Design Review Board - Regular Meeting

Good morning. We are live in the chambers. Can you hear us?

Yes.

We can hear you clear. Thank you very much. Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning. We have Mr. Sabrata Basu. We have Javier Baena, Christian Rodriguez, and Mr. Mariano Corral and Daniel Guerra. We do have a quorum. Good morning. Angel Lopez. I'm sorry. Angel Lopez also. Forgot about me. I apologize. That's all right.

No worries.

So can we get started? Okay. Let's call the order and start with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all its people. The roll call starts with city staff.

Good morning. This is Marcus Lightfoot, and I have Mr. Mark Alvarez of the Corradino Group with me. Thank you.

Thank you. Now, board roll call.

Alex Udiva with the city attorney's office.

Sorry, Alex. Now, board roll call.

Mariano Corral, landscape architect.

Daniel Guerra. Angel Lopez, architect. Sorry.

Christian Rodriguez. And Subrata's there, but you're muted.

I'll wait for him, I'll go last.

Doesn't matter.

And Javier Baena. Okay, so the swearing in.

I'm here.

Thank you. Can we do the swearing in?

Yes, good morning. If you're going to be speaking on an item, I need you to please turn on your camera and unmute yourself. So, and if you're going to be providing testimony, please raise your right hand. Do you swear from the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. I do. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Start with the first applicant.

Give me one second so I can start the presentation for the item. OK. So the first item is DRB2026009, applicant is UL Ortiz. The location is 6551 Southwest 75th Terrace. Once again, I apologize. DRB2026009, applicant is UL Ortiz. For the property located at 6551 Southwest 75th Terrace, the request is a new construction of a two-story single-family residential structure. The presentation will be given by Mr. Mark Alvarez. Thank you.

Good morning. This is Mark Alvarez, the Corradino Group for the City of South Miami. This is our first presentation today. Marcus already announced it. It's at 6651 Southwest 75th Terrace. It would be a new construction. And it's not moving, Marcus. Sorry. Hold on a second. Technical difficulties. There we go. So it's located at 7041 63rd Court. Excuse me. It's located at... It's a mistake there. 6651 75th Terrace. Ignore what it says there. It is... It is in the single family residential future land use designation. It is also in the RS3 zoning designation and it is surrounded by RS3 with the exception of the north edge of it, the northwest edge touches are too. The house that's not in the square in the rectangle that you see with the orange circular driveway is the RS2 zone. But everything else around it is RS3. The property is 0.38 acres and One of the unusual things about this property, although it doesn't have bearing on our particular approval this morning, is it fronts on 75th Terrace. However, it does have the rear lot line on 74th Terrace. In its current state, it does have a driveway coming into that. I don't know if it's a well-used driveway, but it does show on the aerials as well as on the survey. Okay. The site plan is to build a new two-story house. It is a new two-story house, and it's two stories. It's proposed at 3,054 square feet for the first floor and 3,127 square feet for the second floor. It also has a garage of 487 square feet. It is, all the setback criteria are met, 28 feet from the front and 66 from the rear. The pool disposition also, it does include a pool and the pool disposition does also meet all the setback requirements. There are no accessory structures on this. One of the things you'll also notice is that in the site plan, the rear driveway has also been abandoned, so it will not be part of the site plan going forward. The elevation, I'm sorry, the landscape plan, it is consistent with the requirements of the RS3 code and of the city's landscape code. I wanted to go over the tree disposition. There are a number of trees that will be removed from the property. Probably the largest and most notable is a large mahogany in the center of the property. But there is also... The tropha in the front, there are two Senegal date palms, MacArthur palms in the back, a Hong Kong orchid in the back, dragon trees on the south side, and an umbrella tree, which I guess is an invasive, also in the back, and a Brazilian pepper. So that is the tree disposition plan. And I'm going to go back. I put these out of order. And the landscape plan is here, and this is what the landscape plan would include. And of course the drain field is also showing there as well as the swimming pool just near the house And finally as far as the aesthetics of it it is generally a In light tones, it's shades of white. Even the fenestration, the glass frames are silver and the glass is clear. There is some teak and some of the wood kind of tile that's also included for some accents. It's a contemporary design and this is the front of the house as it would present itself when built. And again the driveway is a single driveway now. It's not a circular driveway and it turns left into the garage which has the teak finish front. And the rear of the house is very similar. Again, it's very much in light shades and clear glass, silver frames, and mostly a white stucco finish with some warm tones about it. The sides of it are, there's a little less glass, a little less fenestration, but these are the east and the west elevations of the building. Again, the finishes are the same based on the information that's provided in the site plan. There aren't Renderings for the size of the house and finally after going through everything with this We've reviewed it as far as sufficiency. There are no sufficiency issues. So we have no comments or Or notes there that the plan would have to go back As far as consistency meeting all of the code requirements. There are no issues with this plan it meets every single code requirement and it does have a tree permit and Right They're working on the tree permit. So procedurally, we will need, of course, to comply with the Florida Building Code. Any comments and suggestions of the board and the tree permit will have to be complete for all of the trees that will be disposed of. Thank you. That's our presentation.

Thank you. Will the developer or the architect be presenting? I think you're muted.

Yes, hello, I'm the architect of this project. Thank you.

You can go ahead.

Harold, just very quickly, I don't think you quite was able to swear in, so I just need you to, now that your microphone is unmuted, raise your right hand, please. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I swear.

Thank you. Please proceed.

I mean, I think... the presentation, it sounds pretty straightforward. I mean, it complies with everything, the code, the zoning, landscape, you have a contemporary design with, you know, some want to differentiate, you see the second floors and a different color lighter to try to, you know, cantilever just a little uh you know the the second floor and uh change we have different materials from the first to second to uh make it a little more noticeable that i can't deliver on the design emphasizing the second floor. I don't think there's much more to say about the project. I don't know if you have any questions regarding the design or any other issue.

Thank you. Does that conclude your presentation? You'd like to add anything?

Not really. If you have any questions or you have any concern regarding the design, we're not trying to do anything strange here or anything out of the ordinary. We're trying to, you know... uh make you know design something that is that is uh providing some uh how to say to to bring uh some design and to to the neighborhood to with the new contemporary houses that have been built recently in the neighborhood. And I don't know if you have any questions, Harold. Thank you, Harold. I will respond gladly. Okay.

Thank you. All right. Let's start with a public comment. If there's anybody in chambers who would like to speak on this project?

There's nobody in the chambers but staff.

Thank you. Let's go with the board members. Mariano, would you like to go first?

Sure. First of all, let me say to you, Harold, that the package that you submitted is excellent. I even read the soil company soil report, which I found it very interesting. especially with the area where it says that if the water table falls down by one foot, what will be the condition for the foundation and the support from that aspect? I learned a lot from that. In fact, I'm going to call a couple of people, find out a little bit more because I always want to be learning and improving myself on that. But I thought that was excellent. The only comment I really have is the fact that that you have a, and this is for your landscape architect. I'm not sure if he's here or not.

No, he's not. No, he's not.

Okay. And I'm assuming that this is for a spec, it's a spec house. It's not, no particular owner, correct?

Correct.

So, while he meets code, I think the landscape lacks creativity for a house like this. i think the the fact that you don't have in the background where the swimming pool is some sort of a barrier so that when you're looking across on uh through the front from the building to the pool that you have some sort of a background that gives some substance to that okay but again from the perspective of code and so he meets code these are suggestions Okay, the fact that they're using seed grape, I would question why would you use seed grapes when the tree just sheds a lot of love. The leaves, especially in the back one, you got the swimming pool. And then you also have the drain field. I don't know how accurate that drain field is, if that's the actual size or not. Uh, from that aspect. And the other thing that I will also mention to you to be aware of, you got a courtyard or a little nook in there between the building. How are you going to drain the water from there? Okay. So those are little things that you got to look at. But otherwise, overall, the house is very nice. I just think that I'm just not happy with the landscape in terms of the design of the house, the relationship to the lot, and it could have been a little better. But I get it. It's a spec house. But give me a code. That's all I have to say.

Thank you, Mariano. Christian Rodriguez, would you like to go next?

Oh, sure. Hold on one second. By the way, the gumbo limbo is in between overhead power lines. I would remove it personally because of two issues. One, if it rains, very rare, people are walking, they touch that trunk, they can actually get electrocuted. Look it up. It has happened throughout the United States. So number two, why are you going to have a tree that will grow bigger into the power line A storm comes along, it's going to break this power line and it'll cause problems for the entire community. So those are my comments. It's a suggestion. You guys do what you want.

Thank you, Mariano. That's a great input for sure.

Besides the fact of getting rid of that beautiful mahogany tree, I'm in line with the project overall. It definitely fits the parameters of that neighborhood and what's going on, so I have no other comment.

Thank you, Christian. Angel?

Um, I, I, I like the, I generally like the design of the house. Um, you know, good job, uh, Harold. Um, I, I like the light tones of materials, the stones. Um, I like that you did a rendering of a day view and, and a night view as well. That, you know, it gives us opportunity to see the house lit up in both, uh, and in both scenarios. I, I, you know, I, I think the landscape is a little bit light. It could have been, you know, but like it's a spec home. So I understand, I get it. Um, my, um, my only recommendation, um, you know, and this is strictly, you know, aesthetic is, um, uh, is, uh, well, not all, not only strictly, uh, aesthetic, but also I would, um, I, I would provide some kind of, uh, you know, um, awning or something in the front for weather, for rain and inclement weather. Oftentimes we see people come back and then they retrofit these really ugly looking awnings on a beautiful home. So if you can find a way to, I see where you have a car there, maybe by the entry of the house, those vertical members, maybe you can incorporate something horizontal there that that goes a long way for people um who again oftentimes come back and have to retrofit some uh you know some horizontal canopy or something um and then the other thing is the windows uh on the ground floor i really like those vertical windows on the ground floor the way that they're they're uh it seems like they're not symmetrical you know they're they're the patterns are shifted um but if anything you know i think it may be nice if if Some of the edges of those windows can line up with the window on the second floor. That's just an observation. But overall, I think the house is very nice. And I have no further comment.

Thank you, Angel. Daniel, would you like to go next?

Thank you, Chair. I believe my colleagues have brought up any of the items I had. I like the house in general. Thank you for submitting a complete package, and my items have been covered already, so I'll leave it at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Daniel. Basur?

I think the house, the planning plans work pretty well. The work's very nice. The design is very simple. I wish... you know, a little bit more welcoming. The front, especially the front, is a little bit more welcoming. And I think the suggestion of a canopy or some kind of entrance coverage might give some articulation. The depth I think would help. The balcony upstairs, was a nice feature, could have been a nice feature, but then it's covered up with those louvers. I'm not sure why the louvers are, but just makes it a little bit, the balcony would have given it a little bit more character to the house. It's just not very welcoming from the front. That's the only comment. The other thing is that mahogany tree, this is a huge, fairly relatively large site. there's no reason why the building couldn't have been designed and placed in a way to save that tree so i think that's more a comment to the staff as well that while you're reviewing these kind of plans before it comes to the board that I think the applicant should be encouraged to save as many trees as possible by redesigning or reorienting the house a little bit so that we don't have to take down nice trees. Other than that, I think it meets all the requirements and codes, so I don't have any other comments.

Thank you, Vasu. Sudami, would you like to speak? Hello?

You're muted.

So how many are muted? We'll wait for you. There you go.

Sorry, putting it back to the unmute. So I don't know if the DRB had an opportunity to look at the ordinance that the city's trying to pass on sustainable Construction practices specific to the city of South Miami. So not really like a lead process, but. Saving our existing canopy by rewarding keeping existing trees. You know, and other things that I've heard this board mentioned, and I don't think that through the process it came here, but it is. going to city commission for second reading. And I'm so glad to hear that you all wanna see how we could save these trees and maybe work around existing trees that I would like to have the opportunity to sit with this applicant and look at it and see what we could do, because there are a lot of incentives and we are willing to go back. And let's say, if you apply for a permit before that ordinance goes into effect, probably next month, to give you the rewards of the lower permit fees, the setbacks, you know, the higher coverage on the lot, depending on other things. So I just wanted to see if, you know, we were given the opportunity, if the applicant would be interested, I'd be more than happy to meet with them and go over that.

Thank you, Swami. Did the applicant have any say on this?

Not really. We would like to proceed. Because it's also sad for us to remove the oak tree that was located in the front, but it's so massive and the critical zone route is so aggressive that would be almost impossible to meet the setback by the time we're building something around. of the of the tree so unfortunately we have to mitigate it with new traces so worst case we have to contribute to the uh three phone association though you know right and and and i i i'm not sure that you're aware but we are looking the ordinance has for

allowing setbacks to be reduced or other things to be done in order to accommodate existing massive trees exactly like what you have here. What I'm also hearing from the DRB members is that your landscaping is light. Like you're not going out of your way to do anything spectacular. So it's just a note.

If I may interject for a second, if I may.

Go ahead, Mariano.

Notice that I did not mention anything about the mahogany tree on purpose, and there's a couple of reasons. First of all, Mr. Ortiz, let me just say, I could have said you must relocate that mahogany tree. Can that mahogany tree be relocated? Absolutely. I have done it in my projects where they have been 50 foot in canopy, that size of tree, and it can be relocated. But the issue with me with mahogany trees is two folds. One is the size of the seed that it drops. It's the size of a baseball. And that seed is so hard that anything that falls, and the reason I have one in my house that I'm going to try to remove, because all I hear in the middle of the night or during the day is that big seed hitting one of my barbecue, bang, bang, bang, and it spread all over the place on my patio. And then what happens is the seedling starts to come up. I mean, there's a lot of seedling that I now have to clean up in my own patio. It's one of the trees that I don't believe that belong in a residential home. There are other species that can be used for that aspect. That's why I did not mention anything about the mahogany tree or made an issue about it. But since it was brought up, I want to explain why I don't have a problem that they removed that mahogany tree. But the fact is, Mr. Ortiz, you can relocate large canopy or tree had that been a gumbo limbo or no i would say stop i'm not letting you remove that tree relocate it so there's an issue it depends on the species so you have to be very careful even now surami when you're talking to the board to the commissioner it is based on the type of trees and species what can be removed and what can should not be removed and so forth And that's it.

Yes, I agree with Mariano and thank you for that. It's just that when I say it's a spec home, I don't think that there's an owner that really has a strong opinion about what trees he wants. You know, you see what I mean? I try to, and when I look at what's going on in the city, because remember, I mean, we have the benefit of seeing all the tree removers that come in. It is not, it is bad. Everybody comes in and just cuts down all the trees. and puts up whatever they want. I don't see any effort from any applicants that come in that actually go look at the site, look at the trees and ask themselves, what creative ways can we work around maintaining this canopy? And there's a study out there from a few years ago that Dade County performed that shows your city of South Miami has lost significant canopy. We don't have enough right of way to replace the canopy that has been lost because the canopy is lost on private property. So it's just a thought, and it's one of the things that was a major driver in this ordinance that we're coming in with. There's a lot of incentives, and we're actually still working it because we do want to make it that it's something that developers do want to participate in. It's not mandatory by any means, so the commission doesn't want to do that, but it does provide incentives. So that's it. I'm just putting it out there. Thank you.

And I think that's a great suggestion. But by the way, Subrata brought up a point that it also cannot be overlooked. Because at the same time, it does create sensitivity and creativity for an architect to work around an existing tree that could be a very beautiful type of tree. If it wasn't the mahogany or something to that effect. But even if it was a mahogany, the fact that there was no sensitivity to address that. It's a good point that what Subrata brought up. So, but again, maybe in the future that will start happening. That's it.

Thank you, Majorana, very insightful. Thank you for, this is good because I began to get a little bit worried about it, but if you, as the landscape expert here on the board, you know, feel that it is not the adequate trip for a residential site, then, you know, it helps to make decisions. Daniel, do you have your, raise your hand?

Yes, thank you. I just wanted to add, I've had the opportunity to see the ordinance that Sarami is speaking of, and it's actually a very forward thinking, cutting edge, and a lot of compliments and thank yous to the staff for the time they've put into putting something together that I have not seen in any other municipality that I've worked in before. So I think that it's worth the applicant's time to take a look at it. because they're just simultaneously coming together. There might be some benefits. As Sudami mentioned, it's not a requirement to use. So you have an opportunity to consider it. And you may find that there's some benefits within the ordinance that will be valuable. And again, the opportunity to protect our canopy with a carrot and not a stick, I think is going to prove very, very beneficial. So thank you again, Sudami, for bringing that up.

Thank you, Danielle. Thank you, Surami and Mariano. I haven't commented, but I have very little comments to the house. I think it's a very clean, straightforward design. There's only one minor thing that I believe that it's a missed opportunity. The front facing second story bedroom will be looking into the roof of the garage. which is a flat roof, not very attractive. That could have been, you know, interpreted as a terrace, but it's just an opinion. So nothing else on that. I don't have anything else. Okay.

then we can make a motion uh uh mr chair uh just because we have some other people here on zoom i just want to make sure that they have an opportunity if they are members of the public and want to comment that they put their hand up and um if anybody else wants to make a comment on this now is the time otherwise um uh the chair should close public comment all right let's close public comment very good

Thank you. I believe we can make a motion. Is there a motion by a board member?

Let's not all speak at the same time. I make a motion for approval based on the board member comments and staff recommendations.

I'll second.

Thank you. Okay, let's vote. Sobrata? Yes. Yes. Christian?

Yes. Angel? Yes.

Mariano?

Yes.

Daniel? Yes. And I vote yes as well. Thank you for your presentation. Looking forward to your project.

Thank you. Thank you guys very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Next item is approval of meeting minutes. February 17, 2026. Did everyone have a chance to review the minutes? And do we have a motion on the minutes?

Motion to approve.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Thank you. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Thank you. All opposed say nay. Hearing none, minutes approved. Our next meeting is Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 at 8.30. Thank you, everyone.

Hang on one second, my friend. I believe that we have someone that is new to the city staff. Is that Quylin Hu?

Yes, that's me. It's my third week here. I'm very enjoying listening to the first DRB meeting. Thank you, everybody.

Glad to have you here. Welcome.

Thank you.

All right, everyone. Have a good day.

Nice to see you all. Take care. Have a good day, everyone. Bye-bye. Take care. Bye-bye.