May 18, 2023 Aventura City Commission Regular Workshop Minutes ry a� x
AVENTURA CITY COMMISSION
REGULAR WORKSHOP MINUTES
MAY 18, 2023
9:00 a.m.
Aventura Government Center
19200 W. Country Club Drive
Aventura, FL 33180
1. Call to Order/Roll Call: The meeting was called to order by Mayor Weinberg at
10:21 a.m. The following were present: Mayor Howard S. Weinberg, Vice Mayor Amit
Bloom, Commissioner Rachel S. Friedland, Commissioner Billy Joel, Commissioner Paul
A. Kruss, Commissioner Dr. Linda Marks, Commissioner Michael Stern, City Manager
Ronald J. Wasson, City Clerk Ellisa L. Horvath, and City Attorney Robert Meyers. As a
quorum was determined to be present, the meeting commenced.
2. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge was done at the Governing Board Meeting.
3. Discussion: Proposed Revision Addressing Open Space/Submerged Lands
Inconsistency in the Land Development Regulations (City Manager): Mr. Wasson
briefly explained the item and the need to give clear direction to a property with
submerged lands.
Keven Klopp, Community Development Director, reviewed a PowerPoint presentation
titled Submerged Lands & Open Space Proposed Code Revision to Provide Clarification
& Resolve an Interpretation Conflict dated Commission Workshop May 18, 2023 covering
the following: different scenarios for buildable area and percentage of open space
required based on calculated upland and submerged land, clarification of the definition of
open space, and changing the open space requirement for RMF4.
The City Commission discussed the item including the following: building marinas/docks,
water leftover, DERM, developer working with the City on how much submerged land they
want to count, pre-existing buildings, the benefit of keeping views open, providing a plan
to the City showing the available lots as well as those with submerged lands, whether or
not to postpone the item to the July meeting, and the urgency to correct a Code
discrepancy.
Mr. Meyers discussed his memorandum to the City Commission regarding submerged
land and open space and provided comments on the Commission's discretion on
resolving the discrepancy.
Members of the public were informed that opportunities to speak on the item would be
provided at the City Commission Regular Meetings.
Aventura City Commission
Regular Workshop Minutes—May 18, 2023
City Manager Summary: It was the consensus of the City Commission for the
item to proceed to the June 61h Commission Meeting.
4. Discussion: HERO Housing - Proposed Zoning Incentive (City Manager) and
5. Discussion: HERO Housing — Draft Program Guidelines (City Manager):
Mr. Wasson reviewed the proposed definitions to be provided in the Code (Section 31-
21).
The Commission discussed ways to address hero housing should an employee leave
employment before the lease ends.
Mr. Wasson reported on the need to work further on items 15 and 28 and will clarify the
discrepancy on the number of months listed in items 11 and 17.
The Commission discussed the number of units to be designated for hero housing (15%),
which is estimated to be 45 units for the first building offering the program.
Michael Marrero, Esq. (Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes PLLC) provided
comments on the hero housing units designated being based on the individual
developments on a case by case basis and for each developer to work with the City for
inventory. He also suggested that the City consider a 30-35% discount for the hero
housing units in lieu of the 50% discount, which could be deemed difficult for the
developers.
Frank Weiss, Development Associate — Related, provided comments on the unit costs.
Mr. Meyers discussed the process for the items.
City Manager Summary: It was the consensus of the City Commission for the
items to proceed with an ordinance for first reading on the June meeting agenda and a
resolution on the July meeting agenda.
The following additional item was discussed:
Mayor Weinberg reported on a letter received from the Consulate General of Israel in
Miami proposing a sister city relationship between Aventura and a city in Israel. Following
discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission to proceed with the item, as had also
been discussed in the past, and for Commissioner Kruss to follow up and report back on
the item.
6. Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the City
Commission, the meeting was adjourned by consensus at 11 :49 a.m.
Ellisa L. Horvath, M , ity Clerk
Approved by the City Commission on June 6, 2023.
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