South Miami Planning Board approves 1.5-foot setback variance for home generator

The City of South Miami Planning and Zoning Board on Aug. 12 approved a variance to allow a 26-kilowatt permanent home generator to be placed 11 feet from the side property line at 6071 Southwest 85th Street — 1.5 feet closer than the city’s perimeter setback requirement — and forwarded the item to the City Commission for final action.

Planning staff had recommended denial, telling the board the application appeared to reflect a self-imposed hardship and did not meet the five criteria in section 20-5.9 of the City’s Land Development Code (LDC). Staff’s written report noted the Design Review Board had earlier recommended approval 5–1, and staff detailed conditions to reduce impacts if the board chose to approve.

The applicant’s representative, Fabrice Mais, said the chosen location is the only practical spot because the backyard is largely landscaped and contains a children’s play area. “So it’s 1 foot and 0.5 closer than the distances,” Mais said, describing the proposed siting and adding that the unit would sit adjacent to existing AC equipment, be installed on a new concrete pad and enclosed in a sound-attenuated box. He told the board the generator would perform a five-minute exercise once a month to prevent oil seal drying.

Property owner Peter Brasor urged the board to approve the variance on emergency grounds. Brasor described the unit as an emergency back-up to protect family members and said he had discussed the plan with neighbors. “There’s no way in the world I’d spend all this money to put this that generator there,” Brasor said, explaining the cost and the emergency rationale. He also told the board the installation was motivated by the need to protect a recently born grandchild who has a serious medical condition.

Board members split on two central issues: whether the applicant had shown a legal hardship and whether the unit as specified met the city’s noise limits. One board member quoted Generac specifications saying the model’s sound output is 67 dB at 23 feet under normal load and questioned whether that exceeded the board’s 65 dB limit; staff and the applicant responded that the enclosure and operating profile (monthly exercise versus full-load operation during outages) would reduce actual sound exposure.

Members also discussed precedent and impervious-coverage rules. Staff noted that the property would remain within the city’s updated impervious-coverage limits adopted in late 2023. Several members said the record did not clearly demonstrate a self-imposed hardship, while others said the modest dimensional deviation, the enclosure and the medical/emergency argument made approval defensible.

Board member Jay Miller moved to approve the applicant’s request for a 1.5-foot reduction with the conditions recommended by staff; the motion was seconded and, after roll call, passed. The chair recorded a vote in opposition. The board’s action sends the variance to the City Commission for final consideration and any additional conditions.

The board did not change city code or rule on ongoing enforcement issues; the vote was limited to the single variance request for the property at 6071 SW 85th Street. The item’s City Commission hearing date was not specified at the meeting.