Multifamily zoning in unincorporated Miami-Dade County

In unincorporated Miami-Dade County, multifamily is a permitted use in the RU apartment districts of Chapter 33, and every district routes development through Administrative Site Plan Review (Sec. 33-310.4). The district sets the density and height; the comprehensive plan's land use category also caps the density.

The apartment districts

• RU-3M: more than four units in one principal building, 12.9 units per net acre, 2 stories or 35 ft.
• RU-4L: 23 units per net acre, 6 stories or 75 ft.
• RU-4M: 35.9 units per net acre, 9 stories or 100 ft.
• RU-4 and RU-4A: 50 units per acre.
• RU-TH: townhouses only, 8.5 units per net acre; RU-5: multiple-family housing projects.

Administrative Site Plan Review

Review covers zoning compliance and the site plan criteria: compatibility, buffers, circulation, landscape, conformance with the comprehensive plan and the Urban Design Manual. On parcels of 5 acres or less in most RU districts, the review may be deferred to the building permit. A denial is appealable to the Community Zoning Appeals Board, at a public hearing, and then to the Board of County Commissioners.

Workforce Housing density bonus

Inside the Urban Development Boundary, a development of 20 or more units that provides 5 to 10 percent workforce units earns a density bonus of 5 to 25 percent over the comprehensive plan's maximum (Ch. 33, Art. XIIA, Sec. 33-193.7.1). The workforce agreement is recorded before the final plat or the first residential building permit, and the bonus cannot be combined with other density bonuses.

Questions

Is multifamily by right in unincorporated Miami-Dade County?

It is a permitted use in the RU apartment districts, reviewed through Administrative Site Plan Review, which has no hearing unless a denial is appealed.

Sources