REVIEW COMMENTS
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
PLANNING AND ZONING DIVISION
MEMORANDUM NO. PZ 06-180
FROM:
Chair and Members
Community Redevelopment Agency Board
Michael R~l2--"
Director of Planning and Zoning
Gabriel Wuebben /1 0
Planner 1
TO:
THRU:
DATE:
September 8, 2006
PROJECT:
The Arches / SPTE 06-011
REQUEST:
Site Plan Time Extension
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Property Owner: Boynton Ventures I, LLC
Applicant / Agent: Ms. Bonnie Miskel with Ruden McClosky
Location: Southwest corner of Ocean Avenue and Federal Highway(Exhibit "A")
Existing Land Use! Zoning: Mixed Use Core (MX-C) ! Mixed Use High (MU-H)
"
Proposed Uses: Request site plan time extension approval for a mixed use project consisting of
40,596 square feet of retail space and 378 condominium units on 4.688 acres.
,
Acreage:' 4.688 acres
Adjacent Uses:
North:
Right-of-way for Ocean Avenue and farther north are developed properties
zoned Central Business District (CBD);
Right-of-way for Southeast 2nd Avenue and farther south is a developed
commercial plaza zoned Community Commercial (C-3);
South:
East:
Right-of-way for Federal Highway and father east is developed commercial
properties zoned CBD; and
West:
Right-of-way for Southeast 4th Street and still farther west is developed
commercial properties zoned CBD.
Page 2
Memorandum No. PZ 06-180
BACKGROUND
Ms. Bonnie Miskel, agent for Boynton Ventures I, LLC, is requesting a one (1) year time extension for the
Arches Site Plan and Height Exception development orders (MSPM 05-008 and HTEX 05-006), which were
approved by the City Commission on September 6, 2005. These approvals are valid for one (1) year from the
date of approval, unless a building permit has been issued or a time extension applied for. If this request for
extensions were approved, the expiration date, including concurrency certification, would be extended to
September 6, 2007. According to the site plan staff report, The Arches was approved to construct a total of
378 dwelling units and 40,596 square feet of retail space (combining retail, office, and restaurant space). The
height exception request was for certain rooftop elements that conceal mechanical equipment, elevator shafts
and stairwells at a height of 167 feet, or 17 feet above the maximum height threshold of 150 feet.
ANALYSIS
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". Examples of building permits include
but are not limited to the following: Plumbing, electrical, mechanical, foundation, and structural. The
Regulations authorize the City Commission to approve one (1) year time extensions, provided that the
applicant files the request prior to the expiration date of the development order. In this case, the applicant
has met that requirement. The Planning & Zoning Division received the extension request August 17,2006-
approximately three (3) weeks prior to the expiration of the site plan and height exception.
According to the time extension application, Ms. Miskel indicates that they have completed a full set of plans
and specifications for the project, at a cost of over $800,000, which has been delivered to the City for
courtesy review. They have also performed the demolition and site clearing, completed a re-plat of the
project which has been submitted to the City for review, and paid multiple fees associated with development
including the following: the courtesy review fee; water/sewer capacity fees (approximately $350,000);
BellSouth permit fee; demolition fees; and the fence permit fee. The project has been delayed by a series of
apparently inevitable and unpredictable obstacles, resulting in previous site plan time extension applications
and a major site plan modification. The latest pitfall, which has resulted in this application, is the delayed FPL
review of the project and the relocation of its facilities. The applicant states this delay is a result of the
hurricanes last year,and FPL's backlog has prevented a timely review of the Project. The applicant also has
indicated that a major BellSouth utility was identified on the site, and moving the utility would be extremely
time consuming and financially unfeasible. Therefore, alterations to the project are necessary to move
elevators, thus creating a delay of over 5 months. As such, they are requesting a one (1) year time extension
to gain the necessary permits and begin construction.
Although this project has been awarded two (2) previous site plan time extensions, the subsequent Major Site
Plan Modification in effect resets the entire development clock and marks a departure point for what is
essentially a new approval procedure. In this respect, this is the first site plan extension request for the
revised project in accordance with the City of Boynton Beach Code of Ordinances.
A more formal criterion for evaluating requests for time extensions is compliance with concurrency
requirements. This project's traffic study was sent to Palm Beach County Traffic Division for their review and
approval. The Traffic Division determined that the proposed mixed-use project is located within the
designated Boynton Beach Traffic Concurrency Exception Area (TCEA), and therefore meets the Traffic
Performance Standards (TPS) of Palm Beach County. However, no building permits are to be issued by the
city after the build-out date of 2010. Since the applicant has what would appear to be adequate time
remaining on the applicant's traffic concurrency, nothing further in this regard is needed at this time. The
Page 3
Memorandum No. PZ 06-180
site plan time extension would still be subject to the original conditions of site plan and height exception
approvals. Lastly, no new land development regulations are now in place against which the project should be
reviewed and modified. As for application of the Art in Public Places Ordinance, site plan approval occurred
prior to the adoption of Ordinance 05-060
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of this request for a one (1) year time extension of the major site plan modification
(MSPM 05-008) and height exception (HTEX 05-006). If these requests for extension were approved, the
expiration date of both applications, including concurrency certification would be extended to September 6,
2007, and all conditions from the original approvals must still be satisfactorily addressed during the building
permit process.
S:\Planning\SHARED\WP\PROJECTS\ARCHES @ BB\SPTE 06-011\Arches SPTE 06-011 5taff Report.doc
Ex~.)it "A" - THE AR~ES
Location Map
110 55 0
~~-
110
220
330
440
I Feet
N
W+E
5
EXHIBIT B
~. Ruden
~II McClosky
200 EAST BROWARD BOULEVARD
SUITE 1500
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33301
POST OFFICE BOX 1900
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33302
(954) 527-2476
FAX: (954) 333-4076
BONNIE.MISKEL@RUDEN,COM
fD)~@~~W~rn1
w! ~'t~_'G -I~
August 16, 2006
VIA E-MAIL, FACSIMILE
AND u.S. MAIL
OEIl'ARTMENl 0::' vL"'JELOPMENl
Mr. Michael Rumpf
Director of Planning & Zoning
City of Boynton Beach
1 00 E. Boynton Beach Boulevard
Boynton Beach, Florida 33425-0310
Re: The Arches (MSPM 05-008)
Dear Mr. Rumpf:
The purpose of this letter is to request a one year time extension for the above referenced
project. The date of the Development Order approval was September 6, 2005. The applicant is
requesting the time extension because of unforeseen delays in the development process including
the relocation ofFPL and project modifications required as a result of Bell South utility lines.
The Developer had anticipated that it would take FPL several months to review the
Project and the relocation of its facilities. Instead, as a consequence of the aftermath of the
hurricanes last year, 500 Ocean Plaza formerly known as the Arches was caught in a backlog of
projects requiring FPL signoff. Only recently, after a six month delay, has FPL signed off on the
relocation of its facilities. In addition to the FPL relocation, the Developer has also been
required to address the relocation of a major BellSouth fiber optic trunkline serving a substantial
portion of the City of Boynton Beach. Since relocation was not economically feasible and would
delay the project and inordinate amount of time, the Developer was required to substantially
modify the plans and relocate the elevator banks to accommodate the BellSouth optic fiber
trunkline without relocation. The process of identifying the BellSouth facilities, evaluating the
ability to relocate same and the redesign of the Project to accommodate the BellSouth fiber optic
trunkline has delayed the Project more than five months.
The Developer has completed a full set of plans and specifications for the Project which
has cost the Developer more than $800,000.00 to prepare and has submitted same to the City for
courtesy review. Additionally, issues were raised regarding the need to replat the Project. The
Developer had its engineers prepare a replat of the Project which has been submitted to the City
FTL:1885170:1
RUDEN, McCLOSKY, SMITH, SCHUSTER & RUSSELL, P.A.
CARACAS' FT. LAUDERDALE . MIAMI' NAPLES. ORLANDO' PORT ST.LUCIE . SARASOTA' ST. PETERSBURG. TALLAHASSEE' TAMPA' WEST PALM BEACH
Mr. Michael Rumpf
City of Boynton Beach
August 16, 2006
Page 2
for review. The applicant has paid multiple fees associated with the development of this project
including: the courtesy review fee; water/sewer capacity fees (approximately $350,000.00);
BellSouth permit fee; fees to demolish existing structure on the site; and the fence permit fee.
As significant unforeseen difficulties have arisen, a one year time extension is reasonable.
Should you have any questions or concerns related to this letter, please feel free to call me.
BLM/bab
Sincerely,
~M<CA' ~/liL
Bonnie L. Miskel toAb)
FTL:1885170:1
CARACAS. FT. LAUDERDALE . MIAMI. NAPLES. ORLANDO. PORT ST. LUCIE . SARASOTA. ST. PETERSBURG. TALLAHASSEE. TAMPA. WEST PALM BEACH
RUDEN, McCLOSKY, SMITH, SCHUSTER & RUSSELL, P.A.
EXHIBIT "e"
Conditions of Approval
Project name: 500 Ocean (fka The Arches)
File number: SPTE 06-011
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/ENVIRONMENT ALIST
Comments: None
PLANNING AND ZONING
Comments:
1. The time extension is subject to the original Conditions of Approval.
500 Ocean (tka The Arches) SPTE 06-011
Conditions of Approval
P 2
age
DEPARTMENTS INCLUDE REJECT
ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD
CONDITIONS
Comments:
None
ADDITIONAL CITY COMMISSION CONDITIONS
Comments:
To be determined.
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