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Miami-Dade commission directs staff to create homeowner zoning assistance program
Summary
The Board directed the county administration to create a homeowner zoning application assistance program modeled on the county's small-business permitting assistance program and clarified it will provide information, not legal advice.
The Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners on May 20 directed county staff to create an assistance program for homeowners filing zoning applications on homestead property.
The motion, introduced during the pool-list reports by Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins (District 8), asked the administration to design a homeowner zoning application assistance program similar to the county’s existing homeowner and small-business permitting assistance program and set expectations that the new program include implementation details and a deadline for creation.
The vote followed discussion about scope and legal limits. Lourdes Gomez, director of the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER), told the board the administration intends to create a program and clarified it would provide information and support on application procedures rather than legal opinions. Commissioner Raquel Regalado cautioned staff must avoid giving legal or tax advice and recommended a written disclaimer that the county is not providing legal opinions; Gomez concurred that the administration would provide informational guidance and noted applicants who need legal, tax or financial counsel would still need private professionals.
Commissioner Cohen Higgins framed the program as a response to cases in her district in which individual homeowners lacked the resources to navigate zoning procedures and asked staff to mirror the structure and supports of the permitting assistance program.
The board moved and approved the item by voice vote. The motion directs the mayor and relevant departments to develop the program, and the administration acknowledged it will draft forms and procedures that explicitly limit the county’s role to informational assistance.
The board discussion also asked staff to present timeline and implementation details to the commission once the program structure is drafted.
The item was recorded as a county-initiated report and passed at the May 20 meeting.
