Circuit court stops lot-splitting

Good news regarding our tree canopy. Last week, the 11th Circuit Court upheld the prohibition on lot splitting regarding NCD-3. In other words, you cannot split a lot from one house to multi-houses on one piece of property if  a single home is currently on the plat of land.

A property at 3600 Hibiscus Street was denied the right to split into multi-dwellings. The developer Amanda de Seta of Lointer Homes, had a plan to split the lot into three white boxy houses, none would have garages. Amanda owned The Bookstore for a bit and Lointer has had issues before regarding multi-lot properties and tree canopy issues. The HEP Board called them out on another occasion Lointer tried to pull a fast one, where they were building a condo on a small plot of land, destroying many trees in the process and adding underground parking for 12 cars. On one lot in a residential neighborhood.

Those plans called for large parts of an old 100 year old live oak tree to be chopped off to accommodate the new building. Luckily the HEP Board put a stop to that.

Hopefully this will be the beginning of the the end to lot splitting and tree killing in Coconut Grove.

We did a recent story on the new research project going on called Grove ReLeaf, "which focuses on teaching plant identification and inventory skills while also developing a citizen science network for urban tree mapping and monitoring across the Miami area," especially Coconut Grove. 

But according to The New Times, "Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature passed a bill to bar local municipalities from regulating tree removals on residential properties.

"House Bill 1159, also known as the Private Property Rights Protection Act, went into effect July 1. Under the new legislation, municipal governments are not allowed to require any permits, notice, or approval from residents who wish to remove dangerous trees from their properties. All a homeowner needs is a report from a certified arborist or landscape architect who says the tree poses a danger." 


Two steps forward one step back.

Here are the limitations and requirements regarding the building sites, which hopefully will override the new state law:

“Miami-21 appendix A3.6.g. Additional Limitations and requirements.   

1.   Lots and building sites: Wherever an existing single-family residence or lawful accessory building(s) or structure(s) is located on one or more platted lots or portions thereof, such lots shall thereafter constitute only one building site and no permit shall be issued for the construction of more than one single-family residence except by Warrant. Such structures shall include but not be limited to swimming pools, tennis courts, walls, and fences or other at grade or above ground improvements. No building sites in existence prior to September 24, 2005 shall be diminished in size except by Warrant, subject to the criteria specified in Article 4, Table 12 Design Review Criteria.”