A little-noticed proposal moving through City Hall could dramatically increase building height and density throughout Miami by allowing developers to vastly exceed current zoning limits on properties near bike and pedestrian corridors in exchange for cash payments or other negotiated public benefits.
Under the proposed legislation, properties within a quarter mile of city-designated “greenways” — including, in Coconut Grove, the Underline along U.S. 1 and the Commodore Trail, which runs the length of the neighborhood — would be eligible for additional development incentives.
The proposal — contained in two linked zoning code amendments set for review Wednesday by the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board — is being pitched by city officials as a way to fund and expand Miami’s greenway network by tying increased development rights to contributions for parks, trails and other public benefits.
If approved Wednesday, the measure could move to the City Commission for a vote as early as April 9.
The ordinance defines a greenway as a “continuous public space intended for recreation and conveyance” that connects to a larger trail network, with a minimum length of half mile and an average width of at least 14 feet. It must function as a landscaped corridor accommodating bicycle and pedestrian travel.
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At the same time, the legislation explicitly identifies components of the city’s greenway network — including the Underline, Commodore Trail, Ludlam Trail, Miami River Greenway and the Underdeck — as qualifying corridors.
City officials have not responded to a request for a comprehensive list or map showing all corridors that meet the definition.
That leaves an open question: how strictly the technical definition will be applied in practice.
Some corridors clearly meet both the definition and the intent. The Underline, the linear park running beneath the Metrorail along U.S. 1, aligns closely with the ordinance’s design and dimensional standards. The roughly 10-mile Miami River Greenway also appears to qualify.
Others are less clear. While the Commodore Trail in Coconut Grove is specifically referenced in the legislation, much of the path consists of narrower segments and sidewalks that may not meet the ordinance’s minimum width requirements. Whether it qualifies by definition, by designation, or both is not explicitly addressed.
That distinction matters because eligibility for the program — and the development bonuses it offers — depends entirely on proximity to a qualifying greenway.
In mid-rise T5 zones common throughout the Grove — stretches of Southwest 27th Avenue, Douglas Road, Grand Avenue and Bird Avenue, among others — projects could rise from five stories to as many as eight.
In higher-density T6 zones along major corridors, the increases are far more dramatic: buildings currently capped at 24, 36 or 48 stories could double in height. In the city’s downtown core, where base zoning already allows up to 60 stories — the highest in Miami — the program would impose no limit on how tall a project could rise through the purchase of bonus height.
The biggest impact in Coconut Grove could be felt in the village’s central business district, where the current five-story limit could rise to eight through cash payments or other contributions to public infrastructure, such as improvements tied to the adjacent Commodore Trail.
Along South Bayshore Drive — where a roughly three-quarter-mile stretch is zoned for 12 stories — the program could allow developers to reach up to 20.
Properties within a quarter mile of the Underline along U.S. 1 span a mix of zoning categories. At the intersection of Southwest 27th Avenue, for example — now home to a Shell gas station, a one-story strip mall and Crook & Crook marine supply store — parcels currently limited to eight stories could qualify for bonuses up to 12.
The bonus height and density do not apply within single-family neighborhoods. However, where higher-zoned properties abut those areas, the additional incentives could still be granted with City Commission approval.
In exchange for greater height and housing density, developers would be required to provide public benefits that can take several forms: constructing segments of a greenway, making park improvements, adding mobility features like enhanced bike facilities — or simply paying into a city-managed trust fund.
The cash option may prove most attractive: Required payments — set by the city at roughly $11 to $18 per square foot of added buildable area — represent a small fraction of the value of market-rate condos in the Grove, which can exceed $1,000 per square foot.
The code change would rewrite the rules for the city’s Parks and Open Space Trust Fund, directing that money collected from projects near greenways be spent specifically on greenway construction, maintenance or expansion. In effect, it creates a dedicated funding stream fueled by new development.
Public benefits, when provided as physical improvements to parks, corridors or other infrastructure, can also be modest under the proposal. A project near a greenway, for example, can qualify for bonuses by constructing as little as 50 linear feet of trail or by funding improvements elsewhere in the network. Contributions do not have to be made in the immediate vicinity of a project, meaning a development’s impacts — increased scale, traffic and population — may not be offset locally.
Under the proposal, there is no requirement that any portion of new housing be priced at affordable levels.
City documents describe the measure as a way to “promote development along green corridors” while reinvesting in public infrastructure. Officials also point to expected increases in property values, tourism and economic activity tied to expanded greenways.
The proposal, sponsored by City Manager James Reyes, is the latest in a series of development incentives introduced by city officials over the past year, which they say are a response to less restrictive county and state provisions that, in many cases, allow developers to build taller and denser than under existing city rules.
Last July, commissioners approved a sweeping overhaul of the city’s zoning code that could allow significantly larger buildings within a mile of Metrorail stations and other transit hubs.
Earlier this year, a measure was passed permitting up to twice the housing density in certain city locations in exchange for contributions to a fund supporting climate resilience infrastructure.
And another proposal — also set for review by PZAB on Wednesday — would expand a program allowing developers of affordable housing projects to sell and transfer excess density to market-rate or luxury developments elsewhere in the city.
This story was originally published in the Coconut Grove Spotlight, a WLRN News partner.
