HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 082098 WorkshopCITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
CITY COUNCIL
WORKSHOP MEETING
AUGUST 20, 1998
The August 20, 1998, Joint Workshop Meeting of the City Council
of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and the Recreation
Advisory Board was called to order at 6:00 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 Lauren Furtado, Councilman David Clark and Councilman
Carl Sabatello. Councilman Eric Jablin was absent from the
meeting. The following members of the Recreation Advisory
Board were found to be in attendance: Charles Torrey, Jim
Maynor, Ed Oliver, Sue Miller, Brian McLaughlin.
PRESENTATIONS City Manager Herakovich announced that the Parks and Recreation
• Department had been working for quite some time with the
community planning firm of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin
Lopez Rinehart on the City's overall Master Plan and would present
their work to date. Director of Parks and Recreation Sue Miller
introduced Dave Clark of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez
Rinehart, who explained the purpose for this interim workshop was
to obtain feedback, and stated objectives were to establish a long -
range plan, prioritize most important needs, and plan funding
strategies.
Mr. Clark explained that staff consensus for a vision plan was to
have a system of neighborhood parks containing open space and
close enough to walk to within ten minutes of home; community
parks with activities located within three miles of home; and special
use facilities. Mr. Clark commented that many community parks
were filled with so many activities they had become sports centers,
which were considered special use facilities; and that community
parks with open land for activities such as playing ball until 11 p.m.
without lights being a problem, were needed. Mr. Clark stated that
enough special use facilities were needed to meet the needs of the
residents, and that greenways and natural areas, as well as linkages
. of bikeways, sidewalks, and trails were also needed. A quick
analysis of existing conditions showed the City had great resources
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and a good basic park system; however, linkages were now missing
and roads were shaping the community, making it more difficult to
achieve the vision plan. Mr. Clark explained how development
patterns within the City had influenced the quality of life. Mr. Clark
pointed out voids within the City where neighborhood parks were
needed, and voids within large planned communities where there
were no community parks.
Mr. Clark requested one item from each person present which they
considered the most important needs. Responses included a large
district park, baseball fields, neighborhood parks, linkages, outdoor
amphitheater, senior center, swimming pool, city center, and nature
centers. Mr. Clark explained that the three top priorities obtained
in a telephone survey were (1) a swimming pool; (2) trails,
bikeways, and linkages; and (3) renovation of the existing facility;
and reported that a large district park was the next highest priority
item.
Mr. Clark displayed a graphic depicting current status of planning
for the Parks and Open Space Master Plan, reviewed community
• parks, neighborhood parks, and linkages, and explained that
sufficient neighborhood parks could be provided if school grounds
could be utilized as parks and if, as the opportunity arose, a couple
of homes were purchased and demolished in order to use the land
for a neighborhood park. Mr. Clark advised that re- claiming
roadways was felt to be a number one priority by his company, and
used Burns Road as an example. The possibility of only widening
Burns Road near the bridge and keeping it two lanes in other areas
to slow traffic was discussed. Major recommendations by Mr. Clark
were that traffic calming devices be instituted City -wide, and that
since the image of Palm Beach Gardens was perceived from I -95,
PGA Boulevard, and the Florida Turnpike, which were all at the
discretion of someone else in terms of landscape treatment,
gateways, and major corridors, that those areas must be made to feel
like a part of the City and the City must decide how to get the
attention of the County and DOT to let them know what the City
wanted in those areas. Mr. Clark suggested enhancing the City sign
at gateway areas by incorporating Mediterranean revival materials
such as archways and columns, or another style if appropriate. The
area next to Gardens Mall around the lake was suggested as a
possible City Center area, which the City Council advised was
• already in preliminary development stages and that the developer
would work with the City to incorporate public use into their plan.
CITY COUNCIL JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING, 8/20/98
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Mr. Clark suggested other City Center areas in South Florida that
the members of the City Council could visit so that as they
negotiated with the developer they would have an idea of what they
really wanted, and recommended the City be as proactive as possible
in these negotiations. Mr. Clark recommended continuing to work
on linking areas via bicycle pathways, etc., and commented that
special use facilities were not proposed because it appeared most of
those uses could be incorporated into the district park.
Mr. Clark discussed cost and requested that the City provide a
budget they considered reasonable based on existing sources of
funding and what might be reasonable funding sources for the
future.
Mr. Clark recommended that City Codes be reviewed to be sure
they provided for neighborhood parks as proposed in the vision
plan, and explained that impact fees and codes would allow
development of the next community park needed beyond those
provided in individual PUD and DRI parcels. Another idea
proposed was to have a foundation or friends group to act as a flag-
waver and obtain funds for the parks system. Mr. Clark
recommended that relations with the School Board be strengthened
so that school playground fences could be taken down and those
areas used as neighborhood parks.
Vice Mayor Furtado questioned if the telephone survey had taken
into account whether they were speaking with people in an older
section of the City or in a new project where neighborhood parks
would not have been a priority, to which the City Manager
responded that information could be ascertained from the addresses.
Mayor Russo stressed the importance of acting quickly to finalize
an option to purchase land offered for sale by the MacArthur
Foundation for a district park, with partial funding to come from
outside sources including the County. City Manager Herakovich
advised that item would be on the agenda for the next City Council
meeting, and that staff recommended a referendum in the year 2002
for public works and park development. Mr. Clark recommended
obtaining use of rights -of -way along existing canals which might be
used for future linkages. Vice Mayor Furtado suggested
employment of a full -time grant writer in order to obtain more grant
funds. Councilman Sabatello agreed with obtaining rights -of -way
along canals for future linkages, expressed his opinion that
neighborhood parks needed to be at least five acres in order to
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work, and suggested that open space be contiguous with the canals
in future developments. Discussion ensued regarding taking
advantage of land opportunities as they became available.
A member of the Recreation Advisory Board urged that the City
proceed quickly to act on the District Park land from the MacArthur
Foundation. The City Manager responded a meeting had been held
regarding the agreement that afternoon. Mayor Russo explained
that although no commitment had been made by the County
Commission, according to Commissioner Marcus their plan was to
participate, and they did not plan to establish a district park in the
northern portion of the County. In response to a question by Mr.
Oliver regarding possibly raising impact fees to provide park
funding, Mayor Russo recommended a workshop meeting to
discuss that issue because of the pressure of major growth from the
MacArthur Foundation land sales. A question was asked regarding
whether any State funding was available, to which the response was
grant money. The possibilities of obtaining County impact fees
were discussed. The desirability of holding a second workshop
meeting in September was discussed.
U1
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CITY COUNCIL JOINT WORKSHOP MEETING, 8/20/98
ki
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, upon motion by Vice
Mayor Furtado, seconded by Councilman Clark, the meeting was
adjourn707SE�H m.
APPROVAL:
1�A) t . RUSSO
•
ATTEST:
FURT
JABLIN
COUNCTMAN AVID CLARK
COUNC ARL S ABATELLO
Ll�i
IND�1 V. KOSIER, CMC, CITY CLERK
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