City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee Meeting – April 30, 2026

The Climate Resilience Committee (CRC) convened at 10:45 AM on April 30, 2026, to hear three presentations—Canopy Park, Bay Shore Park, and the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival—along with updates on the composting pilot, heat season preparations, and the newly forming Tree Advisory Committee. The committee also began discussions on budget recommendations for the coming fiscal year and received public comment.

Approval of Minutes

• Motion to approve the minutes from the April 6, 2026 meeting – Moved, seconded, and passed unanimously (all ayes, no opposition or abstentions).

Presentations

Canopy Park (Miami Beach) – Presented by Ben Hutchins, Architectonica Geo

• Described a public-private partnership between the City of Miami Beach and Terra Group, resulting in a 5‑acre park on donated developer land in exchange for increased building height on a smaller footprint.
• Stormwater features include city wells, a 25,000‑gallon cistern for irrigation, and a perimeter swale that serves as a last line of defense for the 30‑acre watershed.
• Speaker positions – Chairperson praised the incentive‑based resilience model (similar to the “Flora” proposal from 2025) and noted the park’s relevance to sponge‐park concepts. Committee members asked about best practices and the “first layer” paving requirement in Miami 21 zoning; Hutchins agreed that requiring impervious paving up to building facades hinders percolation and suggested revisiting that code.

Bay Shore Park (Miami Beach) – Presented by Adriana Savino, Barry Miller, Kelly Hitsing, and Patty Matamoris (Savino Miller Design Studio)

• Detailed a 20‑acre former golf course transformed into a stormwater sponge park. The project captures 85‑acre watershed runoff, provides 65 acre‑feet of storage, and can hold its own 100‑year, 1‑day storm plus the 10‑year, 1‑day storm from the neighborhood.
• Key features: a lake dug to manage arsenic‑contaminated soil (balanced cut‑and‑fill), a levee path that doubles as a fire lane, permeable parking, 91 preserved mature trees, native planting, and a tidal basin.
• Speaker positions – Committee members commended the project as a model for low‑lying, flood‑prone areas. Questions addressed the difficulty of reversing water flow, interaction with DERM (soil contamination), groundwater monitoring, and cost/benefit of green vs. gray infrastructure.

FIFA World Cup Fan Festival – Presented by Chief Grant Musser (Emergency Manager) and Sonia Brewbaker (Chief Resilience Officer)

• Fan festival will be held at Bayfront Park from June 13 to July 5, 2026 (23 days), expecting about 30,000 visitors per day. Free admission, three screens, food vendors, live performances.
• Preparedness includes tabletop exercises on complex coordinated terrorist attacks, cybersecurity, and a family reception center at the James L. Knight Center. Cooling centers and a heat‑response plan are in place (heat season runs May 1 – Oct 31).
• Sustainability – Plastic‑free measures (single‑use plastics banned), reusable bottle campaign (“Kick the Cup”), and stormwater protection protocols.
• Speaker positions – Committee members expressed appreciation for the extensive planning and asked about interagency coordination, volunteer CERT involvement, pollution prevention, and stormwater protections. Chief Musser noted that the city’s IT department was rated best‑prepared in cybersecurity exercises.

Old Business

Update on Tree Advisory Committee

• Chairperson read an email from Melissa Fernandez Steers: The City has engaged Florida State University’s Consensus Center; initial outreach and stakeholder interviews are complete. Appointments from Districts 2, 4, 5 are ready; Districts 1 and 3 are still submitting names. A formal establishment item is expected at the City Commission in May, with the first committee meeting likely in June or July.
• Speaker positions – A motion to recommend a specific D1 appointee was ruled out of order by the City Attorney (not within the committee’s powers). Members agreed to consolidate public comments from prior CRC meetings and share them with the Consensus Center. Miriam was asked to compile those comments and circulate them to CRC members.

Office of Resilience & Sustainability Updates

• FPL Evolution sites – Groundbreaking for first site at Gibson Park scheduled for May 13, 2026 (curbside charging). About a dozen sites planned, most in parks.
• Composting pilot – Three‑month pilot with five locations (Shenandoah Park, Charles Hadley Park, Morningside Park, Miami River Center, and City Hall). Bins are locked; instructions available via QR code.
• Extreme heat season – Starts May 1. Cooling centers at 11 city parks; Alert Miami (text 888‑777) for notifications.
• Fertilizer prohibition – May 15 through October 31 to reduce runoff into Biscayne Bay.

Discussion Items

Budget Recommendations for FY2026-2027

• Allison presented four draft recommendations based on existing city plans:
  1. Complete a Stormwater Design Standards Manual (referenced in 2021 Stormwater Master Plan).
  2. Update stormwater modeling to incorporate latest NOAA Atlas 14 data and other science‑based data as it becomes available.
  3. Accelerate municipal fleet electrification (from Miami Forever Carbon Neutral Plan).
  4. Obtain a conceptual Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) to streamline permitting for individual stormwater projects.
• Speaker positions – Committee members debated budget impact versus administrative feasibility. Several members suggested first inquiring with staff to determine whether items could be done in‑house or already underway. There was consensus that efficiency and cost‑saving framing would strengthen recommendations. A workshop to finalize budget recommendations was originally set for May 6 but may be rescheduled due to member availability.

Future Agenda Topics & Meeting Format

• Plans for June and July meetings: Sponge‑park presentations from Robert Cologne (County) and Tom Klein (UM), plus a presentation from NYC Parks Department on tree management. The chair proposed extending the June meeting to three hours to accommodate multiple items.
• Speaker positions – Some members supported longer meetings occasionally for concentrated work; others urged caution on staff time. It was tentatively agreed to plan a three‑hour June meeting.
• Tree workshop discussions: Several members felt that since a separate Tree Advisory Committee is being formed, the CRC should avoid duplicating efforts but could share information and align recommendations. The committee agreed to add a recurring agenda item for updates from Avra (CRC member also on the tree committee).

Public Comments & Testimony

• Kyle Lockridge (District 2 resident) – Expressed strong support for protecting large trees and criticized development practices that clear‑cut lots. Praised the “Flora” incentive concept and urged the committee to prioritize tree preservation in resilience efforts.
• Albert Gomez (District 2 resident, developer) – Asserted that trees remain integral to the CRC’s mission and urged the committee to continue tracking tree‑permit data. Requested that the city provide specific tree‑removal permit information that was previously requested but not fully delivered. Suggested that the CRC could recommend improved record‑keeping if data is not currently accessible.
• Imara Bella – Celebrated the composting pilot and suggested adding non‑QR‑code signage to make instructions accessible to all users. Encouraged submitting feedback to the city and vendor.

Key Outcomes

• Approved minutes from April 6, 2026, unanimously.
• Directed staff (Miriam) to compile public comments on trees from prior CRC meetings and share them with the Consensus Center and the Tree Advisory Committee; also to circulate to CRC members.
• Budget workshop for recommendations will be rescheduled (likely mid‑May) to accommodate more members.
• The June 2026 meeting may be extended to three hours to accommodate presentations on sponge parks and NYC tree program, plus continuing budget discussion.
• A recurring agenda item will be added for tree committee updates from Avra.
• The committee did not take formal action on the request for additional tree‑permit data but will follow up with staff to determine availability and may consider a budget recommendation for improved data tracking.
• Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:15 PM.