Sunday, October 25, 2026 · Independent Miami Beach journalism
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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.
Miami Beach's Design Review Board continued a vote on Sofi 935, a 3-story, 2-unit building proposed for a substandard lot at 935 2nd Street, directing the architect to soften the front facade and reconsider side-yard landscaping before returning September 11.
In a June 29 Letter to Commission, the city manager and city attorney confirmed the Fontainebleau's Certificate of Appropriateness application will be reviewed administratively — with no public hearing before the Historic Preservation Board — following a state Attorney General opinion interpreting a 2026 preemption law now being challenged in court.
Miami Beach commissioners gave first-reading approval June 24 to an amended development agreement for 1250 West Avenue, adjusting baywalk deadlines, expanding basement amenities, and addressing flood-zone concerns for the 125-unit project.
Miami Beach commissioners cleared the first of two readings on a plan to raise the height and density limits at 1600 Washington Avenue, aiming to convert the city's commercial heart into a walkable, year-round residential district.
Commissioner Joseph Magazine is pushing to allow a private helipad on Terminal Island, where the U.S. Coast Guard Base Miami Beach is located, by amending the city's land development regulations.
Miami Beach commissioners will consider approving Boucher Brothers Pier Park's plan to demolish and replace the aging Nikki Beach concession site with a two-story, high-end beach club — on public land, with multiple regulatory hurdles still ahead.
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.
Three Miami Beach committees meet this week. The first detailed FY2027 budget-and-millage numbers land Wednesday, the city floats a homegrown alternative to the state's Live Local Act on Monday, and a cluster of ethics and transparency measures advances — all at the committee stage, none a final vote.
Miami Beach's Design Review Board meets Thursday morning to weigh updated designs for North Beach's 72nd Street Community Complex, the next phase of the "Via NoLi" pedestrian corridor near Lincoln Road, changes to a private Terminal Island marina, and a new North Beach multi-family building.
The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board meets Tuesday, June 9, at 9:00 a.m. to consider three items, including a major renovation and expansion of a late Art Deco hotel on Collins Avenue, a storefront overhaul and new pedestrian arcade on Lincoln Road, and proposed design guidelines for railings on non-contributing buildings.
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.