§ 33-319. Administrative building moratoria.

(a)

Whenever it shall be made to appear to the County Manager that it is in the public interest to make a comprehensive determination as to whether existing County zoning districts applying to a portion of the area of Miami-Dade County are appropriate, and it is further made to appear to him that the said existing zoning districts may be detrimental to the said area should they continue to remain applicable and building permits be issued predicated thereon the County Manager shall immediately issue his administrative order delineating the area in question and prohibiting the issuance of building permits therein.

(b)

Any administrative order issued pursuant to Subsection (a) shall be complied with by all Miami-Dade County personnel and shall be effective until reversed, modified or superseded by order of the Board of County Commissioners.

(c)

Immediately upon issuance of any administrative order pursuant to Subsection (a), the County Manager shall notify the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, whose duty it shall be to place the matter before the Board of County Commissioners for consideration and review following a public hearing as soon as is reasonably practicable.

(d)

The aforesaid Clerk shall give reasonable notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in Miami-Dade County of the public hearing which he has scheduled before the Board of County Commissioners.

(e)

At the public hearing the Board of County Commissioners shall inquire into the propriety of a building moratorium and may reverse, modify or supersede any moratorium order previously issued. The Board's determination shall be predicated upon the reasonable necessity for a detailed comprehensive analysis of the area in question and the probability of detriment to the character of the area by the continued application of the existing zoning districts.

(f)

Should the Board of County Commissioners determine that a building moratorium is reasonably necessary, it shall order the same and direct that no building permits be issued within the affected area. The Board's order shall fix a time within which the County Manager shall report back to the Board with his recommendation relating to appropriate zoning districts for the affected area. The said time limitation shall be a reasonable one (1), predicated upon the time needed for a comprehensive analysis of the area. The initial commission moratorium shall be for a period not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days. The Commission on its own motion or otherwise may continue any moratorium for a longer period of time if reasonably necessary. This provision is supplemental to Subsection (g) hereof.

(g)

Should the County Manager be unable to report back to the Board within the time prescribed by its moratorium order, upon timely request by the County Manager and after public hearing on the need therefor, the Board may reasonably extend the time limitation.

(h)

Upon the submission of the County Manager's report and recommendations to the Clerk of the Board, the Clerk shall call a public hearing thereon before the Board at the earliest practicable time, after reasonable notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in Miami-Dade County. After said public hearing the Board shall make its determination as to whether the zoning districts shall remain the same or shall be changed. Should the Board determine that the zoning districts shall remain the same, it shall immediately issue its order terminating the building moratorium. Should the Board determine that the applicable zoning districts should be changed, or new districts created therefor, it shall issue its order continuing the building moratorium and shall immediately take the actions required elsewhere within the Miami-Dade County Code for such changes. Provided, however, where zoning district boundary changes are involved the Board of County Commissioners shall hear the matters directly without intervening administrative review.

(i)

Upon the completion of all zoning district changes relating to the affected area, the Board shall issue its order terminating the building moratorium.

(j)

If any planning study performed by the Department, the Planning Advisory Board, or a specially hired or appointed County agency, indicates the necessity for zoning changes, the provisions of Sections 33-319 through 33-322, Miami-Dade County Code, may be utilized to restrict the issuance of building permits until such changes have been finally considered by the Board of County Commissioners. These provisions of Sections 33-319 through 33-322, Miami-Dade County Code, which anticipate a future planning study are rendered inapplicable to this subsection.

(k)

An administrative building moratorium shall be imposed upon the occurrence of the following events:

(1)

As soon as the County Manager learns that a grand jury has indicted or that an information has been formally returned against a County Commissioner, or Community Zoning Appeals Board member charging said Commissioner, Community Zoning Appeals Board member with bribery, accepting unauthorized compensation, or other act of fraud in a zoning case relating to a particular parcel or parcels of real property, then the County Manager shall immediately issue an administrative order identifying the real property in question and prohibiting the issuance of building permits for said property. Such order of moratorium shall remain in effect until the completion of the criminal judicial process and the determination of guilty or not guilty as to the County Commissioner, Community Zoning Appeals Board member involved being reviewed by the highest judicial tribunal to consider the case. Should the Commissioner, Community Zoning Appeals Board member be found not guilty, then the administrative order shall be deemed dissolved. Should the County Commissioner, Community Zoning Appeals Board member be found guilty, then a motion to reconsider the zoning on the real property in question may properly be made by any County Commissioner or when applicable by a Community Zoning Appeals Board member.

(2)

If an order of moratorium is imposed on a parcel or parcels of real property pursuant to this subsection, and the owner or owners of such property request the Board of County Commissioners or where appropriate the Community Zoning Appeals Boards to reconsider the zoning on that property, then a motion to reconsider the said zoning may properly be made by any County Commissioner or where appropriate any Community Zoning Appeals Board member. If the motion to reconsider is approved by the Board of County Commissioners or where appropriate the Community Zoning Appeals Board and the reconsideration of the zoning on the said property occurs, then the building moratorium shall end with the conclusion of the reconsideration process delineated below in Subsection (3).

(3)

Upon passage of a motion as provided in Subsection (2) above, the Clerk of the Board shall immediately notify the Director. The Board of County Commissioners or where appropriate the Community Zoning Appeals Board shall conduct its reconsideration only after notice of the time and place of the meeting has been first published as provided in Section 33-310 herein. If the existing zoning would permit a development of County impact (as defined in Section 33-304 herein) the Developmental Impact Committee shall prepare a report and present its recommendations to the appropriate Board at the advertised public hearing; otherwise, the Director and the Zoning Official shall furnish their reports and recommendations to the appropriate Board. The sole issue to be considered by the Board of County Commissioners or Community Zoning Appeals Board shall be whether the present zoning on the subject property is appropriate. In determining this issue, the Board of County Commissioners or the Community Zoning Appeals Board shall be guided by the standards and guides specified in this chapter. The Board of County Commissioners, or where appropriate, the Community Zoning Appeals Board after considering the items delineated herein and the criteria specified in this chapter, shall by resolution either reaffirm the existing zoning or rezone the subject property. The provisions of Section 33-316 relating to exhaustion of remedies and court review are fully applicable to proceedings held in accordance with this subsection.

(Ord. No. 72-18, § 1, 3-14-72; Ord. No. 73-55, §§ 1—5, 5-15-73; Ord. No. 75-100, § 1, 11-4-75; Ord. No. 75-109, § 1, 12-2-75; Ord. No. 75-117, § 1, 12-16-75; Ord. No. 76-8, § 1, 1-20-76; Ord. No. 95-215, § 1, 12-5-95; Ord. No. 96-127, § 38, 9-4-96)