Historic Preservation Board defers two-story addition at 5730 SW 49th Street over zoning and design deficiencies

City planning staff and the City of South Miami Historic Preservation Board deferred consideration of a certificate of appropriateness for a two-story addition at 5730 Southwest 49th Street, saying the application lacked required zoning and design information and contained drafting inconsistencies.

Planning staff opened the item, describing the application (HPB-2025-005 COA) from Christian and Mariana Parfit as a proposed two-story addition and saying their review found several deficiencies in RS-4 zoning standards: building coverage and impervious-surface calculations were out of compliance, the submitted setbacks did not match the provided survey, and the application’s floor-area/FER information was incomplete. Staff also flagged the proposed front canopy carport as larger than the city code allows and said the carport lacked required specifications such as height, attachment details and finish materials. Staff recommended the board defer the item so the applicants could correct plans and return with a fuller submission, including a grading plan and landscape drawings and color/material samples.

Board member Julio Guillen gave an extended design review, noting multiple drafting errors and inconsistencies that he said made it hard to evaluate what was existing versus proposed. Guillen said elevations had been mislabeled (north vs. south), windows and door alignments did not match floor plans, and the elevation drawings showed apparent changes in height that were not reflected on the plans. He also criticized the submission for offering no color palette or material callouts and questioned whether the proposed carport and certain roof additions were constructible in the manner shown. "There’s no indication of the materials, the things that we want to see," Guillen said, urging greater detail and clearer, corrected drawings.

A board member who praised Guillen’s analysis agreed that the color palette and material details were missing and supported staff’s recommendation to defer. Planning staff noted that under the city’s 2024 amendment to site-plan rules, historic projects reviewed by the Historic Preservation Board will later go on to the design review board, but only after the board’s concerns are addressed.

A motion to follow staff’s recommendation and defer the application was made by Julio Guillen and recorded as seconded by another board member; the board voted in favor of deferral and directed staff to add Guillen’s and other board notes regarding colors and details to the file. Staff said the item should come back at the January meeting with corrected plans, a grading plan, landscape plans and material/color samples. If the board later approves the COA, the project will proceed to the design review board for additional review as required by the amended site-plan rules.

Alessandra Alvarez, identified in the record as present from Corradino Group, said the application felt rushed and urged the applicants to return with clearer materials. "It felt a little rushed just trying to get this — it was submitted right before Thanksgiving," she said, and encouraged the applicants to go "back to the drawing board" before resubmittal.

The board also approved the minutes from its July 28 meeting and agreed to postpone discussion of certificates of appropriateness until the January meeting so the chair and vice chair can attend. The Historic Preservation Board’s next scheduled meeting is Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.