Miami-Dade County is coming to the realization that to remain a middle- and working-class community, it will have to reinvent a piece of the American dream.
To alleviate a housing crisis in an area where building space is squeezed on both sides by the ocean and the Everglades, Miamians must face the reality that not everyone will be able to continue living in a single-family home on a big lot.
In fact, single-family-only zoning is often blamed for the shortage of homes the entire country is experiencing.
South Florida feels like ground zero for this phenomenon. Single-family zoning, which prohibits multi-family housing such as apartments, accounts for 87% of residential space in Miami-Dade, the Miami Herald reported. The influx of wealthy people into the area, combined with low inventory of homes for sale, has made South Florida one of the most expensive areas to live in the U.S.
Getting much more dense
One solution is more development density, long a controversial topic in Miami and in other places, such as downtown Fort Lauderdale, where three sky-high residential towers will replace the former Searstown shopping center.
In Miami, a zoning rule from 2016 that is only now gaining attention allows developers to use single-family lots to build townhomes, duplexes and multiple-house projects. How many units can be built depends on lot size. The rule applies only to unincorporated parts of the county, such as Kendall, the Dadeland area and parts of West and North Dade, not cities like Miami or Miami Beach.
If used properly, the change might help alleviate the housing shortage in large swaths of the county, but its long-term impacts are unclear.
Few developers have used the zoning break, though applications have been rising each year. They reached 73 last year.
One house equals four duplexes
Some residents living next door to one of the projects in Schenley Park, a century-old neighborhood surrounding Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, are understandably concerned that the new rules could change the face of their communities. There, a developer plans to build four new luxury duplex homes where there used be a single house.
The county requires the projects to be compatible with the rest of the neighborhood but, as a Herald news article points out, there has been little awareness about this zoning change.
Officials should educate residents who want to keep the character of their communities on why this is needed instead of surprising them when a new project is built.
This is not just a zoning matter; it’s a cultural transformation.
Facing a new resistance
Suburban life, with its gated communities and large, manicured lawns, is a hallmark of Florida, so it’s predictable that changes will face pushback.
For example, many municipalities have opposed the Miami-Dade County Commission’s move to increase housing density along transit corridors like the Metrorail.
These zoning changes reflect the fact that Miami-Dade is running out of available land to build large houses.
The County Commission has been under pressure from developers to expand the Urban Development Boundary, which creates a buffer between development and the Everglades, farms and other natural lands.
Growing smarter, not just bigger
Moving the UDB should be a last resort, but that doesn’t mean Miami-Dade needs to be anti-growth. That would probably only accelerate its transformation from a mostly working- and middle-class community into one only the rich can afford.
South Florida must grow in a smart way. Apartments, townhomes and duplexes must be part of the plan. As everyone in the region knows, trends that take hold in Miami often work their way north, to Broward and Palm Beach.
It should happen only if growth helps to put housing within the reach of the average resident.
Those Schenley Park duplexes are selling for $1.5 million each, more than twice the county’s median home value of $650,000, which is already a record high.
To qualify for the county’s new single-family zoning breaks, developers must build projects that are affordable to families making between 60% and 120% of the county’s median household income, or $75,000 a year.
Developers can circumvent that requirement by paying a sum, based on project size, into the county’s affordable housing fund, which is what the Schenley Park developer is doing. That’s better than nothing, but it further delays construction of housing for the middle class.
South Florida has more than enough luxury towers. If Miami-Dade is going to loosen its zoning restrictions, it should yield results for all Miamians — not just a few.
This editorial was originally published in the Miami Herald. The Sun Sentinel sometimes republishes editorials that reflect our point of view. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.