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Planning board recommends code changes to advance Sunset Place redevelopment
Summary
The City of South Miami Planning Board voted to recommend an ordinance amendment allowing design and zoning changes for Midtown Development LLC’s Sunset Place project, including larger setbacks, a 2.5‑acre park above the garage, parking revisions and conditions requiring further vertiport review.
The City of South Miami Planning Board on Sept. 16 recommended approval of an ordinance (PBDash2026Dash018) to amend the downtown district land‑development code so Midtown Development LLC can revise the approved Sunset Place site plan.
Richard Perez, a principal at Midtown Development, told the board the team sought three broad changes: push pedestal buildings back to increase an average setback (from a 30‑foot pedestal to an average 70 feet), reconfigure parking with a largely below‑grade solution and a rooftop park, and clarify rooftop/interstitial and mezzanine definitions to permit habitable amenities above the garage. "Our ambition is to do something incredibly special," Perez said during his presentation.
The applicant said the reconfiguration would widen the central open space from roughly 63 feet to about 172 feet, creating what Perez described as a central park and visual corridor through the project; the applicant also proposed permitting some rooftop habitable space and up to four mezzanines in buildings where allowed. Staff recommended several of the zoning clarifications but flagged the proposed VertiPort as requiring more study because of comprehensive‑plan and state statute implications.
Chair Jay Miller moved to recommend approval "subject to" further analysis of the vertiport, refinement or limits on interstitial/mezzanine provisions, and correction of a typographical error in the secondary sunset zone table; the motion was seconded and carried. The transcript records the motion and affirmations but does not provide a full roll‑call tally by name.
Why it matters: the ordinance would change underlying zoning language rather than approve a final site plan; if the commission adopts the ordinance, later site‑plan reviews will be required to confirm building footprints, heights and fenestration. The board’s recommendation directs staff to return with additional analysis of the vertiport and to clarify interstitial/mezzanine language before the matter advances.
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