Loading...
Minutes 02-08-94MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, lgg4, AT 7:00 P. 14. PRESENT Gary Lehnertz, Chairman Marilyn Huckle, Vice Chairwoman Paul Davis Start Dub& Bill Miller Bradley Weigle James Golden, Alternate Tambri Heyden, Acting Planning & Zoning Director James Cherof, City Attorney ABSF~IT Nathan Collins (Excused) *~: -PLFJL~_-E OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Lehnertz called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m., and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 2. INTRODUCTION OF NAYOR~, COMMISSIONERS AND BOARD MEMBERS Chairman Lehnertz welcomed all present and acknowledged the presence in the audience of Vice Mayor Aguila. He introduced the Board members. 3. AGEHDA APPROVAL Vice Mayor Aguila requested an opportunity to address the Board before the meeting is adjourned. Ms. Heyden advised that the handout presented at the start of the meeting was a request to postpone the three items dealing with Boynton Festive Center until the March 8th meeting at 7:00 p.m. These items are 7.A.1, 7.B.1, and 7.C.1. Notion Mr. Dub& moved to approve the agenda as amended. Vice Chairwoman Huckle seconded the motion, which carried 7-0. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. ~4iller moved to approve the minutes of the January 11, 1994 meeting as sub- mitted. Mr. Weigle seconded the motion, which carried 7-0. 5. COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Report from the Planning and Zoning Department 1) Final Olsposlton of Last Month's Agenda Items Ms. Heyden reported that the City Commission: - 1 MZNUTE$ - PLANNING AND DEVELOPHENT BOARD MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 8, 1994 Unanimously approved the Meadows Utility Abandonment Request which was reduced from 10' to 3'; unanimously approved the Joseph DeFeo Exception to Platting subject to the Utilities Department comment; unanimously approved the Boynton Beach Promenade - Carney Bank Request to subdivide from the shopping center subject to all staff comments at the February 1st meeting; unanimously approved the 1520 Neptune Drive Warehouse project subject to all staff comments; and unanimously approved the Citrus Park Time Extension for one year. 6. OLD BUSINESS A. Time Extensien {Withdrawn at the January 11, 1994 Meeting) Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: Boynten Lakes PUD, Plat 5, Best Homes Robert G. Comerlinck, Real Estate Recovery, Inc. Resolution Trust Corporation Congress Avenue at Plaza Lane, southeast corner Request for a one-year retroactive and a one-year time extension to site plan approval and concurrency exemption, including appeal to development order category determination. Ms. Heyden made the presentation. She advised that this request pertains to the remaining phase of Plat 5 of the Boynton _akes PUD. This property is just south of Plaza Lane and across from the shopping center. This portion of the plat included approval of forty-one townhouse units. On October 15, 1991, the City Commission approved Best Homes' site plan in the hopes of seeing the completion of the PUD. The property went into foreclosure and is now owned by RTC. They have requested this extension in an effort to better market the property. Many of the infrastructure improvements are already in place. They include street lighting, utilities and sidewalks. Construction stopped approximately two years ago and the improvements, other than water, sewer, paving, drainage and street lighting, were never accepted. In accordance with the City's Concurrency Management Ordinance, when the twenty- one month time extension expired and the construction stopped, the project's concurrency exemption was jeopardized. Prior to that, it would have been a "A" category project, which exempted them from all levels of service. At the time construction ceased, it became a "Ci" project which exempts them only from traf- fic, neighborhood parks and drainage. -2- MZNUTE5 - PLRNNING AND DEVELOPHENT BOARD HEETZNG BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 8, 1994 Since this project was tabled last month, staff has worked with RTC to work out some of the problems involved. The two key issues are payment of the reserva- tion fees and posting of surety. Ms. Heyden distributed copies of the letter from Mr. Robert Camerlinck, Assistant Manager of Real Estate Recovery, Inc., dated February 7, 1994, wherein there is a proposal that surety will be posted sixty (60) days after transfer of title from the RTC to the new purchaser, the reservation fees, which are retro- active, will be paid prior to the item being forwarded to the City Commission and the new reservation fees will be paid within two weeks of approval by the City Commission. Staff has reviewed the letter and is in agreement with its contents. Staff recomme~d~ approval of this request which will extend the site plan until October 15, 1994. In response to Mr. Davis' question, Ms. Heyden said there are some items which still require completion. He asked whether or not the City has the ability to take the surety to complete the items if they are not done by the October 15th date. Mr. Finizio explained that if the time extension is granted, the surety is for that time period. If they fail to perform during that period, the City Engineer would seek authorization from the City Commission to call upon the surety to complete the work. Mr. Davis referred to Item #3 of Engineering Department Memorandum No. 93-375, and requested clarification. Mr. Finizio explained that the City cannot regu- late the sequence of construction on any site. However, if the time runs out, they must either seek another extension from the City Commission, or have the surety called upon. Mr. Weigle understood that RTC will post the surety and pay the reservation fees retroactively. He questioned how the concurrency comes into effect. Ms. Heyden explained that the approval of this request will continue their "A" category exemption. Concurrency will no longer be an issue and they will be exempt back to 1985 levels. Chairman Lehnertz pointed out that this situation is similar to that which was recently approved for Citrus Park. Mr. Miller asked Mr. Camerlinck about the limitations of the role of marketing by RTC. Bob Canmrlinck~ 15795 Meadow Wood Orlve~ Wellington, explained that RTC plans a sealed-bid sale on this property. If this request is not approved, they do not feel they will be able to get as much money for the project. The Atlanta office is putting together the bid in conjunction with Maddox & Company of Fort Lauder- dale. There are parties interested in purchasing the property. A minimum price will be put on the bid in order to get the highest price possible for the RTC. The minimum price will be approximately 79% of the appraised value. Motion Vice Chairwoman Huckle moved to accept the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Department to recommend approval of the request for a one-year retro- active and a one-year time extension to site plan approval and concurrency -3- NINUTES - PLANNING ANO DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY B, 1994 exemption, including appeal to development order category determination, subject to all staff comments including those brought forward this evening with regard to the posting of the surety and the payment of the reservation fees for the retroactive period and the extension period. Mr. Golden seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Chairman Lehnertz pointed out that although a request was made for a post- ponement of Items 7.A.1, 7.B.1, and 7.C1, he felt a motion to continue those items was in order. Netion Mr.. Dub~ moved that Items 7A, 7B and 7C be continued until the March meeting. Mr. Golden seconded the motion. -Vice Chairwoman Huckle pointed out that the motion should include a notation that these qtemS are being continued at the applicant's request. Both Mr. Dub~ and Mr. Golden agreed to this suggestion. The motion carried 7-0. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Public Hearing Parking Let Variance Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: Boynten Festive Center McMillen Development, Inc. Great Western Bank Northwest corner of Congress Avenue and Old Boynton Road Request relief from Article X - Parking Lots, Section 5-142{h){5) - Distance from right-of-way line to the intersection of any interior access aisle. This item was continued until the March meeting at the request of the applicant. B. Administrative Appeal Landscape Cede 1. Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: Boynton Festive Center McMillen Development, Inc. Great Western Bank Northwest corner of Congress Avenue and Old Boynton Road Request relief from Article II - Landscape Code, Sections 7.5-35{d) and (e) - Interior lot line and right-of-way landscaping. This item was continued until the March meeting at the request of the applicant. -4- HINUTES - PLANNING AND DEVELOPlqENT BOARD HEETZNG BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY B, 1994 c. Site Plan New Site Plan 1. Project Name: Agent: Owner: Location: Description: Boynton Festive Center McMillen Development, Inc. Great Western Bank Northwest corner of Congress Avenue and Old Boynton Road Request approval to construct a 115,000 square foot retail center which includes two outparcel buildings. This item was continued until 8. COMMENTS BY MEMBERS the March meeting at the request of the applicant. Vice Mayor Aguila explained that when he suggested the Planning and Zoning and Community Appearance Boards be combined, one of the main reasons for doing so was to have one board dealing with planning and zoning issues as well as aesthetic issues. The City Commission supported the recreation of the Planning and Development Board. Vice Mayor Aguila feels the Planning and Development Board looks at Code issues and confirms that staff has verified whether or not the applicant has complied with Code. In his opinion, it would De appropriate for the Planning and Development Board, during its review, to attempt to visualize what the finished product will look like and its impact on the aesthetics of the City. Vice Mayor Aguila distributed copies of the Neptune Drive Warehouse landscape plan. He explained that the applicant's parking spaces were 10' x 18'. The City's Code requires 9' x 18'. When this appeared before the City Commission, Vice Mayor Aguila insisted that the spaces be reduced to the Code requirement so that th~ paved area would be reduced and landscaping could be increased. This suggestion also resulted in a net savings for the developer. Vice Mayor Aguila directed the members to view east property line of the project where twenty-three parking spaces are proposed without islands separating any of those spaces. In his opinion, there should never De more than ten or twelve parking spaces in a row without "green" separation. This is an issue which will be addressed when the Landscape Code is reviewed. Vice Mayor Aguila explained that what the members were now looking at were his additions of three landscape islands and three to six trees without changing anything of consequence to the layout. What this suggestion did was provide a much nicer project which was better separated from the neighboring warehouse. It also reduced the cost of asphalt, rock and pavement, and the end result was a more aesthetically appealing project. Vice Mayor Aguila explained that by the time he proposed these changes to the applicant at the City Commission meeting, the project had already been reviewed by staff and the Planning and Development Board, and it now appeared that the applicant was being strong-armed into changing his plan. Vice Mayor Aguila asked the Board to consider the aesthetic impact of future projects on the City. He also reminded them to consider the impact of an appli- cant's sign. Me urged the members to make suggestions which will make future -5- MINUTES - PLANNING AND DEVELOPHENT BOARD MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 8, 1994 projects more aesthetically pleasing. He believes many applicants will be willing to comply. Vice Mayor Aguila advised the Board that these suggestions were his suggestions. Mr. Davis asked Attorney Cherof for advice on how far the Board can go in improving the quality of a project if that project meets Code. Attorney Cherof advised that the Board can make suggestions and try to encourage the improve- ments, but cannot require them. If the applicant meets Code, he is entitled to design the project his way. However, there is usually give and take, and it will not hurt to ask. In response to Mr. Miller's question, Vice Mayor Aguila explained that his suggestions fell on d~af ears with the Neptune Drive project because the appli- cant was feeling strong-armed. The applicant oid not have time to think and his representative did not recognize the value of the recommendations. Vice Chairwoman Huckle pointed out that when the two Boards were combined into one, only one member of the Community Appearance Board was appointed to the new board, She felt that was a very big mistake because many of the Planning and Zoning Board members did not have expertise in landscaping, In her opinion, the City Commissioners should consider experience and background when appointments are made. She feels it is a lot ~o ask a planning and zoning, board to address landscaping and architectural features in addition to other Codes. Vice Mayor Aguila said her point was well taken and he has often objected to the way in which board appointments are made throughout the City. He agrees that board members~should be more carefully scrutinized and only those with something of value to offer should be appointed. 9. ADJOURHHENT There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting properly adjourned at 7:40 p. m. Prainito Recording Secretary (One TaPe) -6-