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RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE OJUS CHARRETTE REPORT INCLUDING ITS PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS AND DIRECTING COUNTY STAFF TO BE GUIDED BY THE CHARRETTE REPORT IN APPLYING THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND FURTHER DIRECTING THE MANAGER TO PRESENT TO THE COMMISSION NECESSARY AMENDMENTS TO THE CODE

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WHEREAS, the Northeast Community Council 2, property owners, local governments, and the neighboring community worked together to build consensus on the future of the Ojus area; and

WHEREAS, at their meeting of November 7, 2001, the members of the Northeast Community Council 2 accepted the Ojus Charrette Report as a vision and guideline; and

WHEREAS, at their meeting of August 22, 2002, the members of the Ojus Steering Committee discussed and prioritized the Ojus Charrette Report Recommendations to provide direction for future applications; and

WHEREAS, at their meeting of September 9, 2002, the members of the Planning Advisory Board recommended adoption of the Ojus Charrette Report, Recommendations, and Funded Improvements Report; and

WHEREAS, the Ojus Charrette Report is consistent with the County's Comprehensive Development Master Plan; and

WHEREAS, the Ojus Charrette Report promulgates recommendations and guidelines to assist in influencing form and character of future development and infrastructure improvements within the Ojus area;

WHEREAS, the County wishes to accept these recommendations and guidelines;

WHEREAS, further implementation of the Charrette guidelines requires additional community consensus and changes to some of the existing zoning provisions of the Code of Miami-Dade County,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board hereby (1) accepts the Ojus Charrette Report, including its plan and recommendations, and (2) directs County Staff to be guided by such plan and recommendations in the application of the Code of Miami-Dade County as allowed by law, and (3) further directs the County Manager to present to the County Commission necessary amendments to the Code of Miami-Dade County to accommodate the Charrette Report's plan and recommendations.

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To: Honorable Chairperson Barbara Carey-Shuler, Ed.D. Date:
and Members, Board of County Commissioners

From: George M. Burgess Subject: Proposed Resolution County Manager Pertaining to
the Ojus Charrette Report

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board adopt the attached resolution (1) accepting the Ojus Charrette Report, including its plan and recommendations, and (2) directing County Staff to be guided by such plan and recommendations in the application of the Code of Miami-Dade County as allowed by law, and (3) further directing the County Manager to present to the County Commission necessary amendments to the Code of Miami-Dade County to implement the Charrette's plan and recommendations.

MANAGER'S BACKGROUND
Ojus is a small community in northeast Miami-Dade County rich in history and human achievement beginning with its first inhabitants, the Tequesta Indians, who settled along the banks of the Oleta River more than 2,000 years ago. In more recent times, the region hosted homesteaders, farmers, laborers who quarried oolitic limestone from its numerous rock pits, and small businessmen of many stripes. By the 1920s, a town center emerged near the intersection of West Dixie Highway and Miami Gardens Drive. Incorporated as a town in 1926, as the great Florida real estate boom was beginning to decline, Ojus maintained this status until it fell victim to large indebtedness in the Great Depression and dissolved itself as an incorporated entity. Today, traces of Ojus's rich, distinctive past remain, but they are in danger of vanishing. It is the intent of Miami-Dade County to preserve much of the distinctiveness of this community while positioning it towards a more competitive sustainable future.


The Ojus Charrette Report is the main product of the Ojus Charrette held from October 26th to November 5th, 2000. The Ojus Charrette resulted from requests by the Board of County Commissioners (Resolution R-914-98) and the Northeast Community Council (2) (Resolution CC2-03-98) that a planning report of the Ojus area be conducted. The Report contains the "Ojus Master Plan" which is the Citizens' vision for the growth and development of the Ojus area. The boundaries of the Ojus Charrette's study area are: Ives Dairy Road, Highland Oaks Park, the Oleta River and the FEC tracks. The study area includes the intersection of West Dixie Highway and Miami Gardens Drive, the strategic center of the community. The Ojus Master Plan was developed in compliance with the County's Comprehensive Development Master Plan and it addresses the physiology of development within the Charrette area.


The Ojus Charrette Report has been subject to considerable public input, including the Charrette's Steering Committee meetings and public hearings at the Northeast Community Council 2 and the Planning Advisory Board. All these Boards have recommended that the Board of County Commissioners accept the Ojus Charrette Report and pursue implementation of its recommendations.