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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes EDAB 041405ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD April 14, 2005 Minutes The Economic Development Advisory Board met on April 14, 2005. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 AM in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. L ROLL CALL Members Present: Frank Compiani, Lou Gaeta, Casey Steinbacher, Kenneth Kahn, and James Kissel. Members Absent: David Haysmer, Eric Habecker, Mark Murnan, and Elaine Beers. Also Present: Dolores Key, Staff Liaison and Economic Development/Marketing Administrator, Charles Wu, Growth Management Administrator, Talal Benothman, Planning and Zoning Division Director, Kara Irwin, Senior Planner, Dan Clark, City Engineer, Allyson Maiwurm, Executive Assistant to the City Manager IL APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Board approved the minutes from the March 10, 2005, meeting. III. ITEMS BY STAFF LIAISON Dolores reported that after a two year process, the Economic Development Element, Ordnance 48, 2004 is now part of the City's Comprehensive Plan. Dolores would like to see the Board look over the targeted expedited permitting program for additional refinement so that they may be written into the City's LDRs (Land Development Regulations). Dolores will be meeting with Kelly Smallridge, the intern President of the Business Development Board, to discuss the implementation phase of the program. She suggested that on a future agenda the Board discuss this in more detail. The discussion will be based on how the Board is going to handle projects that are brought before them, especially those that are multi - faceted. IV. Briger Tract Kara Irwin reported on the Briger project. Currently DCA is reviewing the reports on the four comprehensive amendments. DCA received an objection from the Department of Transportation and would like a further traffic analysis to include peak hour performance. There was also concern regarding the conservation element. DCA would like more details on how the City will deal with off -site mitigation. All of the requested information will be incorporated into the comprehensive plan amendments. Kara is going present at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and she's also prepared to address questions. She added that some of the comments from the Palm Beach County included the needs for parking, landscaping, mitigation, and the trip generation rate. There was discussion about the possibility of DCA asking for a lower density on the property. Talal Benothman responded to the questions about the density and explained that we have followed all the procedures on this property just like we have on other comprehensive amendments and therefore, he felt that these issues should not be a problem. Dolores stated that there are still a lot of people that don't understand that eight million square feet is the maximum and that during the DRI process the density could be decreased. She informed the Board that a community planning meeting on the Briger Tract will be held on May 9 to solicit more input from residents. V. Ordinance 6, 2005 Talal presented Ordinance 6, 2005 to the Board. He explained that this Ordinance creates two new categories for conditional use within the Land Development Regulations. Under this Ordinance, City Council would approve major conditional uses and staff would approve minor conditional uses. He explained both the major and minor conditional use processes. He stated that the purpose of the Ordinance is to streamline the review process and that will considerably reduced time and increase efficiency among staff. Another objective is to save local businesses time and money. He also gave examples of both major conditional use and minor conditional use. Talal answered questions about the presentation. He stated that Ordinance 6, 2005 will go before Council for second reading on May 05, 2005. Dan Clarke, City Engineer added that he and Charles Wu are developing a standards book for engineering. The book will be handed out to every applicant so that they know what is expected. This should expedite the review process. Talal also discussed the city's Sign Ordinance. Staff is currently working with the city attorney to rectify problems with this Ordnance. When the final draft is available he will be happy to be back for the board's review. VL Proposed Palm Tran Service Charles Wu, presented to the board the plans for improved Palm Tran service in the north county area. His information was based on a meeting he attended at the Department of Transportation. He stated that there will be two additional buses and 5 additional bus routes added to the North County area. The purpose of the additional routes is to service the employment centers, shopping areas and recreation areas in North County. Charles felt that they did a good job of planning the Jupiter routes but, the routes in Palm Beach Gardens fell short of the of providing accessible transportation to the residents. Casey added that she was also at the transportation meeting. She felt the new routes were based on a survey that is over six months old and that it should be updated by business owners to see where business centers are located in an effort to make planning the route more efficient. Frank talked about the fact that there was discussion at the town hall meeting regarding a possible trolley service in the city and it seemed that it was well received. He didn't feel that the routes that Palm Tran is offering are beneficial to the residents who live in certain communities, such as PGA National. Lou Gatea stated that from past experience, rider ship has always been low in the North County area. The board felt that they should encourage the routes to go through the employment centers in the city. Charles stated that it was important that the new routes become successful because eventually Palm Tram will add additional routes to better service our area. VII. Discussion about developing a public outreach program Lou Gaeta commented that at the Town Hall meeting a lot of the residence did not really understand the issues that we're facing the city. A lot of the comments that were made were incorrect regarding traffic and planning of certain projects. He felt the as a city we need to do a better job to inform and educate them of what is really going on in the city. He stated he was upset that the perception of the residents is so negative and he felt the accusations that were made about staff were not true. The board felt the city needs to have a program in place as opposed to holding a couple of meetings to keep the residents educated. Casey suggested possibly communicating with the residence through their homeowners associations, local clubs and organizations. We need to bring back a level of trust with the residents. Kenneth Kahn talked about also including the business community on the grassroots level of the issues facing the city. VIII. Next Meeting Continue discussion about educating residents and targeting expedited permitting. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:53 A.M. Approval: 'Kenneth Kahn, Chairp n Lou Gaeta, Vice Chairperson !L Eric Habecker, Board Member David Haysmer, Board Member paa"']�TJ Ca6y Stein Board Member Marl uinan, Board Member &��' j cj&' / Elaine Beers, Board ber Frank Compiani, Alternate Board Attest: Susan Bell Public Information/ Recording Coordinator