Miami Beach to consider call for public vote for limiting taller buildings

A group of activists is looking to limit new development in Miami Beach.

Preservationist Daniel Ciraldo is leading Save Miami Beach 2016, a campaign to require a public vote for height increases greater than three feet in Miami Beach. He’s garnered close to 4,800 signatures petitioning the commission to put the charter amendment on the ballot in November.

The signatures have yet to be verified by the county’s elections department, and the commission would have to place the question on the ballot once verified, the Miami Herald reported. Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez put an item on the agenda for tomorrow’s Miami Beach Commission meeting to discuss the petition.

“I understand that the signatures may still be getting verified, however it seems clear to me that the will of our residents is to have more of a say over the future development of our city,” she said in an email to the city clerk.

If it makes it to the November ballot, developers would likely oppose the vote as it would affect the majority of development going forward in Miami Beach.

As the Herald reported, building height has been the cause of contention with a handful of big projects, including plans for a Miami Beach convention center hotel, which voters rejected last year, and a height increase for a planned Sunset Harbour project from developer Deco Capital Group. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis