Sunny Isles Beach OKs site-plan change letting utility lines remain by Estates at Aquilina parking garage

The City Commission of Sunny Isles Beach voted to approve a site‑plan modification for the Estates at Aquilina off‑site parking garage that removes a prior condition requiring undergrounding of adjacent utility lines.

Amy (city staff member) told the commission the application, filed as PZ2025‑03, asks the city to “eliminate the condition of approval in city commission resolution 21 Z 183 to underground all utility lines adjacent to the project.” She said the garage has completed construction, received an initial temporary certificate of occupancy in January 2024 and has satisfied all other inspections and conditions except for the undergrounding of nearby overhead lines.

The change matters because the undergrounding work depends on system‑wide corridor work that the developer cannot control. Jerry Campos, speaking for the applicant A 3 Development / A 3 Atlantic, said the developer “installed multiple conduits underground to prepare the area” and “we already paid for those improvements,” but that Florida Power & Light (FPL) has not provided a completion date for energizing or running final cables. Campos told the commission the developer has “reached a precipice where FPL really doesn't have a completion date for us…and it's outside of our control.”

Commissioners pressed on who would pay if the condition were removed. Commissioner Stuyvesant said she worried removing the condition would create a bad precedent and shift costs to the city, while Commissioner Stevenson asked directly who bears the financial burden. The City Manager said the original approvals are “silent as to payment” and that in this project's approvals there was no explicit requirement that the developer pay FPL for the undergrounding; in practice, undergrounding has been treated as a city project in the corridor and owner participation has varied across past projects.

Staff and the applicant also told commissioners the developer had already installed conduits recommended by FPL and had paid for site improvements; the remaining work requires FPL to run and energize lines and to complete segments further north along Atlantic Boulevard before full connectivity is possible. Staff said the city has set aside funds for the broader corridor undergrounding program — including a $65,000 allocation toward finishing phase 3 that would affect the same corridor segment and a total undergrounding budget of about $29,000,000 for multiple phases — and that separate agenda items on the same meeting package sought to authorize contractor work to advance conduit connections.

After discussion, the commission approved the site‑plan modification. The vote recorded on the transcript was: Commissioner Joseph — yes; Vice Mayor Lamont — yes; Commissioner Stuyvesant — no; Commissioner Viscara — yes; Mayor Sviatchen — yes. The motion as presented on the floor removed the resolution condition requiring immediate undergrounding adjacent to the garage site; minutes show the change decouples issuance of the final certificate of occupancy from FPL’s completion of corridor work that is outside the applicant’s control.

The commission directed staff to continue coordinating with FPL and with the contractor authorized elsewhere on the agenda to complete conduit and connectivity work where possible; staff said the developer remains committed to supporting the city’s undergrounding program. Staff also advised the parties to formalize any long‑term arrangement in writing (for example, via a variance or development order amendment) so future expectations about payment, timing and maintenance are clear.

Action on the item does not itself require the developer to pay for the final FPL work; staff and the city manager said prior approvals in the corridor have been inconsistent about owner payment and that those details must be resolved on a case‑by‑case basis when the connectivity work is scheduled and priced.

What’s next: staff and the developer will continue to press FPL for a schedule and to pursue corridor work funded by the city’s undergrounding program; the commission approved a related contract amendment on the same agenda to authorize conduit and electrical work in the corridor that staff said will help with phase 3 connectivity.