City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee Meeting – March 2, 2026
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City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee Meeting – March 2, 2026
The City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee (CRC) met on March 2, 2026, with a full dais. The meeting featured presentations on special event sustainability and electric vehicle (EV) parking legislation, elections for chair and vice chair, and discussions on tree canopy data and a private property adaptation program. Several motions were passed, and workshops were scheduled.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The CRC minutes from January 13, 2026, were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ian Wogan (2360 Overbrook, District 2), an arborist, spoke in support of stronger tree ordinances and green infrastructure for cooling, beautification, and resilience, urging the city to serve as a global example.
- Tom Klein, Director of the Center for Urban and Community Design at the University of Miami, announced the Resilient 365 Conference during Miami Climate Week (March 17-18) and invited the committee to attend.
- Stephen Leitner (1130 102nd Street, Bay Harbor Island) opposed the proposed Miami-Dade County incinerator, citing rising costs (from $1.9B to $2.3B, and per-ton cost from $45 to $105) and CO₂ emissions. He urged the CRC to pass a resolution against the incinerator and in support of alternative solutions.
- Kim Dupromadinier, founder of Meridian, recommended Silvio as chair of the CRC, citing his passion for citizen science and tree initiatives. She also highlighted her work on high-performance homes and encouraged the CRC to engage with the county's ADU ordinance.
- A resident (name not stated) read a poem urging nature-based solutions, transparency, and equitable tree canopy investment.
Discussion Items
Presentation: Special Event Sustainability
Vivian Belzaguy Hunter (Ascendance Sustainable Events) presented on Ultra Music Festival's award-winning sustainability program (Mission Home), which achieved 91% elimination of single-use plastics, diverted nearly 400,000 pounds of waste, and donated 84,000 pounds of food. She recommended city actions such as organizer education, data collection, an acknowledgement program, and a vendor capacity-building program. Committee members discussed potential resolutions and agreed to hold a workshop on March 9, 2026, to draft recommendations.
Presentation: EV Parking Legislation
Catherine Engleton (Planning Department) presented a text amendment to Miami 21 zoning code to offer parking reductions for EV-ready spaces with level 2 chargers. The amendment was revised after PZAB and elected officials to limit reductions to Transit-Oriented Development areas and require 100% of credited spaces to have chargers. Discussion centered on equitable distribution of chargers, charger reliability, and public accessibility. A motion was passed to support the legislation with recommendations for a unified real-time charger monitoring platform and maintenance reporting.
Elections: Chair and Vice Chair
- Chair: Aaron DeMeo was re-elected with 7 votes in favor and 1 abstention. Silvio had initially self-nominated but withdrew.
- Vice Chair: Sarahi Press was elected with 6 votes over Silvio (who received 2 votes, with some abstentions). Sarahi had been serving as vice chair after a mid-term vacancy.
ORS Update (Office of Resilience & Sustainability)
- SAFE Program: A pilot program (Stormproof Assistance and Value Enhancements) approved in February 2026 offers 50% reduction on building permit fees for qualifying residential stormproofing and energy efficiency upgrades. It runs through February 2027.
- Eco Block Party: Announced for March 15, 2026 (2-4 p.m. at World Center) to kick off Miami Climate Week.
Save Our City Private Property Adaptation Program
Barbara Biznault reported on the City of Miami Beach's Fight the Flood program (up to $20,000 in reimbursement grants). The committee agreed to hold a workshop on March 13, 2026, to discuss adapting a similar program for Miami, including potential grant funding, consulting services, and integration with existing programs.
CRC Approach to Trees
Discussion on tree canopy and net impact data. After public comment from Albert Gomez (who reported illegal removal of two legacy trees in District 3 and requested data), the committee passed a motion to request from city staff: total number of tree removal permits submitted and approved since the Million Trees Miami program began, broken down by district; also initiation of survivability tracking for distributed trees. A larger workshop on tree policy is planned for April 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved (January 13, 2026).
- EV parking legislation – Motion passed (6 in favor, 2 abstentions) to support the amendment with a recommendation for a unified public charger monitoring platform and maintenance reporting.
- Chair elected: Aaron DeMeo (7-1).
- Vice Chair elected: Sarahi Press (6-2).
- Workshops scheduled:
- March 9, 2026, 12 p.m. at MRC: Special event sustainability resolution draft.
- March 13, 2026, 12 p.m. at MRC: Save Our City adaptation program.
- April 2026 (date to be set): Tree canopy policy and workshop.
- Tree data request – Motion passed to request comprehensive tree removal permit data and survivability tracking from city staff.
- Future agenda items noted: Wedge (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) presentation; water conservation discussion.
Meeting Transcript
Every choice you make can have an impact. So keep yourself and your community safe with these rail safety tips. It takes a train a mile to stop. So stay off the tracks. Don't try to beat the train. Welcome to the City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee meeting for March 2nd, 2026. It's great to see a full dais up here. It's been a while since we've had full dais and people in the crowd. Thank you for attending. All right, we'll start with roll call. Item item one from my right, please. Good evening, Grant Mustard. Allison Weinstock. Saray Press. Jenny B. Molina. Aaron DeMeo. Barbara Biznault. Sylvio Buple. Wayne Pathman. Thanks so much. Miriam, please. City of Miami. James Brackel, Assistant City Attorney. Hi, Sonia Brewbaker, Chief of Slans Officer, City of Miami. Thank you. All right, we'll move to item two, which is public comment. If anyone from the public would like to make a comment, please do so now. All right. So just say your name and uh address for the record if you haven't signed in. Good evening. Ian Wogan and Tormentina Wogan. We live at 2360 Overbrook in District 2. Um, I wanted to speak to the importance of public discourse and input on tree ordinances and their consideration in the city of Miami. I think at large, Miami Dade County and the City of Miami have significant improvements to be made. And really considering trees as vital green infrastructure for our the beautifications of our cities, the cooling of our cities, and the ultimate resilience of our cities. So figure this would be a good forum. And really, it's I'm uh I'm an arborist and a professional in the trade, so I work a lot with the city and developers on the preservation side as much as possible. But ultimately, the next generation is inheriting what we're leaving them, and I feel like it's it's critical to act now so Miami can serve as a as an example for for the world. Thank you. Thank you again. Good evening. Hello, everyone. My name is Tom Klein. I'm the director of the Center for Urban and Community Design at the University of Miami. And I just wanted to make sure that the commission uh that this committee is aware of the resilient 365 conference, which is happening at the University of Miami during Miami Climate Week, March 17th and 18th. Uh, we have a fantastic schedule with many of your colleagues and and folks that you work with on a regular basis. And uh, we're hoping to have some really great critical conversations about what it means to be resilient here in South Florida. Uh and I'm pleased to share that uh your chair, Aaron Damayo is one of our speakers at this event. And um, if it's acceptable, I'd like to hand these to you all.
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