The City of Miami Beach Board of Adjustment voted Oct. 17 to continue an application for a rear-yard setback variance at 20 West Eighth Street to the board's Dec. 12 meeting after neighbors said they could not attend the earlier Nov. 7 date requested by the applicant.

The item, listed as ZBA25-01891631, would grant a variance related to a proposed paddle court; the applicant asked for a continuance to Nov. 7 so it could continue negotiations with nearby property owners, while several neighbors asked the board to move the hearing to December so they could appear in person.

The decision matters to immediate neighbors who told the board they planned to appear live rather than by Zoom. In public comment the property owner's counsel, Kendrick Reed Jr., asked the board to continue the item to Nov. 7 to allow the parties to complete settlement talks. Neighbors Robert Hertzberg and Daniel Morrell said they preferred December so they could attend in person and present expert testimony, and counsel for the neighbors, Tucker Gibbs, stressed that residents would retain the right to speak to the merits at whatever future hearing is scheduled.

Board members debated procedure before voting. The chair allowed the two residents who were present to speak at the Oct. 17 meeting as a one-time accommodation limited to the continuance question; the chair clarified that the remarks given at that session on the continuance would be part of the record but would not constitute opening the full evidentiary hearing on the merits.

A motion to continue the item to Nov. 7, made at the applicant's request, failed. A subsequent motion to continue to Dec. 12, 2025 passed; the board noted Dec. 12 as the date for the continued hearing.

The board's decision does not resolve the underlying variance request. At the Dec. 12 hearing, neighbors will be able to present testimony on the merits of the variance, and the applicant may renew any settlement requests they have been pursuing.

Minutes from the Oct. 17 meeting show the board explicitly limited Oct. 17 public comment to the continuance issue; the chair and the city attorney explained that the applicant controls its requested continuance date and the board may accept or reject that request.

The item will return to the Board of Adjustment on Dec. 12; no final action on the variance was taken on Oct. 17.