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Minutes 02-04-21 MINUTES OF THE CRAADVISORY BOARD MEETING WEBEX ONLINE MEETING 100 E. OCEAN AVENUE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA 33435 HELD ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT: STAFF: Anthony Barber, Chair Michael Simon, CRA Executive Director Allan Hendricks, Vice Chair Bonnie Nicklien, CRA Grants & Project Mngr Angela Cruz Crysta Parkinson, Prototype, Inc. Golene Gordon ALSO PRESENT: Sergeant Henry Diehl ABSENT: Thomas Devlin Sharon Grcevic 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chair Barber at 6:49 p.m. 2. Roll Call Roll was called, and it was determined a quorum was present. 3. Agenda Approval A. Additions, Deletions, Corrections to the Agenda B. Adoption of Agenda Motion was made by Ms. Gordon, seconded by Ms. Cruz, to adopt the agenda. In a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously (4-0). 4. Information Only -- None 5. Public Comment -- None 6. Consent A. Approval of CRAAdvisory Board Meeting Minutes — January 7, 2021 Motion made by Ms. Gordon, seconded by Mr. Hendricks, to approve the January 7, 2021, minutes. In a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously (4-0). 7. Assignments A. Pending Assignments Meeting Minutes CRA Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 4, 2021 i. Review of Commercial Properties within Boynton Beach Boulevard Corridor within CRAArea Chair Barber confirmed that there is nothing further to add to the packet and continued to ascertain that the Board's assignment is to make a recommendation on this item. Mr. Simon said yes, and that the Board can look at it as a holistic analysis of the corridor itself, if it is felt that there are properties to keep "on the radar." Again, the CRA Board did not allot any funding to this project; only a task to select a couple of properties that could be of interest in next year's budget. Or the Board can be really general and simply state the Boynton Beach Boulevard Corridor is worthy of attention for certain acquisitions. Mr. Hendricks wondered if any of the Board Members had sent back a Word document about their section with not necessarily recommendations but summaries or maybe an inventory of what they had found. Some discussion followed on who has done what so far and Mr. Hendricks volunteered to do an overall summary to provide a "big picture." Chair Barber suggested that this project needs more guidance, perhaps a dollar amount attached, looking at something to possibly purchase in five years. He noted he is not a fan of busy work. Perhaps a motion to table this and seek out a little more specificity from the CRA Board regarding parameters for more concrete results. In the event no guidelines are forthcoming, then this Board may kick it back and move not to make a recommendation on any of these. Ms. Cruz and Mr. Hendricks agreed. The initial work has been done but the focus for the report is still undefined. Ms. Gordon added that she did not think any recommendations were expected, it was more of a scouting exercise, what is suitable and affordable in that corridor. Motion made by Ms. Cruz, seconded by Mr. Hendricks, to seek clarification regarding what the CRA Board is looking for or if they want a recommendation based on these final four properties. In a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously (4-0). B. New Assignments i. Discussion and Consideration of Survey Questions for Community Input for the CRA Project Located at 115 N. Federal Highway Chair Barber stated there is a lot to this assignment. First question to Mr. Simon is are any of these proposed developers of 115 North Federal hinging their development on the Brightline station actually coming to town. When Mr. Simon said no, Chair Barber then asked what is the task? Mr. Simon explained this item has been before the CRA Board since August 2020. As of the January 2021 meeting, the CRA Board has begun talking about doing an RFP, but has not settled on any of these proposals in the Agenda 2 Meeting Minutes CRA Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 4, 2021 Packet. Having decided to go out for an RFP, what are some of the things the development community should consider important to the CRA in their responses. After much discussion, it was decided community input should be gathered, including a dialog with the newly-formed Downtown Business Coalition (approximately 20 business). Also seeking input from a bigger cross-section of people throughout the City, perhaps a SurveyMonkey. This Board's task is to review questions that Staff has drafted as survey questions as to what should be done with the property. Questions or points of desire can be added or edited to ask the public what should be sought in the RFP. A brief summary of the project (aerial image of project site and what is owned by CRA was shown). • 115 N. Federal Highway • The building is gone and is now a large parking lot. • Can be zoned Mixed Use High, it is in the core so carries a density of 80 units per acre • If workforce housing is approved it would be up to 100 units. • Options to ask for: o Workforce housing o More commercial than normal o No commercial o Public parking o Single-family homeownership, detached/attached • This would be a similar exercise to Cottage District RFP. Survey Questions: 1 . Would you like to see a future redevelopment project incorporate a mix of uses, such as commercial and residential? 2. Would you like to see a full-service grocery store (12,000 up to 20,000 square feet) as a commercial component incorporated into a future project? 3. Would you like to see a hotel incorporated into a future project? 4. Would you like to see Workforce Housing as a component of a future project? 5. Would you like to see larger than required public open space(s) incorporated into the design of a future project? 6. Would you like to see additional public parking spaces incorporated into a future project? 7. Would you like to see accommodations for mass transit or ride sharing amenities (such as bus stops, ride sharing pickup/drop off locations, incorporated into a future project? 8. Are you a resident or business owner in Boynton Beach? 3 Meeting Minutes CRA Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 4, 2021 Before discussing the individual survey questions, general discussion began, including the possibility of upscale restaurants rather than "sporty" kinds, but mostly discussing the limitations of the Mixed Use High zoning. It is important that the public is given background information and understands just what can happen and cannot, such as there will not be any parks. A frank discussion on upscale restaurants and Workforce housing in the same building, for instance, seems mutually exclusive. Chair Barber asked about the purpose of the survey, who initiated it. Mr. Simon said it was initiated by the CRA Board Chair. Mr. Hendricks added that if there is not a survey, people are going to claim nobody asked them about the redevelopment; to which Ms. Cruz agreed the public should be involved. Mr. Simon noted that the CRA is a public agency that owns the property and continued to explain the reasoning behind the survey and how such projects have been conducted in the past. It's a forgone conclusion that this is going to be a mixed used project; however if the Board does not want mixed-use, or if the survey came back with 200 residents saying, no, they don't want mixed use, the plan would be rewritten and the zoning changed. As to the grocery, Mr. Simon noted one of the letters of interest, an independent grocer, is interested in opening a grocery store there (has had a grocery store in Boca for 35 years). The store would most likely be 10,000- 15,000 square feet and would employ neighborhood people and may include something unique incorporating neighborhood gardening. This is a viable letter of interest different from the others. The purpose of releasing the RFP with suggestions is to direct the developer, it doesn't mean all those suggestions can or will be met. Rather than CRA releasing set questions for the survey, they have come to CRAAB to get input on what it feels are important before going to the general public. Ms. Gordon proposed the need for affordable office space as so many new spaces are sitting empty now because of the price. Mr. Hendricks said he had heard this mentioned before. Mr. Simon thought perhaps some language early on that a certain percentage of office space could be offered at below- market value and subsidizing could be sought to make it happen. Ms. Cruz added that with the trend of working at home since Covid-19, perhaps office space is not the best use of available space; perhaps more restaurants/ apartments/housing. Mr. Simon suggested perhaps the developer should provide wi-fi, not only to the individual units but to the plaza of commercial users. Such "smart technology" would not only include wi-fi but even the City's new cooling energy plant, as the building codes now are pretty strict, pushing toward green/sustainability. 4 Meeting Minutes CRA Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 4, 2021 Chair Barber proposed the following recommendations to the survey questions: Q1. Should have a clearer explanation of mixed use within the question? Q2. Example of the type of grocery store that is within that size scope Q4. Example of home prices for workforce housing. Q5. Example of what a public open space is. Q7. Examples of Ride Sharing. Discussion continued predominantly on the criteria behind the meaning of Workforce Housing, the style and what the developer wants to build, and the resulting prices of everything related to the project. The discussion included tax credits for Workforce Housing, there may or may not be an advantage to the developer, remembering the Workforce and Affordable Housing are two different things (Workforce is not much of a difference to standard market value). Mr. Simon said the community is likely aware of the cost of housing in Boynton Beach and that affordable housing would be great, elected officials support it, and there definitely is a hole in the market. A survey question on this would be one way to let the community tell us they agree with us. The goal is to get reassurance from the community that things are on the right track. The next discussion was on rentals/condos/residential. It is difficult to tell the market what to build. A survey question on what the public wants, rental or ownership, could be added. Ms. Gordon noted there are more rental properties right now in Boynton and from what she has seen, they are not that affordable. One thing to consider is that ownership brings in taxes; there are still so many buildings (all rentals) coming up on Old Boynton and more are coming. Going forward, each question was discussed, with the remaining language given as a recommendation to the CRA Board- 1 . oard:1 . Would you like to see a future redevelopment project incorporate a mix of uses, such as commercial and residential? [as is] 2. Would you like to see a grocery store as a commercial component incorporated into a future project? [as modified] 3. Would you like to see a hotel incorporated into a future project? [split on even keeping this question in the survey.] 4. Would you like to see Workforce Housing as a component of a future project? [as is] 5. Would you like to see larger than required public open space(s) incorporated into the design of a future project? [confusing, clarify the language] 6. Would you like to see additional public parking spaces incorporated into a future project? [as is] 5 Meeting Minutes CRA Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 4, 2021 7. Would you like to see accommodations for mass transit or ride sharing amenities (such as bus stops, ride sharing pickup/drop off locations) incorporated into a future project? 8. [new question] Would you like to see smart technology (such as public wifi, energy efficiency) incorporated into a future project? 9. Are you a resident or business owner in Boynton Beach? [as is] The Board would like to see some language included in Question 1 about affordable office space; Mr. Simon said "commercial, office, residential" could be added. Some discussion ensued. Motion made by Ms. Gordon, seconded by Ms. Cruz, to forward the CRA Board the above recommendations to the proposed survey. In a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously (4-0). 8. Adjournment Upon motion duly made and seconded, in a voice vote, the motion passed unanimously (4-0) and the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Attachments: Draft BBCRA Survey Questions [Minutes transcribed by M. Moore, Prototype, Inc.] 6