SMART Corridor Ordinance/Implementation of Regional Transit and Community Oriented Development

About the Program

Category: Planning (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

The Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) has been in the leading front in supporting the County’s efforts and influencing legislation that aim at addressing housing availability and other housing-related issues particularly in moderate to low-income communities where the absence of transit systems that connect populations and employment centers prevail. More importantly, Miami-Dade County continues to be challenged by development patterns that do not provide the necessary densities/intensities along existing or planned transit lines. The County has been forward-looking in promoting development initiatives that support a robust regional premium transit system that connects population and employment centers. This poses numerous challenges and considerations that have resulted in the development of various zoning and procedural tools for implementation in both the unincorporated and incorporated areas of Miami-Dade County that call for new and innovative approaches that focus on equitable implementation of policies. On September 1, 2022, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) adopted Ordinance No. 22-106 (the “SMART Corridor Ordinance”) to assist in the implementation of recently adopted land use policies that promote transit-oriented development and redevelopment along existing and planned rapid transit corridors (SMART Plan corridors). The SMART Corridor Ordinance works in conjunction with long-standing policies and regulating plans that promote moderate to high-density development in designated Urban Centers around rapid transit stations by also addressing the areas along transit lines between stations. The County’s SMART Plan land use policies and SMART Corridor Ordinance allow the development of vertical or horizontal mixed-use projects with up to 60 dwelling units per acre/2.0 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and up to 36 dwelling units per acre/1.5 FAR in areas between ¼ and ½ mile of the SMART Plan corridors, regardless of the underlying land use designation. Since the adoption of these SMART Plan land use policies in 2019, several large and small developers have taken advantage of these policies to achieve greater densities and intensities while advancing key County regional transportation objectives. The SMART Corridor Ordinance will accelerate the implementation of planned transit-oriented development projects in the County even further to support a robust regional premium transit system that connects the residents and employment centers.