Miami Beach Architectural- 18%
4 FT TOPOGRAPHIC INTERSECT CHOROPLETH, NR HISTORIC DISTRICTS, 2017
4.4. CURRENT CONDITIONS AND MUNICIPAL PLANNING IMPLEMENTATIONS
4.4.5. Lessons learned with the current Resiliency Plan
Figure 4.22: Demonstrating 2½ feet elevation of raised streets in Sunset Harbor
Figure 4.23: Renderings demonstrate the integration of pump system to existing infrastructure
4.4.5. Lessons learned with the current Resiliency Plan
Controversy on whether the pump system pollutes Biscayne Bay has required a reevaluation of future implementations.50 As Mayor Levine states, “When you are doing this, there are no textbooks on ‘How to Protect Your City from Sea Level Rise.’ We have a team that’s going to get it done, that’s going to protect this city. We can’t let investor confidence, resident confidence, confidence in our economy start to fall away.”51 To confront these issues, the city of has involved key international players to strategize improved long-term solutions.
49 Another infrastructure project is a $25 million investment to create a higher seawall along Indian Creek, which would provide updated underground pipework and a storm water pump. The project is expected to last two years and tackle a mile-long stretch that was the worst hit during seasonal high tides;“Miami Beach kicks off seawall construction ahead of king tide season,” The Real Deal South Florida, September 16, 2016, https://therealdeal.com/miami/2016/09/16/miami-beach-kicks-off-seawall-construction-ahead-of-king-tide-season/. Accessed February 18, 2016.
50 Then there are the ripple effects of years of construction, traffic jams and potential environmental damage — the still undetermined consequences of pumping runoff tainted by fertilizer, dog poop and road spills into Biscayne Bay or deep underground beneath a fresh water aquifer that will also shrink as the ocean encroaches; Flechas and Stolevich, Miami Herald, October 23, 2015.
51 Elizabeth Colbert, “The Siege of Miami,” The New Yorker, December 21, 2015, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/the-siege-of-miami. Accessed February 18, 2017.
In February 2017, Henk Ovink, a Special Envoy for Water Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands visited Miami Beach with two city officials on a three-day tour of South Florida.52 He stated that the good news included, “The Beach’s incremental approach, which involves rallying community support as it goes about raising streets and sidewalks, installing massive pumps to remove water, and rewriting its building and zoning codes under a plan to remake 40 percent of city streets within a decade.” However, his visit emphasized the need to reevaluate the conception of “living with water” instead of control.53 The Dutch have
challenged the way cities operate, based on the buy-in of citizens to change fundamental lifestyle decisions, which will be further detailed in the Netherlands Case Study.
4.4.6. 100 Resilient Cities and the Global Resilience-Building Network
Municipal planning implementations have proved effective and nimble. On May 25, 2016, Greater Miami and the Beaches issued a press release for their selection to participate in 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Global Resilience-Building Network.54 Positions of Chief Resilience Officers funded between a three-county coalition of Miami Beach, Miami, and Miami-Dade County were coordinated through 100RC and $164 million Rockefeller Foundation endowment. The emphasis on collaborative governance has not always been easy in the context of state and federal political climates.
As stated in the press release by Peter Madonia, Chief Operating Officer of The Rockefeller Foundation, “Miami is ground zero for some of the most common and pressing challenges facing cities in the 21st century. A dynamic, holistic strategy for moving Miami forward should address the city’s aging infrastructure, housing stock, and public
transportation system… Cities like Miami demonstrate why building resilience is so important.” The aims of the 100RC is threefold: assistance to resources for drafting a
52 Ovink is a Dutch water expert who worked as the Netherlands’ chief of water management and spatial planning, then worked for two years as senior advisor to former President Barack Obama’s Hurricane Sandy recovery task force, and now is an envoy for the Dutch government to share his expertise on water management and sea level rise; Vigilucci, Miami Herald.
53 He is currently involved with the $920M water defense planning around lower Manhattan, the Bronx, New Jersey shorelines, Long Island, and Staten Island.
54 “100 Resilient Cities and The Rockefeller Foundation Welcome Greater Miami and the Beaches into Global Resilience-Building Network,” 100 Resilient Cities, The Rockefeller Foundation, May 25, 2016.
Resilience Strategy, providing access for private sector, public sector, academic, and NGO resilience tools, and facilitate membership of a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges.55
The approach under Mayor Levine to rapidly undertake urgent improvements, while researching incremental steps to institute cost-effective 100-year storm standards has built consensus among residents.56 The 2016 Community Survey by the City of Miami Beach demonstrates that 89% of respondents supported the spending of tax dollars to address rising sea levels and 64% agreed that stormwater and drainage improvements were the most important to residents, even though only 37% strongly agreed that they had observed coastal water level increases.57 With sea level rise and resiliency planning no immediate solutions exist, however an incremental approach to create safe, efficient, and truly sustainable neighborhoods necessitates perseverance.
Graph 4.1: Level of agreement with the statements Graph 4.2: Support for spending tax dollars to address SLR
55 “Letter to Commission, Greater Miami & the Beaches Selected by 100 Resilient Cities, LTC No. 226-2016” City of Miami Beach, Office of the City Manager, May 24, 2016. From Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager to Mayor Philip Levine and Members of the City Commission.
56 The 100-year flood is referred to as the 1% annual exceedance probability flood, since it is a flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any single year.
57 A significant driver in developing Citywide priorities is community input received through the satisfaction survey conducted with residents, businesses, and community organizations; as well as focus groups within the community; “Excellence—Customer Input,” City of Miami Beach, http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/excellence/scroll.aspx?id=18256. Accessed March 15, 2017.
Graph 4.3: Importance of Capital Improvement Projects to residents