Miami Beach board approves Lucerne Avenue setback variance with strict limits on Padel court use

The Miami Beach Board of Adjustment voted unanimously on Feb. 6 to approve a variance that reduces the second‑floor setback for a proposed two‑story home on Lucerne Avenue, subject to conditions intended to limit impacts from an accessory Padel court.

The board’s approval followed a staff recommendation and a presentation from the applicant’s attorney, Michael Larkin, who told the board the purchasers paid $3,800,000, cleaned up a long‑neglected lot and had secured letters of support from neighbors. "Enough is enough," Larkin said of the prior nuisance use of the parcel.

Architect Elizabeth Starr described revisions to the design made after staff feedback, including a covered trellis of about 500 square feet to provide usable outdoor living space. "We opted to provide a much more generous outdoor covered area on the Ground Floor," Starr said, citing setbacks and site constraints that make a roof deck impractical.

To reduce neighborhood impacts, the board approved a package of conditions in the draft order. The conditions require the trellis to be constructed; prohibit use of the Padel court between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.; require that associated lights be turned off during those hours unless a more restrictive city code applies; specify lighting be designed similar to fixtures shown in the submitted exhibit (noted as similar to those at Indian Creek Country Club); mandate noise‑attenuation panels or approved tempered glass on court walls; require a seven‑foot perimeter wall or fence along interior lot lines; and direct staff review and approval of materials, lighting and acoustical measures.

Homeowner Richard Tester said the house — not the court — will receive the vast majority of use and estimated the court would be used "maybe 1% of the time over the course of a year." Neighbor testimony submitted and read into the record described relief at replacing a previously neglected lot with a designed home.

Given a short board presence that required unanimity on variances, members took a straw poll before moving to a formal motion. A motion to approve the variance with the added lighting condition was made and seconded and carried unanimously among the five members present.

The decision approves the requested setback variance while attaching specific mitigation measures staff recommended to limit light and sound impacts on surrounding properties. The board did not list additional fines or enforcement actions beyond the conditions in the draft order; any future noncompliance would fall under the city’s standard enforcement processes.