Urban Development Review Board - Regular Meeting

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

The Urban Development Review Board meeting addressed only one agenda item, the 805 Residences project, which the applicant withdrew for further revisions. Board members expressed frustration about attending the meeting when the withdrawal was known in advance, leading to a discussion on improving future procedures.

About this meeting

Government Body
Urban Development Review Board
Meeting Type
Urban Development Review Board
Location
Miami, FL
Meeting Date
November 19, 2025

Transcript

72 sections

0:08 – 2:06Speaker 9

of the city code must register with the city clerk and comply with related city requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the Urban Development Review Board. A person may not lobby a city official, board member, or staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the city clerk's office and online on municode.com. The agenda for this meeting and the materials for the items on the agenda were published and made available to the board. In advance of the meeting, the materials are also available online at miamigov.com. Please silence all cell phones and other noise-making devices. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, or services for this meeting may notify the board liaison. Any person may be heard by the board through the chair and pursuant to the published notice for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the board unless modified by the chair. When addressing the board, the member of the public must first state his or her name, address, and what item will be spoken about. When the board takes action or votes on any proposition, it shall do so by a roll call vote to be recorded and included in the record. Please note that board members may have generally been briefed by city staff on items on today's agenda. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV and on Comcast Channel 77. In addition to the comments provided here at City Hall, the public may submit comments via the city's online comment forum. The comments submitted through the comment forum, if any, were distributed to the board members and city administration throughout the day so that the board can consider them prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online comment forum will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the board members up until the chairperson closes public comment. All comments received will be included in the public record of the meeting. THESE PUBLIC COMMENT OPTIONS ESTABLISHED AND PROVIDED FOR THIS MEETING COMPLY WITH SECTION 286.0114, FLORIDA STATUTES. MEMBERS, ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH ALL THE NOTICE PROVISIONS SET FORTH IN THESE UNIFORM RULES AND PROCEDURE WE HAVE ESTABLISHED FOR THIS MEETING?

2:14Ligia Ines Labrada

ALL RIGHT. WE'RE DOING A ROLL CALL.

2:20Speaker 11

CHAIR LOBRADO?

2:24Speaker 11

Vice Chair Barrera.

2:27Speaker 11

Member Behar. Present. Member Gallardo.

2:33Speaker 11

Member Lewis. Member Perez-Azura.

2:39Speaker 11

Member Pamui. Member Zampsis. Member Zapatini.

2:56Speaker 11

We have quorum.

3:00 – 3:42Ligia Ines Labrada

Please rise. If you're with me, my agenda is still loading. Do we have any requests for absence waivers?

3:43Speaker 11

Yes, we do. Members requested an absence waiver.

3:48Ligia Ines Labrada

Do we have a motion?

3:50Speaker 3

Motion to approve. Second.

4:01Ligia Ines Labrada

We'll vote on it, please. We have a motion and a second.

4:08Speaker 11

Yes. Chair LaBrada?

4:14Speaker 11

Vice Chair Barrera?

4:16Speaker 11

Member Bayhart? Yes. Member Gallardo?

4:25Ligia Ines Labrada

And can we get a motion for last month? I wasn't done. I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry.

4:32Speaker 11

Member Perez-Azua and Member Zapatini. Yes. Thank you.

4:43Ligia Ines Labrada

All right. We can have a motion for last month's meeting minutes.

4:50Speaker 3

Motion re-approved.

4:56Speaker 8

Second. All in favor?

5:03Speaker 11

Chair Labrador?

5:05Speaker 11

Vice Chair Barrera?

5:09Speaker 11

Member Behar? Yes. Member Gallardo?

5:13Speaker 11

Member Perez-Azul? Member Zapatini?

5:18Ligia Ines Labrada

Yes. Thank you. All right. Do we have any comments, any public comments online?

5:28 – 5:50Speaker 11

No, there weren't any when I checked before. I'll check one more time. But there weren't any when I checked the first three times today. No, still no public comment.

5:51Ligia Ines Labrada

Okay, and then if we can close them, please. Thank you so much. And let's start with item number one, if we can.

6:01 – 6:52Speaker 11

UDRB number one, file ID 18488. E-Plan PZ 2519175, address 860 Northwest 101st. I'm sorry, 860 Northwest 1st Street, 861 West Flagler Street, and 26 Northwest 8th Avenue. Project name, 805 Residences. Location, East Little Havana. Transit zone, T6-8-0. Square footage, 535,916 square feet. Stories, 8. Residential units, 354. Commercial, 5,400 square feet. Parking spaces, 526 spaces.

6:59 – 8:17Speaker 2

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board. My name is Mark William Riero. I work at Burkow, Fernandez, sorry, Burkow, Riddell, Fernandez, Larkin, and Topanas with offices at 200 South Biscayne Boulevard. I am extremely privileged to be here for the first time in front of this board on behalf of the applicant 805 Flagler LLC. As some of the board members already know, today the applicant is requesting to withdraw the application for further consideration at a later date. The reason, and first I would like to apologize to the board, we're cognizant of the fact that this board volunteers their time to be present in front of us today, and many of you are present today, so I'd like to apologize for the withdrawal today, but we had a CRC meeting with staff last week on November 13th, Thursday, 2025, where we met with city staff reviewers from UDRB, and they addressed several concerns in front of us, provided us with comments, and we believe that it is best to refine the plans in order to present to this board a project that is responsive to what this board is looking for. And respectful of your time, I open myself up to questions from this board.

8:26Speaker 4

Do we know, can you tell us what items you're changing? You know, we saw the drawings on the... We can't do that.

8:32 – 10:08Speaker 8

We can't do that. They're going to have to come back And they're withdrawing, and this is something that I want to bring to the record, put it on the record, because this morning I became aware that this was going to happen. I wrote an email to Ricky. Ricky is Hemingway. I guess he's out of the office. I got back. I said that it was contact Nicole, I forget his name. In fact, I wrote an email to Nicole confirming if we're going to have the meeting or not. I get Olga Zamora saying that we are. And the reason I'm bringing this up, we got six members here that, at least for myself, I'm busy. I don't have the time to comment and just sit around. I like to say hello, but I could do that in a social setting. If we know something like this because we knew this was going to happen, I don't think it's right of the city for staff to make us come here just to waste the time. I will appreciate if staff will do more and say, yes, in fact, it's going to be withdrawn. We will see you next month. Rather than tell me, you know, Olga, Ms. Zamora telling me, oh, yes, and we appreciate your service, but we are going to have this meeting. That's not right. I'm appalled about it because we wasted six board members' time for no reason knowing that this was going to happen. So that's my end of my comment. I guess, Madam Chair, we'll see them next month.

10:08 – 10:27Ligia Ines Labrada

I would say that out of respect for everyone's time, wherever possible, that we are please made aware of. situation like this. If we had other items to review, it's fine, but this was the only reason why we came here. Thank you.

10:28Speaker 2

Thank you. I apologize.

10:32Gia Zapattini

Could we vote on a procedure that in the future, is there anything we can do to help you cancel meetings when there's nothing to review?

10:42 – 10:59Speaker 8

You know, I think, listen, if staff know that something is not going to be in the agenda, especially in a case like this with this one item, they should let us know.

10:59 – 11:10Ligia Ines Labrada

Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's a big deal if we have other projects to review. We did earlier, but for one... My apologies. Go ahead. No, I'm done.

11:10 – 11:51Speaker 9

I can comment on just the legal aspect of it because... What I do know is that when the meeting is noticed, pretty much there's only two options. Either we still have to formally have the meeting for the applicant to withdraw, pretty much. That's what I do know. We have to have the meeting for the applicant to withdraw. And I understand that your department as well is pretty busy. I'm not too familiar with all the background information, but I do know, like, legally speaking, we have to have the median for the applicant to formally withdraw. And the other alternative is lack of quorum.

11:52 – 12:07Ligia Ines Labrada

If that's the case, then maybe notify the chair, and I can still be here, and then give the board an opportunity to say, if someone has something that's pressing and all we need is quorum, we don't need six board members to be here.

12:08 – 12:24Speaker 8

And that's a good point. And from the applicant, get him writing a correspondence from them that they're going to be withdrawn so we're not held liable later if they decide to show up. But you're right. Either the chairperson or the three of you could be here.

12:28 – 12:49Speaker 1

I thank you all for your time and coming in. As James said, unfortunately, it's a legal matter. I like the ideas that have been proposed. You know, we're busy as well. My department's super behind on things, and it's frustrating to have to be here for no meeting in the end, but hands are kind of tied. But we'll work on trying to come up with a way to improve upon this in the future.

12:51Speaker 11

I need a motion for the item.

12:55Speaker 8

It still has to be voted on. I'll make a motion to, I guess, accept a withdrawal from the applicant.

13:04Speaker 3

Second. Second.

13:11Speaker 11

Chair Labrada? Yes. Vice Chair Barrera?

13:17Speaker 11

Member Bayhart? Yes. Member Gallardo?

13:22Speaker 11

Member Perez-Azul?

13:26Speaker 11

Member Zapatini?

13:29Speaker 8

Thank you. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Second.

13:57Speaker 5

Protect our city and waters together.

14:09Speaker 7

Nutrient pollution like sewage leaks, cat waste, and fertilizer runoff messes up water quality.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.