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Board grants variances to restore 239 First Street building, citing life-safety and accessibility upgrades
Summary
The Historic Preservation Board approved variances to allow several apartment units at a contributing 1936 building at 239 First Street to remain under local minimum unit-size standards after a rehabilitation that adds an elevator, stair upgrades and sprinklers.
The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board unanimously approved variances on June 13 to allow five reconfigured apartment units at a contributing 1936 building at 239 First Street to remain smaller than the city’s minimum unit size, permitting an overall rehabilitation that upgrades life-safety and accessibility systems.
Staff and the applicants told the board the project reduces the building’s unit count from 12 to 11 in order to add an elevator, bring stairways and egress closer to current fire-safety standards, and install a sprinkler system. As a consequence of those code-driven changes and the building’s fixed footprint, five units will be smaller than the 400-square-foot minimum; the smallest unit shown in the application is 331 square feet.
City staff reviewed the rehabilitation and recommended approval of a limited variance as a measured response to a hardship created by bringing the historic building into compliance with life-safety and accessibility codes. The staff memo noted that the building is a contributing structure in the South of Fifth historic neighborhood and that the proposed work reduces overall residential density while improving fire safety and accessibility.
Applicants’ representatives said the alteration is aimed at preserving the historic structure while making it safe and accessible. The project team told the board that the proposed changes are the minimum necessary given the existing demising walls, window locations and the constraints of a building originally constructed in 1936.
A question from a neighboring owner focused on whether the project intended to allow short-term transient rentals. Staff responded that the property is zoned CPS-1, which permits transient accommodations as of right; staff also described a new Miami Beach resiliency code provision adopted June 1 that could remove the need for an average-unit-size variance if the applicant records a covenant limiting rentals to longer than six months, but that provision would not resolve the minimum-unit-size request for the five undersized units.
Board members asked the applicants to tie their approval to findings required by city variance criteria. The motion to approve explicitly required the final order to state that the board made the variance findings required by Section 118-353 of the city code. The motion carried unanimously.
The board’s roll call on the motion was: Mr. Ehrlich — yes; Ms. Lovell — yes; Mr. Breslin — yes; Mr. Reed — yes; Ms. Laura Weinstein Berman (Acting Chairperson) — yes. The motion was made by board member Grabowski and seconded by another board member.
The applicants may proceed with building-permit submittals for the restoration, including installation of the elevator and sprinklers. Staff noted the project is subject to the city’s recently adopted resiliency review criteria and the building-permit process for historic properties.
