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Minutes 02-25-03 (2) Mt'NUTES OF THE PLANNI'NG AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD LDR I'NPUT WORKSHOP HELD COMMI'SSION CHAMBERS~ CI'TY HALL~ BOYNTON BEACH~ FLOR~[DA~ ON TUESDAY~ FEBRUARY 25, 2003 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Mike Friedland, Chairman Jennifer Butler Sergio Casaine William Cwynar Mike Fitzpatrick Woodrow Hay, Vice Chair Edward Hillery Bob Ensler, Alternate Alice Otis, Alternate David Tolces, Assistant City Attorney Michael Rumpf, Planning & Zoning Director Lusia Galav, Principal Planner Dick Hudson, Senior Planner Eric Johnson, Planner Chairman Friedland opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Galav introduced Ms. .lody Rivers, Senior Project Manager with The RMPK Group, the consultants engaged to assist the City in a rewrite of its Land Development Regulations (LDR). The purpose of this meeting was for the Planning & Development Board to give their suggestions, recommendations, or comments regarding the LDR to the consultants. .]ody Rivers explained that the rewrite project was divided into four phases: 1) data gathering, 2) analysis, 3) Code framework and format, and 4) the actual rewrite of the LDR. Staff gave them a thorough review of the current Land Development Regulations. They had met with and received input from the City Commission, the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Chamber of Commerce, various developers, and various neighborhood groups. During the summer, they will develop a draft of the Code and come back to staff and the various Boards for approval. They hope to bring it to the City Commission in the winter, and codify it soon thereafter. Ms. Rivers stated that there were three main issues: 1) framework, 2) the substantive portion of the Code such as, "What needs to be adjusted to allow for mixed uses or other development?" and 3) "Is there a need with PUDs for readjustments for future use of those areas?" She invited the Board members to express their opinions. Meeting Minutes Special Planning & Development Board Workshop - LDR Boynton Beach, Florida Mr. Ensler's concerns and comments follow: February 25, 2003 1) Policies and Ordinances both guide zoning and sometimes conflict. There should be integrity between stated policies, procedures, and the Code(s). Certain policies may need to be made a part of the Code. The policies and the Code are accessed at different times. Also, some of the documents that are used as policies are actually only guidelines. This should be made clear. 2) The Comprehensive Plan was published in :L989, based on data going back to 1980, and is still used as a guide. It needs to be updated. 3) Developers spend a lot of money before they get to the approval process based on the size of the property and how they can develop it. When the developer comes before the City and learns that the City desires Greenways on his property and asks for a dedication of land, it is too late in the process for the developer to make a meaningful business decision. 4) Do more to protect major arterial roads throughout the City. 5) Monitoring of appearance standards is important, it used to be done by the CRAB Board and was passed on to the P & D Board. He did not believe this responsibility had been given to the CRA Board. Ordinances and rules regarding appearance need to be strengthened. 6) There are some terrible signs on buildings. The current Code does not seem to always work for developments, it is not clear how much authority the Planning & Zoning Division has to enforce a stronger Sign Code, especially in the area of redevelopment. 7) The notification process for development and redevelopment should be revised to acknowledge that simple projects like a screened porch might need the usual notification of all residents within 400 feet, for example. On larger projects like a 30-acre redevelopment, the notification parameters should be expanded to take in a larger territory to reflect the substantial impact on the community. 8) The approval process is too long and too many meetings are required from start to finish. This could be a deterrent for development. 9) Parking standards are outdated. Join other cities that have parking spaces of 9.5 and 10 ft. widths to accommodate today's sport utility vehicles and trucks. Meeting Minutes Special Planning & Development Board Workshop - LDR Boynton Beach, Florida February 25, 2003 10) Do not make the appearance and architectural standards too burdensome for the developer, but give them more attention during the approval process. 11) When people want to enhance their properties and do something that will look very nice, we should let them do so and not require a variance procedure. 12) There are multiple categories for residential developments. Expand the categories for industrial. 13) Why is a vote required when an applicant requests a postponement? Mr. Hillery's comments and concerns follow: 1) One possible way of handling greenways would be to allow the property owner to own the property, but have the greenways portion of the land granted to the City in the same way that water and sewer utilities are handled at present. [t would not be called an easement, but could be treated in exactly the same way. Mr. Cwynar's comments and concerns follow: 1) The U.S. economy is changing and becoming more global. Perhaps the amount of land set aside for industrial development should be reduced. 2) Mr. Cwynar noted that he lived behind Bethesda Hospital and when the Ridgewood development came in during the late 1970s, sidewalks were part of the Code; however, the rest of the Chapel Hill area did not have sidewalks so there were sidewalks that went nowhere. 3) Analyze the major roads in the City and their current traffic load. 4) Do we have enough water or not? This needs to be looked at, including the idea of surcharges. 5) Analyze the need for signs and do not require that signs be smaller at the expense of safety and utility. Mr. Casaine's comments and concerns follow: 1) To improve traffic and secure safety, reconstruction of primary and secondary roadways should be addressed by Code. Meeting Minutes Special Planning & Development Board Workshop - LDR Boynton Beach, Florida February 25, 2003 2) Take a look at the amount of land that is available for greenways and take this into consideration when development or redevelopment plans are submitted. Ms. Butler's comments and concerns follow: 1) There is a great need for affordable housing (less than $100K) and this should be a priority. Make sure that the Code includes incentives for developers to make housing more affordable. An expedited approval process, reasonable land cost, greater densities, and relaxed architectural guidelines could help to attract developers to build affordable housing. 2) Ms. Butler is not in favor of extensive architectural guidelines since this might deter developers, but felt that the P & D Board needed to be concerned with this matter. 3) Code. It would be very helpful to have pictorial examples of signs in the 4) Look into having more active parks than passive ones. The parks in the area that have recreational areas are at capacity. Ms. Otis' comments and concerns follow: 1) There is a need to think about the feeder lines into the Tri-Rail system because the major arteries can only support a limited amount of expansion. Think about mass transportation. 2) Consider greenways, green space, and parks. 3) Attract affordable housing. Chair Friedland's comments and concerns follow: 1) oty. Chair Friedland wanted to see a common standard for signs in the 2) Chair Friedland favored green space but stated that it must be set aside in advance, not when a developer appears before the P & D Board with a project. 3) Establish more consistency in Plans and Codes. 4 Meeting Minutes Special Planning & Development Board Workshop - LDR Boynton Beach, Florida February 25, 2003 Chair Fried/and commented that Assistant City Planager Sugerman had requested to speak to the P & D Board about water but was unable to attend due to a schedule conflict. His message was that the City was not out of water. Plr. Lee Wische, former Chair of the P & D Board, explained the City's aquifer we//system. Mr. Fitzpatrick's comments and concerns follow: 1) A future land use map should contain soil composition maps because this will determine the future location of green spaces. 2) Expand the definitions for greenways and green space in the Code. There are many definitions for houses but only one definition for green space. There could be active parks, passive parks, environmentally sensitive land, and so forth i 3) The burden of the increased cost of water should be borne by the new residents and not spread out across the long-time residents. Mr. Hay's comments and concerns follow: 1) Provide affordable housing. Look at the cost of building homes and the fees that are associated with it. Twenty-two percent of the cost of building a home today is attributable to fees. Ms. Butler requested that staff include a color copy of the elevations in their agenda packets in the future. She said that passing around one colored elevation did not allow sufficient time to respond appropriately. Ms. Rivers expressed thanks for the input from the Board. The meeting was duly adjourned at 7:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (022603) 5