STREETSCAPE-SECTION VI VENETIAN ISLANDS NEIGHBORHOOD No

STREETSCAPE-SECTION VI VENETIAN ISLANDS NEIGHBORHOOD No. 13

RIVO ALTO

DI LIDO

SAN MARINO

Prepared by:

BASIS OF DESIGN REPORT Venetian Islands Bid Package C

STREETSCAPE

A. OVERVIEW The voters of The City of Miami Beach approved a major bond issue on November 2, 1999 for the amount of $ 92 million in General Obligation (GO) Bonds, of which $ 57 million were specifically allocated for the right-of-way infrastructure improvement program.

The purpose of the Venetian Islands (Rivo Alto, Di Lido and San Marino Islands) streetscape improvements is to provide the restoration and the enhancements of each island’s streets to meet the community needs. The Rivo Alto, Di Lido and San Marino Islands are primarily developed with single-family residences. However, each island has been addressed separately to address the unique needs of each.

The planning stages concluded that there were several types of improvements applicable to The Venetian Islands Package C. Among these improvements are streets narrowing, landscaping improvements, milling and resurfacing and new decorative street lighting. The City’s GO Bond Program will fund all of these improvements, since GO Bonds are derived exclusively from property taxes to implement non-revenue producing projects, such as street improvements, streetscape and landscaping, parks, public safety and beaches.

Vehicle circulation and pedestrian circulation enhancements will also be addressed, including the repair of broken sidewalks, pavement markings and traffic signage, pedestrian and handicap access ramps consistent with the Venetian Islands Master Plan and community preferences. Additionally, the scope of the project will incorporate traffic calming features consistent with the Venetian Islands Master Plan and community preferences, as well as sidewalk and driveway repairs.

Residents of Di Lido and San Marino Islands are considering a special assessment district for burying electric, cable and telephone services to convert the existing overhead services to underground facilities. The residents of the islands will need to approve the special assessment before the necessary coordination of proposed infrastructure can be done to accommodate the burial of overhead facilities within the ROW/ utility easement. Residents have agreed to allow the ROW construction to proceed and that the underground utilities concerns would be addressed after this project is completed. The consultant will attempt to accommodate a possible future underground utility project.

Broken Sidewalk

Figure SS-1: Broken Sidewalk Example

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Wide lanes and mixed dense vegetation are the typical street characteristics in all three islands. Enhanced landscaping will be provided in the form of swale plantings and infill landscaping, consistent with community preferences. The existing landscape palette of orchid, black olive, royal poinciana, live oak, coconut palm, mahogany and other types of vegetation will be enhanced by kapok tree, shot leaf, white frangipani and other types of native vegetation.

The planning effort has identified streetscape enhancement priorities throughout the Venetian Islands project area, including street narrowing, landscaping, street lighting, and street paving. As a result, a recommended funded approach was developed and subsequently consensus was achieved with the residents attending the Community Workshop.

TABLE SS-1

VENETIAN ISLANDS PACKAGE C - FUNDED AND FUTURE (UNFUNDED) IMPROVEMENTS

DECORATIVE SIDEWALK STREET ENHANCED TRAFFIC ENTRY CROSSWALK STREET AREA EXTENSION RESURFACING LANDSCAPING CALMING FEATURES TREATMENT LIGHTING

Rivo Alto Island Funded Funded Funded Funded Unfunded Unfunded Funded

Di Lido Island Funded Funded Funded Funded Unfunded Unfunded Funded

San Marino Island Funded Funded Funded Funded Unfunded Unfunded Funded

B. EXISTING & PROPOSED CONDITION The Venetian Islands Neighborhood No. 13 Bid Package B consists of the Rivo Alto, Di Lido, and San Marino Islands respectively located east-to-west along the Venetian Causeway. The islands are man-made “fill” created in the 1920’s for development of single-family residences. Rivo Alto Island was developed first to showcase the islands, and is unique for it’s underground utilities and pedestrian scale street lighting. Both Di Lido and San Marino Islands have aboveground utilities and cobra-head style lighting.

Each of the islands’ street layout is configured by a perimeter road which extends north and south from the causeway, intersected by cross-streets. All the residences along the outside of the loop road are waterfront homes. There are several existing easements that extend from the public street to the waterfront. These easements are not included within the project scope. Through observations during the planning process it was established that the islands lack identity and character in terms of the existing streetscape and landscape features.

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Existing Parking: Cars parked in the residential driveways and some parking along the grass swales characterizes the current parking condition at the Venetian Islands.

Existing Lighting: Two types of lighting currently exist in the Venetian Islands Neighborhood. Di Lido Island and San Marino Island have cobra-head style lights, generally mounted on wood utility poles at a height of approximately 20’ (Figure SS-2), which are operated and maintained by FPL as an overhead utility system. Rivo Alto Island has acorn style lights (Figure SS-3) operated and maintained by FPL from underground utilities. Acorn style lights are the preferred decorative lighting treatment and can be found in select locations throughout the neighborhood and Miami Beach. Acorn style lights are typically mounted on decorative fiberglass poles, at a Figure SS-2: Typical cobra-head light height of approximately 12’-14’ and are operated and maintained by the City of Miami Beach.

Overhead utilities can be found on Di Lido Island and San Marino Island. In addition to overhead lines running parallel to the street, there are also residential service lines that cross perpendicular to the street and into residential lots. Underground utilities are found on Rivo Alto Island. Planning efforts for future improvements along the underground utility easement need to carefully evaluate the location and depth of these utilities. In some instances large shade trees have grown in close proximity to streetlights. Where this occurs, the amount of ambient light that is reflected into the street is greatly reduced. Future tree and palm selection and new installation, shall consider existing utilities and light locations, to reduce long- term maintenance issues and maximize street light Figure SS-3: Typical acorn light efficiency.

Existing Landscape: A mix of various plantings defines the overall landscape character in the neighborhood that the residents have planted over the years – both within their property and on the public swale - creating an informal, often haphazard, landscape. There are trees and palms planted randomly throughout the neighborhood, but no consistent landscape theme exists, resulting in a weak streetscape identity. There are however, numerous large trees and palms that will be preserved.

During the Planning and subsequent Design Phase, various encroachments on City right-of-way will be identified. Some of these include paved swale areas, built-up swales, fixtures, etc. It is

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the intent of this program to reclaim public right-of-way were necessary as improvements are implemented. During the design process, encroachments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis using the following criteria:

1) Does the encroachment interfere with the planned improvements?

2) Is the encroachment properly permitted through the City’s Building and Zoning Department?

3) Does the encroachment need to be removed to meet current design standards?

The Consultant team will provide detailed documentation during the Design Phase. Each property owner will be properly notified through the City’s Community Information Program.

Each Island has different characteristics, and for that reason some of the existing conditions and proposed improvements will be addressed by island, on a cross streets and perimeter streets approach to avoid generalizing, which will help focus during the design phase. A legend is provided (Figure SS-4) to help understand the figures shown below.

Figure SS-4: Legend

Rivo Alto Island The perimeter street road around the island is 24-feet wide with no median and swale on both sides of approximately 8 feet wide each. In some scattered sections of the road a concrete curb can be found, but most of it is not in acceptable conditions. The cross streets roads have an entire width of 41-feet, composed by two 14-feet wide lanes divided by a 13-feet wide raised median. The existing median has trees and vegetation, surrounded by a concrete curb. The swale on both sides of the cross street are approximately 9-feet wide. Existing sidewalks with a standard width of 4 to 5 feet are located on both sides of the perimeter and cross streets. Around 350-feet of the existing sidewalk is not in acceptable Figure SS-5: Rivo Alto 3rd Terrace Plan conditions. Rivo Alto Island has underground utilities and acorn style lighting is found along the roadway. Mixed planting with landscape encroachments can be found throughout the island. It is premature to quantify and point out the locations of the existing encroachments without a current land survey. The survey effort is currently underway.

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Proposed Improvements for Rivo Alto Island

The perimeter streets will be reduced from 24 feet to 20 feet in width, increasing the landscape swale from an average of 8 feet to 10 feet in width. The concrete curb will be removed unless it is close to a catch basin and contributes to the stormwater collection. The existing contributing vegetation will be preserved and there will also be infill with trees and palms. The existing landscape palette of orchid tree, black olive, seagrape, royal poinciana, live oak, Figure SS-6: Rivo Alto Proposed Perimeter Street coconut palm, and mahogany trees will be enhanced by kapok tree, short leaf fig, white frangipani, wild tamarind and other sub- tropical/native trees and palms. Sidewalk extensions will be added and only broken sidewalk will be re-built to match existing sidewalks (approx. 350 feet for Rivo Alto Island). New decorative acorn style lighting will be provided.

The cross streets will be reduced from 14 feet wide lanes to 12 feet in width, increasing the landscape swale from 9 feet to 11 feet in width. The concrete curb surrounding the median and the median will remain. The existing vegetation will be preserved and there will also be infill with trees and palms. Existing landscape palette of orchid trees, black olive, royal poinciana, seagrape, live oak, coconut palm, and mahogany trees will be enhanced by kapok trees, short leaf fig, white frangipani, wild tamarind and other sub- tropical/native trees and palms. Figure SS-7: Rivo Alto Proposed Cross Street Sidewalk extensions will be added and only broken sidewalk will be rebuilt (approx. 350 feet for Rivo Alto Island.). The

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existing landscaped medians on the cross-streets shall be planted with sod (St. Augustine ‘Floratam’) unless the budget allows for flowering groundcover around existing tree trunks and at median ends. New decorative acorn style lighting will be provided.

Di Lido Island The perimeter road around the island is 27 feet wide with no median and swale on both sides. The swale on one side is approximately 6 feet wide and the other side varies in the 6 feet to 8 feet wide range. In some scattered sections of the road a concrete curb can be found, but most of it is not in acceptable conditions. The cross streets have a width of 27 feet. Similar to the perimeter streets, the cross streets have a concrete curb scattered in several sections of the road, largely in unacceptable condition. The swale on both sides of the cross streets is approximately 6 feet wide. Existing sidewalks with a standard width of 4 to 5 feet are located on both sides of the cross

Figure SS-8: East Di Lido Drive Plan streets and on one side of the perimeter streets. Around 550 feet of the existing sidewalk is not in acceptable conditions. Di Lido Island has overhead utilities and cobra head lighting is provided along the roadway. Mixed planting is the typical characteristic that identifies the streets in the island. It is premature to quantify and point out the locations of the existing encroachments, without a current land survey, which is in process at this time.

Figure SS-9: East Di Lido 5th Terrace Drive Plan

Proposed Improvements for Di Lido Island

The perimeter streets will be reduced from 27 feet to 20 feet in width and the swales will be increase in width, one side from 6 to 11 feet wide, and the other swale width will be increased by 2-feet. The concrete curb will be removed unless it is close to a catch basin, serving

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stormwater collection. The existing contributing vegetation will be preserved and there will also be infill with trees and palms.

The existing landscape palette of orchid tree, black olive, royal poinciana, live oak, coconut palm, mahogany trees will be enhanced by kapok tree, shortleaf fig, white frangipani, and other sub-tropical/native trees and palms. Sidewalk extensions will be added and only broken sidewalk would be re-built to match existing sidewalk (approx. 550 feet for Di Lido Island.). New decorative acorn lighting will be provided.

Figure SS-10: Di Lido Proposed Perimeter Street

The cross streets will be reduced from 27 feet to 20 feet in width, increasing the landscape swales from 6 to 8 feet in width on one side, and from 6 feet to 11 feet in width on the other side. The concrete curb will be removed unless it is close to a catch basin, serving stormwater collection. The existing contributing vegetation will be preserved and there will also be infill with trees and palms.

The existing landscape palette of orchid tree, black olive, royal poinciana, live oak, sea-grape, coconut palm, and mahogany tree will be enhanced by kapok tree, short leaf fig, wild tamarind, white frangipani and other sub-tropical/native trees. Sidewalk extensions will be added and only broken sidewalk would be rebuilt (approx. 550 feet for Di Lido Island). New decorative acorn style lighting will be provided.

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Figure SS-11: Di Lido Proposed Cross Street

San Marino Island The perimeter road around the island is 17 feet to 18 feet wide with a large landscape swale on both sides. The cross streets roads are approximately 18 feet wide with landscape swales on each side. There are no existing sidewalks on this island. San Marino Island is serviced by overhead utilities. Cobra head style lighting is provided along the roadway. Mixed, dense planting characterizes much of the island, owing to the narrow streets. It is premature to quantify and point out the locations of the existing encroachments, without a current survey, which is in process at this time.

Figure SS-12: East San Marino Drive Plan

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Proposed Improvements for San Marino Island

The cross and perimeter street widths will not be reconfigured, essentially maintaining the existing roadway and swale. The existing “contributing” vegetation will be preserved and there will also be infill with trees and palms. The existing landscape palette of orchid trees, black olive, royal poinciana, sea-grape, live oak, coconut palm, and mahogany trees will be enhanced by kapok tree, short leaf fig, wild tamarind, white frangipani and other sub-tropical/native trees. New decorative acorn style lighting will be provided.

Figure SS-13: San Marino Proposed Perimeter and Cross Street

Proposed funded streetscape improvements will be distributed evenly throughout the entire neighborhood. Some right of way encroachments in the Venetian Islands project area include the installation of tree and plant material. Although in most cases this existing planting is aesthetically pleasing, some may require removal to re-grade the swale and improve drainage. Similar encroachments include swale berms and/or curbing. In most cases, this negatively affects drainage for the adjacent street. Where necessary, swale berms and curbs will be removed to eliminate drainage problems. A survey will be used to determine locations of existing trees and palms located in the swale, helping to identify desirable vegetation to preserve. Sufficient notice shall be given to the homeowner, should swale drainage improvements be necessary, allowing time for plant and/or tree relocation by owner if desired. Shade and/or flowering trees will be installed (at an overall height of 10’-14’ and a spread of 6’- 8’) in swales with no overhead utilities where little or no trees exist. Shade trees will not be planted adjacent to overhead utilities in an effort to reduce long-term tree maintenance

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associated with trimming trees around utility lines. However, small accent trees and large palms may be planted in close proximity to overhead utilities to help screen utility poles and overhead wires from view and no trees should be planted at less than 5-feet from any underground utility line.

PROPOSED LANDSCAPE PALETTE- SMALL- MEDIUM TREES

Caesalpinia granadillo Cocoloba uvifera Conocarpus erectus var. BRIDALVEIL SEA GRAPE sericeus SILVER BUTTONWOOD

Lysiloma latisiliqua Cordia sebestena

WILD TAMARIND ORANGE GEIGER TREE

Plumeria alba Senna surrattensis Tabebuia caraiba WHITE FRANGIPANI GLAUCOUS CASSIA TABEBUIA

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PROPOSED LANDSCAPE PALETTE- LARGE CANOPY TREES

Bucida buceras Busera simaruba BLACK OLIVE GUMBO LIMBO

Ceiba pentandra Delonix regia ROYAL POINCIANA KAPOK TREE

Ficus citrifolia SHORTLEAF FIG Cassia fistula GOLDEN SHOWER

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Swietenia mahogany Quercus virginiana MAHOGANY LIVE OAK

All perimeter and cross streets within the Neighborhood (except on San Marino Island, with 18’ wide existing streets) will be reduced in width. Reducing the street width will aid in traffic calming, increase “green” space, and allow planting of larger palms and trees on the street side with overhead utilities. In addition, all intersection radii will be reduced, helping to calm traffic by reducing speed of turning movements at intersections. Approximately 900 linear feet of sidewalk will be re-built to match, to the best extent possible, the existing sidewalk width color and texture. During the design phase, a detailed inspection of all sidewalks will be conducted to identify damaged areas. Replacement will be contingent upon sections where cracks have produced a height differential greater than 0.5 inches, and areas where tree roots have uplifted and tilted the sidewalk. In various parts of the Neighborhood, a 6-inch curb has been installed by residents or previously by the City. Much of the curb is now in poor condition, or practically buried with landscape or asphalt resurfacing. In order to create a consistent streetscape character, reduce street width and allow for proper drainage from the street, all concrete curbs – or similar structures – will be removed from the street profile. Only those curbs, which are in good condition and aid directing runoff toward existing catch basins, shall be retained.

The swales along streets provide pervious drainage area to store water and space for streetscape beautification. Recognizing that residents and guests will use the swale space at times for parking, the City is now engaged in formulating swale development standards to allow for streetscape planting improvements and to help maintain soil permeability.

During the design phase of the project, the City will identify encroachments into the swale to determine the need for removal. All existing paved swales outside of the driveway (width may vary) may be removed, except decorative concrete or paver driveway aprons in good condition. Additionally, existing paving which exceeds the percentage of allowable impervious area in the swale area may be removed, if necessary to improve drainage or add landscaping.

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All cobra head lighting (Di Lido and San Marino Island) and existing acorn style lights (Rivo Alto Island) will be removed and replaced with new pedestrian-scale decorative acorn lighting on 12’ decorative poles spaced approximately 100’ on center. All new lighting improvements will comply with Chapter 20 of the IES Roadway Lighting Handbook and City of Miami Beach Public Works Standards. The proposed installation will meet the 1.0 foot-candle average illumination that meets the City of Miami Beach requirements. The new acorn lights will be owned and maintained by the City of Miami Beach.

All streets throughout the Venetian Islands neighborhood will be with asphalt. Asphalt, grass, or gravel driveway aprons will be replaced or resurfaced with new asphalt driveway aprons. Existing pavers or decorative concrete driveway aprons in good condition will remain and will not be resurfaced.