The Zoning Evaluation unit coordinates applications and meetings for projects that must be approved by the Biscayne Bay Shoreline Development Review Committee. The Committee's goals are listed below.

1. To preserve or enhance the natural, aesthetic and recreational values of the Biscayne Bay area.
2. To encourage the best use of the water and shoreline area for the benefit, use and enjoyment of residents of and visitors to the Miami-Dade County.
3. To provide the maximum amount of public visual and physical access to the water through the provisions of mixed use facilities and places open to the public at large, such as walkways, boardwalks, plazas, and observation areas along the shoreline
4. To encourage new shoreline development along the waterfront to respect the coastal environment, and to orient or reorient shoreline uses and buildings to the water.
5. To avoid monotony in building heights and widths and appearances along the developed areas of shoreline and, above all, to avoid further walling off of the shoreline through appropriate site preparation and landscape design.
6. To prevent the siting of uses along the bayshore that are incompatible with adjacent in-water and developed areas.
7. To encourage the retention and use of native plant materials along the shoreline.
8. To provide landscaping in the viewing corridors and shoreline setback areas that focuses views toward the water.
9. To create or recreate over the next few decades, a natural soft edge and greenbelt-like quality along the bay shoreline.
10. To plan and design new developments, or make improvements to existing developments, in a manner that will enhance the view and enjoyment of the water and shoreline area from the street, from the water, from within the development and overlooking the development.
11. To encourage the integration of existing historic structures and features in new shoreline developments.