Tuesday, October 13, 2026 · Independent Miami Beach journalism
Subscribe
Miami Beach's Planning Board directed staff to send the City Commission a recommendation letter urging a ban on obstructions in single-family swales and street trees limited to Miami-Dade County minimums.
Miami Beach's Private Property Adaptation Program is reopening Oct. 5 with a seawall-only application cycle, offering up to $20,000 in matching funds and a streamlined path that skips the Phase I assessment.
A 7-0 vote on Sept. 10 urges Miami-Dade County to approve an annual pedestrian-only season on Ocean Drive between 5th and 15th streets, extended on the dais to run through March 31. Hotel, restaurant and shop owners who packed the chamber called the closures a threat to guest access and sales, and the city's transportation chief said the permit would follow the same county process as this summer's World Cup closure.
On the last day it could have placed a question on the November 3 ballot, the Commission rejected both general obligation bond options and voted 5-2 to fund roughly $450 million of water, sewer and stormwater work through utility rates alone — a program about half the size of the one staff brought in. How much bills will actually rise won't be known until September.
A Normandy Isle EV charging item closed without a vote, but the discussion exposed a citywide problem: the flood elevation code is stalling fast chargers everywhere except one lot that squeaked by on a technicality.
Miami Beach's troubled 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge remains stalled by an undocumented FPL power line, with a city committee deferring action until September while the developer awaits findings from an independent consultant.
County commissioners on June 16 cleared the final procedural step toward condemning the roughly 10-acre PortMiami fuel depot — the move the Journal warned was looming — after Mayor Daniella Levine Cava walked away from a $400 million purchase. With only Raquel Regalado opposed, the vote sets up a constitutional fight already playing out in two courtrooms.
City Manager Eric Carpenter's second-quarter fiscal analysis shows Miami Beach on solid financial footing through March 2026, even as officials caution the city faces a projected $17.7 million General Fund deficit in FY 2027.
A LaGorce Drive homeowner has filed suit in Miami-Dade circuit court to block a 2026 state law that allegedly orders Miami Beach to approve a commercial water park at the Fontainebleau Hotel, bypassing the city's Historic Preservation Board.
Fisher Island's homeowners association and private club have sued developer HRP Fisher Island LLC, alleging it abandoned a deal to demolish a dangerous 100-year-old marine fuel terminal and is instead selling the site to Miami-Dade County for roughly $400 million.
Miami Beach's Land Use and Sustainability Committee voted to send a revised residential incentive plan for Washington Avenue back to the full Commission, adding new limits on unit size, lot size, and total corridor density.
The proposal to allow buildings up to 150 feet on the western end of Lincoln Road reaches the City Commission on May 20 for a first reading — but the Miami Design Preservation League, Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association, and Palm View Neighborhood Association have not taken public positions on a plan that could fundamentally alter one of Miami Beach's most historic corridors.