NBNA enthusiastically endorses Miami Beach United’s Residents’ Right to Know ordinance. This ballot item offers Miami Beach voters an opportunity to promote fair, clear communication between local neighborhoods and the City.
The ordinance pursues these key goals:
clear notice of matters affecting residents’ quality of life targeted for specific areas of the city
timely opportunities for input before, during, or after public hearings as appropriate
procedures that strengthen the ability of neighborhoods to engage in public meetings over time
We are proud every day to witness how much NoBe neighbors care about their communities, and also how challenging it can be to keep up! We encourage you to learn more about these tools for outreach and transparency.
We agree with MBU that the ordinance should address the following issues:
- Targeted notice: Local impacts should be mapped and grouped by neighborhood or region (south, middle, north). Notices should be complete and accurate.
- Administrative decisions: Neighborhoods should be alerted to any proposed change related to government-owned land (GU), even if the change of use is not permanent.
- Development application by private interest: Affected associations should have the right to discuss potential impacts of a project in their local meetings, prior to the first hearing, and to meet with city planning department to express concerns.
- City processes that do not require hearings: Affected associations should be presented with design and implementation issues and to give periodic opportunities for input and follow-up
- City-appointed task forces: Committees should be required to include representatives from directly affected residential areas.
- Right to engage: Representatives of affected associations and residents should have sufficient opportunity to participate at any meeting concerning a targeted quality of life matter, not only in quasi-judicial hearings, and to obtain time certain for public hearings.
- Enforcement: In case of a violation, besides options to defer or reconsider the matter at issue, there needs to be a right to address city failures in meeting the requirements of Right to Know.
- Amendment: There should be 6/7 vote required to dilute the ordinance, but ordinary majority (4/7) required to strengthen it (neighborhood association resolutions determine if a change would dilute or strengthen).