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Minutes 06-25-02HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING ON TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2002 Present Mike Fdedland, Chairman Woodrow Hay, Vice Chair Ed Currier William Cwynar Mike Fitzpatrick Edward Hillery Maurice Rosenstock Bob Ensler, Alternate Alice Otis, ,~lternate David Tolces, Assistant City Attorney Michael Rumpf, Planning & Zoning Director Dick Hudson, Sr. Planner Eric Johnson, Planner 1. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 2. Introduction of the Board Chairman Friedland introduced the regular Board members, the Assistant City Attorney and staff. He then introduced the two Alternate Members of the Planning & Development Board who were sitting in the audience. Chair Friedland also recognized Lee Wische, former Planning & Zoning Board Chairman. 3. Agenda Approval Motion Mr. Rosenstock moved to approve the agenda as given. Mr, Cwynar seconded the motion that carried 7-0. 4. Minutes Approval Motion Vice Chair Hay moved to approve the minutes of the May 28, 2002 meeting. Mr. Cwynar seconded the motion that carried 7-0. 5. Communications and Announcements A. Planning & Zoning Report Final disposition of the May 28, 2002 Planning and Development Board meeting agenda items. Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25,2002 Mike Rumpf, Planning & Zoning Director, stated that the City Commission approved the application for the Watershed Rehabilitation Hospital use in Quantum Park at its June 4, 2002 meeting. 6. New Business A. Public Hearing Land Use Plan AmendmentJRezonin~ Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: South Congress Residential (LUAR 02-002) Kilday & Associates, Inc. Congress Industrial Park, BBC. East side of South Congress Avenue opposite Hunters Run PUD 1) Request to amend the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map for a 32.1-acre tract from Industrial (I) to High Density Residential '(HDR) and 2) Request to rezone a 32.1-acre tract from Industrial (M1) to Planned Unit Development (PUD). Assistanl City Attorney David Tolces administered the oath to all who would be giving testimony at the meeting. Chair Friedland explained that the Public Audience would be delayed until staff and the applicant had made presentations. Dick Hudson. Senior Planner, presented the Staff Report from the Planning & Zoning Department, who recommended denial of the requests. He explained that since the proposed use was over 10 acres, it had to be considered as a Large Scale Future Land Use Map Amendment in the City's first round of Comprehensive Plan amendments for the year 2002. The criteria used to review Comprehensive Plan amendments and rezonings are listed in Article 2, Section 9, Administration and Enforcement, Item C. Comprehensive Plan Amendments: Rezonings. These criteria must be used when the proposed change includes an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map. The Conclusion and Recommendations section of the Staff Report dated June 17, 2002 states: "As indicated herein, this request is not consistent with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan or the preliminary finding and recommendations of the "South Congress Avenue (M-l) Study." While the amendment will not create additional impacts on infrastructure that have not been anticipated in the Comprehensive Plan, it will not be compatible with adjacent land uses or existing development. Moreover, while multifamily rental developments are taxed at a commercial reel estate rate, increased expenditures for public safety services (Fire-Rescue and Police) that accompany high density residential 2 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach; Florida June 25, 2002 developments may offset increased revenues and actually result in a net fiscal loss to the City. Therefore, staff recommends that the subject request be denied." Mr. Hudson indicated that since the South Congress Avenue (M-l) Study would not go to the Commission until July 2, 2002, staff could support a postponement of any recommendation from this Board until after the Commission acts on the Study. Kieran Kilday, Kilday & Associates, agent for JPI, the contract purchasers of the property, stated that the City Commission had ordered the South Congress Avenue (M- 1) Study in January and staff had been given six months to provide that study The Board r~embers and the applicant did not have the advantage of knowing the results of that Study. Although there had been a Workshop the previous week, there had been no publishe(~ woCksho~ reports or anything else to give them guidance. Staff had nd cared that what the ~pplicadt was proposing would not be cons stent w th the findings of the Study; howevers, in fairness to th~ applicant, who had spent s x months preparing for th s request, Mr. K;i[day believed that ~he facts Should be ~resented and a recommendation made, so the p¢oj~ct could mOVe forward. Mr. Kilday distributed a pagefrom the Opportunities and Problems portion of the material presented at the workshop. It recognized that industrial was already there and that it would be difficult to get people with property zoned industrial to give it up. It recommended libbralizing.'th~ ]nUustriai designation to include commerc a uses. He felt that many of the busine~:ses on Congress ,[,venue n' th S area are really commercial, even though they have [ndus'~ial zomng, M-1. They are open to the public, and have signage. Mr. Kilday showed the Board members a large map of the area with different colors delineating different uses such as residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional. He said the area was really a mixed-use area and proceeded with a detailed description of what was in each of the respective areas. He showed the Board another drawing that depicted the whole Corddor from midtown Boynton Beach [o the south, stating that with the exception of the Boynton Beach Boulevard/Congress Avenue heavy-duty intersection, and a lighter commercial node at Woolbright and Co.ngress, virtually all of the properties fronting on Congress Avenue are residential uses. A great many of those uses are also multifamily uses. He said that because the Plan did recognize that there are places where industrial does not belong. He talked then abopt the industrial nature of the area surrounding the proposed project. He showed a picture with a quadrant where 1/3 of the area east of Congress Avenue is already designated for recreation, park, or institutional use. The vacant property they are requesting the change for is a 30-acre site on the southern end of [he quadrant. Immediately north there is the APAC building that was a UPS service center. It was vacant for a greatmany years. Currently, Bethesda Hospital is considering [hat site for non-medical offices4. Tills office use would have to go through staff also because M-1 zoning does not allow that. Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 There are four self-storage facilities right up the street from the proposed project, They are benign, but do not meet any employment goals as mentioned in the Staff Report. Finally, there is a hodge-podge of industrial buildings, what they call "flex space," with a significant vacancy rate, He found a granite finishing company and some larger storage facilities, but many buildings were vacant and boarded up. He believed this reflected an industrial area that was having problems. Their justification statement (and he assumed that the Board ha~ received it) went through an analysis of need in Boynton Beach and concluded .that Boynton Beach has hundreds of excess acres of industrial area for its population. Mr, Rosenstock interjected that the Board did not get this report. Mr. t~ilday passed out a portion of his report showing 1 ) an 11.6% vacancy rate in the industrial market in Boynton Beach, the highest in the County, and 2) the next-to-lowest rental rates in the County in lhe industrial market. ONCOR International, who put the study together, is a company that people use to find out where the market is and where it is going. This report showed the status as of the end of 2001. If that is the case, he believed that industrial was not the highest, best, and most appropriate use for the subject property. Mr. Kilday suggested that one reason the property had failed lo develop over 30 years was that it does not have a very good location. Industrial users like to be near the main highway and this property is as far away as one could get from any major highways. The City's industrial population in Quantum Park has direct access to 1-95. Although the property shows up as a 30-acre site, it has a usable area of only 20 acres due to the SFWMD wetland mitigation requirements and lake area, The property could have been developed for industrial use if there had been a market but there has not beer~ one. Because of that, the owner entertained the idea of a residential property. Mr. Kilday asked if residential would work better, would the determination be made that industrial did not work in the subject area. In looking at the overall character of the area, they believe that residential is a more appropriate use on Congress Avenue. One has to live with what is there now, but if a property owner offers to consider a different, more compatible use, it merits serious consideration. Mr. Kilday maintained that the City was not in a position to change the land uses out there due to the Bert J, Harris. Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act, which basically says that if a government restricts the rights of a property owner, they have a right to seek and receive compensation. If the property owner is ready to voluntarily change to the less-intensive, more compatible use of a residential area, he thought it was a bonus and should be taken into consideration. The City argued that it would have to give up industrial land if th~s were approved. He believed that he had already made a case on ~his point. They would not be giving up any industrial land that had any merit or need in the City in this location. The City also argued that there ~vas already plenty of residential space in the City. Mr. Kilday mentioned a statistic that from 1990 to 2000, there were 3200 multifamily units built in Boynton Beach and 2400 single-family units. The fact that the single family was so close to the multifamily told him that there was a good mix in the City. 4 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25,2002 The bulk of the projects that had been approved in the City ~n recent time have been on Federal Highway and staff has indicated that they continue to support that. If he came m next week with someone on Federal Highway, ~hey would support it, even to the point of changing Iand uses to make it happen In the area west or 1-95 there is one multi-family project being completed across from Home Depot. Everything else in this area has been built out. If you look at the big picture aerially, the opportunities for additional housing in this area are very minimal. Mr. Kilday stressed the fact that JPI was not going to build an empty project. They monitor on a monthly basis what the residency rates are for new and o d apartment complexes. The City's occupancy rate is 94.6% in its apartments right now and those figures could be provided to staff, Mr. ~ilday referred to the City's argument that it would cost the City more to have residential than industrial, that a residential use would require more services from the City. Mr, Kilday b)elieved that this was an undocumented assumption and they did not agree with it. He determined the ad valorem taxes on various parcels in the project area. The most comparab e n acreage was the APAC parcel to the north and property taxes on that property are $153K/year. Other parcels had property taxes of $200K/year and $150KJyear. Based upon their costs and using the Property Appraiser's 80% of value [ormula they expect the taxes on the proposed project to be $615K a year, a s gn ficant amount. The water and sewer services are a pa d for so t wou d not, cost the City more to offer these services. In regard to Police and Fire services, this would be a gated community and wo~ld probably have more secur ty than he found n the industrial area that he was aSle to a~cess so easily. While it is not documented, the added revenue would more than I~ay .for !he project t will have its own private recreation facility Ts desired by the market and require~ by Code and will make the contribution to the Ctys recreatio~ facilities ~hat is required by Ordinance. Mr. Kilday realized they were not appearing for site p an approval but showed the Board a proposed road frontage treatment. ~e noted that Congress Avenue was a corr der to the city with high ~isibility. Mr. Kilday s office did the buffering for the Isles of Hunters Run, still had the plans, ana would match or exceed those plans with this project. Mr. Kilday believed that any other user of this properly would want to have the same rights as the other users that are already on Congress. They might agree to have landscaping out front but their tenants would demand visibility from Congress Avenue. The proposed project would not be seen from the road at all, Mr. Kilday indicated that if all the factors were weighed, this use was a good, appropriate, and beneficial one in an area that already had multiple uses. of which industrial was the least desirable. Herb Suss, 1711 Woodfern Drive, Boynton Beach, spoke in favor of the project, believing that it could be accomplished in a year's time. He did not be ieve it would be fair to make the owner of the land recoup his investment gradually. He wants the Congress Avenue Corridor kept as residential as possible. Mr Suss thought it was irregular that the w(~rkshop had not been taped and minutes were not taken. He thought that there was a lot of vacant industrial land available in Boynton Beach. 5 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25,2002 Lee Wische, 1302 S.W. 18th Street, Boynton Beach, spoke in i~avor of the project, indicating his respect for staff but that in this case. he could not go along with their recommendation. He believed that staff had painted a picture that there was no residential areas surrounding the proposed project and that was not the case. From Hypoluxo all the way down to Boynton Beach Boulevard on the west side of Congress there is nothing but residential. He had lived in the area 30 years and the subject properly had been vacant and the City had gotten "zilch" out of it. He did not see anyone coming in to buy this property for commercial or industrial use. If he lived in Hunters Run, and were presented with the choice of commercial, industrial, or homes across the street, the choice ~vould be easy. He, asked aDout the amount of rent to be charged 1~ the proposed rental units. The response from the applicant's side was "between $800 to $t400 a month." Mr. Wische felt this would be comparable. They would make an entrance that would be appreciated.. He could not see how this could have a negative effect on the City. If he were still on the Board; he. would vote to pass the request. Sean Leder, 11761 Preservation Lane, Boca Raton, introduced himself as part of the ownership of Congress Industrial Park that was contemplating selling the property to the applicant. He went to the workshop the prev!ous week on this topic. In the last s~x months they had spent a lot of time trying to aha y~.e the project and he wondered who would be hurt in thewhole process. In thi~ case, fo ow nga ~tr[ct interpretation of Code without allowing any deviation to what is happen ng in the real world, would harm them as property owners. It would also harm ~he, developei~, who had Spent a lot of time putting the project together, and the res dehts across th~ street, who were very supportive of What they ~vere trying to do to gei the property developed. Mr. Leder reported that there had been at least eight speakers who got up in support of the application at the workshop. Also, all of the 23 different associations within Hunters Run support the project. Staff is the only group that is against it. Staff's core issue is a concern about converting industrial property and diminishing that core supply in the Boynton Beach market. He was disappointed that the Board members did not get a copy of their just ficat on summary. He took a point from it, saying that no matter what the use, there were only 20 usabe acres on the property. In a nutshell, their analysis said that if you do 50 sq. ft. times the number of citizens, you would get a certain amount of industrial space., you would need to support the population. When this was traqslated into acres, it came out to about 200 acres. There are over 200 acres that are already developed in Boynt0n Beach that have a higher degree of vacancy than other markets in south Flor da They have industrial properties from Mangonia Park down to Miami so were pret~ familiar with the market. This 20-acre parcel accounts for only 2.68% of the total inc~strial land available in Boynton Beach or 745 acres, and only 4% of the 500 acres left that are vacant right now. Mr. Leder believed there was some disagreement between Mr. Kilday's analysis and staff's analysis regarding the demand for industrial in Boynton Beach. Mr. Leder believed that the Class A industrial in Quantum Park was struggling. The industrial area near Hunters Run is not Class A. There are small bays with Iow ceiling heights ~n metal buildings, occupied by little manufacturing type users. This is what they would have to put on their site if they were forced to develop it as industrial. 6 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Their conclusion Was that it wOUld be sad if the City maintained a strict interpretation of the Codes that would hamper the development of a property that is favored by the owner, the deve!oper; and the citizens next door. When you come out of Hunters Run, you do not want to look at overhead doors and a bunch of truck traffic coming out of an industrial devel0pment versus a beaUtiful entrance with fountains and a lake like is proposing to build there. That would be much more compatible with the residential across the street whether it is indicated or not. When the Comprehensive Plan was done in 1970 or 1973. there was a lot of speculation about how the area would develop. If there were no development in the area at all, it would make sense to preserve the industrial designation so that some pioneering developer couId kick offa project there and producean industrial park. It was their belief that the type of industrial uses that would take up residenCe in their area would not pay for Class A space. They would only pay for a lower quality product. The proposed project would be up and runn ng quickly and the. tax dollars wou d come in. If they had to continue with th~ industrial dev~ opment as described, the tax dollars would come in slowly, over a long period of time. Mr. Leder mentioned the P.I.D. zoning alternative brought up at the workshop, stating that as developers, they would not be interested in diminishing their capacity to build that site versus other things. They Want to make something that is good for the community, for the City, and foF the residents of Hunters Run. Bonnie L. Miskel, Attorney, 222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite 800, West Palm Beach, FI 3340'1, representing the developer, stated that she was concerned about Mr, Rosenstock's comment that the Board had not been given a complete package. She gave them some i~]fort~ation that she believed they should have rece~vec~ previously. Chair Friedland a§ked if she would be speaking under Public Audience and she indicated that she would be giving closing arguments for the applicant. Chair Friedland suggested that other speakers be given an opportunity first. Since no one wished to speak, Chair Fdedland closed the Public Audience. Ms. Miskel rebutted some points in the Staff Report. Ms. Miskel stated that they were not disputing that there may be an industrial deficit in the City but believed that this was tangential and not at issue. The issue is whether it was more compatible to have a residential designation or an industrial designation on this site. The fact that there may have been poor planning in other parts of the City or in other instances is really not directly relevant~ Thirty acres of vacant industrial land does nothing to further the goals, policies, and objectives of the City's Comprehensive Plan like Providing emploYment and services to the rest of the community. It just allows you to have 30 acres of vaCant industrial land. Staff talked about a well-defined area for industrial but only identified that area as going as far west as Congress - they failed to look across the street, which is all residential, and that was not representative when using the term "well-defined area." The Staff Report spoke of creating an isolated district. This is an isolated district. You have a huge population of residential across the street. Mr. Kilday mentioned the Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 institutional uses - there are schools and a park. There is no connectivity between the institutional uses and the development of this site as an industrial use. There is a relationship between the school and the park and use of this site as a residential community. There is more connectivity, should it become residential. Staff talked about too many residential units. Ms. Miskel does nothing but zoning and land use work and represents most of the large single famiiy/multifamily developers. She could not tell the Board how hard her clients were fighting each other for residential developments, particularly multifamily. She had five clients solicit her to try to get them an invitation to approach the City to convert Mr. Winchester's site across from the mall to multi or s~ngle family or both. Unfortunately, it is under contract for retail so she could not help them. She did not know where staff came up with their conclusion about the absorption rate and the saturation in multifami[y un ts and that the market was declin ng That could not be further from the truth. Her clients wou d disagree vehemently. She would not be in business if that were the case. As to net fiscal impacts, Ms. Miskel stated that there were no fiscal benefits to having a 30-acre vacant parcel. Ms. Miskel mentioned that staff had cited six policies or goals in their report - four of which actually support the applicant's position. Policies 1.01 - 1.10.4 recognize that industrial s incompatible with residential, period. Whether one chooses to ~gnore it or not, Hunters Run is a very large residential development. Mr. Hudson commented that Palm Beach County had acknowleaged that the traffic light would be the Iocafion for ~ngress and egress for whatever development goes on the site. She spoke of a traffic report they had prepared, and which the Board did not receive. That report identifies 22,262 trips per day that would be generated by industrial use of the property - 22,000 cars going through a traffic light, mixing with solely residential cars coming out of the Hunters Run development. There is nothing compatible about that. The kinds of vehicles that go into and out of industrial areas are not the kinds you would want to see going into and out of the Hunters Run main entrance - as compared to 3,470 cars that would be generated by a residential use on this property. Those cars are compatible with the residential use across the street. She believed that it was a question of safety and public welfare in addition to compatibility. It is not a safe condition for the City to be suggesting a 30-acre industrial park across from ~ community the size of Hunters Run. Finally, in the workshop, staff concluded that a P.I.D. was a possible solution to the problem. Mr. Leder, as an owner, would object to that because he was not interested in conceding further development rights for the benefit of the neighbors across the street; however, as the owner, he was Consenting to an application that would be the City's best option. They were offering to correct the wrong that was done many years ago by designating this parcel industrial. They respectfully requested that the Board recommend approval and give them the opportun ty to fix the problem. The City of Boynton Beach Comprehensive Plan provides that residential and industrial uses must be ameliorated. Chair Friedland commented that while the Alternates could not vote since the full Board was present, they would be able to comment and participate as they so desired. Mr. Rosenstock asked Mr. Rumpf about the information given to the Board. n looking at the backup, he did not know why they did not get a comprehensive report. He was the Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 only member of the Board that attended the workshop about this issue held last week. Mr. Rumpf had g~ven some statistics but he thought they would get information like: the assessed valuation of the properties within a certain range, the amount of industrial, and many other details that would have given the Board ~ better report to help them decide how to make a judgment. All that staff provided was what the Comprehensive Plan says, not a re-evaluation of what exists st the present time and where the City should go as your recommendation. He wished to know why this was not done. Mr. Rumpf replied thai some of that information was included in the Study, which, in a perfect world, woulcJ have been completed before this time. His staff had been very busy in that six-month period, processing other deve opment rev ews and other projects Mr. Rosenstock said it should, then, ha~e been exter~ded. Mr. Rumpf was hoping that the City Commission would do this to account for what they needed f~r implementation f they di~l concur. This i;[em would not have Seen brought J~efore the Board but staff was directed to process t si6ce it would come for~Vard at.about the same time as the study. They believed it Was inconsistent with tl~e N.O.I. itself. The facts were very simple with the focus be ng on land use planning The M-1 area in question was at the western limits o~ the City and that is no longer the case. In 1972, the Comprehensive Plan was prepared with the participation of the public and the assistance o1' the planners, and they all envisioned the western area as being residential. He did not believe that there was a tremendous land use incompatibility at that time. This was a large pocket of industrial land and its neecJ Will be relied upon even more in the future. Mr. Rumpf agreed that the area had mixed uses already; however, the M-1 area is a very concise and consolidated area with very strong boundaries. In other areas of the City where they had pockets of industrial uses the boundaries were not nearly th s clear and d d not have this d stance separating them from residential land uses. T~ose other commercial and industrial pockets are being chipped at. There are two different redevelopment plans in the City, the Federal Highway Corridor Study and the Heart of Boynton Study, and both contain intensive commercial use pockets. Both Plans re~ommend the elimination or reduction of the heavy commercial uses on U.S. 1 and in the Heart of Boyntc~n Study, of two pockets of heavy and commercially intensive areas, M-! areas.. Part of the reason for the recommendat on to reduce or e m na~e them was their location and the lack of separation between them and the residenta areas. That will further increase the intensity of need for this industrial pocket. Quantum Park is a P.I.D. There have been some large projects coming through over the last five years. The majority of and remaining in Quantum Park is not solely identified with an Industrial opt on t is now either Mixed Use or Office. There is not a significant amount of land remain ng Currently, we have a permt expected to develop out the Quantum Profess onal Center, which is the industrial warehouse project on Gateway being done by Premier. A t takes s a couple of arge tenants n that first bud n whi , . g ch zney expect soon, and they are ready to develop out. There was a pre-meeting w th them and the City is expecting those per~its. They v~ould not be doing that if they c] d not have the need. They indicated that the project ~vou d be phased as: tenants came ~ .... n That conz~nues to I~apper~ gradually. There is a continued gradual development of industrial sites i~ the City - tiqe CRA I~ad a major site plan modification for a site on Industrial 9 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Avenue. Staff has for review, In house right now, a new ind Jstrial project in that same area. It will be developed gradually. Mr. Rumpf realized that the demand was not equal between the industrial and residential markets but believed they were proportional. There is a mix of uses already, but if you look at the consolidated area, they are uses that none of us want to live by. That includes a park. Everyone wants parks in close proximity but not right next door. The uses that are there now have one thing in common - no one wants to live next door to them. Mr. Rumpf stated that there was a prominent boundary separating the industrial area from the residential uses. Mr. Rumpf praised the high-end industrial products in Quantum Park such as Premier, saying that they were very visible on another corridor in the City. Premier will ~)e coming in with a site plan modification to rotate a building so it can look pretty when viewed from 1-95. The same thing would be done on the subject site. As to negatively impacting the property values of the nearest homes, which are quite a distance away, this is one of the reasons they were doing the Study - to identify which uses would have a negative impact and how they could be rewewed and avoided. The P.I.D. would accommodate all the pre-app meetings Mr. Rumpf had held with potential developers in that M-1 area over the past two years. He mentioned one the previous year where the applicant wanted showroom space and industrial warehouse space so they could have brand-name clothing for wholesale, with small showrooms. The M-1 district would not allow that kind of active retail use. The P.I.D. would. There have been comments about ~)eop e coming in with office combinations, considerinq the same development style we see m Quantum Park that accommodates a whole host of uses, office as well as low-end or light industrial. The P.I.D. zoning distdct would do that. The Study recommends that the Comprehensive Plan be amended. The Study would have come before the Board but was currently bein~ reviewed by Mr. Rumpf's superiors. The Study includes a recommendation to amend the Comprehensive Plan to require a P.I.D., ~n a section entitled Problems and Opportunities. The only reason that Wal-Mart was approved with such P.C.D. characteristics was that the Comprehensive Plan recommendation required that. Mr. Rumpf believed that land use planning and citywide needs were very much the points to be considered in this analysis, in spite of Ms. Miskel's comment that they were not. That is staff's perspective. Staff is tooking at citywide impact. As he already indicated, the other P.I.D. is almost developed outl There :are four P.I.D.s inthe City and they are developing out. Motorola is in transition. That is, again, an industrial piece of property on Congress Avenue. Another property was indicated behind LeWes. The City does not have the available land for industrial uses that was alluded to at this meeting. In Quantum Park, we know the transition that has gone on. The demand for other uses and a vision for something greater in Quantum led to a lot of that land going away from being solely identified with the industrial:use classification. 10 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25,2002 It was interesting to Mr. Rumpf to see such overwhelming support for multifamily units when so many had previously opposed additional rental units, even when they were proposed in strictly residential areas~ in downtown mixed areas, or in commercial pockets. It seemed that at one moment additional rental units were feared, and at the next, we are overWhelmingly welcoming them for fear of something that should not be feared. Mr: Rumpf read from a report by Hanna Matras, the City's Economic Research Analyst, as follOws: "The market situation at any given point in time should not be confused with the notion of a long-term need for land use." Mr. Rumpf felt this was an important point when they were being forced to consider immediate development potent a and what had been identified as a high percentage of industrial vacant space. In reference to the comment that "this property is as far away as one could get from any major highway," when considering such things as the highest and best use of a property, Mr. Rumpf said to keep in mind that the highest and best use or real estate principle for evaluating land development does not always coincide with logical land use planning principles that planners endorse. Board Comments Vice Chair Hay Vice Chair Hay stated that he had heard a lot of information and a lot of information had been handed to him that he had not had an opportunity to rewew. Also, some of the information was incomplete. He believed that it was premature for this Board to hear this case when the South Congress Avenue Study was to go before the Commission on July 2. He wanted more time to look at the ~ssue and delay it until the Commission made a decision about the Study. He heard the arguments on both sides and they both had merit. There was just too much information that was left out of the packet and he would need more time to digest it. Maurice Rosenstock Mr. Rosenstock stated that the applicant had mentioned a report that would be coming to the City Commission. He understood that the City Commission was going to vote on July 2, not just accept the report for reference and consideration. He wanted clarification on this point. Mr. Rumpf responded that timing was the issue. Staff would like to see everything slowed down and occurring in proper order, but that may or may not happen. As Mr. Hudson indicated previously, staff would support a postponement of this rewew, and that would be one correction in the order of things. Mr. Rosenstock said since that could not be verified at this point, they were compelled to make a recommendation. He asked Mr. Tolces about this. Mr. Tolces said they had the authority to do whatever they wanted to do about it. Mr. Rosenstock asked what would happen if someone tabled the matter for a time certain date and Mr. Tolces said they had the ability to do as they wished. 11 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Chair Friedland thought the Board's purpose was to lead and that the Board would have opportunities in the future to revisit this particular work. He felt that the Board should come up with a recommendation one way or another, in spite of the fact that they did not have all the pertinent information. Mr. Rosenstock stated that he ives in Hunters Run Golf and Racquet Club and is a former president and member of the Board and an extremely active resident. He had touted the fact that Hunters Run has the highest assessed valuation in the City of Boynton Beach including the Boynton Beach Mall (which is 'owned by more than one developer.) He did not think Nat should impact their decision but it had relevance if their decision would influence the property values. If it were decreased to any extent or if there, were vacancies and vacanc es generate ower taxes, the amount of money rece ved by the C~ty of Boynton Beach wou d be less. Mr. Rosenstock asked the City and the Board members to reflect on how things had proceeded in the past. He believed that the Board had been governed by granting variances as ~ matter of course in recent times, and this concerned him. He thought that someone might come back to the Board one day, indicating that they had created precedents, and asking them to stick to the rulings or at least use them as analogous situations to what they wanted. VVhen he went to the presentation by the Planning Department at the workshop on this topic, he was amazed to find that one of the arguments they used was that a 15-foot setback between the industrial and the residential would be maintained. In some cases, if the change in zoning were made to light industrial, that could go up to thirty feet. This would be like having no screen at all. Mr. Rosenstock was in favor of parks and would vote against this project if he were told that a park would b~e put in there, bur he knew this would not happen The City does not have the money. If the developer can only use 20 of the 30 acres a~ailable, they would have to put something on it that would make it pay. They would not make it into a park. He would love to have seen a research center go in to the subject site, but that was not happening. Instead, there were "flex spaces," restaurants, and a hotel, and that was the real world. In the qear future, this country and this city will in economic trouble. He was worried about whatlwas going to happen tO that land to make t pay and that somebody would come along and put tl~e cheapest possible building there and they would have to live with it. Mr. Rosenstock said that from Hypol~xo down south, it is mostly residential or residential-looking. In considering industrial space, he asked if staff had considered what would happen to Motorola and the place below it. There had been talk of putting some sort of development on the Intracoastal for fifteen years and it still was not there. He did not want to live in a dream world. The voters and people that live in the Cty of Boynton Beach have a right to expect some kind of increase in their tax base, increase in the job potentiality and an increase in what is viable to be built in this City. The developer has agreed to put in a large berm in front of the property with the same k' nd of wall as Hunters Run has now. The entrance will be gorgeous, as opposed to what would be built if the land continues to be designated as industrial. 12 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Mr. Rosenstock referred to Mr. Rumpf's comments about the traffic on Congress Avenue but stated that the Board was not privy to the type of information that the developer had just given them; saying that they would only generate 3K plus or minus cars per day and industrial would be generating 20K. Staff did not tell the Board this and he believed they should have. He was disappointed in that. Mr. Rosenstock worked for four years to develop the medians and landscaping on Congress Avenue. He went to every housing development, industry, or development on Congress Avenue from Boynton Beach Boulevard down and they would not give the City ten cents after what they said the City did to them to help them develop their project. The attitude of the City has changed since then and it has been a lot more cooperative. s interested in making Congress Avenue look beautiful and this is as having industrial space. He thought parks, with themes to which developers must adhere, have a comprehensive plan. There used to be a sign code. B s on.the books right now, and he knew they were busy, staff had net r the years the Board had asked them to. Mr. Rosenstock to live n t~epe and d e n despa r that they would get a research or I building aeross from them. He d d not want to take that chance and anyon6 e!se' did~either' He. did not think i~ was practica to keep the the Subject PrOperty. fancy Ii Mr. Rosenstock asked staff about what was meant by "linkages of goods and services?" Mr. Hudson responded by saying, "the idea that like industries can link, support one another, provide synergy." Mr. Rose,stock said there was a sewer plant to the south of it in Delray Beach and a strip place with some bakery p aces and some little stores, and to the nort~ there is some s[~r~ge space He asked I~o~v that is going to link ght ndustria Mr. Hudson saicl there Were other industries bel~ind ;~hem that are right on the street. Mr. Rosenstock said there Was a packinghouse. Mr. Hudson said there were several high- end cabinetmakers doing excellent cabinetwork and many other businesses. Mr. Rosenstock has a storage area and goes. by there every day and did not see how the "flex space" was going to link it. tie wanted to see a report and he thought the timing on this issue was very, very bad. Ed Hillery Mr. Hillery asked Mr. Rumpf how wide the right-of-way on Congress Avenue was and Mr. Kilday responded 120 feet. Mr. Hillery asked how far it was from the proposed project to the closest house in Hunters: Run. Mr. Rosenstock stated that the houses were directly on the other side of the wall on the berm but that you could not see whal lay behind the berm. The Board discussed a drawing that was shown to them by Mr. Rumpf. Mr. Hillery said it seemed like they were talking about over 360 feet. He also said that you did r~ot see what was across the road until you came out of the long driveway. Mr. Rumpfagreed. Mr. Hiliery had a problem with changing the Land Use Plan of the City. They were not talking about an exception on height but about changing the Land Use Plan of the City, the Master Plan, and a lot of thought had gone into the making of that plan He was not ready to vote on this yet. He agreed with Vice Chair Hay that there was more information available, especially the Study that people kept talking about. He wanted to see that to find out what else is going on around it. He did not believe he had enough 13 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach. Florida June 25,2002 information to vote based on what was in the packet. He wanted to look at the Study before making a decision. Chair Friedland said that the City Commission would be voting on it the following Tuesday. Mr. Hillery felt there was a matter of responsibility at issue. He did not believe that the Master Plan of the City should be changed without having sufficient information on which to base a decision Mike Fitzpatrick Mr. Fitzpatrick asked that people consider what kind of apartments would be built. He did not feel that they would be another Isles of Hunters Run. He said on the north there was a vacant office warehouse, to the east the sound of traffic around the dock, and a sewer plant to the south. He thought this added up to transient renters - two income families where one works in West Palm and the other in Fort Lauderdale. They would prefer to liVe more centrally but cannot afford it. They would not add anything to the social fabric of the City and would only stay until they got that next big raise and then leave. He questioned the net ncome from the apartments. He beleved that they would add more ~rowdir~g on Wooi'bright Road and on the 1-95 exits twice a day crowding at the be~hes, and moi:~'"competition for drinking water. more Mr. Fitzpatrick stated that the owner's position seemed to be that if the City does not make the zoning change, he will have to chop it up and put n obnoxious industrial or sue the City for some sort of "taking." He did not like that k nd of att tune He thought there was a ihird option available. He be ieves that the highest and best use of this land would be to strengthen the water supply by using it in a way;similar to the way the Palm Beach County W~ter Utilities has done at the Set, them R~gi0na water fac ty There are 50 acres of wetlands there that put a million,ga Ior~s a day back into the aqu fer Th s area could percOlate about 650 ga Ions per d~, of wa~er I~ack inte the aqu fer, which would mitigate the satwa~er ntrusi~n that has 5~come a prQblem, f they did that, the realtors that work in Hunters Run would not be referring to it as a water storage area but as a wildlife refuge in walking distance, which would never be developed. At the last City Commissiort meeting, Assistant City Manager Dale Sugerrnan PO rrted out that we are having water problems and are goir~g to need ~d~e~p wells wh ch, ~ill basically daub e the cost ~f cue water in the next few years. Thb (~=~son we are g0~ing to ha~e to pay for running ou~ Of Water s just this type of-develol~me~t, Which add~ very little benefit to the City. He agreed with Mr. Hillery and Vice Chair Hays that the Board did not have enough informat on on which to make a decisibn. Bill Cwynar Mr. Cwynar stated he had lived in the area for 28 years and had been waiting for a downtown City of Boynton Beach since 1974. All of the City's major thoroughfares have commercial and as you go inward you have resident a however, Congress Avenue is probably the ma n ~treet o~ Boynton Beach - it has the mall on it and that is where industry seems to be going. He thought there was some activity on Federal Highway and he was surprised He felt that the industries might be leaving Boynton Beach because of' the Fire Assessment. This piece of property had been vacant for twenty- eight years and he would be all in favor of seeing some taxes come out of it. If something could be done right now to recommend that this be approved for the change, they could get some tax money out of it. He wanted to see it go forward. 14 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Ed Currier Ed Currier ~)elieved in the theory of "doing something, even if it is wrong" - he thought the land had been sitting idle and it should bring some revenue into the City although maybe not much. The City may be top heavy with rentals right now but they were a so pro~3ably top heavy w th vacant and for a lot of years. He believed that at some point, the integrity of the Code system had to be reinforced and that they would have to go back to it. The Board coutd not be kicking variances around and changing Codes all the time. He thought it was a terrible miscarriage of justice that they were not given enough information to make a positive opimon, divided or not. He thought they were going into it with blindfolds on but were forced to do it. Chair Friedland Chair Friedland stated that they were in the library last year when there was a report on the Usage ,o~ ~.and an_d,,the Value of Land. At tha;[ meeting they were told that the best use of la~d d~))ia~ wi~e was multifamily. He believed that. He had heard about need ng more Police and Fire supped for the proposed project but did not have the facts before him and so, COuld not say. Not having those facts bothered him a great dea Getting an incompete report bothered him. Wth due respect to those Wino dd not agree, he believed that i~ere wa~ enough informat on to g~ ahead with this, put it in the hands of the Commissianers~, .and let them make the final judgment by g ring them a "Yes" on this. Chair Friedland asa<ed the Board, with all respect to the staff, t(~ vote on it, give them support for th~, and, see where they go with it. The Commission will have more of the facts but we have ehough right now. Motion Mr. Currier moved to approve the request to amend the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map for a 32.1-acre tract from Industrial (I) to High Density Residential (HDR). Mr. Rosenstock seconded the motion. During the discussion before the vote, Mr. Hillery said he had COme to the City in 1970 and when he first got here, things were being built in a "hodge-podge" way and the negative effects of some of those decisions persist [o this day. When the Comprehensive Land Use Plan came in, it was adhered to and things improved. It has only been recently that it is being eviscerated and he was not happy with that. He believed that if the chopping away at it cont nued, there would be chaos. A line will have to be drawn somewhere and the Code will have to be adhered to. Chair Friedland agreed, but said thal in the southwest, the land was not zoned and changes were made by a vote from the people. He COuld not envision anythingI going across the street frclm Hunters Run except perhaps a park He fet that they had to keep in mind that mistake's had been made in the past and that change was good. Vice Chair Hay asked what the impact would be of the Board's taking a position contrary to what the City Commission ultimately decided, since they would have the benefit of the Study and the Board did not. Mr. Rumpf said that if the City Commission endorsed the Study in its entirety, they COuld very well react negatively to this project, not approve it and not forward the Land Use Amendment on to the State. Vice Chair Hay felt they were "passing the buck." Chair Friedland said they were passing the buck but with some intelligence from what had been given by the people who had spoken to the Board. 15 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Chair Friedland asked if Mr. Ensler or [vis. Otis wished to speak and they did not. The Recording Secretary was asked to do a roll call vote. The motion carried 5-2, Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Hillery dissenting. Motion Mr. Currier moved to approve the request to rezone a 32.1-acre tract from Industrial (M1) to Planned Unit Development (PUD). Vice Chair Hay seconded the motion that carded 5-2, Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Hillery dissenting. THE MEETING RECESSED AT 9:10 P.M. AND RECONVENED AT 9:28 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING B. Master Plan Modification 1. Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: New Site Plan Grove Plaza Car Wash (MPMD 02-001) David Daszkal, Daszkal Development L.L.C. David Daszkal, Daszkal Development L.L.C./Grove Plaza Master Property Association Grove Plaza - southeast corner of Hypoluxo Road and Lawrence Road Request for Master Plan Modification to include changes in site layout for a car wash facility in ~lace of a restaurant approved for Parcel "E." Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Grove Plaza Car Wash (NWSP 02-007) David Daszkal Daszkal Development L.L.C. David Daszkal, Daszkal Development L.L.C. Realty Corporation Parcel "E" of the Grove Plaza RepJat - southeast Corner of Hypoluxo Road and Lawrence Road Description: Request for site plan approval to construct a 3,596 square-foot car wash facility on a 0.86-acre lot. Eric Johnson, Planner, asked for permission from the Board to present the Site Plan at the same time as the Master Plan Modification and the Board concurred. Mr. Johnson reported that the request was to construct a 3,596 square foot car wash facility with a covered porch and fabric shelter areas. Mr. Johnson reviewed the Staff Report and stated that the applicants had agreed to all the Conditions of Approval on both requests. David Daszkal, 3837 Jonathan's Way, Boynton Beach, owner of the subject property, mentioned that they had wanted to stay open until dark but had compromised with staff on 7:00 p.m. Staff confirmed this. It was agreed that "dark" could be subject to interpretation and would be difficult to manage. 16 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board BoyntOn Beach; Florida June 25, 2002 Chair Friedland opened the Public Audience. Since no one wished to speak, the public aUdienCe WaS cloSed. Mr. Fitzpatrick asked how many gallons of water per day or month they would be using. Mr. DasZkal introduced an industry expert, Anthony Analetto, to respond to this question. Chair Tolcas administered the oath to Mr. Analetto, as he was not preSent earlier in the evening. Anthony Analette, 331 Fairmont Way, Weston, Florida, stated that the months would vary in the amount of water used. It depended on the type of wash and the number of cars being washed. It takes 50 to 60 gallons to wash a car, basically. If you washed 3,000 cars a month, it would take 180K gallons. Mr. Daszkal stated that the South Florida Water Management District had done some studies on water usage also. Commercial car washes, including this one, use a recycling system, where the water is captured after use, goes through a filtering process, and is recycled and reused. The SFWMD compares the car wash to the same amount of water that would, be used by a person in their driveway at home. Actually, a professional car wash uses much less than that. Obviously, the soaps and detergents in the driveway run right into the drain systems. In the carwash, everything goes into a filtration system. Mr. Hillery asked if they could re-use all the water and Mr. Daszkal responded that they did lose some of the water. They capture ali of it but will not use all. that they capture The finished water is filtered water and is used again to wash another car. Mr. Fitzpatrick asked whether the 60 gallons per vehicle would be 60 gallons of new water going through the meter each time. Mr. Analetto stated that when the reclaim system is functioning, then there is a 40-60% loss. This would mean that there would be 30-40 gallons of fresh water used per vehicle. Mr. Fitzpatrick thought that would equate to about 90 r000 gallons per month. He asked about the peak months and Mr. Analetta stated that the peak would be during the winter months. Mr. Daszkal did not find that the car wash business was as seasonal as other businesses. Mr. Currier asked why they were losing 40-60% of the recycled water. Mr. Analetto stated that ~n an automatic car wash. certain things needed to be kept constant such as a certain level of chemicals, wax, soap, and rinse water. The reclaimed water has a different saturation level of detergents, wax, and so on and you cannot use it if you want to have the right Viscosity for a nice clean shine and dry finish. Motion Vice Chair Hay moved to approve the request of Grove Plaza Car Wash for Master Plan modification to include changes in site layout for a car wash facility in place of a restaurant approved for Parcel "EJ', including all Conditions of Approval in Exhibit "C." Mr. Currier seconded the motion that carried 7.0. 17 Meeting Minutes Planning & Development Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 25, 2002 Motion Mr. Currier moved to approve the request of Grove Plaza Car Wash for site plan approval to construct a 3,596 square foot car wash facility on a 0.86-acre lot, including all Conditions of APProval in Exhibit "C." Mr. Cwynar seconded the motion that carried 7. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Respecffullysubmi~ed, SuSan Collins ReCOrding Secretary (two tapes) (06/26/02) 18