Commissioners will hear the latest on Miami Beach's effort to repaint historic Art Deco buildings using the Leonard Horowitz Color Palette when the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee meets Wednesday, July 15, at 9 a.m. in Commission Chambers at City Hall.

How to participate

The meeting is hybrid. Residents can attend in person or join via Zoom (Webinar ID: 878 3335 2956) or by phone at 888-475-4499 (toll-free). The Dr. Stanley Sutnick Citizens' Forum opens every meeting for public comment. Agendas and video streaming are available at miamibeachfl.gov.

The Horowitz palette and Hulanicki collaboration

The restoration program pairs the city with Barbara Hulanicki, the British designer who moved to Miami Beach in 1987 and reshaped Ocean Drive by redesigning hotels including The Cardozo, The Leslie, and the Marlin. Hulanicki is consulting on color selections from Horowitz's palette of about 40 pastels — peach, aqua, seafoam green, Caribbean blue, sunrise orange — to highlight architectural details on city-owned buildings.

The City Commission voted 7-0 on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, to require monthly progress reports on the program, according to city records. The Colony Theater, Beach Patrol Headquarters, and the Morris Lapidus-designed South Shore Community Center were identified for repainting in earlier committee discussions. Commissioner Laura Dominguez, the committee's vice-chair, sponsors the agenda item.

Horowitz co-founded the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976 and drew his colors from "sunset, sunrise, the summer and winter oceans and the sand on the beach." The first building he painted was Friedman's Bakery at 7th Street and Washington Avenue. He died in 1989 at age 43.

Promenade and bridge updates also on the agenda

The committee will review the Miami Beach Promenade Master Plan, which covers a pedestrian pathway behind oceanfront properties on Collins Avenue from 24th to 29th streets in Middle Beach. The city held a virtual community meeting July 8 to present 50% master plan documents, according to the City of Miami Beach. Curtis + Rogers Design Studio prepared the feasibility study and plan. Committee Chair Alex Fernandez sponsors that item.

Two agenda items address the 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge, a 158-foot enclosed span designed by French artist Daniel Buren with translucent colored panels. The bridge broke ground Friday, February 28, 2025, at 500 Alton Road; the city projected completion by summer or fall 2026 at groundbreaking. Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas is asking the committee to consider replacing the planned bridge with an over-water connection linking the Baywalk south and north of 5th Street. It is unclear how that proposal would affect the bridge already under construction.

The committee also includes Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt as an alternate member. Wednesday's meeting begins at 9 a.m.