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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes P&Z 011006PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD • REGULAR MEETING January 10, 2006 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Chair Craig Kunkle at 6:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Charles Wu reported City Council had approved the following cases: (1) Mirasol Walk Bank of America, and (2) The Point PUD, with two 4 -story office buildings. Motion was made, seconded and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2005 meeting as submitted. ROLL CALL Susan Bell, Secretary for the meeting, called the roll for the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board: • Present Absent Chair Craig Kunkle Vice Chair Barry Present Dennis Solomon Douglas Pennell Michael Panczak Randolph Hansen Jonathan D. Rubins Joy Hecht (1't Alt.) Amir Kanel (2"d Alt.) All those intending to testify in any of tonight's hearings were sworn in, Lei s s 4 Mr. Present made a motion recommending Craig Kunkle as Chair for another year. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hansen, and unanimously carved. Mr. Hansen made a motion recommending Barry Present as Vice Chair. Mr. Pennell seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote. . Chair Kunkle announced that agenda item 3 would be considered first due to request by the applicant for continuance. • Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 2 Recommendation to City Council: Ea Parte Communication (Quasi Judicial) SP- 05-01: Parcel 27.09 — Gardens Pointe A request by Marty Minor of Urban Design Studio, agent for Gardens Pointe LLC, for site plan approval of 216 residential condominium high -rise units within two twelve -story towers, and 24 townhouses. The 6.6 -acre subject site is located at the northwest corner of Kyoto Gardens Drive and Fairchild Gardens Avenue (adjacent to the Landmark), which is within the Regional Center Development of Regional Impact (DRI). Chair Kunkle called for any ex -parte communication. Mr. Hansen reported meetings with the applicant a couple of months ago. Other ex -parte was declared that was not picked up by the microphone. Chair Kunkle reported he had also attended meetings in the past. Growth Management Administrator Wu requested that the public hearing be opened since mailings had been sent out and this matter had been advertised. Chair Kunkle called for comments from the applicant. Mr. John Sapo, Senior Vice President with Kolter Communities advised they were requesting a continuance to February 14 due to issues of the project design with staff and they were working with staff to improve the project. Motion was made and seconded to continue item SP -05 -01 to February 14. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Wu introduced the Recording Secretary, Susan Bell, and noted that the previous recording secretary had requested to be relieved of the night meetings but would continue to transcribe the minutes. Public Hearing and Recommendation to City Council: Ex Parte Communication (Quasi Judicial) Petition: PUDA- 05- 09 -01. RCA Center PUD — Revisions to Approved Development Plans A request by Mr. Jeffery P. Marshall. of RCA Center II of-Florida. LLC, for approval of an amendment to the RCA Center Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for (1) a reallocation of square footage between certain buildings on site: (2) revised footprints and elevations of certain buildings to accommodate the changes in square footage: (3) the introduction of a parking structure: and (4) other minor changes to the site and landscape plans The approximately 30.03 -acre RCA Center PUD is generally bounded by the PGA Flyover to the north. the Florida East Coast (FE-0 Railway to the gas the Gardens Station_ Mixed- Use PUD to the south, and RCA Boulevard to the west • The following ex -parte communications were reported: Chair Kunkle reported he met with the applicant and reviewed their revisions. Mr. Pennell reported meeting with Jeff Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 3 • Marshall. Mr. Hansen reported he met with Jeff Marshall last week. Donaldson Hearing provided a presentation on behalf of Catalfumo Construction and Development, noting this was Parcel 5A, explaining that when this project had gone before City Council they had directed that certain square footage located east of RCA be moved to the west half of the plan to make room for a transit station on the east side of the site plan in the future and that a bus loop be provided, and this application was in response to that direction. The site plan modifications were summarized, and it was noted that Robb & Stuckey was to be a primary tenant. Mr. Hearing reviewed proposed waivers and stated the applicant was in agreement with all conditions of approval. Mr. Hearing explained that the parking garage was not included in the square footage increase. Mr. Panczak expressed his opinion the project looked great overall but felt the south elevations of buildings 3 and 4 and the north elevation of building 10 lacked continuity with the rest of the project. Mr. Hansen commented that he and Jeff Marshall had gone over some of his concerns, including the color scheme. Mr. Marshall had assured him that the color scheme would be closer to the color schemes represented within the package on the building elevations rather than the color scheme shown on the cover. Mr. Hansen agreed with that, other than the elevations for Buildings 3 and 4, which he did not think were consistent, and did not like the greenish color that was introduced. Mr. Hansen indicated he did not agree with the scale of the articulation of the openings in the parking garage, which he felt were • too large in comparison with the openings on the rest of the building, and although he was all for security and safety he did not believe the Police Department should dictate the visual character of the City based on openness and security. Mr. Hansen commented if the parking was used strictly for office parking he could agree with 9 -1/2' parking spaces but disagreed with 9' spaces. Mr. Hansen asked if the overall square footage was increased almost 90,000 square feet on the basis that this would be a furniture use for almost half of the project, if there was any recourse in the future if the use changed. Mr. Hearing responded that was unlikely, but if it did happen it would be the applicant's issue to deal with and they would have to come up with another use and convert buildings to another use that did not have the trip generation. W. Hearing explained that in the next 20 years, Treasure Coast would like transit areas to be more intense uses. Planning Manager Michael Sanchez commented that when the applicant had requested changing to the furniture use they, had been made aware that if there were a change in use they would have to go to a less intense use, and that was a condition of approval. Mr. Hansen asked what the relationship was with Treasure Coast —if the City was no longer in the driver's seat on some issues such as moving buildings, etc. Mr. Wu explained that Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council had been hired by South Florida Regional Transit Authority to look at all communities along the railroad tracks to see what they could do to further chances of obtaining federal grants to do Tri Rail extensions to Jupiter. One important criteria was that if all along the tracks uses were intensified — particularly at station areas —it would increase chances substantially of getting grants. Mr. Wu explained that transit - oriented development for this project was very important and Treasure Coast had • been very helpful to facilitate making this project more successful if a Tri Rail station did Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 4 • happen here. Mr. Wu explained that the City was in the driver's seat but Treasure Coast was helping to facilitate their vision. Mr. Solomon asked if the potential Tri Rail station use had figured into determining the parking spaces and traffic trips for this project. Mr. Wu responded it had not, and that would be done in the future. Mr. Solomon asked if that should have been done now. Mr. Wu explained that the land adjacent to the railroad tracks was privately held, and the developer had no obligation or requirement to vacate that land; the best that could be done was to have them shift the entitlement between the road and railroad tracks to the western side in the interim, to keep that Tri Rail piece vacant to be positioned to do a station there in the future. Parking was discussed —Mr. Sanchez explained there was a conceptual future parking garage on the southwestern portion of the proposed plan, and the applicant was required to work with the South Florida Transportation Authority who oversees Tri Rail stations to see if that area would work for their parking, and they had confirmed that proposed conceptual plans would work. Mr. Solomon indicated he was not in favor of 9' parking spaces. Mr. Solomon felt the parking garage and the attached building could be improved in some way, but stated his primary concern was the 9' spaces. Ms. Hecht asked about residential, since she thought that was the idea was to have residential development along with Tri Rail. Mr. Hearing indicated residential would • probably be introduced when a station was actually proposed. Mr. Kanel asked where any future residential would occur —Mr. Hearing responded it would most likely be in multi -story buildings on the east side of the road, integrated with the Tri Rail station; but might also occur along some of the roadways where currently there was parking. The design of the future station and there was sufficient space where a double rail and bridge could be accommodated. Mr. Sanchez noted the plan for the eastern portion of the site was conceptual and would come before this board in the future. Mr. Kanel asked if the lake was the same size after it had been rotated, to which Mr. Hearing responded it was larger. Mr. Kanel was not in favor of 9' spaces, and suggested dividing spaces between compact 9' spaces and 10' spaces for larger vehicles. Mr. Kanel asked if furniture use was conditional —Mr. Sanchez responded that it was not, and clarified that the parking ratio for furniture was 2 per thousand for the extra 90,000 square feet. Mr. Kanel expressed concern that if the furniture store went out of business that use of the space would be limited so that space might stay vacant for a long time. Mr. Sanchez explained that parking ratio for retail was twice as much as a furniture store so if that designation were used it would be an over abundance of parking. Mr. Hearing noted this would be a very high -end furniture and design center. Mr. Sanchez noted a comparable use in parking and trip generation would be light industrial or warehouse. Mr. Present asked if the waiver could be changed to 9 -1/2' parking spaces. Mr. Hearing proposed the first two floors at 9 -1/2' and the rest at 9', but would also re -stripe to get as • many 9 -1/2' spaces as possible. Mr. Present stated he preferred 9 -1/2' or cut down the 90,000 square feet, and he did not think there was any support on this board for 9' spaces. Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 5 • Mr. Hearing confirmed the location of land that would be left vacant for a future Tri Rail station possibly within the next ten years. Tri Rail was meeting with West Palm Beach, Jupiter, and would be meeting with the City to address the issues of land use so that those could be intensified to obtain federal grants. Mr. Present asked for a guarantee that Tri Rail would be there in the future; Mr. Hearing responded this was going in the right direction, to shift the buildings. Mr. Wu indicated any site plan change would require coming back before this board and moving all entitlements was a big first step; although there were no guarantees there would actually be a Tri Rail station, there were safeguards built in. Mr. Pennell complimented the applicant for moving everything to leave vacant land, he liked the 4 -story building height, and he did not think the parking garage would be seen. Mr. Hearing advised only a part of it would be seen. Mr. Pennell indicated he was comfortable with the 9' spaces and other projects had been approved with 9' spaces. Mr. Pennell stated he liked the colors, and he liked the nice size trees in the landscaping. Mr. Rubins commented he had a problem with the 9' parking spaces and felt it would be impossible to enforce employee parking there. Chair Kunkle declared the public hearing open. Hearing no comments from the public, Chair Kunkle declared the public hearing closed. • Mr. Hansen asked if landscaping would go in along RCA Center Drive. Mr. Sanchez explained the area would be hydro- seeded, roadway landscaping and the buffer along the FEC right -of -way would be installed. Mr. Solomon expressed his opinion there was a real problem with parking for a Tri Rail station, which was not really considered, and this was a windfall for the developer. Mr. Solomon expressed opposition to 9' parking spaces, and proposed that the solution could be to cut back on the additional square footage or build the future conceptual parking garage now. The future dynamic of Tri Rail was discussed. Ms. Hecht commented Tri Rail had come to Frenchman's to see where residents would like a station and had advised the probable end would be Indiantown Road, and asked if Palm Beach Gardens would really get a station at this location. Mr. Wu explained how this site had been chosen and confirmed that if there were a site within the City it would be at this location. Ms. Hecht asked who would pay for the station and the adjacent parking facilities. Mr. Wu explained it would be Tri Rail. Ms. Hecht indicated she would accept 9' spaces; Mr. Kanel indicated he would not. Mr. Present indicated he was not sure a parking garage would work in the conceptual space. Mr. Hearing explained there would be grade and one deck and that would accommodate probably 200 cars for employees of Building 10 and 11. 25 -30 spaces would be lost if there were 9 -1/2' spaces instead of 9'. More narrow drive lanes in the parking garage would not allow more spaces. Mr. Rubins asked what would compel the • developer to build the additional garage —it was explained there was nothing to compel Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 6 • him to do so until Tri Rail indicated they would build there. Mr. Hearing indicated the applicant wished to move forward to City Council with recommendations from this board. MOTION: Mr. Hansen moved to recommend to City Council approval of Petition PUD -A -05- 09-01 RCA Center PUD Revisions to Approved Development Plans with all conditions set forth in the staff report with the following additional conditions: 1. That the parking garage have no parking spaces less than 9 -1/21; 2. That the elevations of the parking garage portion of that structure be brought more into scale with the openings and the architectural scale of the connected retail space that is connected to the parking garage; 3. That the color schemes be consistent with those presented in the package; that Buildings 3 and 4 be more consistent with the other color schemes, that there be a palette of two colors unless there is a third palette brought in that is more compatible with those, less greenish in appearance. Mr. Hansen stated he was satisfied with two color palettes for those buildings and that they be consistent with the elevations and not consistent with the rendering that was provided. Motion was seconded. Mr. Rubins indicated he would like language for the • second garage, since that would just be additional future cost for the developer. Mr. Hansen expressed his opinion as maker of the motion that if they were forced to go to 9 -1/2' spaces they would lose enough space so that could compel the garage. Mr. Solomon stated he was not in favor of the motion, that this was not ready to move on to City Council, that there were too many large open -ended items that should be looked right here such as architecture, color, and parking; and if this motion passed there should be another waiver for not having enough parking spaces which had not been a part of the petition. Mr. Solomon stated he felt the applicant should re- group or if they would not he felt the motion should be defeated and there should be a motion for denial of the petition. Chair Kunkle asked that all votes be recorded by individual on this petition. The members voted as follows: Chair Craig Kunkle - for Vice Chair Barry Present - for Dennis Solomon - against Douglas Pennell - for Michael Panczak - for Randolph Hansen - for Jonathan D. Rubins - for • The motion carried by vote of 6 -1. Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 7 • Public Hearing and Recommendation to City Council: Peddon: D - 05 -06: Qff4hte Af1ti 'o Public Hearing and Recommendation to City Council: A Cltv-inidated amendment to the City's Code of Ordinances by amending Chapter 78, "Land Development, "Article V. "Supplementary Regulations. " Division S. "Natural Resources and Environmentally Significant Lands." relating to approval criteria for proposed land alternation, alternative forms of mitigation. and amending Article VIII. " Definitions: " City Forester Mark Hendrickson reported a change was suggested at the last meeting by Mr. Solomon and had been made and added to page 6, that the independent state certified general property appraiser that would be acceptable to the City. Mr. Hendrickson advised that a copy of this code had been sent out to all development parties or agencies which regularly worked in the City, and there had been one response, which was positive. Mr. Hendrickson also advised that this had gone to the Community Aesthetics Board for review and they had given 100% support. Chair Kunkle declared the public hearing open. Hearing no comments from the public, Chair Kunkle declared the public hearing closed. Mr. Kanel noted on page 3 the word "option" ; it was confirmed by staff that should be "opinion ". • MOTION: Motion was made and seconded to recommend to City Council approval of Petition: LDR 05-06: Off -Site Mitigation. Motion carried by unanimous 7 -0 vote. OLD BUSINESS Mr. Wu noted that attendance records for the members of the board had been included in the packets inside the front cover of each member's book, so that they could monitor their attendance. Members should monitor carefully to avoid missing three in a row, or a quarter of the required meetings, and there were no excused absences. There was no new business to come before the Board. Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board Meeting Minutes January 10, 2006 Page 8 There being no further business, the i regular meeting will be held January 24, APPROVED: L` • Barry Present, Michael Panczak was adjourned at 7:57 p.m. The next Amir Kanel