/news/doral-city-council- approves-6-month-moratorium-on-applications-affected-by-live-local-act- sbio2/) on any Live Local Act applications, which recently expired. Weston considered a resolution that would require public hearings (https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2023/06/21/weston- gives-ok-for-live-local-act-code.html) for all affordable housing proposals. The latest high -profile fight over a Live Local proposal is playing out in Bal Harbour (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/bal-harbour), where local officials in the wealthy neighborhood are pushing back (https: //www.bisnow.com/south-florida/news/construction- development/bal-harbour-shops-owner-files-first-maj or -lawsuit -testing - reach -of -live -local -act -122547) against a plan to add more than 500 apartments to the Bal Harbour Shops (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/bal- harbour-shops) using the law's provisions. Local officials' latest move to block the proposal (https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/entrances-for-rich-working-class- renters-bal-harbour-village-council-to-consider just -that/) is an ordinance that would ban developments from including different entrances for a project's affordable and market -rate components. "This session's amendments to Live Local are just the start because municipalities and governmental agencies are going to continue to put roadblocks in the way of its implementation," Poliakoff said. "I foresee that each year going forward there are going to be amendments made." Contact Matt Wasielewski at matthew.wasielewski@bisnow.com (mailto: matthew. wasielewski@bisnow. com) See Also: Weekend Interview: DC Blox CEO Jeff Uphues On Al And the Next Data Center Boomtowns (/national/news/data-center/weekend-interview-dc- blox-jeff-u phues-on-ai-and-the-next-data-center-boomtown-123146) Related Topics: workforce housing (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/workforce-housing), affordable housing (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/affordable-housing), Florida Legislature (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/florida-legislature), Live Local Act (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/live- Iocal-act), Keith Poliakoff (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/keith-poliakoff), Government Law Group (https://www.bisnow.com/tags/government-law-group) Live Local Act Changes 'Favorable To Developers' Approved, But Battles Likely To Rage On The Florida Legislature passed broad changes to its year -old affordable housing law, closing what many developers and land use attorneys saw as loopholes that allowed local governments to block projects while adding more rules that municipalities could potentially leverage to hold back projects. Bisnow/Jordan Hinsch New changes to the Live Local Act reduce parking requirements near transit stops and further limit local government's ability to block projects. The Florida House of Representatives passed the changes by a 112-1 vote on Wednesday, three weeks after the amendments to the law known as the Live Local Ac" unanimously passed the Senate. The legislation will immediately go into effect once signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it includes provisions to give developers with existing proposals under the law the opportunity to amend their plans to fit within the new standards. Government Law Group's Keith Poliakoff and Berger Singerman's Javier Vazquez (Government Law Group, Berger Singerman, Getty) "Beneficial to developers": Florida Legislature approves tweaks to Live Local Act Amendments loosen floor area ratio restrictions for projects with affordable rentals entitled 'g ; amendi nc yinq appli respec Df certai _rcumstanc Florida lawmakers approved changes to the Live Local Act that are expected to benefit developers planning affordable housing projects. The state House on Wednesday passed a slew of tweaks with a 112-1 vote, three weeks after the Senate first approved the changes. The legislation won't be final until Gov. Ron DeSantis signs it into law. The Live Local Act was approved last year to alleviate the state's housing predicament. Although some Florida areas have struggled with an affordable housing shortage for decades, the issue was exacerbated starting in late 2020 due to an influx of out-of-state residents and record rent hikes. The crisis is especially pronounced in South Florida, a major recipient of the influx of residents, which experienced record rent hikes from 2020 to 2022. The Live Local Act incentivizes construction of affordable and workforce - priced rentals by giving developers major tax breaks, as well as allowing them to build taller buildings with more units than allowed in counties and municipalities and whiz by local government approvals. Developers must designate at least 40 percent of units for rent at or below 120 percent of the area median income for at least 30 years to qualify under the Live Local Act. For mixed -use projects, at least 65 percent of the total square footage must be residential to qualify. But last year's law failed to address another project size restriction that counties and cities could invoke: floor area ratio. The floor area ratio, or FAR, is a general measure of a project's massing through a ratio of a building's total floor area to the development site's size. Because the law failed to lift FAR restrictions, it rendered its provisions allowing for greater height and density useless, experts said. Also, last year's law failed to provide exemptions for parking requirements. "The local FAR requirements survived [in last year's law], so no matter what density and height you were giving the developer, when they put pencil to paper, they were still being hamstrung by FAR requirements and parking requirements," said Javier Vazquez, a zoning and land use attorney. "This year's legislation definitely benefits the developer because the holes that existed in last year's bill had to do with issues that were not thought through." Under the new law, Live Local Act projects can be 150 percent of the "highest currently allowed" FAR in the county or city where they would rise. The latest amendments reduce parking requirements for some Live Local Act projects. Developments that are a half -mile from a major transportation hub or 600 feet from available parking such as a garage can get at least a 20 percent reduction of the required parking. A Live Local Act project that's in a transit -oriented development could be built with no parking at all. In addition, counties and cities could consider allowing for less parking at Live Local Act projects within a quarter mile of a transit stop. Since the Live Local Act's adoption last year, many municipal elected officials and residents have been angered by the possibility that developers can bypass zoning and land use regulations. In South Florida, the contention is most pronounced in Bal Harbour. Whitman Family Development, owner of high -end Bal Harbour Shops, filed an application under the act to build up to 275 -foot -tall towers with 528 residential units, a 70 -key hotel and 46,000 square feet of retail at the 18 -acre property. Following an uproar from Bal Harbour elected officials and residents, as well as officials from nearby municipalities, Whitman sued Bal Harbour after the village took steps the developer deemed counter to its project. The council had voted to allow the village manager to protect Bal Harbour's quality of life. Vazquez, of Berger Singerman, said that many developers held back from Live Local Act projects last year due to the legislation's "holes." He expects the tweaks to unleash a flurry of proposals and contention. "One of the interesting things we will see now that Live Local is being cleaned up .... When developers start moving forward by right with developments that exceed the allowed local regulations, we will see more and more conflicts between municipalities and developers," he said, adding that some cities still could welcome the proposals. Others "will push back hard." The amendments did give some protections to counties and cities angered by Live Local. If a project is surrounded on two or more sides by parcels zoned for single-family homes and near at least 25 contiguous houses, the project's height will be capped to the tallest of either 150 percent of the tallest adjacent building, the highest currently allowed height on the site or to three stories. Keith Poliakoff, a zoning, land use and development agreements attorney, said this year's bill originally was drafted to curtail last year's Live Local Act provisions and catered to municipalities' pushback to the law. During the session, legislators "flipped it on them" and made the bill even stronger in favor of developers. "It is beneficial to developers, but in my opinion may not go far enough," said Poliakoff, of Government Law Group. The amendments carved out an exemption for densities, heights and FARs, saying they can be over the "highest currently allowed" uses in cities and counties. But they can't be over those of other Live Local Act projects or developments that received special exemptions on densities, heights and FARs. This carve out should be scrapped, Poliakoff said, because otherwise "municipalities will make everything a special exception to prevent people from being able to use Live Local Act." Also, the amendments say that a Live Local Act project that fails to set 40 percent of its units at below market rates would be given a chance to cure the issue. But if it doesn't, then it would simply be treated as a "nonconforming use" but doesn't have to be knocked down, meaning no penalties will be levied on developers that don't set units at affordable rates, Poliakoff said. Future state legislative sessions are likely to pick up more amendments of the Live Local Act. "This is not the last time you are going to see Live Local on the Florida legislative agenda," Poliakoff said. "This is only the beginning." Bal Harbour approves 3 ordinances to counter Florida's Live Local Act By Larry Seward February 20, 2024 /10:03 PM EST MIAMI - Bal Harbour Village leaders pushed forward new laws to counter Florida's Live Local Act. The council unanimously approved three ordinances on first reading. One bans so-called "poor door" housing developments where rich and working-class renters use separate entrances. Other laws tighten oceanfront zoning and crack down on weekend construction noise. Village leaders say it's all to shield the village from the side effects of the live local act. It allows developers to skip public hearings if their project includes affordable housing. Bal Barbour Shops used the act to propose high-rise towers that homeowners do not want. That developer is suing the village. On Wednesday, attorney John Shubin, Legal Counsel for Bal Harbour Shops said in a statment: "The Village of Bal Harbour is going to great lengths to keep working class residents on the outside looking in. Miami -Dade is wrestling with a housing affordability crisis and the teachers, first -responders, and healthcare and hospitality workers who form the backbone of Bal Harbour's economy are bearing the burden." "Bal Harbour Shops has proposed a privately funded project in the Village's commercial district that will deliver hundreds of workforce housing units within a luxurious development designed by one of the world's top architecture firms. Bal Harbour Shops is the only property in Bal Harbour that can accommodate this development, and yet Village leadership is doing everything in its power to derail the project and maintain long -held exclusionary zoning policies that fly in the face of the Federal Fair Housing Act and Florida's Live Local Act." "The Village's actions are a shameful attempt to preserve Bal Harbour's exclusivity while forcing everyday workers to commute long hours to and from work. In passing a zoning ordinance which labels teachers and first responders as 'poor' and therefore unworthy of calling Bal Harbour home, the Village's elected officials are doing a disservice to the very people who are sustaining quality of life in the community." More from CBS News In: • South Florida • Miami -Dade • Bal Harbour Larry Seward Larry Seward joined CBS Miami in February 2023. He brings to South Florida more than a decade of experience telling stories. First published on February 20, 2024 /10:03 PM EST © 2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Bal Harbour: Separate entrances for rich, working-class housing development renters could be blocked By Larry Seward Updated on: February 16, 2024 / 6:12 PM EST BAL HARBOUR - Bal Harbour Village Council could block housing developments that include separate entrances for rich and working-class renters. The so-called ban on "poor doors" is one of the first ordinances proposed to counter the state of Florida's Live Local Act, a state law passed last year to increase affordable housing availability. Village council will consider the ordinances during its next meeting on Tuesday evening. Village Manager Jorge Gonzalez wrote each to "clear ambiguities" in the state law and address growing concerns in his community. "I'm concerned about: can the ambulance and fire department get to you," Neca Logan, who grew up in the village and is currently President of the Bal Harbour Civic Association. "There isn't enough sewer capacity in (Miami - Dade) county much less here. The FP&L (service) is poor. We have limitations. We can't take any more traffic." Developers plan to build a mix of 600 apartments at Bal Harbour Shops. They applied last month and state law requires no public hearing. However, Gonzalez recently sent the developers notice that the application is incomplete. "The first thing we want to make sure is that any affordable housing is fair, dignified and respectful," Gonzalez said. One proposed amendment to village zoning aims to ban "poor doors" housing where the rich and working-class renters use separate entrances and exits. "The affordable housing component of this proposal is basically tucked away at the rear of the parcel near the loading dock, no parking, near the trash dumpsters," Gonzalez said. "Separate but equal has a history that we don't want to go back to. But we are suggesting through these ordinances is anybody who is going to live in this building will go through the same door, walk through the same lobby, park in the same garage, eat at the same restaurant, swim in the same pool and have the same amenities, both common and interior to the unit that a market -rate would have." Other proposed village ordinances attack oceanfront zoning, the amount of setback required between towers and Collins Avenue while a third amendment would crackdown on weekend construction noise. All of the proposals guard against vague Live Local Act guidelines, Gonzalez said. The village wants to add clarity to what developers are welcome to build. "If you don't manage how development occurs in your community, you might find yourself in gridlock," Gonzalez said. Traffic is hardly Logan's lone concern. She and neighbors worry about added strain on sewer, water and electrical power. They also want any development to fit their village's planning and zoning laws. "We voted as a village, 90% of us, against changing the height for the business district," Logan said. "This is (the Shops' owner's) cheap ass way to go around it. It's not fair. It's not right. The legislature, I understand they want to do a good thing. But they've taken away the local community's ability to say this doesn't fit in our community." The Shops' owner filed a lawsuit against the village and claims Bal Harbour leaders do not welcome affordable housing. More from CBS News In: • Miami • Miami -Dade • Bal Harbour Larry Seward Larry Seward joined CBS Miami in February 2023. He brings to South Florida more than a decade of experience telling stories. First published on February 16, 2024 / 10:56 PM EST © 2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. New ordinance could hamper Live Local Act development at Bal Harbour Shops Brian Bandell The owner of the Bal Harbour Shops wants to build residential and hotel towers on the property. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Listen to this article 5 min The village of Bal Harbour is advancing an ordinance that could severely limited the plan by the owner of the Bal Harbour Shops to build workforce and market -rate housing there under Florida's Live Local Act. The Village Council passed the ordinance about how to implement the Live Local Act on Feb. 20 on first reading, and it's expected to go for a second reading in March. The Bal Harbour Shops, located on 18 acres at 9700 Collins Ave., is the only commercial property in the city eligible for development under the Live Local Act. Trending: Former NFL player for Miami Dolphins closes 2 sports bar locations in Broward County The main obstacle the ordinance would present for the developer would be the requirement to build workforce housing in the same building as market - rate housing, which would presumably be luxury condos. Approved by the Florida Legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023, the Live Local Act allows developers to bypass municipal approval for residential and mixed -use projects in commercial or industrial districts as long as they include 40% affordable housing, defined as 120% of area median income, a level usually associated with workforce housing. Developers may build at the greatest density permitted in the city and at a greatest height within a one - mile radius. In January, Whitman Family Development filed a Live Local Act development application for the Bal Harbour Shops calling for a 70 -room hotel and 600 residential units, with 40% of them workforce housing, and 45,700 square feet of additional retail space. There would be separate towers for the market -rate and workforce housing units. The tallest tower would be 275 feet. Read more: Developers reveal design for new Office Depot parent company HQ campus Village officials, including Mayor Jeffrey Freimark, came out against the proposal. The Bal Harbour Shops filed a lawsuit against the village on Jan. 23, alleging village officials have refused to move forward with the application as required by law. Bal Harbour filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on Feb. 20, stating that the village has not made any decision or approving the application. With this new ordinance, the Bal Harbour Shops would need to significantly revamp its plans. The ordinance would prohibit a Live Local Act project from "segregating" workforce units from market -rate units. That means they must be located in the same building and, if there are multiple buildings, each one must have both workforce housing and market -rate units. In addition, both workforce and market -rate residents must have access to the same building entrances, elevators, parking, common areas and amenities. The quality of construction for the units themselves must also be similar. In addition, the ordinance would require that the unit mix - the ratio of one - bedroom units to two -bedroom units and so on - be consistent between the workforce housing and market -rate units. Freimark said the ordinance preventing segregating doors for affordable/workforce housing goes back to a situation New York dealt with a decade ago. "Since then, many communities around the country have passed similar ordinances," the mayor said. "They are designed to make sure that luxury developers seeking to benefit from affordable housing incentives treat the people who will live in that affordable housing with dignity, equity, and respect. We believe that every community should have a similar ordinance, irrespective of Live Local. It's just the right way to treat people." Related: 11 -story Live Local Act apartment project planned in Miami - Dade County Bal Harbour is a wealthy community that doesn't have any workforce or affordable housing. New condos in the village are typically priced well over $1 million. At those price points, most buyers expect a level of unit quality and high -end amenities that's superior to that of a workforce housing building. Buyers of $1 million -plus condos often value privacy and exclusivity as well. Attorney John Shubin, who represents the Bal Harbour Shops, took issue with the ordinance, saying the intent is to prevent the development of workforce housing in Bal Harbour. "The village of Bal Harbour is going to great lengths to keep working class residents on the outside looking in," Shubin said. "Bal Harbour Shops has proposed a privately funded project in the village's commercial district that will deliver hundreds of workforce housing units within a luxurious development designed by one of the world's top architecture firms. Bal Harbour Shops is the only property in Bal Harbour that can accommodate this development, and yet village leadership is doing everything in its power to derail the project and maintain long -held exclusionary zoning policies that fly in the face of the Federal Fair Housing Act and Florida's Live Local Act." Sign up here for the Business Journal's free morning and afternoon daily newsletters to receive the latest business news impacting South Florida. For more business intelligence, follow us on Linkedln, Facebook, X (formerly_ known as Twitter) and Instagram. Rank Prior Rank Company / Prior (*Not ranked in 2021) / URL 1 1 Prologis 2 2 Butters Construction & Development 3 3 ZOM Florida View this list