Reso 2008-1222 - Laserfiche WebLink

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OF SU~ TO: FROM: DATE: RE: City of Sunny Isles Beach ] 8070 Collins Avenue, Suite 250 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 (305) 947-0606 City Hall (305) 949-3113 Fax (305) 947-2150 Building Department (305) 947-5107 Fax City Commission Norman S. Edelcup, Mayor Roslyn Brezin, Vice Mayor Gerry Goodman, Commissioner Lewis Thaler, Commissioner George "Bud" Scholl, Commissioner A. John Szerlag, City Manager Hans Ottinot, City Allorney Jane A. Hines, CMC, City Clerk MEMORANDUM The Honorable City Commission A. John Szerlag, City Manager Hans Ottinot, City Attorney ~ January 10, 2008 Extension of Time for Development Approvals and Transfer of Development Rights In preparation for the scheduled workshop to discuss requests for extension for development approvals, this memorandum is written to discuss the legal standards to grant such requests under the City Code and the legal issues that may arise if the City Commission requires pre-payment of building permit fees as a condition for granting an extension of time for a development approval. I. BACKGROUND Prior to the adoption of the Land Development Regulations, developers were required to pull a building permit to commence construction of their development projects within one (l) year of approval of the project. See, Ordinance 98-52, adopted on October 8, 1998. The one- year time period to pull a building permit was established to eliminate the indefinite time period that was afforded to development approvals under the County Code. Shortly after creating the one-year time period, the City Commission realized that the one-year time period was unrealistic because a developer generally needs more than a year to proceed with their approvals given environmental, permitting, financing, presale requirements and other pertinent issues. As such, in 2001, the City Commission amended the Code as a compromised solution between the City and the development community to provide developers with at least two (2) years to pull a building permit after receipt of a zoning approval from the City Commission. See, Ordinance No. 2001-117, adopted March 15, 2001. At the time the Code was amended to provide the two- year period, some policy concerns were raised by members of the City Commission. One member of the City Commission "expressed concern[ s] about the difficulty for developers, who had obtained a zoning approval.....to successfully obtain a building permit within a two-year period." Another member of the City Commission expressed concerns about "development approvals being extended without the knowledge of the City Commission under the Code 27