09-15-09 Item 2aTo:
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City of South Miami
Building Department
INTER - OFFICE MEMORANDUM
a (a)
The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
W. Ajibola Balogun
City Manager
Victor J. Citarella,
Director, Building
September 15, 200
Scheduling & Completion Concerns for Construction Projects
During the City Commission meeting of July 28' 2009 and subsequent meetings,
several comments were made regarding the condition of selected construction
programs at the City of South Miami that appear to be on -hold at this time, and
questions were raised regarding the City's ability to reactivate same. This
memorandum will attempt to clarify these issues from the Building Department's
perspective, and provide some guidance regarding this matter.
First and foremost, it is the responsibility of the Building Department to enforce the
State of Florida Building Code (FBC) within the boundaries of the City of South Miami.
This code is primarily a "minimum safety code" that concerns itself mostly with the
technical aspects of construction. The FBC does not regulate land -use, zoning or
aesthetic concerns, as these issues are usually addressed by local ordinances at the
municipality level. It should be noted however, that the Building Department
vigorously assists other city departments, such as Planning, Public Works, Police and
Code Enforcement in the application and enforcement of local ordinances.
The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
Page 2
There are no rules or guidelines in the FBC that could be enforced by the Building
Department, requiring or forcing a developer or contractor to finish a project within a
certain time frame; and the code does not prohibit property owners from demolishing
any buildings within their properties without having to provide plans for later utilization of
the land where the building(s) previously stood.
More important is the fact that in recognition of the'real estate market conditions in this
area, the Miami -Dade County Board of County Commissioners approved earlier this
year, Ordinance 09 -10 amending Section 8 -13 of the County Code explicitly granting
any owner, contractor or developer that applies, a "hold" to any construction program
for six months by the local authority, regardless of its current status and at no cost to
the petitioner. This is applicable to all permits issued by any municipality in the County.
Even more significant is the fact that the State of Florida, in recognition of the same
conditions in the real estate market, signed into law this year SB 360 and pursuant to
Section 12(1) of SB360, any government issued development order or building permit
that has an expiration date of September 1, 2008 through January 1, 2012, is extended
and renewed for two years following its date of expiration.
A full interpretation of this law has not been released yet by the Miami -Dade County
Code Compliance Office that has jurisdiction over the Building Department of the City of
South Miami on county -wide building code issues, but in its present form, it is
anticipated that selected construction projects could be placed on hold at the owner's .
request as authorized by SB360, possibly until January 1, 2014.
The simple facts are that in the past it was not necessary to have regulations expediting
construction activities once a permit had been issued, as it was always in the best
interest of the developer to complete construction as fast as possible. But in today'.s
market, sometimes it becomes necessary to work with developers to delay construction
until economic conditions are appropriate. Miami -Dade County and the State of .
Florida have recognized these facts as indicated in their passage of the regulations
referenced above.
There are selected cases in South Miami where market conditions have had an impact
on their construction schedules. Staff from the Building Department is working with
these owners and developers by providing them the expedited jurisdictional regulatory
support they need to continue operations.
END OF MEMORANDUM