HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes EDAB 030906Economic Development Advisory Board
March 9, 2006
The Economic Development Advisory Board met on March 9, 2006. The meeting
was called to order at 8:30 A.M. 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.
I. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Lou Gaeta, Kenneth Kahn, Casey Steinbacher, James
Kissel, and Sandra Foland
Members Absent: Mark Murnan, Steve Cohen and Elaine Beers
Also Present: Dolores Key, Economic Development Director and Staff Liaison,
Michael Sanchez, Planning Manager and Dan Clark, Interim Growth
Management Administrator.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The board approved the minutes from the February 9, 2006 meeting in a 5 -0
vote.
III. STAFF LIAISON REPORT
Dolores Key gave the board an update on the City's expedited permitting
program. She stated that the Anspach companies passed unanimously by City
Council and will begin moving forward. She added that Michael Sanchez met
with representatives from Transdermal Technologies and they're working on
engineering issues. After these issues are addressed they will move forward
through the expediting permitting process.
Dolores Key stated that she wanted to present information about Scripps Florida
but Kara Irwin, Planning Manager was not available for this meeting. She
presented a map that explains the retention efforts for the Scripps Florida project
in North County. She is planning to have this map duplicated in color, and bring
it to the BIO 2006 Conference in Chicago.
Dan Clark gave the board an update on the Scripps project. He stated that things
seem to be moving quickly and that everyone involved in the project is very
enthusiastic. He explained that all the cities in the North County are in agreement
that any properties that have been identified for biotech and research will not be
zoned for any other use. He stated that a new board has been created called the
Bioscience Land Use Advisory Board. This board will be made up of
representatives from five cities in the North County and will also include a
representative from the Governor's office and the County. The members of this
board will be the only people with the ability to make any land use changes on
the identified properties.
V. LAND DEVELOPMENT PEITIONS
Northlake Village — Garden Walk, LLC —
Donaldson Hearing of Cotleur and Hearing, spoke to the board regarding the
Northlake Village - Garden Walk Project. He introduced Steve Matheson, Frank
O'Conner, and Joe Vilsac and Leo Noble.
Mr. Hearing talked about the location of the property which is behind Home
Depot. He talked about the access to the development and showed the board a
site plan of the proposed project. He stated that the property is now zoned as
retail /commercial. He added that he understands the committee's concern about
changing commercial to residential, but in this situation the residential properties
are in need of attention and this would be an upgrade for the community. He
discussed the background of the project and said that this would not be a good
place for retail site because of limited access into the project. They are proposing
161 residential town homes. They are suggesting that 19 of the hundred 161
units would be part of a workforce housing program. He talked about this project
being part of the first time homeowner program and possibly part of other
programs to allow for affordable housing.
Attorney Stephen Matheson added that when this project was first brought to
staff it was being planned as a commercial project. Staff encouraged them to
consider making this into residential and adding workforce housing.
The board had questions regarding the exact locations of the buildings and Mr.
Hearing gave further explanation. There was also discussion about the amount of
traffic concurrency that is available on the property. Lou Gaeta stated that he
feels this is a 13 acre piece of land that can offer jobs to people instead of homes
and he doesn't see the benefit of adding town homes to this area. There was
further discussion about the traffic concurrency and Dan Clark stated that this is
in a residential traffic concurrency exemption area, which means they don't have
to have concurrency for the residential units. Discussion ensued regarding the
traffic issues, workforce housing and why this site would be appropriate to
change from commercial to residential.
Kenneth Kahn opened up the meeting for public comment. Linda Maggio of 903
Sandtree Drive identified herself as the Treasurer of the Sandtree Homeowners
Association. She said that she is not in favor of this new development and she
thought there would be a gated community going up. She is concerned about
the amount of traffic this will bring especially during the rush hour. She submitted
a letter from the President of the Association reiterating that they are against this
project.
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Lauren Fountain of 506 Sandtree Drive identified herself as a homeowner and
Vice President of Sandtree HOA. She stated that the board is absolutely
opposed to having a new residential community in the area. She feels that the
crime rate will go up if there are more homes in that community, and additionally
she doesn't want more traffic on the road. She stated they would much rather
have offices than residential.
Pat Tracy of Guardian Financial wants the Board to know that everyday she
works with customers who are looking for affordable housing in this area and that
it's not available. She has worked with all the County programs to try and help
these families find a home that is affordable.
Don Hearing talked about the difference between affordable housing and
workforce housing. He stated that they would like to continue to work with
residents in the community. He asked the Board to direct him to come back with
additional information as opposed to making recommendation at this meeting.
Casey Steinbacher asked if they had considered a mixed use development
where there would be workforce housing in addition to a commercial element.
Casey stated that as a representative of the North Palm Beach Chamber of
Commerce she is very torn on this issue because she knows the importance of
preserving the commercial elements in the City, but it is just as important to have
workforce housing.
Dolores Key explained to the board that they do not have to vote on this today.
They could look into more details on traffic analysis and come back and to
discuss this at a future meeting. She feels it would be hard to make an educated
decision on this topic without more information.
Kenneth Kahn added that as a major employer in the City, and with the Scripps
overlay becoming an important part of the City, having affordable housing for the
workers is a major issue. He stated that the City does not necessarily need more
retail but does need a place to house the people that work here. He stated that
the committee needs some standards and guidelines as to what is considered
workforce housing because there are different opinions as to what workforce
housing is. He feels that workforce housing should be something that would be
attainable by police officers, teacher's, firefighters, and nurses. It's hard to recruit
high - quality workers without having housing for them and 40% of his workers
commute from Port St. Lucie County because they can't afford to live locally.
Sandra Foland agreed with Kenneth because she is having a hard time hiring
people because they cannot afford to live in the area.
The board agreed that they need additional information on the project including
the definition of workforce housing. There was a motion and 2nd to table the
issue which passed in a 5 -0 vote.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
Dan Clark stated that in light of the Scripps overlay there are three items that the
City would like to address and establish a policy for. These items include:
affordable /workforce housing, transit oriented development, and the specifics to
the bioscience overlay. Kara Irwin, Planning Manager is working closely with
Jupiter to establish policies and he is optimistic that at the next meeting there
should be a better outline on these three issues. There was discussion regarding
the percentage of workforce housing that should be planned for, and more
discussion about the difference between workforce and affordable housing.
Casey added that a group was recently formed called the Palm Beach County
Housing Leadership Council. This is made up of representatives from The
Chambers of Commerce, The Business Development Board, The Economic
Council, and the Workforce Alliance. They will be putting together a report that
will be done at the end of May. They would also like to have the City's
involvement because they are looking at realistic solutions with long -term results.
Dan Clark stated that the City would participate and would be willing to provide
any data that is available to help the study.
Casey also asked Dan Clark to please provide the board with a list and a map of
the properties that are in the Inter -local Agreement and will be included in the
zoning overlay. This will give the board a better understanding of the parcels that
are on the list and what is available for conversion.
VII. OLD BUSINESS
Casey Steinbacher asked if she can discuss the flow of money report. She
stated that this is a very helpful report and that she has given it out to numerous
people. She stated that the Business Development Board and the
Intergovernmental Plan Amendment Review Clearinghouse (IPARC) Committee
have gone before the County Commissioners and the Commissioners would like
to request a study on this subject. The Commissioners went to the League of
Cities meeting to discuss funding the research report but nothing was done with
it. She suggested that this board send a letter to the Commissioners asking
them to move forward with the study. There was discussion about the blend
between light industrial use and business use. Lou Gatea pointed out that
manufacturing businesses do not have the same look that they did years ago,
and they can now mix in with other commercial businesses very easily. Kenneth
Kahn added that it is going to be very hard to bring in big businesses without
having workforce housing.
VIII. NEXT MEETING TOPIC
The board would like to continue discussion about the need for workforce
housing as an economic development issue, and how some of the conversions
that come before the committee might be affected.
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IX. ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM.
Approval:
Kenneth Kahn, Chairperson
Lou Gaeta, Vice Chairperson
Elaine Beers, Board Member
James Kissel, Board Member
Mark Murnan, Board Member
Casey Steinbacher, Board Member
Steve Cohen, Alternate Board Member
Sandra Foland, Alternate Board Member
Attest:
Susan Bell, Public Information/ Recording Coordinator
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VIII. NEXT MEETING TOPIC
The Board would like to continue discussion about the need for workforce
housing as an economic development issue, and how some of the conversions
that come before the committee might be affected.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM.
Approval:
Kahn, Chairperson
u Gam, Vicd Chairperson
Elaine Beers, Board Member
Steinbacher, Board Member
Steve Cohen, Alternate Board Member
Sandra Foland, Alternate Board Member
Bell, Public Information/ Recording Coordinator