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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 030598CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MARCH 5, 1998 The March 5, 1998, Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Sam Carsillo, Mayor for the day, in the City 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 following elected officials were found to be in attendance: Mayor Joseph R. Russo, Vice Mayor Lauren W. Furtado, Councilwoman Linda Monroe, Councilman Eric Jablin and Councilman David Clark. REORDER THE AGENDA Mayor Russo read the proclamation which proclaimed Sam Carsillo as Mayor for the day which was on the Consent Agenda for Council approval. Mayor Russo stated that the City Manager requested that her report • be last on the Agenda. PRESENTATIONS: City Signs Greg Dunham, Assistant City Manager, introduced Mark Fuller, artist who designed City sign concept. Mr. Dunham stated that staff made some comparisons of the proposed Palm Beach Gardens sign to the West Palm Beach sign at the request of Councilwoman Monroe. Ms. Herakovich stated that Mark Fuller made some additional changes to the original concept to incorporate comments from Council. Mark Fuller stated that he had increased the size of the sign panel and had made the letters taller. Ms. Herakovich stated that the Beautification and Environmental Committee reviewed the proposed sign at their last meeting. She stated that the B & E Committee had discussed the pros and cons of the back wall added to the sign and felt it would help create a shadow that would be attractive, if the letters were large enough. They also suggested that a muted color be used and to use a banner occasionally if a developers wants to use it for an entry sign. 40 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 2 Council consensus was to have Mark Fuller prepare a mock up sign using brass and white lettering to present to Council and a real life size sign. AWARDING OF BIDS: Grant Writing Services Councilman Clark made a motion to approve the awarding of the RFP for Grant Writing Services to GGW & C, Inc. in the amount of $80,000. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Monroe and unanimously carried. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC There were no comments from the public. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Russo requested that Item #1 on the Consent Agenda be pulled and placed on the next Local Planning Agency agenda. Councilman Clark made a motion to approve Items 2 -5 on the Consent Agenda as amended. Councilman Jablin seconded the motion which unanimously carried. The following items on the Consent Agenda were approved: 2. Approval of 2/19/98 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. 3. Approval of 2/26/98 Joint Meeting with Planning and Zoning Commission. 4. Proclaiming March 5, 1998 as "Sam Carsillo" Day. 5. Resolution 24, 1998 - Consideration of Approval to Authorize the City Manager, Mayor and Legal Counsel to Negotiate the Purchase of Park Land from the MacArthur Foundation. Resolution 2, 1998 Mayor Russo stated that this was a final hearing for Resolution 2, 1998. Mayor Russo stated that he had not discussed the merit of the case or met with any individuals except the City Attorney to discuss procedure. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she had met with both sides. She stated that she was present at meetings when the developer made the proposal to the residents and had also talked to the residents and the petitioner. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that it in no way would affect how she would vote. • Councilwoman Monroe, Councilman Clark and Councilman Jablin CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 3 stated that they had not met with anyone. Roxanne Manning, Growth Management Director, reviewed the petition for site plan approval for NorthMil Plaza. She stated that the request was for a straight zoning site plan for a retail center on the northeast corner of Military Trail and Northlake Boulevard. Ms. Manning stated that at the last meeting several issues came up that were either addressed at that time or subsequently addressed by staff. Ms. Manning stated that a pedestrian count was conducted by the police department which showed that when children go to school in the morning and afternoon there was a small group of about 18 or 20 children who passed through the area over a 45 minute period. Ms. Manning stated that the issue concerning the architectural treatment for the rear of the center would be discussed with the applicant. Ms. Manning stated that staff was recommending approval of the petition with 20 conditions. In response to a question by Councilman Jablin, Ms. Manning stated . that staff discussed the median cut on Military with FDOT and found that the application for the median cut was made about six months prior to the application for the petition being submitted and the project would meet concurrency with or without the median cut. In response to a question by Councilman Clark regarding whether or not the directional curve cut created a safety hazard, Mr. Lindahl stated that safety was a relative word and that one would presume that one would rely on the traffic division of the FDOT. He stated that FDOT, by issuing the variance, felt that while the median cut may not be the safest, it had not reached the degree of concern to where it was declared to be unsafe. In response to a question by Councilwoman Monroe, Mr. Lindahl stated that Kahart Pinder and he shared the same opinion that the u- turns would stress the intersection even more, making it more unsafe. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she would have to challenge the FDOT's findings and could not see how, based on the information available, FDOT could have approved the median cut under any circumstances with the way the road conditions were now. Larry Smith, representing the petitioner, apologized to the Council for - his negative demeanor at the last meeting. Mr. Smith tendered CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 4 exhibits 66 -96 for the records and withdrew exhibits #6 and #17. Mr. Smith stated that the experts who were at the last meeting were in attendance. In addition, Mr. Arnold Ramos, former district engineer for district IV of the Ft. Lauderdale Department of Transportation and Yvonne Zeil, traffic consultant were in attendance. Mr. Smith submitted Mr. Ramos' curriculum vitae for the record as exhibit #97. He introduced Joseph Custerio with Dunn and Associates, a professor at Florida Atlantic University in the acoustical engineering department. He introduced Peter Joiner who is with the Pacific Legal Foundation. Mr. Smith stated that he knew that this was a difficult situation for the Council. He stated that the applicant had tried to address all the issues and that they had several neighborhood meetings to address neighbors' concerns. Mr. Smith stated there were a list of 20 conditions that staff had proposed and felt that some of those conditions were beyond what might be within the Council's discretion in a straight zoning site plan review and approval which the applicant had agreed to. . Mayor Russo stated that everything that was presented at the last meeting was on the record. Peter Brock, principal of the development, addressed the Council and stated that they have attempted to address all concerns raised by staff, Council and the residents. Mr. Brock stated that their plan complies with the Code and meets within that context all of the reasonable concerns of the neighbors and the Council. Arnold Ramos stated that his experience in Florida covers some 38 years and stated that in his opinion u -turns in the future would not be permitted at major intersections. Mr. Ramos stated that it was very difficult to receive a variance from the Department of Transportation because they feel very strongly about the guidelines established. Mr. Ramos stated that the variance was not granted summarily. Mr. Ramos stated that based on his professional opinion, without the median cut safety would be a problem. Yvonne Zeil, traffic consultant, stated that she spoke with County staff and was informed that they were working on an improvement for the segment from Sandtree to Keating to improve the flow of traffic. Ms. Zeil stated that County staff agreed to send a person out to try to adjust the timing of the light at Keating to provide extra relief for • CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 5 residents to exit. Mr. Smith stated that Marty Perry would be acting as co- counsel and would provide the closing comments after public comments. The following residents expressed their opposition to the proposed project because of traffic concerns and safety: Cathy Azzorello, 4293 Arbor Way Merrick Critttenden, 4331 Bamboo Drive Betty Petruzzi, 4383 Bamboo Drive Vicki Petruzza, 4398 Bamboo Drive Carolyn Smaldone, 4386 Bamboo Drive Stanley Wagner, 4291 Applecrest Drive Linda Garcia, 4348 Bamboo Drive Linda Hughey, 9120 Reed Drive, stated that she would like the City to request a letter from the Department of Transportation for their lack of responsibility to the City for failure to include the City in their decision to grant a variance. She also expressed her concerns is regarding the ability to enforce certain required conditions and safety issues. She also felt that the petitioner should provide space to the City for the PAL program to make it more of a community. Mark Johnson, 4366 Bamboo Drive, stated that the code to require truckers to turn off their refrigeration units would be a violation of the state law and also expressed his concerns with traffic. Mike Martino, 320 Balsam Street, expressed his opposition to the project because of traffic circulation, vehicular and pedestrian safety. He also felt that the City should look at other less intense uses for the site. Marry Perry, co- counsel for the applicant, offered closing comments. He stated that this was a very difficult issue. Mr. Perry stated that the site was zoned for the use being requested and that it was a permitted use. He stated that the applicant had met all of the requirements of the City's code. In addition, he stated that the applicant had addressed concerns expressed by residents, staff, Planning and Zoning Commission, and Council. Mr. Perry stated that there was a right for his applicant to proceed. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she would not support approval of the CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 6 project because of her major discomfort with the median cut. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she felt that the City should challenge the Department of Transportation's decision to grant the variance for the median cut which was a safety and welfare issue. Councilman Clark stated that he did not believe that the project should be built on the proposed site, however, he would vote for approval because in his view it complied with City codes and therefore there was no legally sufficient reason to deny the project. Councilman Jablin stated that he would not vote for the project because of the median cut. Mayor Russo stated that he would not vote for the project because he did not believe the intent of the code was met and that he was well aware that the City may end up in a lawsuit. Councilwoman Monroe stated that she would not vote for the project because of the health and safety issues as well as her disapproval of the rear elevation plans. Councilwoman Monroe made a motion, seconded by Councilman Jablin to deny Resolution 2, 1998, approval of a site plan for NorthMil Plaza. The motion for denial passed 4 -1 with Councilman Clark opposed. Resolution 20, 1998 Councilman Jablin made a motion, seconded by Councilman Monroe to approved Resolution 20, 1998, amending the site plan for Parcel 19A, Orchid Cay, located within the BallenIsles PCD, as originally approved by Resolution 106, 1997, for entry feature, sign and landscaping. The motion passed 4 -0. Mayor Russo abstained. Resolution 22, 1998 City Attorney David Action stated that the resolution would need to be rewritten to include the new design plans and language for the several waivers being requested by the applicant. It was the consensus of the Council to postpone Resolution 22, 1998 and place it on the Consent Agenda of the March 19, 1998, Council meeting. Resolution 23, 1998 Councilman Jablin requested that Resolution 23, 1998 be postponed. 0 0 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 7 Ordinance 5, 1998 Roxanne Manning, Growth Management Director, reviewed the outdoor seating ordinance. Ed Oliver, representing Riverhouse Restaurant, requested that the Council postpone Ordinance 5, 1998 and rewrite it to include additional language to address stand -alone theme and speciality restaurants. After discussion by the City Council, the first reading of Ordinance 5, 1998 was postponed until the March 19, 1998 Council meeting to allow the City Attorney and staff to include additional language. CITY MANAGER City Manager Herakovich stated that the Election next week would not be shown on the County's Channel 20. Ms. Herakovich stated that Judge Colbert would be at the March 19, 1998 Council meeting to swear in the elected Councilmembers. Ms. Herakovich stated that of the total number of applications received for the Fire Chief position, 18 were selected in the first isround. Ms. Herakovich stated that she would be meeting with Slavin and Associates to narrow the number of applicants to 6 to 8. Ms. Herakovich stated that Bahareh Keshavarz, Growth Management Department, had been promoted to the position of Planner II /Current Planning which would include the development compliance responsibilities. Ms. Herakovich stated part of the design process, staff in conjunction with the construction manager, determined the need to reconfigure the interior space of the Municipal Complex. Ms. Herakovich stated that staff was seeking Council approval to make the design change now rather than to request a more costly change order in the field later. Councilman Clark made a motion, seconded by Councilman Jablin to approve staff recommendation to reconfigure the interior space of the Municipal Complex. The motion passed unanimously. ITEMS BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL: Councilwoman Monroe Councilwoman Monroe stated that Council received a memo from City Clerk Linda Kosier regarding the enforcement of advisory board disclosures. She stated that if advisory board members do not comply 0 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 3/5/98 PAGE 8 with the disclosures forms as required, they should be removed from the boards. Vice Mayor Furtado Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she would like the City to pursue the request from FDOT as to why the City was not included in the process to determine the approval of the variance for the median cut on Northlake Boulevard. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m./ A /� APPROVAL: 1 Y tfStPH R. RUSSO E �A OR LA REN W. FURTADO C _� • C E C JABLIN COUNCILMAN DAVID CLARK CO ILMAN CARL SABATELLO ATTEST: CINDY HAAA TEY, DEPUTY CIT CLERK 0 FORM 813 MEMORANDUM OF VOTING CONFLICT FOR COUNTY, MUNICIPAL, AND OTHER LOCAL PUBLIC OFFICERS I \A \II I IR\ 1 \ \III MIDDI I NAW NAME. OF HOARD. C'01INC11.. COMMISSION. AU I II0RII Y. OR COMMITIEE S E:\ C 17- w L MA11 IN(; NDDRI SS I HE HOAR 1). COUN ' 1.. COMMISSION. All1 'HOR11Y OR coMMnTEE ON WHICH 1 SERVE IS A UNIT OF. #ICny O COUNTY O 01 HER LOCAL AGENCY CI 11 Cot IN NA OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISION: DATE ON WHICH VOIF OC'CURKFD 3 ((]) MY POSITION IS: ELECTIVE O APPOINTIVE WHO MUST FILE FORM 8B This form is for use by any person serving at the county, city, or other local level of government on an appointed or elected board, council, commission, authority, or committee. It applies equally to members of advisory and non - advisory bodies who are presented with a voting conflict of interest under Section 112.3143, Florida Statutes. Your responsibilities under the law when faced with a measure in which you have a conflict of interest will vary greatly depending on whether you hold an elective or appointive position. For this reason, please pay close attention to the instructions on this form before completing :he reverse side and filing the form. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 112.3143, FLORIDA STATUTES ELECTED OFFICERS: A person holding elective county, municipal, or other local public office MUST ABSTAIN from voting on a measure which inures to his special pri%ate gain. Each local officer also is prohibited from knowingly voting on a measure which inures to the special gain of a principal (other than a government agency) by whom he is retained. In either case, you should disclose the conflict: PRIOR TO THE VOTE BEING TAKEN' by publicly stating to the assembly the nature of your interest in the measure on which you are abstaining from voting; and WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER THE VOTE OCCURS by completing and filing this form with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting, who should incorporate the form in the minutes. APPOINTED OFFICERS: A person holding sppointi,,e county, municipal, or other local public office MUST ABSTAIN from voting on a measure which inures to his special pri%ate gain. Each local officer also is prohibited from knowingly toting on a measure which inures tO the special gain of a principal (other than a government agency) by whom he is retained. A person holding an appointive local office otherwise may participate in a matter in which he has a conflict of interest, but must disclose the nature of the conflict before making any attempt to influence the decision by oral or written communication, whether made by the officer or at his direction. IF YOU INTEND TO MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE THE DECISION PRIOR TO THE MEETING AT WHICH THE VOTE WILL BE TAKEN: • You should complete and file this form (before making any attempt to influence the decision) with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting, who will incorporate the form in the minutes. • A copy of the form should be provided immediately to the other members of the agency. • The form should be read publicly at the meeting prior to consideration of the matter in which you have a conflict of interest. (F. H0RH.8 .'..+I ?aGE IF YOU MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE THE DECISION EXCEPT BY DISCUSSION AT THE MEETING: • You should disclose orally the nature of your conflict in the measure before participating. • You should complete the form and file it within 15 days after the vote occurs with the person responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting, who should incorporate the form in the minutes. DISCLOSURE OF LOCAL OFFICER'S INTEREST I., J O.S � ` `� hereby disclose that on _ '3 (a) A measure came or will come before my agency which (check one) inured to my special private gain; ore `� inured to the special gain of "' � (b) The measure before my agency and the nature of my interest in the measure is as follows: Date Filed Sign , 19 �2 . by whom I am retained. NOTICE: UNDER PROVISIONS OF FLORIDA STATUTES §112.317 (1985), A FAILURE TO MAKE ANY REQUIRED DISCLOSURE CONSTITUTES GROUNDS FOR AND MAY BE PUNISHED BY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: IMPEACHMENT. REMOVAL OR SUSPENSION FROM OFFICE OR EMPLOYMENT, DEMOTION, REDUCTION IN SALARY, REPRIMAND, OR A CIVIL PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED 55,000. CE FORM 88 . 1-91 PAGE 2