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North Miami board approves variance to let salon open near existing shop, requires licensing
Summary
The Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant variance V‑15‑25 allowing a beauty salon at 1073 Northeast 125th Street to operate 885 feet from another salon (where 1,500 feet is normally required), conditioned on completing certificate of use and licensing.
The City of North Miami Board of Adjustment on Nov. 19 approved a variance allowing a beauty salon at 1073 Northeast 125th Street to operate closer than the 1,500‑foot separation required by the city code.
Planner Safi Biename told the board the application, V‑15‑25, requested permission for a salon located 885 feet from an existing beauty/barber operation and that staff found the applicant did not meet the required variance criteria. "Staff is recommending denial," Biename said, explaining the distance separation is intended to prevent oversaturation of certain businesses and to maintain a balanced commercial corridor.
Neighbor Lazar Rahman, speaking for the applicant, said the business has built a clientele and stressed neighborhood convenience. Rahman also told the board his party had been contacted by a suspicious email requesting payment beyond the city fees; he said the family had paid fees to the city but had been solicited by a separate, apparently fraudulent message. "That sounds like a scam," one board member replied during public comment, and the chair said he would have the city IT office check into the matter.
During questioning, board members discussed whether nearby Steve's Barber Shop primarily serves men and whether the applicant's mixed clientele and area density justified relief from the separation rule. Biename told the board staff had no licensing record for a prior salon at the address and noted the variance reached the board after code enforcement discovered unlicensed activity.
After deliberation — in which members expressed concern about the ordinance's intent but also acknowledged increasing neighborhood density and the applicant's business case — a motion to grant the variance carried unanimously. The board approved V‑15‑25 with the condition that the applicant complete the certificate of use and licensing and follow any after‑the‑fact procedures required by the building department.
The board recorded a unanimous roll‑call vote in favor; members instructed staff to confirm that licensing and the certificate of use are finished as a condition of the approval.
