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REVIEW COMMENTS DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT PLANNING AND ZONING DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. PZ 06-172 FROM: Chair and Members Community Redevelopment Agency Michael Rum~W Director of Planning and Zoning Ed Breese t!I!:7) Principal Planner TO: THRU: DATE: September 13, 2006 PROJECT: Neelam Business Center / SPTE 06-010 REQUEST: Site Plan Time Extension (6 month) PROJECT DESCRIPTION Property Owner: AA, LLC Applicant/Agent: Anand Patel, Managing Partner of AA, LLC Location: SE corner of NE 9th Avenue and North Federal Highway (see Exhibit "A" - Location Map) Existing Land Use / Zoning: Mixed-Use (MX)/Mixed-Use Low (MU-L) Proposed Land Use/Zoning: No change proposed Proposed Use: 8,754 square foot Professional Office Building Acreage: 22,838 square feet (0.52 acres) Adjacent Uses: North: N.E. 9th Avenue right-of-way, and farther north, Boynton Beach F.O.E. #3944 lodge building, zoned C-4; South: An auto repair business (Neal Autohaus Auto Repair shop) zoned C-4; East: Single-family residential neighborhood, zoned R-1-A; and West: Federal Highway right-of-way, and farther west, a retail business (M&M Appliances), zoned C-4. BACKGROUND Mr. Anand Patel of AA, LLC is requesting a six (6) month time extension, for the site plan approval (NWSP 05-022) granted on August 2, 2005. The property, zoned Mixed-Use Low (MU-L), is currently a vacant, undeveloped parcel approximately 0.52 acres in size. The intent of the project is to construct a three (3) story, 8,754 square foot office / retail building (see Exhibit "B"). If this request for extension were Page 2 Memorandum No. PZ 06-172 approved, the expiration date of this site plan would be extended to February 2, 2007. ANALYSIS Originally, the City Commission, on February 18, 2003, granted Jeffrey Schnars of Schnars Engineering site plan approval for the Schnars Business Center at this location. The project did not commence within the requisite one year timeframe and Schnars Engineering sold the property to AA, LLC, who proceeded to apply for site plan approval for the exact same building. On August 2, 2005, the City Commission approved the site plan filed by the new owner AA, LLC. According to Chapter 4, Section 5 of the Land Development Regulations, "the applicant shall have one (1) year to secure a building permit from the Development Department". It states further that the City Commission may extend the approval for one (1) year provided that the applicant has filed a request for a time extension prior to the expiration of the original approval. In this case, the applicant has met the requirement. The Planning & Zoning Division received the application for a site plan time extension on August 1, 2006, prior to the expiration date. According to the justification submitted for the requested time extension, the applicant lists the following accomplishments as demonstrating their "good faith" efforts in securing a building permit for the project: (1) a payment in the amount of $8,700 was made to FPL for engineering associated with relocation of power poles on the property. The engineering work is complete and $2,600 were expended to prepare a new survey with relocated FPL easements; (2) plans were submitted to the City on April 18, 2006 for building permits and an application fee of $5,936.43 was paid; (3) permit comments were received by the applicant on May 16, 2006, and the plans were subsequently modified and resubmitted to the City on July 19, 2006; (4) Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) permits have been applied for; and (5) a temporary construction fence permit has been issued by the City. A more formal criterion for evaluating requests for time extensions is compliance with (traffic) concurrency requirements. The concurrency approval from Palm Beach County Traffic Engineering has expired and a new approval from the County will be required (see Exhibit "C" - Conditions of Approval). Regarding compliance with City codes, the only new land development regulation adopted since the approval of this project is the Urban Commercial District Overlay, which is designed to encourage redevelopment of commercially zoned parcels in a manner consistent with the pattern of those proximate parcels developed within the Mixed Use zoning classifications. These regulations are designed to create greater massing on the site and relegate parking to a subordinate position, so it is not placed between the building and the right-of-way. This particular site plan was designed with urban guidelines in mind, with the building brought forward on the site, three (3) stories high with appropriate massing and scale, as well as building features denoted in the design guidelines. Although there is a curb cut off of Federal Highway, it was also designed with a curb cut off of the side street, as promoted within the guidelines. The only deviation from the new regulations lies with the interior side build-to requirement of zero (0) to fifteen (15) feet, where buildings are envisioned to span the width of the entire lot frontage, creating a wall of buildings lining Federal Highway from parcel to parcel. The approved site plan depicts a 73 foot interior side setback to accommodate a drive entrance, side and rear parking, as well as landscape buffer. It is likely, due to the shallow depth of the lot, if the site plan was redrawn to reflect the revised side build-to line, the building square footage and mass would have to be significantly reduced to compensate for the parking spaces lost in elongating the building. As with all Site Plan Time Extension requests, the site plan is still subject to the original 29 conditions of site plan approval. Relative to the Art in Public Places ordinance, the original site plan approval occurred prior to adoption of Ordinance 05-060. Page 3 Memorandum No. PZ 06-172 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of this request for a six (6) month time extension of the site plan approval (NWSP 05-022) with the condition that the applicant obtains traffic concurrency approval to extend the build-out date accordingly. This positive recommendation is based on the fact that the applicant has demonstrated a commitment to receive the necessary permits, the approved site plan complies with nearly all of the new regulations of the Urban Commercial District Overlay, and equally important, that the project retains the same high quality appeal in design that essentially achieves compliance with the proposed CRA Urban Design Guidelines and would make it a true asset in the Federal Highway corridor. Approval of this request for site plan extension would extend the project's expiration date to February 2, 2007. All conditions of approval included in the initial development order must still be satisfactorily addressed during the building permit process; however, any conditions of approval recommended by the Board or required by the City Commission will be placed in Exhibit "C" - Conditions of Approval. S:IPlanningISHAREDlWPIPROJECTSINeelam Business CenterlSPTE 06-0101Staff Report.doc .. 1 in. = 121.4 feet i a::l I Exhibit A Neelam Business Center EXHIBIT B August 1, 2006 Michael W. Rumpf Director of Planning & Zoning City of Boynton Beach Development Department Planning & Zoning Division 100 E. Boynton Beach Blvd. P.O. Box 310 Boynton Beach, FL 33425 RE: Request Extension of Site Plan Approval Dear Mr. Rumpf: This letter is in regards to the Neelam Business Center at 924 N Federal Highway. As you are aware the City Commission approved the site plan for the above mentioned project on August 2, 2005. Parag Construction has been working diligently to secure . permits and all necessary government approvals to commence development of the mixed use plaza. However, it appears we will fall slightly short of securing a building permit . from the City of Boynton Beach prior to the one year deadline: Therefore, we are requesting an extension for the current Development Order approval for a period of six months. We believe this will be more than substantial time to secure a . building permit, and all other necessary approvals. . I cannot emphasize how serious we are about getting this project off the ground, but please consider the following to determine our commitment to. the development of Neelam Business Center: 1 Payment in the amount of$8700.00 to FPL for engineering and relocating power poles on site. FPL has completed the engineering process and we have completed a survey with new FPL easements $2600.00. 2 Permit Application Fee in the amount of$5936.43 was paid to the City of Boynton Beach on April 18, 2006. Permit #06-2988 3 Comments received on May 16,2006 were corrected and resubmitted on July 19, 2006. ----.------....--'--..-----:r---WenaveappHecfroiliDC)'T.perrnltS:~" _n___ ,,"""'- 5 Temporary Fence permit secured from the City of Boynton Beach on April 25, 2006. Permit # 0600000832 6 Engineered Roof Truss Drawings complete 7 Soil Boring Tests complete We would greatly appreciate the granting of an extension as we are not far out from breaking ground on this project. Thank you for the time and consideration. Sincerely, n , () () no 77 ci. d. ro..J€X---.- Anand D. Patel Managing Partner AA, LLC EXHIBIT "e" Conditions of Approval Project name: Neelam Business Center File number: SPTE 06-010 Reference: DEPARTMENTS INCLUDE REJECT PUBLIC WORKS- General Comments: None PUBLIC WORKS- Traffic Comments: None . UTILITIES Comments: None FIRE Comments: None POLICE Comments: None ENGINEERING DIVISION Comments: None BUILDING DIVISION Comments: None PARKS AND RECREATION Comments: None FORESTER/ENVIRONMENTALIST Comments: None PLANNING AND ZONING Comments: 1. All previous conditions of Approval as set forth in the original site plan approval (NWSP 05-022) remain in effect. Conditions of Approval 2 I DEPARTMENTS I INCLUDE I REJECT I 2. Provide an updated concurrency approval letter from Palm Beach County Traffic Division, prior to issuance of first permit. ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD CONDITIONS Comments: To be determined. ADDITIONAL CITY COMMISSION CONDITIONS Comments: To be determined. S:\Planning\SHARED\ WP\PROJECTS\Schnars Business Ctr\Neelam NWSP OS-022\SPTE 06-0 10\COA.doc