HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 101600CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
October 16, 2000
The October 16, 2000, Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens,
Florida, was called to order at 7:05 P.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 to the Flag.
ROLL CALL: The City Clerk called the roll and the following elected officials were found to be
in attendance: Mayor Joseph R. Russo, Vice Mayor Eric Jablin, Councilmember Lauren Furtado and
Councilmember Carl Sabatello. Councilmember David Clark was absent from the meeting. A
moment of silence and prayer was observed for the men and women who had perished on the USS
Cole.
SPECIAL MEETING:
Transportation - Mayor Russo recognized a representative from Jupiter who was present. City
Engineer Dan Clark explained that the documentation presented at the prior week's meeting was the
culmination of approximately 500 hours work by five to seven individuals who wanted to arrive at
a set of numbers that was comprehensive, complete and defensible. City Engineer Clark noted that
others beside himself who had worked on the document included Dan Weisberg, Palm Beach County
Traffic Engineer, Maria M. Tej era, City Traffic Engineer, and the primary traffic consultants who
worked in the development community. Mr. Clark pointed out that those experts were the ones who
really knew, could predict, and could understand what was going to happen within the City from a
traffic perspective. City Engineer Clark clarified that RCA Boulevard as a 4 -lane road and
Prosperity Farms Road as a 4 -lane road had been factored into the trip numbers provided in the
document. The I -95 interchange information requested at the last meeting and the Prosperity Farms
and Hood Road connection were also included. City Engineer Clark verified that the two sets of
numbers were the set transmitted to DCA and the set with the currently projected number of trips
on the roads. Principal Planner Steve Cramer verified the number of trips that would be generated
by development had been established, and the City Council's options were to have either six lanes
with a CRALLS designation or eight lanes to accommodate those numbers. Mr. Cramer clarified
that the number of trips that would be removed from downsizing of current development was not
known. City Engineer Clark clarified that already developed parcels, such as PGA National, were
already incorporated in the background information. Councilwoman Furtado requested the
background trips generated from Abacoa. Staff explained that all Abacoa trips had been listed as
new development rather than background. City Engineer Len Lindahl advised it would take
approximately 15 minutes to separate out the Abacoa background trips. It was noted that if the City
decided against the CRALLS designation, the County's Comprehensive Plan would have to be
amended, which would be a one -year process, in order to provide eight lanes on PGA Boulevard.
Representatives present from Lake Park were recognized. George Webb, Palm Beach County
Engineer, explained that in addition to the six links on PGA Boulevard, there were another six links
within the City that were projected to be over capacity, which included a link on Northlake
Boulevard, three links on Military Trail, and two links on Alternate AIA, all of which varied
between 7% and 12% over the currently adopted level of service. Mr. Webb explained that
development of projects with significant impacts on these links would be stopped if they were
expected to exceed the adopted level of service. Mr. Webb reported that 2015 numbers with the I -95
interchange included would remove 5,000 -6,000 trips from Donald Ross Road between I -95 and
Central, but would add 5,000 - 6,000 trips between Central Boulevard and Military Trail; and
potentially could remove almost 10,000 daily trips off PGA Boulevard between Military Trail and
I -95, but would add an additional 9,000 - 13,000 trips on Central Boulevard. Alternate AIA between
Hood Road and Garden Road was projected to drop 4,000 trips per day. Mr. Webb expressed his
opinion that if development was staggered, CRALLS should not be established ahead of time;
however, he recommended that CRALLS be done before developments were completed if many
developments came in at one time. Mr. Webb suggested tracking developments and the traffic
perhaps annually to give a sense of how accurate the projections had been. Councilmember Furtado
commented that the City had pushed for a North County Traffic Forum, and urged that the whole
North County must plan together for development traffic. Councilwoman Furtado stated the City
and developers had done everything possible, and expressed disappointment that the County was
giving the City a hard time on the CRALLS. Discussion ensued. Numbers for the current CRALLS
on PGA Boulevard between I -95 and U.S. One was discussed. The City Council favored six lanes
rather than eight on PGA Boulevard. Councilmember Sabatello commented that there was no way
to improve the area between I -95 and Alternate AIA because of the flyover, which was designed
with six lanes. Mr. Webb responded that the flyover would have seven lanes -4 eastbound and 3
westbound, with a new traffic light on the very East Side of Alternate AIA and additional turn lanes
that could improve travel time through that area. Staff reported the Abacoa Phase I through III
background numbers, which showed more impacts on north south roads than on PGA Boulevard.
Councilman Sabatello discussed the fact that if the City made no decisions they would do an
injustice to the residents because the residents would receive lower levels of service and feel the
impact greater than with what was being done by the County, developers, and adjacent communities
working together, with which Mr. Webb expressed agreement. Sam Shannon, Community
Development Director, Town of Jupiter, indicated Jupiter was interested in the North County Traffic
Forum and that Jupiter had never objected to the CRALLS, but he had requested that the traffic
forum be held before the CRALLS was adopted. The number of units actually built in the Bear's
Club was discussed. David Thatcher, Community Development Director for the Town of Lake Park,
discussed potential development along the new section of Congress Avenue, expressed concern that
traffic might be redirected from PGA Boulevard to Northlake Boulevard, and indicated Lake Park
would participate at the traffic forum. Discussion ensued regarding the number of trips on Northlake
Boulevard. Councilmember Sabatello questioned if the City did nothing and Lake Park built out as
Mr. Thatcher discussed, whether the existing CRALLS on Northlake would be exceeded, to which
Mr. Webb's response was it would be very close. It was noted that the numbers did not include
Vavrus or Brigger properties. Replacing the existing CRALLS with the new CRALLS was
discussed, which would mean only the developments listed in the forbearance agreement could be
developed. Kahart Pinder commented there were other property owners not on the forbearance list.
It was noted that a request had been made at the last meeting that both the current and requested
CRALLS be allowed. The County's response was that redevelopment could use up capacity before
the last developers on the forbearance list were ready to develop. Mayor Russo questioned whether
it was legal to exclude developments other than those on the list, which a representative of the
County indicated was legal. City Engineer Lindahl explained that unlike other CRALLS, the current
CRALLS had two attached conditions that were outstanding, (1) that the CRALLS was related to
the participants in the forbearance agreement by assignment; and (2) that there were conditions of
accountability with regard to the City's commitment and progress toward fulfilling the linkage plan.
Discussion ensued regarding redevelopment projects, and Mr. Webb explained that if a project
added less than 1% traffic increase it could be developed even if there was no additional capacity;
and also clarified that developments not on the forbearance list could not use available trips if
developments on the forbearance list did not build out 100% unless the Comprehensive Plan was
amended to allow use of those trips. An option to change that was suggested. It was noted that new
figures could be transmitted twice a year. Commissioner Marcus indicated she did not support the
new numbers, and wanted to go as far out into the future with traffic planning as possible.
Discussion ensued regarding what had changed. Commissioner Marcus responded to Councilwoman
Furtado that the only thing that had changed was the numbers were higher. It was explained that this
was a case of what the County would accept rather than what the City wanted. Commissioner Marcus
commented that some of the numbers were numbers for eight lanes. Vice Mayor Jablin appealed
to the County to find a solution to make PGA Boulevard six lanes. November 13 and 14 were
announced as the dates for the traffic forum. Commissioner Marcus verified that at this point she
favored the original transmitted numbers and that the City should have a public hearing on the
CRALLS issue. Mayor Russo commented a meeting was needed with the residents to explain the
situation. Commissioner Marcus acknowledged that input from the residents might change her mind.
A County representative discussed the proposed impact fees of the County, which would be
deficient in 2015. Under the current ordinance, only Burns Road would receive County impact fees
since it was the only linkage on the thoroughfare map, therefore the developers would need to pay
for the other linkages. Councilwoman Furtado noted the Donald Ross Road Bridge had been paid
for with impact fees and gas tax funds; yet the City had received no funding toward the flyover, to
which the response was that Donald Ross Road was a State road rather than a County road. It was
agreed to hold a joint public hearing with the City and County regarding the question of how many
lanes Prosperity Farms Road would have, with the County doing the presentation.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further bu 'ness to discuss, upon motion by Councilman
Sabatello, seconded by Vice Mayor Jablin, ca d 0, the eet' was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
APPROVAL:
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CHAIRMAN PRO TEM CARL SABATELLO
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COUNCILWOMAN LAUREN FURTADO
ATTEST:
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CAROL GOI
CITY CLERK