HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 040308 WorkshopI CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
2 CITY COUNCIL
3 WORKSHOP MEETING
4 APRIL 3, 2008
6 The April 3, 2008 Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach
7 Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 6:03 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the
8 Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida,
9 by Mayor Eric Jablin.
10 L PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
11 H. ROLL CALL
12 The City Clerk called the roll and the following elected officials were found to be in
13 attendance: Mayor Eric Jablin, Vice Mayor David Levy, Councilmember Joseph Russo,
14 Councilmember Jody Barnett and Councilmember Robert Premuroso.
15 Mayor Jablin welcomed all to tonight's workshop. Mayor Jablin noted the new chairs on
16 the dais, as suggested by Former Councilmember Valeche. All Councilmembers now sit
17 higher.
18 Mayor Jablin announced the City of Palm Beach Gardens will hold two public budget
19 workshops in May: Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. and Thursday, May 15, 2008 at
20 6:00 p.m. Both workshops will immediately precede the Regular City Council Meetings
21 in Council Chambers.
22 HI. WORKSHOP
23 a. Composition of Boards and Committees. City Manager Ron Ferris addressed the first
24 subject for discussion stating that by consensus at the last City Council meeting, Council
25 directed staff to review the current board and committee structure and find out current
26 issues and concerns. In so doing, recommendations were given by the public, board
27 members, staff and some Councilmembers. Some of the challenges noted: the work is
28 done but concern remains about work to be done in the future; too little responsibility;
29 and attendance issues. Considerations taken into account include: potential budget cuts,
30 staff time, effectiveness of the boards and the use of board member time. Suggestions
31 made to address the issues include budget, available staff time, input from citizens, and
32 combining the Community Aesthetics Board (CAB) and the Parks and Recreation
33 Advisory Board (RAB). Due to future financial considerations it is questionable as to
34 whether the Military Trail Grant Program will continue. The other boards being
35 considered for combining are the Budget Oversight Committee (BOC) and the Economic
36 Development Advisory Board (EDAB). Both are financially and economically based.
37 These ideas are for consideration and discussion to ensure the boards and committees
38 work effectively and efficiently. Mayor Jablin requested further input on the possibility
39 of combining the CAB and the RAB. Mayor Jablin stated he did not want to see anyone
40 eliminated from a board that still wishes to continue. Councilmember Barnett explained
41 the responsibilities of the CAB and noted the member concerns for scope of
42 responsibility. The CAB members do wish to continue. Vice Mayor Levy stated the RAB
43 is planning the City Park and Lilac Park Master Plans. However, with the budget cut
44 there may not be any funding to make the vision happen. City Manager Ferris stated that
45 impact fees are down and grant monies are limited so there may not be hard money for
46 construction costs. Also to be considered is maintenance for any new facilities.
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I Councilmember Barnett asked if each department applies for its own grants. City
2 Manager Ferris stated that each department applies on its own and RAB has been very
3 successful. Councilmember Russo agreed with eliminating costs where possible, but
4 retaining the contributions of board members who provide their expertise free of charge
5 to the City. Councilmember Russo also discussed the possibility of keeping the BOC and
6 EDAB separate, but cut down on the number of meetings. Another suggestion is to set a
7 goal for each board's membership and then meet that goal through attrition.
8 Councilmember Barnett requested that the boards' scope be reconsidered. She explained
9 how the CAB members have been looking into environmental issues in which they could
10 become active. Councilmember Premuroso suggested keeping the committees separate
11 for now and to scale back the meetings. Also suggested was bringing the CAB and RAB
12 together to meet and see if the members can find common ground. Mayor Jablin agreed
13 with Councilmember Premuroso's suggestion on having the CAB and RAB meet.
14 Agreement was reached among Councilmembers to have the CAB and RAB meet and
15 discuss the possibility of their joining to become one board. Vice Mayor Levy stated he
16 would like to attend the meeting because he has some ideas for CAB that may not be
17 aesthetic, but would definitely make the City better, which is within their purview. City
18 Manager Ron Ferris summarized the points of the discussion: scale back the number of
19 meetings based on work demand; have the CAB and RAB meet and discuss their
20 commonality; and cut back on the number of meetings based on workload.
21 b. De Minimis Traffic Issues. City Engineer Dan Clark explained de minimis traffic
22 issues and Constrained Roadway at a Lower Level of Service ( CRALLS). De minimis
23 traffic is defined as the volume of less than 1 percent of the level of service on the
24 roadways. Level of service is another way to define capacity. The relationship of volume
25 on the road versus capacity on the road is being looked at. De minimis traffic is a
26 concurrency exception. Traditionally, when less than 1 percent of the roadway capacity is
27 reached, a roadway exception has been allowed. Volume is defined as the counts the
28 County gives (background traffic) plus the committed un -built (trips that have been
29 approved but aren't showing up on the roadway because the buildings aren't there to
30 generate the traffic) plus the proposed new development trips that will go onto the
31 roadway. Combining the three factors and looking at the volume, and then comparing the
32 volume to our level of service and what that level of service (defined as the capacity on
33 the roadway) is where challenges begin with a couple of the City's roads. F.S. Chapter
34 163 reads, "No impact will be considered de minimis if the roadway already exceeds the
35 level of service by 10 percent." Palm Beach Gardens has two roadways where the volume
36 of traffic exceeds 110 percent of capacity or above. They are PGA Boulevard from
37 Florida's Turnpike east to Military Trail and Northlake Boulevard from Interstate 95 east
38 to Congress Avenue. The State says that even de minimis traffic cannot be allowed on
39 those roadways at that point. Options to be addressed include: any project that might
40 come forward that would add traffic to those roadways. The City can establish a policy
41 that no CRALLS will be allowed anywhere. CRALLS is an adjustment to our level of
42 service that increases capacity. The options available for the two cited roadway segments
43 include: adopt CRALLS for those segments that allow for de minimis traffic, do not
44 adopt CRALLS for those segments, or continue our policy of addressing each issue on a
45 project -by- project basis as the need arises. Dan Clark recommended continuing to
46 address each issue on a project -by- project basis. Palm Beach County issues the CRALLS.
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I The City of Palm Beach Gardens can ask for changes. Councilmember Russo stated Palm
2 Beach County Commissioner Karen Marcus will not accept any CRALLS unless they
3 come from the City first. Councilmember Russo spoke extensively on the rules governing
4 de minimis and CRALLS designations and possible development and roadway impact.
5 Councilmember Russo does not want to see any more traffic on a road that already has a
6 CRALLS designation. Vice Mayor Levy stated that from City Engineer Dan Clark's
7 memorandum he could accept option (a) establish policy of no CRALLS for de minimis
8 impacts or (b) address as specific projects come forward without global CRALLS; he
9 could not accept option (c) ask the County to adopt de minimis CRALLS for these links.
10 Councilmember Barnett requested further explanation of options (a) and (b). Dan Clark
I1 explained that option (a) is telling the County not to designate any de minimis for the
12 City of Palm Beach Gardens and directing staff to decrease the intensity of developments
13 to the point where it did not impact that roadway. Dan Clark asked for a policy decision
14 from Council. Mayor Russo asked Dan Clark if the City can consider traffic impact on a
15 project -by- project basis. Dan Clark explained that he is talking about small projects such
16 as in -fill and redevelopment. The problem is the impact will be on roadways that are
17 already above capacity. In this situation Council can do a project -by- project capacity
18 adjustment, which the County designates as CRALLS. If a large project comes in it will
19 be a Development Regional Impact (DRI) and it will have major traffic issues that will
20 have to be discussed at Council level. Further discussion ensued. Council recommended
21 option (b) address as specific projects come forward without global CRALLS.
22 c. Direction of Code Enforcement. Code Enforcement Operations Director David Reyes
23 updated Council on his department's activities. He reported receiving requests from
24 residents for the continued enforcement of City codes. Code Enforcement's goal is to
25 continue to work with residents and continue communication. The three -step enforcement
26 process includes: (1) a Correction Request, (2) Notice of Violation and (3) Notice of
27 Hearing, Although Florida Statute does not require a Correction Request, it has been
28 found to be successful, with 35 percent resolution at that level. Code Enforcement has
29 also been successful in working with other City departments including Police, Fire and
30 Building. During FY 2007 -2008, to date 228 requests for compliance have been
31 received. Ninety percent of Code Enforcement's cases are generated by a resident
32 complaint.
33 d. Town Hall Meeting Date. Postponed until the Regular City Council meeting directly
34 following at 7:00 p.m.
35 e. Height Ordinance. Growth Management Administrator Kara Irwin presented
36 Ordinance 8, 2007 height restriction requirements for residential Planned Unit
37 Developments (PUD) and Panned Commercial Developments (PCD). Ordinance 8, 2007
38 affects residential development in all areas of the City. At first reading Ordinance 8, 2007
39 was put aside so nonresidential height could be reviewed. With resolution of
40 nonresidential height the same process can be followed and it can be added to Ordinance
41 8, 2007. Residential height designations were explained. Kara Irwin stated meetings have
42 been held with representatives from the Palm Beach Gardens Residents Coalition to
43 negotiate height limitations for nonresidential development in the City. Agreement in
44 concept includes: development West of Interstate 95 would have the same limitation as
45 residential, with not more than a 25 percent increase as the only allowable waiver; East of
46 Interstate 95, where economic development is encouraged and which includes future
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bioscience areas, remain with its current limitation where waivers for height must be
requested through the PUD process. West of Interstate 95 the proposed commercial
restriction is 36 feet, with the 25 percent waiver cap the maximum height would be 45
feet; professional office would be the same as commercial; industrial is 50 feet and the
maximum would be 62.5 feet; public and institutional buildings of no more than 45 feet
would be 56.25 feet; mixed use is 4 floors and could be increased to 5 floors for
employment center uses only located at the intersection of two arterials. East of Interstate
95 the limitations will be determined by City Council through the PUD process. To adopt
the height regulations, Ordinance 8, 2007 can be revised by adding the nonresidential
limitations. The Ordinance will be given a new 2008 number and put back through the
process including the Land Development Regulations Committee (LDRQ which would
make a recommendation to the City Council and the City Council would have two public
hearings. Public comments can be made at both City Council meetings. Language can be
included for existing nonconforming buildings. Kara Irwin explained that a waiver to
build over 36 feet would still be required, but could not exceed 45 feet. Councilmember
Barnett stated she does not believe the changes will accomplish what she thought they
would. Councilmember Russo explained his meetings with the Palm Beach Gardens
Residents Coalition, which were authorized by Council. The Coalition's concerns were
height and traffic. Residents want protection from high -rise residential condominiums,
but do want to encourage commercial development. Councilmember Russo supports the
residential and commercial limits. Vice Mayor Levy stated his support for the new
limitations. Council agreed to go forward with the height limitations proposal.
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I XIV. ADJOURNMENT
2 There being no further discussion at the Workshop, a motion for adjournment was made
3 by Councilmember Russo, seconded by Vice Mayor Levy and approved unanimously.
4 The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
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6 APPROVED:
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33 ATTEST:
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37 Patricia Snider, CMC
38 City Clerk
24i2
David Levy; Vice Mayer ,0,
Councilmember
v
Jody Barnett, ouncilmember
Robert G. Premuroso, Councilmember
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40 Note: These summary minutes are prepared in compliance with 286.011 F.S. and are not verbatim
41 transcripts of the meeting. A verbatim audio record is available from the Office of the City Clerk.
42 All referenced attachments on file in the Office of the City Clerk.
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