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South Miami planning board defers ordinance to clarify rebuilding rules for nonconforming homes
Summary
The Planning Board deferred PB-24-022 after members urged clearer definitions and more flexibility for homeowners rebuilding partially damaged legal nonconforming structures, asking staff to define “legal nonconforming,” extend start timelines and add maintenance/alteration language.
The South Miami Planning Board voted Nov. 12 to defer an ordinance (PB-24-022) that would revise the city’s rules for rebuilding legal nonconforming structures after partial destruction, saying staff should rewrite the proposal to add clearer definitions and more flexible timelines.
City Attorney (Speaker 8), presenting the ordinance, said the draft would allow homeowners to apply to reconstruct a legal nonconforming structure if they file an application within 180 days of damage, begin work within 60 days of permit issuance and (under the current draft) complete construction within 12 months. He said the intent is to let residents rebuild in the same manner as before without forcing compliance with newer code requirements.
“Applicants can file for reconstruction within 180 days of the destruction,” the City Attorney said, describing the default timeframes and the commission’s ability to extend them after a major event such as a hurricane. He also compared South Miami’s approach with neighboring cities, noting some use a value-based 50% threshold and others use square footage or allow full reconstruction in certain residential cases.
Committee member (Speaker 3) said the existing language felt “overbearing and egregious” and warned it risked effectively taking people’s homes by imposing impractical deadlines amid insurance and recovery issues. “It’s kind of designed to take people’s homes and children's bedrooms,” the committee member said, adding that flexibility is needed for homeowners dealing with damage, insurance claims and permitting delays.
Board members pressed staff on how the code measures the 50% “substantial improvement” threshold — by replacement value or by square footage — and who determines that metric (appraiser, insurance adjuster, or building department). The City Attorney and staff said South Miami’s code currently ties the test to value and that proof typically requires historical permits or property-appraiser records.
Rather than vote on the ordinance, the board asked staff to return with a redrafted version incorporating four main changes: explicitly define “legal nonconforming” throughout the section; remove or strike the 12-month completion deadline; change the 60-day requirement to begin work to 180 days or otherwise align it with permit timing; and add language allowing normal maintenance, repair and incidental alterations that do not increase the nonconformity (modeling that portion after Coral Gables’ code).
The board approved a motion to defer so the City Attorney and staff could prepare a revised draft that reflects those directions. The motion passed by voice vote; the exact roll-call tally was not recorded in the transcript.
Next steps: staff will rewrite PB-24-022 to incorporate the board’s requested clarifications and return the item for reconsideration at a future Planning Board meeting.
