Appeal Filed to Stop Lot Splitting on Poinciana Avenue

A neighbor is challenging PZAB’s recent decision to allow a developer to build three houses on a large single-family property on Poinciana Avenue in the South Grove. 

A homeowner on Poinciana Avenue in the South Grove is appealing a Planning Zoning and Appeals Board (PZAB) decision earlier this month to allow a developer to build three houses on a large single-family property in her neighborhood.

Dozens of residents had urged PZAB not to split the 21,000-square-foot property at 4055 Poinciana Ave. during a June 4 hearing, citing traffic concerns and the likely loss of tree canopy. The board voted 6-to-3 instead to grant the developer’s request. 

The South Grove property is composed of three platted lots but had historically been united as one building site with one single-family home since 1947. 

The appeal, filed by Alexandra Lumpkin, says PZAB failed to consider Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD-3) regulations when making its decision. Those regulations are intended to protect low-density neighborhoods and the city’s tree canopy.   

Attorney Tucker Gibbs, who is representing Lumpkin, argues that the proposed 7,000-square-foot building sites are out of sync with a neighborhood where the average lot size is 9,300 square feet. 

The city’s professional planning staff had opposed the developer’s request, but PZAB members approved the split with conditions – namely, that 40% of the property would be reserved for landscaped open space and at least six trees would be planted alongside each home, double the requirement mandated by Miami 21.The appeal will be heard by the City Commission. It has been tentatively set for the meeting on July 24, according to Gibbs.