City proposes exempting single-family homes from some green building rules

Miami Beach has filed an ordinance that would exempt single-family homes in the city’s single-family zoning districts from mandatory compliance with some of its environmental mitigation standards, according to the Planning Board’s Dec. 8 agenda.

The item, PB26-0867, would change two parts of the city’s Resiliency Code. One is the “Green Building” section of the environmental mitigation standards, where the exemption would go. The other is the section that sets the rules for the RS-1, RS-2, RS-3 and RS-4 single-family districts, which the ordinance’s title says would be streamlined and simplified “for increased clarity and to expedite permit review.”

The city itself is the applicant, and the Planning Department’s cover memo lists the change as citywide. It’s flagged as a “Residents Right to Know” item. The memo posted so far gives only the ordinance’s title: it doesn’t yet include the proposed text, a staff analysis or a list of which green building requirements homeowners would no longer have to meet. Red Sidewalks will report the details when the staff report is posted.

The Planning Board meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8. Its recommendation goes to the City Commission, which would have to adopt the ordinance for it to take effect. The same agenda also includes former Mayor Philip Levine’s proposed office building at 930 and 960 Alton Road and the redevelopment of the former Epicure block at 1656–1680 Alton Road.