Broward County Splits on CRE Ballot Measures

Broward County, Fla., voters in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood approved changes to how municipal properties are leased and sold, while residents of Deerfield Beach shot down pro-development amendments along the town’s oceanfront.

In Fort Lauderdale, voters approved measures to replace competitive bidding and appraisal-floor requirements for sales of city-owned properties with a four-to-five commission vote. The parties involved must explain why the deal is in the best of interest of the city. Leases of public parks will now require a unanimous vote from the commission.

Leases longer than three years will require outside reviews at the tenant’s expense. An additional assessment of the tenant’s business viability will be required for agreements over 10 years long.

The amendments also scrapped other requirements, including a sealed competitive bidding process and public hearings for certain property-use agreements, while removing a 50-year limit on the duration of leases. Residents will now only be able to force a referendum on leases over 50 years, provided they secured the signatures of at least 15 percent of registered city voters.

In Hollywood, voters backed changes to leases of city-owned property, requiring a five-to-seven commission vote for leases of more than 20 years. Those lasting longer than 50 years will require voter approval.

In Deerfield Beach, voters rejected a bid to eliminate caps on floor area ratios of commercial properties situated between the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean along the oceanfront.  They also declined to allow parking spaces on city-owned lots to count toward the parking requirements of other commercial properties.

Residents shot down a proposal that would have scrapped voter approval for sales and leases of government-owned properties worth more than $750,000.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.