Miami-Dade County, FL Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Miami-Dade County Code § 16A-10
- Board
- 13-member Historic Preservation Board
- Moratorium trigger
- Filing of a designation report
- Frozen actions
- Building, altering, demolishing, ground disturbance
- Hearing window
- 15 to 60 days after filing
- Penalty
- Up to $500 per day (§16A-16)
- Scope
- Countywide unless a city opts out (§16A-3.1)
Summary
Miami-Dade County's Historic Preservation Board can designate any building, structure, landscape feature, or archaeological zone as a protected individual site, district, or cultural resource under Section 16A-10, based on criteria like architectural or cultural distinction. The moment staff files a designation report, the law imposes an automatic moratorium: the owner cannot erect, alter, renovate, move, demolish, or disturb the ground on the property until the process concludes.
(1)Criteria. The Board shall have the authority to designate areas, places, buildings, structures, landscape features, archaeological and paleontological sites, and other improvements or physical features, as individual sites, districts, or archaeological or paleontological zones that are significant in Miami-Dade County's history, architecture, paleontology, archaeology or culture.[...](5)(i)Moratorium. Upon the filing of a designation report by the staff, the owner(s) of the real property which is the subject matter of the designation report and any other individual or private or public entity shall not:1.Erect any structure on the subject property.2.Alter, restore, renovate, move or demolish any structure on the subject property until such time as final administrative action, as provided by this Chapter, is completed.3.Perform any ground-disturbing activities, including but not limited to new construction, filling, digging, or tree removal, that may alter or reveal an archaeological or paleontological site.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 135).
Full Breakdown
" To qualify, a site must possess "integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, or association" and meet at least one of five criteria under 16A-10(1), including association with distinctive cultural, social, political, economic, scientific or architectural history, association with historically significant people, embodying a distinctive construction type or artistic value, likely yielding historic or prehistoric information, or National Register listing. Section 16A-10(2) excludes cemeteries, birthplaces, religious properties, relocated structures, commemorative properties, and anything less than 50 years old from ordinary designation, unless they independently meet listed exceptions such as exceptional architectural distinction or transcendent historical importance.
The designation process runs on a filed "designation report" (16A-10(4)), followed by a public hearing "no sooner than 15 days and within 60 days" of filing (16A-10(5)(f)), at which owners may object. 1.
Violations & Fines
Section 16A-16 makes any failure to comply with Chapter 16A, including violating the designation moratorium, punishable by civil or criminal penalties of up to $500 per day for each day the violation continues, plus a requirement to remove unauthorized work and restore the property. Each day a corrective action is not taken is a separate violation. The County Historic Preservation Chief can pursue an injunction, seek a corrective-action lien on the property, or settle through a written consent agreement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I renovate my house once the county files a designation report on it?
Does Miami-Dade's historic designation power reach property inside a city like Coral Gables?
What penalty applies if I demolish something during the moratorium?
Are cemeteries and religious properties automatically excluded from designation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Miami-Dade County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Miami-Dade County to another location·View the Florida historic preservation overview
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