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ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS; ESTABLISHING DEADLINES; PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DEADLINES; DEFINING DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED IN PLANS REVIEW AND PROCESSING; ESTABLISHING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ORDINANCE REQUIREMENTS; AMENDING SECTION 8-6 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE

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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA:

Section 1. Section 8-6 of the Code of Miami-Dade County is amended as follows:1

Sec. 8-6. Building permits; additions or corrections to approved
plans[[.]] >>; procedure for processing permit
applications.<<

>>(a)<< No building official, plans examiner, or other County or municipal employee may require, as a condition of obtaining a certificate of occupancy, additions or corrections to approved plans upon which a building permit has been issued, unless such additions or corrections are specifically mandated by the South Florida Building Code, the South Florida Fire Prevention Code, or other applicable code, law, rule, or regulation, or unless such additions or corrections are essential to the public health, safety, or welfare. If a permit holder appeals, to an appropriate administrative Board, the imposition of any additions or corrections which are not mandated by applicable code, law, rule or regulation, the official or other person imposing the additions or corrections shall have the burden of establishing that the additions or corrections are essential to the public health, safety, or welfare.

>>(b) This subsection, and subsections (c) through (h) of this Section, shall be applicable to all permit applications for construction made to Miami-Dade County. These subsections apply only to initial review of a permit application and not to applications for reworks or revisions.

(c) All permits for construction of a Group I occupancy (residential) under the South Florida Building Code shall be approved or rejected within the time frames set forth below:

Building Department 20 days
Zoning review, Department of Planning and Zoning 2 days
Department of Environmental Resources Management 4 days
Planning review, Department of Planning and Zoning 2 days
Department of Public Works 2 days
Water and Sewer Department 5 days

All permits for construction of occupancies other than Group I occupancy under the South Florida Building Code shall be approved or rejected within the time frames set forth below:

Building Department 24 days
Zoning review, Department of Planning and Zoning 3 days
Department of Environmental Resources Management 8 days
Planning Review, Department of Planning and Zoning 2 days
Department of Public Works 4 days
Fire Department 9 days
Water and Sewer Department 5 days

The time limitations set forth above are stated in working days, and shall commence to run from the first complete day following delivery by the permit applicant of a completed submittal to the reviewing department. By exception, the Building Department shall be responsible for routing permit applications to the Department of Planning and Zoning for zoning review and to the Department of Environmental Resources Management. The above time limitations shall not apply in the event that the reviewing department determines that the permit application requires a zoning or Environmental Quality Control Board hearing.

(d) In the event that the Building Official, the Zoning Official, the Fire Marshal in and for Miami-Dade County or the director of any of the reviewing departments certifies that the structure's size, height, occupancy, proposed use, method of design or environmental impact or characteristics present complex or extraordinary issues of health, life-safety or compliance with applicable codes, then such official may extend those deadlines for such periods as he or she determines to be reasonably necessary to address those issues. The Building Official shall allow no such further extension in the event that the structure has received peer review in the manner established in the South Florida Building Code. The review obligations and deadlines set forth in this Section are only for matters within the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County, and are not intended to affect review by any federal, state or municipal agency. The deadlines set forth in this Section shall not be applicable in the event of a natural disaster or changes in the law which may result in an extraordinary number of permit applications.


(e) The County Manager shall, by administrative order to be submitted for approval by this Board, establish a procedure for processing permit applications as required to meet the time frames set forth in this Section.

(f) The permit applicant shall be entitled to a prorated refund of the applicable permit fee for each day of delay beyond the deadline for review of the application by each reviewing department set forth in paragraph (c) above. The amount of the refund, up to a specified maximum, shall be established in the administrative order referenced in paragraph (e) above. The permit applicant shall be responsible for making application for a refund within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the date of issuance of the permit. Failure of the permit applicant to make application for rebate within the stated period shall constitute a forfeit of the refund.

(g) Except as necessary to comply with the specific requirements set forth in this ordinance or with any other requirement of law, no request for expediting plans shall be considered by any reviewing agency or officer, unless the request to expedite fulfills all of the following conditions:

1. The expediting will be limited to industrial and commercial projects (no residential projects.

2. The project must create a minimum of 50 new jobs in Miami-Dade County.

3. The expediting of the project must also include other inducements such as but not limited to Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund (QTI), Quick Response Training (QRT) or other employee training program, Enterprise Zone program, and WAGES.

4. The project is an expansion and/or retention project that is currently evaluating other locations outside Miami-Dade County.

5. The project is a new-to-market company that is also evaluating sites outside of Miami-Dade County.

6. Seasonal consideration and contractual obligations. The project has a time certain element that requires them to be operational by a specific date.


(h) The County Manager shall review the building permit process and the performance of the County departments involved in the processing of building permits on an annual basis and recommend any necessary changes to this ordinance and accompanying administrative order.<<

Section 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or provision of this ordinance is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected by such invalidity.
Section 3. It is the intention of the Board of County Commissioners, and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Miami-Dade County. The sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such intention, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article," or other appropriate word.
Section 4. This ordinance shall become effective ninety (90) days after the date of enactment unless vetoed by the Mayor, and if vetoed, shall become effective only upon an override by this Board. By exception the amendment contained in Subsection 8-6(f) above shall only become effective upon approval of the administrative order establishing the amount of refund of permit fees for the County departments.
Section 5. This ordinance does not contain a sunset provision.
1 Words stricken through and/or [[double bracketed]] shall be deleted. Words underscored and/or >>double arrowed<< constitute the amendment proposed. Remaining provisions are now in effect and remain unchanged.