Zoning and land use questions start with the property record.
A Miami zoning and land use lawyer helps a property owner identify the right code, prepare the application, present the hearing record and challenge a denial when review is available. Law Offices of Aaron Resnick represents owners, buyers, developers and businesses before Miami Dade County and city boards. Aaron Resnick has handled business disputes in Miami since 1998.
Aaron knows the law. He knows both sides. And he knows Miami. That is why Miami business owners know Aaron.
The work covers zoning compliance for an existing use, permits for new construction, renovations and changes of use, land use planning before a purchase, representation at zoning hearings, and variances and special exceptions when the code as written blocks the project. Zoning questions often arrive with construction questions.
Which Zoning Code Applies to My Property in Miami Dade County?
It depends on the jurisdiction. The City of Miami applies its Zoning Code, known as Miami 21. Unincorporated Miami Dade County applies Chapter 33, the Zoning Code of Miami Dade County. Miami Beach applies its Land Development Regulations, which the city also calls the Resiliency Code, and Coral Gables applies the City of Coral Gables Zoning Code.
Broward and Palm Beach counties work the same way: the county code for unincorporated land, each city's code inside its limits. Getting the jurisdiction wrong can delay an application, so it is the first thing checked. The property appraiser record shows the jurisdiction; the zoning map shows the district.
Aaron Resnick confirms the jurisdiction and the district before anything is filed.
Do I Need a Waiver, Warrant or Other Special Permit in the City of Miami?
Possibly. Miami 21 separates uses allowed by right from approvals that need a Warrant, Waiver, Exception or Variance. Article 7.1.2.5 governs Waivers, and Article 4, Table 3 shows which uses need a Warrant. The approval path is settled before the plans, the lease or the purchase contract are locked in.
Aaron Resnick identifies the approval a project needs before the client commits to the plans or the contract.
Can an Existing Use Stay if Miami 21 No Longer Allows It?
Sometimes. Miami 21 section 7.2.1 treats a lawfully established use, structure, lot or site improvement that later becomes nonconforming as a legal nonconformity that may continue, subject to section 7.2. Expansion, abandonment, reconstruction and other changes can end that status, so the permit and use history of the property matters.
Aaron Resnick reviews the permit and use history before advising whether the use can continue.
How Long Does a Florida City or County Have to Decide My Application?
Outside the new preapplication program, chapter 166, Florida Statutes generally requires a city to confirm receipt of a development permit or development order application within 5 business days and issue a written completeness notice within 30 days. These deadlines do not govern building permit applications.
After the city deems the application complete, the usual decision deadline is 120 days, or 180 days when a public or quasi judicial hearing is required, subject to statutory exceptions and agreed extensions.
Counties follow the same framework outside their own program, under chapter 125, Florida Statutes. For specified missed review and decision deadlines, chapter 166, Florida Statutes requires a partial or full application fee refund, subject to agreed extensions, applicant delays, force majeure and other extraordinary circumstances. When a listed professional certified the application, the city may ask for more information no more than three times unless the applicant agrees in writing.
Aaron Resnick records the filing date, the completeness determination and the deadline for each required step.
What Changes for Florida Development Applications in 2027?
By January 1, 2027, each Florida city of 10,000 or more people must offer a preapplication consultation program for site plan, development plan and subdivision approvals, under chapter 166, Florida Statutes. Under the new statutory program, an applicant receives a completeness review within 5 business days and a final decision within 45 days after submitting a complete application.
The law preserves substantially similar local programs that existed on or before July 1, 2026, so the city's actual program must be checked.
If the city misses the 45 days, the applicant notifies it in writing; if the city does not respond within 10 days, the application is deemed approved by operation of law; a deemed approval does not excuse compliance with other federal, state and local law. Counties of 75,000 or more must offer the same program, under chapter 125, Florida Statutes. The same preservation rule applies to qualifying county programs. The law is new in 2026 (chapter 2026-64, Laws of Florida), so the programs will differ city by city in their first year.
Aaron Resnick advises owners and developers on whether the new program fits the project.
What Can I Do if the Zoning Board Denies My Application?
Check the local appeal deadline first. In the City of Miami, an appeal of a Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board decision to the City Commission generally must be filed within 15 calendar days of rendition. When circuit court review by certiorari is available, the petition generally must be filed within 30 days of rendition of the order to be reviewed under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100(c).
An owner who challenges a development order or enforcement action as unreasonable or unfairly burdensome may request special magistrate relief under chapter 70, Florida Statutes. The statute generally allows 30 days after receipt of the order or notice, but its local appeal and tolling rules must be applied before that date is calculated.
Local administrative appeals that take no longer than 4 months must first be exhausted. An owner who has pursued local appeals may initiate the proceeding within 4 months after issuance even if those appeals remain pending. Starting judicial review first waives the special magistrate route; properly initiating that route tolls the time for judicial review as the statute provides.
The magistrate is chosen by the owner and the government together and works toward an acceptable solution. Certiorari reviews the record made at the hearing, which is why the record is built at the hearing, not after it.
Aaron Resnick builds the hearing record and identifies the filing trigger and deadline for each available review route.
How Does a Bert Harris Act Claim Work in Florida?
The owner presents the claim to the head of the government entity, with an appraisal report showing the loss in fair market value, at least 90 days before filing suit, under chapter 70, Florida Statutes. The claim must be presented within 1 year after the law or regulation is first applied to the property, under that chapter's accrual rules.
The Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act covers a government action that inordinately burdens an existing use or a vested right to a specific use, even when it is not a taking. During the 90 day notice period, unless the parties agree to extend it, the government must make a written settlement offer.
Aaron Resnick reviews the appraisal and the date the regulation was first applied before a claim is presented.
Who Can Challenge a Zoning Approval in Florida?
For a claim that a development order conflicts with the comprehensive plan, chapter 163, Florida Statutes requires the challenger to qualify as aggrieved or adversely affected. Being nearby is not enough on its own. The applicable challenge must be filed within 30 days after rendition of the development order or other written decision, or after local administrative appeals are exhausted, whichever occurs later. Other kinds of zoning challenges have different standing and filing rules.
For a buyer or developer, that window is part of the timeline before closing or construction. The local government that issued the order is named in the case.
Aaron Resnick accounts for the challenge window when he advises on a closing or a construction start.
What Should I Bring to a First Meeting About a Zoning Problem?
Bring the deed or purchase contract, the survey, the current zoning district and land use designation, any notice of violation, the application and every letter from the city or county, the plans, and the next hearing date. For a purchase, bring the inspection deadline too, because zoning belongs in due diligence, before the deposit goes hard.
No lawyer can promise how a board will vote. The firm prepares the application, builds the hearing record and tracks the applicable deadlines.
Aaron Resnick reviews those documents first. See clients.
Send the parties, the problem and the next date; the firm reviews every inquiry and tells you whether it can help.
Related Pages
- Certificate of use and business tax receipt in Miami
- Commercial real estate
- Real estate litigation
- Construction disputes
- Title and boundary disputes
- Aaron Resnick
We Don't Make Promises. We Have Results to Prove It.
Aaron Resnick has handled business disputes in Miami since 1998 and is a fourth generation Miami attorney. He works hands-on on every case; the client gets Aaron on every major litigation issue, not a junior partner. The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick represents property owners, buyers, developers and businesses in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in zoning approvals, variances, land use disputes and appeals. Call 305-672-7495 or request a consultation.
This page provides general information and is not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
