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Board approves TSDD parking standards update, requires 22-foot two-way aisles
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board approved amendments to parking rules in the Transit-Supportive Development District (PBD-2025-005), consolidating dimensional standards and reducing stall size while requiring a 22-foot two-way aisle after board concern about maneuverability.
The City of South Miami Planning & Zoning Board on June 10 approved amendments to parking regulations for the Transit-Supportive Development District (TSDD), forwarding PBD-2025-005 with a board modification to require a 22-foot minimum two-way drive aisle.
Planning consultant Mark Alvarez explained the package as fine-tuning of the recently adopted TSDD code. "We are making some more of a fine tuning on the parking regulations that are included in the TSDD," Alvarez said. The draft makes TSDD parking rules the exclusive standard for that district, consolidates dimensional standards into a new Section 20-8.8E, and adds a parking standard for a new "limited automotive business" use.
Key technical changes in the draft included reducing standard parking stall width from 9 by 18 feet to 8.5 by 18 feet, and setting the two-way 90-degree aisle minimum at 21 feet. The draft also added a parking ratio for limited automotive businesses—one parking space per 1,000 square feet—to accommodate low-volume auto-related uses such as boutique repair or showroom spaces.
Board members raised concerns that reducing aisle width to 21 feet could impair maneuverability for drivers, particularly in Miami-Dade County where vehicles and driver behavior can make tight spaces difficult. Chair Augusta Marrero said she had "an issue with reducing the aisle to 21 feet" and recommended at least 22 feet to preserve circulation; several members agreed. One planner on the board noted that 21 feet is used in some private-developer contexts but that the TSDD standard is intended to be more urban and can be stricter.
A motion to approve PBD-2025-005 with the condition that the two-way aisle be 22 feet passed unanimously. The consultant noted that the ordinance consolidates parking and loading dimensional standards into a single table (Section 20-8.8E) and applies the changes only inside the TSDD, not citywide.
What happens next: staff will prepare the ordinance language reflecting the 22-foot aisle amendment and transmit the package to the City Commission for final action. The board also asked staff to clarify grandfathering and compliance pathways for existing automotive uses in the Commerce and Progress corridors; staff said existing uses would remain legally nonconforming until a change in use triggered review.
