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Mayor’s Message

rom the barrier island to downtown, Fort Lauderdale’s skyline is dotted with
construction cranes where new housing, new hotels and new business space is
Fbeing built.
It is a dizzying transformation. For some, it’s a statement of our prosperity and a
sign of Fort Lauderdale gaining international renown as a great place to live and
visit. For others, it raises concern of traffic and infrastructure and whether we are
losing our sense of place as a community. Both myself and other members of this
City Commission campaigned last year on finding a balance.
Let’s face it: we are in the midst of runaway growth and are witnessing the
fulfillment of the policies of the last 10 years. And believe it or not, there’s more to
come. But I want to create a middle ground of smart growth — growth that doesn’t
overwhelm our neighborhoods, growth in which we’ve assured the proper
infrastructure is in place, growth that is in keeping with our shared values and
vision as a community.
Almost all of the construction underway predates the current commission. And, this
Dean Trantalis commission is committed to learning from the lessons of the past to see how we can
Mayor, work to improve the development process. Such change does not occur overnight,
City of Fort Lauderdale but several fundamental changes are being formulated so that we can we can now
deal with growth in a better way.
City staff is working on an update to the downtown master plan that will put into
law important principles that previously were mere suggestions. Developers and
past commissions often ignored these guidelines. The City Commission is scheduled
to vote on these reforms in the fall.

The most important reform is something called transition zones.
Right now, a 30-story building can be built at the edge of downtown next to single-
family home neighborhoods. That would no longer be the case. The proposal
coming forward creates a transition area around downtown’s borders. New
construction in the transition area would need to be smaller than if at the center of
downtown, creating more of a buffer for surrounding neighborhoods.
Other items being codified include the separation between towers on a site, the
size of a building’s base, the maximum length of buildings, the need for projects to
include open space and the need for adjacent streetscapes with trees and lighting.

Office Contact: The City Commission also wants to change a key rule regarding what
Scott Wyman developments automatically come to us for a vote.
Assistant to the Mayor
Email: swyman@fortlauderdale.gov Under the current land development code, many downtown projects are approved
Phone: 954.828.5004 with only a review by city staff. The commission can only intervene if it finds
substantial evidence that staff made a grievous error in judgment. Legally, it’s a
difficult challenge. It also frustrates the very mission we were all elected to fulfill.
As your elected officials, we want the power to approve or reject more projects
without such an impediment. When we make that change, residents will be
guaranteed more of a voice in what is built.
On the beach, a different set of circumstances is playing out. A deal was struck between
the county and city in the late 1980s that is about to have major consequences.

10 The Landings & Bay Colony