Should Miami Attorneys, Architect Remain on Development Review Task Force?

An initiative to overhaul the sweeping Miami 21 zoning code turned contentious with the appointment of developers’ attorneys to the review committee.

The state Ethics Commission in a draft advisory opinion determined the Miami 21 task force members are public officers subject to the state code of ethics. With two exceptions, it prohibits public officers from having a contractual relationship with any business before an agency on which the officers serve.

The Ethics Commission considered a hypothetical before members were appointed. The opinion stopped short of finding a conflict of interest for task force members representing big-name developers seeking approval of pending projects.

Members include land use attorneys Iris Escarra, shareholder at Greenberg Traurig; Vicky Leiva,  partner at Bilzin Sumberg; and Melissa Tapanes Llahues, shareholder at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes. Most recently, issues also have been raised with the appointment of Bernardo Fort-Brescia, founding principal of prominent architectural firm Arquitectonica.

Miami attorney and civic activist David Winker raised the question of conflicts in February after the appointments of Escarra, Leiva and Tapanes.

He equated the appointees to “foxes guarding the chicken coop,” saying the attorneys represented special interest groups that would benefit from looser, pro-building regulations.

Escarra is a city-registered lobbyist for 80 clients, Tapanes for 79 and Leiva for 70.

“Anyone looking at this task force full of lobbyists and special interests knows that this is wrong,” Winker said Monday by email. “If anyone is wondering why bad things keep happening in the city of Miami — giving away Melreese Park in a no-bid deal, developers building houses 6 inches apart with impunity — this is where it all starts.”

The city is working on a no-bid lease with Miami’s Major League Soccer group led by David Beckham with backing from corporate executives for the city-owned Melreese golf course and is in the middle of a court battle over the developer’s alleged setback violations.

Tapanes declined comment Monday but responded when Winker raised the issue, saying task force members are “intimately familiar” with Miami 21 but have no official authority.

“The City Commission has taken special care to ensure that a fair cross-section of interests are represented, keeping in mind that every stakeholder may have an inherent bias or position they represent as a result of their education and experience,” she said in February. “Using Mr. Winker’s logic, no person who has ever worked with Miami 21 or is interested in the outcome of this public process would qualify to serve on this task force.

Escarra and Leiva didn’t return requests for comment by deadline.

State Opinion

The Ethics Commission opinion determined two exceptions to conflict of interest rules covering two seats are specifically for land use attorneys.

The City Commission can waive any other members’ conflicts with a super-majority four-fifths vote, which is what commissioners are set to consider Thursday.

Winker said Escarra and Leiva were appointed to the land-use seats. Fort-Brescia, who is a city lobbyist for eight clients, wasn’t appointed to the seat reserved for a certified architect as that appointment went to Kobi Karp. Fort-Brescia didn’t return a request for comment

Both Tapanes and Fort-Brescia need the commission’s super-majority vote to keep their seats.

“The Florida Commission on Ethics told the city these are prohibited conflicts of interest, and the city attorney’s response is to waive the conflicts by a four-fifths vote by the very commissioners that appointed these lobbyists in the first place,” Winker said.

The city attorney recommended waiving any potential conflicts for all nine appointees other than Escarra, Leiva and Karp.

The task force is to recommend changes to the decade-old zoning code to better address sea level rise, affordable crisis and special area plans, or SAPs.

SAPs are among the more contentious items as they let developers of more than 9 acres build more than normally allowed in exchange for public benefits such as park space or affordable housing. The provision has pitted developers and their attorney against residents and activists who complain about  gentrification, added traffic and higher housing costs as unwanted results.

SAPs cover Little Haiti’s Magic City Innovation District and the proposed Eastside Ridge project nearby.

Read the state opinion: 

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