Miami Beach

Restricted Development

City Commission approves ordinance limiting redevelopment of hospital districts

By Ben Torter

In the latest chapter of the politically charged Miami Heart Institute saga, the newly elected Miami Beach City Commission unanimously approved an ordinance that prevents the hospital from being redeveloped into high-rise condominiums.

The battle over the future of the site — located at 4701 N. Meridian Ave., in the center of an affluent, single-family neighborhood — began in May, when Mount Sinai Medical Center CEO Steve Sonenreich announced that the hospital planned to sell its Miami Heart Institute.

Residents feared high-rise condominiums would be built in its place, and the future of Miami Heart became a major issue in November’s city election.

The new ordinance ensures that new residential or commercial construction on the Miami Heart site cannot exceed five stories in height; and, if voters pass a referendum sponsored by Mayor Matti Herrera Bower, no future City Commission could allow taller non-hospital buildings on that property without first holding another referendum.

“We have a commission that is acutely aware of what the citizens want,” said Henry Lowenstein, president of the Orchard Park Neighborhood Association.

The law affects three of the four hospital districts in Miami Beach: Miami Heart, the defunct South Shore Hospital at 630 Alton Road and Oceanside Extended Care Center at 550 Ninth St. Mount Sinai Medical Center’s main campus, located at 4300 Alton Road, is exempt because it is greater than 15 acres.

Besides limiting the size of new construction in the event the hospital zoning is changed, the measure also expands the list of allowable uses in those hospital districts to include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, medical and nursing schools, research facilities and community health service centers.

Lowenstein and other Mid-Beach residents praised the commission and talked about their desire to see the Miami Heart Institute buildings adapted for services that benefit the neighborhood.

“What we want the commission to do, to the extent that they possibly can, is steer that property in a direction that it doesn’t end up being a block of five-story condominiums,” Lowenstein said.

Although the usually vocal Sonenreich stayed quiet during Wednesday’s meeting, South Shore Hospital owner Russell Galbut complained that the ordinance only allows new construction of hospital buildings, not assisted living facilities and the other permitted uses. Galbut argued that he should be able to tear down South Shore and rebuild, as the planning board recommended at its Oct 23 meeting, rather than have to retrofit old buildings as the ordinance requires.

“Everything that’s been talked about tonight really applies to one of those two hospitals, and that’s the Miami Heart Institute,” Galbut said. “It doesn’t apply to South Shore.”

Galbut contended that South Shore should be able to rebuild taller facilities because it is located next to high-rise condominiums, rather than in a single-family neighborhood. He told the commission it would not be worth the expense to build a nursing home without the extra height that the planning board’s recommendation allowed, and threatened to build a retail shopping center instead.

City Manager Jorge Gonzalez explained that even without the ordinance, Galbut could rezone the property and build a smaller assisted living facility.

“Quite candidly, if you say, ‘No, we’re only going to allow the adaptive reuse,’ no problem, we’ll follow your guidance,” Galbut told the board. “But I can tell you one thing — it’s better for us to … put in retail shops, Home Depot; there’s plenty of places that would want to go there. If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.”

Commissioner Saul Gross told Galbut to go ahead and build a commercial project at South Shore. He pointed out that since Mount Sinai’s master plan calls for an assisted living facility on its main campus, Miami Heart will likely become such a facility.

“I think the message from the election, and the same in every election, is the citizens of Miami Beach prefer lower zoning than higher zoning,” Gross said.

The second and final reading of the ordinance will take place at the Jan. 16 City Commission meeting.

Comments? E-mail ben@miamisunpost.com

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