Miami Beach DRB approves two West Toledo understory homes with reduced height waivers after design debates

The Miami Beach Design Review Board on Tuesday approved two new two-story residences created by a recent lot split at 302 West Toledo Drive, granting a reduced height waiver and design conditions after extended debate about understory height, massing and streetscape impacts.

Board members voted 6-0 to approve each application with a modified waiver allowing a 25-foot flat-roof height (the applicants had requested a 2-foot waiver to reach 26 feet). The approvals included conditions: the applicant must remove a connecting concrete band on the front structure, incorporate rounded corners on the primary facade per board comment, provide daytime renderings at a future hearing, and work with staff on street-facing articulation and the guest-house placement so the two adjacent designs relate better to each other.

The projects result from a prior planning-board-approved lot split that produced two buildable lots. Applicants sought the waiver to increase understory clearance above the city code minimum so the understory vestibule and access would have a more comfortable ceiling height. Robert Moring, the project architect with Domo Architecture, told the board that the requested extra height was intended to provide an 8-foot-3-inch clear understory ceiling; he said the team “could theoretically take 1 foot out of that height waiver request” and still meet functional requirements. Attorney Mickey Marrero told the board the applicant was willing to reduce the waiver and work with staff on design refinements.

Board members raised multiple concerns during discussion: overall massing on two narrow 60-foot lots; whether the understory was being used as meaningful, occupiable space or effectively functioning as a parking court; and the visual effect of a taller understory on the perceived number of stories. Members asked for clearer daytime renderings and for the design team to reduce the requested extra height where possible. The board accepted the applicant’s concession to reduce the requested waiver by roughly 12 inches (to a 1-foot increase) and approved both applications with that modification and the conditions described above.

Staff and applicants explained technical constraints that drove the waiver request. The finished floor elevation for the properties is listed at 15.5 feet NGVD (noted in the staff report), which the applicant said is about 6.5 feet above the base flood elevation. City code requires a minimum understory ceiling of 7 feet 6 inches; the applicants had proposed 8 feet 3 inches of clearance under the elevated floor. The project team said the difference between paving elevation, structural depth and mechanical/plumbing runs makes removing some of the requested height technically challenging but feasible to trim by about one foot with coordination among structural and MEP engineers.

Board conditions also asked the applicant to remove a perimeter banding element from the side courtyards (a band shown in earlier handouts that the applicant had already proposed to omit in places) and to round the front massing corners at staff direction. Staff asked that the applicant provide daylight renderings in their next submittal; the architect agreed.

The approvals were granted under the Design Review Board’s design-review authority (which requires a lower quorum for design approval than a variance). The board noted that planning staff previously reviewed the lot split and found the two resulting lots compatible with neighborhood lot sizes. The board’s motion included a requirement that the applicant work with staff on final street-facing articulation and permitted staff-level review of certain placement adjustments for the guest-house element.