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Minutes 06-27-00 MINUTES OF THE PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING HELD IN WEST WING, CONFERENCE ROOM “C”, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT J. Stanley Dubé, Vice Chairman Mike Rumpf, Planning & Zoning Director Larry Finkelstein Nicholas Igwe, Assistant City Attorney Pat Frazier, Alternate Dick Hudson, Senior Planner Michael Friedland Lusia Galav, Senior Planner Woodrow Hay Hannah Matras, Economic Research Steve Myott Analyst Maurice Rosenstock ALSO PRESENTABSENT Bob Ensler, Alternate Lee Wische, Chairman 1. Pledge of Allegiance In the absence of Chairman Wische, Vice Chairman Dubé presided at the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 2. Introduction of the Board Members Vice Chairman Dubé introduced the members of the Board, Assistant City Attorney Nicholas Igwe; Director of Planning and Zoning, Mike Rumpf; Ms. Lusia Galav, Senior Planner; Dick Hudson, Senior Planner; and Hannah Matras, Economic Research Analyst. 3. Agenda Approval Motion Mr. Rosenstock moved to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedland and carried unanimously. 4. Approval of Minutes Motion Mr. Rosenstock moved to accept the minutes of the June 13, 2000 meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hay and carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 5. Communications and Announcements A. Planning and Zoning Report 1) Final disposition of June 13, 2000 Planning and Development Board meeting agenda items. Mr. Rumpf reported on the disposition of the following items by the City Commission at their June 20, 2000 meeting: (1) New site plan approval for Altman (a.k.a.) Bay Vista to construct a 286 unit multi-family development on 14.33 acres at South U.S. 1 was approved. (2) The Borgata site plan, which is the single-family project at Congress and Miner Road, was approved including common area landscaping and recreation area and signage approval. (3) The abandonment of the Quantum Business Park easement was approved. (4) Bay Vista also had accompanying rezoning and land use plan amendment applications, which were approved. (5) Ordinances approved at final reading included the Comprehensive Plan EAR-based amendment package, which included the text amendments to the goals, policies and objectives updating the Comprehensive Plan for state law and current City direction. That also included four MAP amendments, which were basically “housekeeping”, changing land use classifications on four areas in the City to reflect their current use. Also included in the DCA package, the amendment cycle that the Comprehensive amendments were processed under, includes the Villa Del Sol items. Included with Villa Del Sol was a text amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, the Future Land Use element or MAP amendment, and the rezoning of that property, which is at the northwest corner of Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1. Lastly, the Martin L. King Boulevard Overlay rezoning/text amendment item was also approved. This concluded Mr. Rumpf’s report. Vice Chairman Dubé thanked Mr. Rumpf for his report. Vice Chairman Dubé asked Mr. Rumpf if the signs announcing the location of the Planning and Development Board meetings were going to be changed to reflect the new location? Mr. Rumpf replied that the signs were out being repainted now. This reference pertains to the signs that are posted on the sites that have pending business with the Planning and Development Board. 6. Old Business None 2 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 7New Business . Assistant City Attorney Igwe administered the oath to all the persons planning to testify during the meeting. A. PUBLIC HEARING Conditional Use Site Plan 1. PROJECT NAME: BRADSHAW BED AND BREAKFAST/ PARK SHORE MANOR AGENT: Peter H. Schmidt, Esquire OWNER: Barbara Bradshaw LOCATION: 658 Manor Drive DESCRIPTION: Request for conditional use/site plan approval for a nine (9) unit bed and breakfast establishment on 0.3 acre. Mr. Peter H. Schmidt, Esquire, 400 S. Dixie Street, Suite 420, Boca Raton, Fl., took the podium as agent for the owner, Ms. Barbara Bradshaw. Vice Chairman Dubé wanted it made known that he had a conversation with Ms. Bradshaw in front of her residence. Mr. Friedland made the same comment although it went back several years when he and his wife stopped by and introduced themselves and walked through the area. Mr. Finkelstein stated that he had taken a tour of the project on the day of the meeting. Vice Chairman Dubé advised that the board had already read and reviewed all the documentation and called the agent’s attention to Exhibit “C”, Conditions of Approval, asking for his comments, positive or negative. Mr. Schmidt mentioned the first two items under the Building Division and stated he understood those items had been addressed. The design professional responsible for that could not be at the meeting due to planned surgery. Mr. Rumpf stated there was a problem in the packet with some missing pages and stated he would quickly get them and update everyone’s packets. Vice Chairman Dubé asked if anyone in the public audience wanted to speak for or against the issue at hand. th Mr. Brian Edwards, 629 N.E. 9 Avenue , took the podium and spoke on behalf of Mrs. Bradshaw’s efforts to open this bed and breakfast. He said all the right things had been 3 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 accomplished. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding on some ordinance changes relative to her not being able to open because the kitchen area was outside the room in order to make it somewhat of an efficiency setup instead of what might be considered a bed and breakfast. He wanted to ask the Board to recommend on behalf of Mrs. Bradshaw. If there is some type of requirement or misunderstanding in an ordinance that would need to be changed on her behalf I would ask you to recommend that. If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit the location, he believed it was the epitome of the typical Florida bed and breakfast. He lauded Mrs. Bradshaw’s efforts to bring it to the state it is in today. He believed it brought credibility to their neighborhood and to the City of Boynton Beach. th Ms. Jeanne Haviland, 734 N.E. 9 Avenue , took the podium on behalf of Mrs. Bradshaw’s bed and breakfast project. Ms. Haviland explained that she was Co- Chairman of the Economic Development Committee and sat on the Board of Directors in the Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce. Two and a half years ago Ms. Bradshaw approached the Chamber about her attempts to open a bed and breakfast in the City of Boynton Beach. Because the City had no ordinance allowing bed and breakfasts to operate, she was unable to obtain an occupational license. After reviewing her plans, her rates and her target market, the Economic Development Committee of the Chamber felt that this venture would have a significant and positive impact on the downtown redevelopment area. In an effort to expedite the opening of Park Shores Manor, the Board of Directors of the Chamber sent a letter to the Mayor and the City Commission on May 8, 1998 stating: “The Chamber supports bed and breakfast operations within the City of Boynton Beach. We further recommend that you research and develop appropriate ordinances to accommodate the operation of bed and breakfast lodgings.” An ordinance was written and still she does not have an occupational license to open the bed and breakfast. We will support her venture. As a private citizen, more than two years later, I ask that you allow Park Shores Manor to open as a bed and breakfast. The City would be proud to have this in the downtown area. Another person wished to speak on the subject and was sworn in by Assistant City Attorney Igwe. Mr. Lloyd Powell, agent for the Alpine Seven Company located at 1112 North FederalHighway, commonly known as Alpine Florist , took the podium. He stated that some years ago, Ms. Bradshaw had appeared before his Board, the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board, and started the series of events leading up to getting an ordinance passed that covered bed and breakfasts so she could open up what had always been her dream. I see another meeting again tonight. I think it is time to stop and someone really make a hard and fast decision, which should be “Yes, we will grant this variance. Yes, you can open a bed and breakfast. Yes, Boynton Beach can use it. Yes, your place is beautiful.” Ms. Linda Koshen, 657 Manor Drive , took the podium and stated she lived directly across the street from the proposed bed and breakfast. She had owned the property for 13 years and knew the property when it was an eyesore, a dump. They were very happy when Ms. Bradshaw bought it and transformed it into a thing of beauty. She thought it would be an asset to Boynton Beach and to their neighborhood. 4 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 No one else wished to speak so the Public Hearing was closed. The missing information from the packets was distributed to all interested parties. Mr. Peter Schmidt, agent for Ms. Barbara Bradshaw , resumed the podium. Vice Chairman Dubé advised the agent that he did not need to address all of the items in the Conditions for Approval, just the ones he did not agree with. Mr. Schmidt said item numbers six and seven did not appear to apply at all in this case because no additional construction was to be performed on the site whatsoever. Everything has been accomplished long ago with the appropriate building permits and neither my client nor I know of any additional building permits that would be required as a result of this conditional use. Mr. Hay asked staff if Mr. Schmidt had made a true statement with reference to items six and seven? Mr. Rumpf replied that those comments were standard comments that the Building Department generates. It does not hurt to have them there. It goes without saying that if and when they were to have a need, they would have to get the appropriate permits and follow the correct process. Mr. Myott asked about the comments in item three, which indicated that a building permit of some type might be indicated. Mr. Schmidt stated that all of the items had been addressed to the satisfaction of City staff. Mr. Friedland stated that he saw a lot of happy neighbors, a beautification of the area, and he would be happy to see the project approved. He was also happy for the number of people who would come to our community and have the ability to stay at a very casual and attractive unit such as this bed and breakfast. If there is any other discussion from the board that is one thing but if not, he said he would like to make a motion. The other members stated they had questions and comments. Mr. Myott asked Mr. Rumpf about item eight and the story in today’s paper and what the applicant’s plans were to satisfy this comment. Mr. Schmidt stated that the City Commission in December of 1998 passed what has been called the Bed and Breakfast Ordinance. That ordinance was designed in cooperation with the City Manager and the City Staff to accommodate if you will, Ms. Bradshaw, in terms of her project being a pilot project for the City of Boynton Beach as it relates to a bed and breakfast. With that thought in mind it is my understanding that City staff commenced to draft the proposed ordinance. It came up before the City Council in November of 1998 and from the minutes, the proposed ordinance itself was not read. (Mr. Myott said that it had come before the Planning and Development Board in the same month to address a square footage issue because the units were smaller than what would be permitted in today’s codes). At the time in November of 1998 when it was first presented to the City Council the text was not read, the only thing that was read was the title of the ordinance and when it came up for the second reading, at the next meeting, that ordinance was passed. There were several minor changes that were made to the text of the proposed ordinance. Those changes, as he understood it, were suggested by the person who was the Director of the Planning Development Department of Boynton Beach, a Mr. Kastarlak. When those changes were made they were incorporated within the proposed 5 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 draft ordinance and at that time, everyone merely presumed that the ordinance would then carry out the intent of the pilot project. It was not until late last week that this issue arose in terms of whether the ordinance applied to the current conditional use application as it relates to nine units or merely to one unit? The issue revolves around certain terminology in the ordinance that refers to small, one-roomed cottages. The way I perceive it on behalf of my client is that the ordinance and the way it was drafted is something less than a masterpiece of clarity. There are a lot of terms that could be interpreted in many different ways. As an example, “bed and breakfast establishment”, “the establishment”, “the property”, “the facility”, “the inn”, “the premises”, and “one-room cottages” are all referred to in the ordinance. Various terms are used interchangeably throughout the ordinance so it raises the question in terms of clarity or ambiguity as to what it really means. It would be the position of my client that one-room cottage means the same thing as a bed and breakfast establishment, the property, the inn, the premises, all of which could be interpreted any number of different ways. The City staff has looked at it slightly differently and that is where we are now. Mr. Myott said, “You would interpret the ordinance as saying that kitchen facilities are acceptable because they are acceptable within the one-roomed cottage. You are saying that the way you read it, it was acceptable?” Mr. Schmidt replied yes, as it relates to all nine units. Vice Chairman Dubé said to Mr. Rumpf, “Whether we approve the conditional use or not, she cannot get an occupational license is that correct?” Mr. Rumpf stated that was correct. There are still conditions to be met. Vice Chairman Dubé said, consequently, if there’s an argument with the ordinance that is beyond the realm of this Board to hear. That is between the applicant and the City. Mr. Rumpf said that staff’s interpretation was based on what they felt was the intent of the Commission when they made those last changes to it but also, based upon the national standards for bed and breakfasts. What makes this project unique, and I think will be our justification for modification of the code, he said, had to do with the zoning district that it is within. The difference between this one and most others is that this is in a multi-family zoning district. The basic issue with bed and breakfast establishments is they want to create an ordinance to allow something to happen with these old homes, to allow them to contain more than one family which, in most zoning codes, is prohibited. It is in the single family zoning districts that the bed and breakfast originated. I would not recommend that it be modified to eliminate the prohibition against kitchenettes because you want turnover. You don’t want them to be easily converted into long-term apartments. In most cases those units are in single family zoning districts and you want them to be bed and breakfasts. You see them eating in one central area, cooking limited meals. You don’t see them bedding down in their own individual units with their own food, kitchens, and so forth. Vice Chairman Dubé asked Mr. Rumpf if it would not be better for the applicant to withdraw and postpone the decision until the City could iron this out? Mr. Rumpf said that they could get approval conditioned upon something so they could begin meeting the other conditions, redefine the plan, and submit an application for a code amendment. It allows them to proceed forward with more than just one step. Mr. Schmidt stated that it was his understanding that if this Board approves the conditional use this evening, you would be approving at least one of the nine units and, 6 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 taking that a step further, my client would be able at that point to obtain an occupational license as it relates to one unit, not that she would do that but that would be the effect of this Board’s approving the conditional use. Mr. Rumpf said that to give them a comfort level the zoning is multi-family and they allow multiple unrelated individuals to live under one roof in the same building. It is just an issue of how the code applies to bed breakfasts and how it applies to this particular use. Mr. Friedland had a question. He recalled a meeting in 1998 where he left with the opinion that this was well along the way and he assumed that the applicant had probably spent money and expended effort in the belief that her project had been previously approved. Mr. Friedland was concerned about the ambiguity that surrounded the earlier decision. He believed that the board should approve this request as a benefit to the community as a whole. Vice Chairman Dubé stated that what was on the agenda this evening was a request for a conditional use/site plan approval for the nine-unit bed and breakfast establishment. We can either approve or deny the conditional use and the site plan and, from that point on, it is between the applicant and the City as far as getting an occupational license and so forth. Motion Mr. Friedland moved to approve Bradshaw Bed and Breakfast/Park Shore Manor’s request for conditional use/site plan approval for a nine-unit bed and breakfast establishment on 0.3 acres subject to all staff’s conditions and recommendations. The acreage amount was corrected by Mr. Myott to .71 acre. Mr. Finkelstein seconded the motion that carried 7.0. Comprehensive Plan Text Amendment 2. PROJECT NAME: 20/20 PLAN OVERLAY DISTRICTS AGENT: City of Boynton Beach DESCRIPTION: Request to amend the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Element through the addition of Policy 1.9.5 and amendment to Policy 1.16.1, which implements Objective 2.4 of the Boynton Beach Vision 20/20 Redevelopment Master Plan by the establishment of overlays and design plans for primary target areas. Mr. Rumpf stated that the Comprehensive Plan was a document that laid the groundwork for future changes or Land Development Regulations that affected land use. Basically this agenda item pertains to the identification of overlays and referencing the redevelopment recommendations in the Visions 20/20 Plan, incorporating them into our Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan, the text of the Comprehensive Plan, 7 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 and properties in excess of 10 units can only be modified twice per year and we are processing right now our first cycle of the 2001 plan amendments and that is what is before the Board today. A lengthy discussion ensued pertaining to various desired amendments and ways and means of getting them included in this cycle of the plan amendment or the next one. As additional amendments were not considered to the Comprehensive Plan when previously amended, the Board directed staff to arrange for land use analysis and schedule a workshop to discuss desired amendments. The Board was concerned that they had not been given time to review and revise the consultant’s recommendations before the amendment was processed. Mr. Rumpf advised that the members would be given a copy of the revised Comprehensive Plan to assist in their formulation of recommendations of issues that should be discussed. Also, Mr. Rumpf said that a workshop could be held prior to the Round 2 cycle in October of this year. Many people felt that there should be some sort of a moratorium on zoning until certain pressing decisions were made in this area. One area of particular concern was the M1 industrial area across from Hunter’s Run on the Congress Avenue corridor. Another concern was the adoption of a ten-foot parking space versus the current 9 foot spaces. The Intracoastal area was another concern. Mr. Rumpf believed that additions to the current plan would delay the current cycle by one to two months. Motion Mr. Rosenstock made a motion to direct staff to start the process to make a revision in the Comprehensive Plan regarding the area east of Congress Avenue, west of the railroad and I-95, and north of the L30 canal that is currently zoned M1; to include a recommendation as to what should be there and provide a schedule of when it can be accomplished. Mr. Finkelstein asked if the motion was asking staff to come back with recommendations for alternative uses for that area that might be considered in future comprehensive plan amendments? Mr. Rosenstock said yes and that he just wanted to get the process started.” Mr. Friedland seconded the motion. The motion carried 7-0. Motion A motion was made to approve the request to amend the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Element through the addition of Policy 1.9.5 and amendment to Policy 1.16.1 which implements Objective 2.4 of the Boynton Beach Vision 20/20 Redevelopment Master Plan by the establishment of overlays and design plans for primary target areas. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hay and carried 7-0. 8 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 3. PROJECT NAME: WOOD PARTNERS TEXT AMENDMENT (POSTPONED) AGENT: Kilday & Associates, Inc. DESCRIPTION: Amend Policy 1.16.1 of the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Element to increase the maximum density in the High Density Residential land use category from 10.8 dwelling units per acre to 16 dwelling units per acre. Mr. Rumpf handed Vice Chairman Dubé a letter from the agents for the project, Kilday and Associates, Inc. which requested a postponement of Agenda items 7.A.3 and 4. Vice Chairman asked the members of the Board if they wished to postpone it. There was a rather large public audience present to speak on the amendment. Assistant City Attorney Igwe stated that the amendment could not be discussed in the absence of the applicants and the meeting would have to be noticed for another day and time when the applicant or his agent would be able to attend. Vice Chairman Dubé expressed his regret to the public that had come to the meeting specifically for this subject. Land Use Plan Amendment (POSTPONED) 4. PROJECT NAME: WOOD PARTNERS AGENT: Kilday & Associates, Inc. OWNER: Wood Partners th LOCATION: West side of SW 8 Street approximately 1/8 mile north of Woolbright Road DESCRIPTION: Request to amend the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map from Local Retail Commercial (LRC) to High Density Residential (HDR) for 14.18 acres. Some of the members believed that the meeting room would not be large enough to . contain the number of people that would be coming out to discuss these amendments 8. OTHER None. 9 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 9. COMMENTS BY MEMBERS New Meeting Place for Board Mr. Finkelstein asked for a microphone for the public’s use as it was difficult for their remarks to be heard. It was also difficult for the public to hear the Board member’s comments for the same reason and the members commented that they needed microphones as well. Another member believed the quality of the tape recording of the proceedings would also be hampered considerably by the lack of microphones. Mr. Rosenstock stated that one of the Commissioners, he believed it was Mr. Black, was worried about the board’s intimidating the public due to sitting at a raised dais. Mr. Rosenstock made the suggestion that this board would be more than happy to sit at the same tables on the floor so they were not above the heads of the audience, all so they could have a room in which the public could be comfortable. He asked that Mr. Rumpf convey this comment to the Development Director. He also asked the secretary to include the comment in the minutes. Mr. Friedland stated, for the record, that they had recently met with the people from Quantum Park who talked about a $100M project for the community with a 1,000 seat theater, seven restaurants, three motels and so forth. He stated that to call that type of a group for a first-time meeting into this room (Conference Room C, West Wing), under these conditions, with the ceiling the way it is, for whatever their reasons may be, he found was rather short-sighted and he wanted it to be known. He said that this Board did not always agree with the Commission and certainly not in this case but that the concurrence of the Commission with the Planning and Development Board’s decisions th reached into the 90 percentile, indicating more in common and more agreement than disagreement. He believed this was the wrong way to treat this committee. He called for a reconsideration of the decision to move the board to this room and a meeting with the “powers-that-be” to discuss why and see what can be done to change the situation around for the comfort of the citizens and the board. Mr. Hay asked Mr. Rumpf what the reason was for moving the board to this conference room. Mr. Rumpf was not given a reason he stated but the other board members said that the reason was that the board members were perceived as intimidating by the public due to sitting on the raised dais. He asked about the comfort of the public and why it was not considered? Non-Conforming Signs Vice Chair Dubé stated that he had a list dated 12/4/97 of the 1992 Inventory of Non- conforming Signs and he commented that the signs were still non-conforming. Mr. Finkelstein stated that this was coming before the Commission as an agenda item at the July 5 meeting. Mr. Rumpf said they were reviewing all three sign elements simultaneously. There is a workshop set up on July 13 to discuss Billboards specifically and where they want to go with that angle. Another inventory has been done on site signage. An inventory is being 10 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 done right now on wall signage. An inventory had not been done previously for that. We are waiting for Commission’s direction to proceed with citations. Ten Foot Parking Space Issue Mr. Ensler asked Mr. Rumpf for an update on the ten foot parking space issue. Mr. Rumpf replied that he had an interesting tidbit to offer on this item. He said they would be bringing those revisions to the board for their review. He said they had to be formally made into code. Previously they were only shown in engineering drawings, technical drawings that were referenced in the code, which allowed the City to modify them without ordinance. Staff supports this change. However, he said, it will be packaged with something else in connection with the Marina project’s tri-party mediation agreement. There were some parking spaces that were eliminated when they provided access off of Casa Loma Boulevard to the Two Georges property for attached parking. Out of the mediation agreement, they all agreed that a compact car space provision would accommodate that circumstance. We do not have a compact car space regulation. Mr. Myott stated that the best way to have it work would be to have a standard sized space and a compact car space. Mr. Ensler said it would not work because you would take your big car and try to make it fit. Mr. Ensler asked if the compact space would be for the entire city or only for that one area? Mr. Rumpf said that would not be what they would want to do. They do not want to say only for the Marina project, which would be too site specific; however, there may be circumstances in the Central Business District where parking is a unique element to begin with. Mr. Ensler expanded on the topic, reminding everyone that the majority of the towns surrounding Boynton Beach had adopted the ten-foot parking space as a standard. If a car is measured, four-door and two-door, and that car is centered in a nine-foot space, the door will hit the car next to it if you open the door and lose control of the handle. centered There is no question about it. That is if you are in the space. The smaller you make that space the more damage you are going to cause. Vice Chairman Dubé stated that the board was not the one to convince. Mr. Ensler said that an 8.5-foot parking space bothered him. He believed the board needed to protect the people. Villa Del Sol Ms. Frazier said they had approved a rental project on U.S. 1 south by Colonial Club, she asked how the project was coming along? It was decided that the project was Villa Del Sol. A pre-application meeting was held today with some builders for that site. It is a gated rental community with extensive landscape buffering proposed. The maximum will be three stories. It appears to be very similar to a Bay Vista. Ms. Frazier said that this would help that area tremendously. 11 Meeting Minutes Planning and Development Board Boynton Beach, Fl June 27, 2000 Future Land Use Maps and Zoning Maps Vice Chairman Dubé asked Mr. Rumpf about the Future Land Use Map and the Zoning Maps, commenting that the board had not seen them for a long time. Mr. Rumpf said that once they were in effect they would be distributed to the board. 10. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the meeting it was properly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ______________________ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) 12