New Wynwood Zoning Regulations in the city of Miami

Wynwood has been discovered as an arts district and is emerging from its gloomy, industrial past. This enclave area within the city of Miami has gone through a code re-write. Below are some of the new features of their zoning code. Lake Worth is occasionally mentioned in the same breath as the Wynwood area when it comes to having a concentration of artists and artistic destinations.

This information would be good for the Lake Worth Artists and Cottage Entrepreneurs (ACE) to review. Instead of focusing on changing residential zoning in the City for 'home occupations', which has raised much ire from homeowners and residents in the community, they should focus on the neglected areas along what was once was an industrial corridor in Lake Worth.

Here is a list of Wynwood's code re-writes with links at the end for reference:

1) Almost all of Wynwood is converted from 'Light Industrial' and 'Industrial' to 'General Commercial' with a lining of 'Light Industrial' in the blocks along I-95 and a chunk of 'Medium Density Residential' in the SW corner where Mana Wynwood is located.
2) Financial incentives, including Transfer of Development Rights, are in place to preserve warehouses and incentivize development.
3) Zoning along North Miami Avenue and 29th Street will allow development up to eight stories as-of-right, with an additional four stories in exchange for public benefits. The majority of the rest of the area allows building heights up to five stories with an additional three in exchange for public benefits.
4) The new zoning does allow for development of new one-story buildings.
5) The Wynwood Development Review Board gives local control to approve all large projects.
6) The new zoning promotes affordable small studio apartments (less than 650 square feet) instead of large live-work spaces, with option to pay for a release from parking requirements at $12,000 a pop. This money would then go into the Wynwood Public Benefit Trust Fund and be used to pay for centralized parking.
7) Requires ten foot minimum width sidewalks.
8) Requires pedestrian paseos (cross-block walkways) for larger projects.
9) Woonerfs!
10) Solid, roll-up doors are banned.
11) Centralized parking facilities, paid for by developers looking for reductions in parking requirements, will encourage pedestrian walkability.
12) Increased housing density from 36 and 65 to a uniform 150 dwelling units per acre.
13) Allows both pure residential or live/work uses, while today only live/work is allowed as-of-right.
14) Incentivizes activated rooftop green spaces, and ground floors
15) Developers can pay into the Wynwood Public Benefit Trust Fund, which pays for open space, for an additional 3 to 4 stories of height or increased lot coverage from 80% to 90%. The trust fund will be used only in Wynwood, for open spaces, public parks, civic spaces, and woonerfs.
16) Facades on new developments will be required to either be wall art or glass.
17) Wynwood-only use categories like art galleries and manufacturing-enabled retail will preserve the character of Wynwood.

Click here for the entire article. Click here for information from the city of Miami website on this unique enclave within the city.