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Design Review Board approves private Terminal Island marina with $230,000 shoreline mitigation condition
Summary
The board approved a private marina project on Terminal Island for a single owner, with staff recommending and the board accepting a mitigation payment of about $230,000 to the Miami‑Dade Shoreline Trust Fund in lieu of providing public shoreline access; the Coast Guard requested coordination on lighting and rooftop equipment access.
The Miami Beach Design Review Board on Nov. 20 approved a privately owned marina and support pavilions on Terminal Island, subject to conditions in the draft order including a shoreline mitigation payment of approximately $230,000 to Miami‑Dade County to offset the lack of public access to the waterfront.
Staff explained that the site is in an industrial area and is not suited to public shoreline access; the Biscayne Bay Shoreline Development Review Committee had recommended mitigation. Staff cited a prior DRB approval on the site and adjusted the previous mitigation recommendation by consumer price index to arrive at a $230,000 figure. The draft order includes the mitigation payment to the county Shoreline Trust Fund, which can be requested by the city for bayfront access improvements.
Applicant counsel and the design team (Ackerman representatives, architect Gabriel Camposano and landscape architect Chris Cauley) presented a low‑profile campus of four pavilions, substantial open green space, and native landscaping intended to reduce visual impact on adjacent Port and Coast Guard uses. The applicant noted the project is intended for private owner use (presentation identified the principal as Ken Griffin) and is lower in intensity than a previously approved office/restaurant proposal for the site.
Commander Clay McKinney of Coast Guard Base Miami Beach testified about operational concerns: he asked the city and applicant to consider night lighting for the pickleball/padel courts because intense lighting could affect small‑boat night vision and search‑and‑rescue operations, and he requested early coordination on whether line‑of‑sight equipment (radar/communications) could be sited or accommodated. The applicant said it would meet with Coast Guard and planning staff and that environmental permitting (including coral relocation) is being handled through the appropriate agencies.
Board members discussed landscaping choices (some found the scheme formal/European and asked for a softer, more tropical feel), the utility and access constraints that limit planting in some locations, and accepted the staff‑recommended mitigation approach and draft order language with the applicant’s proposed minor revisions. A board member moved to approve the design and conditions; the motion was seconded and carried as recorded in the transcript.
The transcript records the board’s motion to approve including the draft order and the mitigation condition; exact numeric roll‑call counts are not provided in the public record excerpt.
