Council discusses Innovation Overlay rezoning; Wilson urges city to retain and renovate old police building

City of Miami Gardens council members spent significant workshop time on a proposed Innovation Overlay rezoning for a downtown business district and on Councilwoman Katrina Wilson’s proposal to preserve and renovate the city’s old police building for community and small‑business use.

City staff told the council the rezoning item had been advanced previously: “The council at that time voted unanimously to move that item to second reading,” a staff speaker said, referencing a prior meeting. At the workshop the council discussed how rezoning the district would allow uses the current industrial zoning prevents, including entertainment centers, business incubators and expanded city operations.

Councilwoman Katrina Wilson, who sponsored the innovation district discussion, urged the council to keep the former police building in city hands and to begin renovations quickly. “Do not sell the building,” Wilson said repeatedly during the discussion. She argued the building could provide affordable small office and meeting space for local entrepreneurs, nonprofits and residents and warned that leaving the structure unaddressed risks further deterioration.

Planning and zoning director Nikisha Smith proposed a procedural compromise: remove the police‑building parcel from the map amendment associated with the overlay so it would remain government property while the broader district rezoning proceeds. That would allow the council to act later on a renovation or adaptive‑reuse proposal without the parcel being swept into the overlay rezoning.

City Manager Cameron Benson and planning staff said zoning is separate from property disposition and that a zoning change alone does not authorize a sale. Benson noted that any sale of city property would require council approval. The council discussed timing and the practical risks of delaying work on the vacant building — particularly roof or weather damage that could render the structure unusable if not addressed promptly.

The council did not take a final vote on a renovation plan at the workshop. The manager and staff offered a next step: if council approves the overlay rezoning, councilwoman Wilson can move that the manager return with a specific proposal that would preserve the building for coworking, meeting rooms, small commercial leases or other public uses. Planning staff also offered to examine other city industrial corridors (for example, the 47th Avenue warehouse area) as potential locations for innovation uses.

Background and context: Staff said the overlay rezoning is intended to allow mixed uses and investment in the Sunshine Plaza/downtown area; under current GI (government/industrial) zoning the kinds of commercial and civic activities now proposed are not allowed. The former police building is city‑owned and has been vacant; council members expressed concern about continued deterioration.

Next steps: Planning staff suggested either removing the parcel from the overlay map now or asking the manager to return with a renovation/lease proposal tied to council policy. No sale or disposition of the parcel will occur without future council action, staff said. The rezoning item remains scheduled for ordinance action (second‑reading) per the prior council vote; staff will prepare follow‑up materials on the parcel and possible adaptive uses if the council requests them.

No formal rezoning vote or property disposition action was recorded at the workshop.