The Miami City Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a controversial expansion of the city’s affordable housing density transfer program, rejecting a last-minute effort by city administrators to weaken carve-outs for Coconut Grove and other protected neighborhoods.
The 5-0 vote finalized a sweeping expansion of the program, which allows developers to purchase and transfer unused housing density from affordable housing projects to market-rate and luxury developments elsewhere in the city.
Just hours before the vote, City Attorney George Wysong III had circulated a memo recommending that Neighborhood Conservation Districts (NCDs) — which include all of Coconut Grove — along with historic districts and properties within 500 feet of single-family neighborhoods, retain some eligibility under the program rather than being broadly excluded, as proposed in the measure.
A handful of residents spoke forcefully against adopting Wysong’s proposed “substitution ordinance,” which had not been publicly noticed prior to the meeting.
Commissioners instead approved the ordinance as written, preserving broader carve-outs sought by District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo following months of backlash in Coconut Grove over the proposal’s potential impact on neighborhood development.
The newly approved ordinance also doubles allowable density bonuses in many other areas of the city from 50% to 100%, reduces minimum affordable housing thresholds in some cases from 200 units to 70, and exempts bonus-density units from parking minimums in many developments.
Critics argue the measure will accelerate overdevelopment while allowing luxury projects to grow larger without requiring additional affordability at the receiving sites.
