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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes P&Z 072898• CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION July 28, 1998 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Vice Chair Joel Channing at 6:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room at the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ITEMS BY GROWTH MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR There were no comments by the Growth Management Director. There were no comments by the City Council Liaison. • APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of June 23, 1998 - Mr. Solomon made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 23, 1998 meeting as submitted. Mr. Masters seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 4 -0 vote. Minutes of June 30, 1998 - Mr. Solomon made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 23, 1998 meeting as submitted. Mr. Channing seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 4 -0 vote. Minutes of July 14, 1998 - Mr. Masters made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 141 1998 meeting. Mr. Solomon seconded the motion. Mr. Solomon requested that on page 6 southern location. be changed to northern location. Motion carried by unanimous 4 -0 vote to approve the minutes as amended. SITE PLAN AND APPEARANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE The roll was called by Jackie Holloman, Secretary for the meeting. Present M:iii Joel Channing, Vice Chair Chair Diane Carlino John Glidden, Chair Pro Tem (arrived at 6:40 p.m.) Alternate Richard Masters John Nedvins Ralph Pisani Dennis Solomon • Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 Also present at the meeting were Growth Management Director Roxanne Manning, City Attorney Carole Post, City Council Liaison Carl Sabatello, Principal Planner Marty Minor, and Planner Angela Csinsi. Recommendation for Approval: Petition SP -98 -09 - Plastridge Insurance Center Tom Lynch, agent for PBG Commercial Ltd., is seeking site plan approval for 4 professional /medical office buildings with a total of 24,366 square feet. The total land area consists of 2.38 acres and is located on the west side of Military Trail south of Burns Road. (12- 42S -42E) Principal Planner Marty Minor reviewed the staff report dated July 28, 1998. Chair Pro Tem John Glidden arrived at 6:40 p.m. Traffic stacking was discussed. Tom Lynch, Owner and Petitioner, described the project, which he • explained would have the appearance of houses rather than a large office building. Mr. Lynch explained that the petitioner had met all the codes and had never heard about the 100' stacking requirement until ten days ago. Mr. Lynch pointed out parking spaces which had been removed in order to comply with the stacking requirement, which would allow approximately 70' stacking space. Mr. Lynch explained that the project would have low traffic impact, since one tenant would be an insurance wholesaler who would not have customer traffic and one would possibly be a plastic surgeon. Mr. Channing questioned whether he would have a conflict of interest since Plastridge had been his insurance agent approximately five years ago. Mr. Channing verified he had no financial interest in the project; therefore, Attorney Post indicated that he had no conflict of interest. Mr. Lynch explained how a 100' stacking area would impact the project, and that additional parking spaces in the front would have to be removed. Mr. Pisani commented that this low- impact project could become a high- impact project trafficwise at some time in the future. Mr. Lynch explained that this project would remain a professional office category. Mr. Masters expressed his opinion that at least three parking spaces should be eliminated for safety. Mr. Solomon suggested reducing the size of the buildings in order to revise the parking plan to provide 100' stacking for safety. 2 • Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 Howard Ostrout, Landscape Architect, described landscape materials and locations of plantings used in the landscape plan, explained that an Art in Public Places sculpture would be located between Buildings 2 and 3, and that the project sign would be accented with a Royal palm on each side. Mr. Ostrout explained where PVC root barriers would be used within the 12' utility easement and to accommodate a water main, and described the PVC root barriers. Mr. Ostrout displayed an architectural elevation rendering. Mr. Lynch explained that the property owners to the west had approved the plan two years ago and had requested a deed restriction for one -story buildings. During further discussion of the parking plan, Principal Planner Minor stated that an alternative would be to move this petition to City Council for consideration of a variance from 10' to 9' parking spaces. In response to Mr. Glidden's question of why there were two buildings, Mr. Lynch explained he had changed the plan from one building after consulting with Jeff Ornstein, and explained the reasoning which was used to limit the number of people employed at the project. Mr. Glidden explained how eliminating dead -end parking areas could allow sufficient parking and meet stacking requirements. Mr. Lynch commented that the previous plan had been one building, to which he had no . objection. Staff advised applicants usually first heard about the 100' stacking requirement in the DRC meeting. After further discussion, Mr. Glidden commented that the Committee had been strongly advised not to go against recommendations by the City Engineer in matters of safety. Mr. Glidden suggested pushing the rear building covered canopy eastward 16 ". Mr. Glidden also suggested considering one building in order to get 12 extra parking spaces, two of which would have to be enlarged for use as loading spaces. After further discussion, it was clarified that the 100' stacking requirement was not a code requirement, and that 70' stacking had been achieved. Growth Management Director Roxanne Manning explained that the recommendation was an engineering recommendation, not a code recommendation, and the City Engineer's opinion was that on a busy road such as Military Trail that kind of ingress depth was needed to avoid conflict situations when cars were pulling in at rather high speeds. Ms. Manning explained that staff would be satisfied with the 70' in this situation. Mr. Solomon stated he was not comfortable with 70' and that he did not understand the staff's position. Mr. Masters expressed his opinion that since this was a small project he believed 70' stacking distance was reasonable. Vice Chair Channing stated he was not inclined to give in to a reduction in the 100' stacking distance and personally would rather see the petitioner go to City Council to request smaller parking spaces. Mr. Lynch explained that time was an issue. Discussion ensued regarding approval with a condition regarding stacking. Growth Management Director Manning explained that the project could be approved as presented with a • recommendation that the petitioner go to City Council for a variance 0 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 on the parking space size, which would allow the petitioner to go ahead with work that would not be subject to change. Vice Chair Channing expressed his opinion that the Art in Public Places sculpture should be relocated to be more visible, and that the parking lot should be screened from the street. Mr. Ostrout explained there was a hedge with layered plantings along the roadway. Mr. Channing recommended a wall behind the hedge. After discussion, a 2' or 2 -1/2' berm was proposed around the east side of the parking lot with the hedge planted on top. Mr. Lynch commented that reducing each parking space on the east side by 6" would not gain as many parking spaces as originally thought. Vice Chair Channing suggested going to 9' parking spaces. Growth Management Director Manning explained that staff rationale for 70' stacking was that this was a project which would not generate a lot of traffic. Mr. Lynch explained that removing a handicap space would make 80' available for stacking. Mr. Solomon expressed his opinion that this Committee could not make assumptions about traffic since the types of tenants would determine the amount of traffic. Mr. Lynch explained that the zoning was Professional Office. Discussion ensued. Mr. Glidden commented this was only a 24,000 square foot project; Vice Chair Channing stated the 100' stacking requirement applied to the largest projects in the City and that this was certainly not one of the largest. Mr. Glidden stated his disagreement with dead -end parking, that a redesign would gain 12 parking spaces, and suggested a 5- minute recess to work with the petitioner to show him how a redesign could work. Attorney Post advised that a recess could be taken with consensus of the Board. Mr. Pisani made a motion to approve Petition SP -98 -09 with the following conditions: 1. Prior to the issuance of the first building permit, the Traffic Impact Analysis Report shall be revised according to City Traffic Consultant comments dated July 6, 1998 and PBC Traffic Division comments dated July 1, 1998. 2. The applicant agrees that prior to the issuance of the first building permit, the applicant shall, at the applicant's expense, prepare and record in a form acceptable to the City, an easement agreement providing the City reasonable access to maintain the canals located adjacent to the subject property. The easement shall be for no less than 16 feet of property running east -west along the existing 12 -foot utility easement. 3. Prior to the issuance of the first building permit, the • applicant shall revise the development plan in order to achieve • -0 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 an 80 -foot separation between Military Trail and the first parking space by removing one parking space directly in front of the proposed Art in Public Places. 4. Prior to the issuance of the first building permit, the applicant shall submit a revised landscape plan to include a staggered 2 -1/2 to 2 foot berm along Military Trail, subject to approval by the City Forester. 5. Prior to the issuance of the first building permit, the applicant will submit revised elevations which show the storage element link between buildings 2 and 3 recessed by 18 inches. 6. Prior to construction plan approval, the applicant shall submit to the City a letter of authorization from the utility allowing landscaping, paving and vertical construction within the existing 12 foot utility easements. 7. Prior to construction plan approval, the applicant will need to submit water quality, water quantity, hydraulic conductivity soil tests and design calculations for the exfiltration trench for review and approval. Mr. Masters seconded the motion. During discussion of the motion, Mr. Glidden stated he believed this was a good project, but in his opinion the parking could have been improved by resolving the dead -end situation. Mr. Solomon stated he believed this was a good project other than the stacking distance, and for that reason would not vote in favor of approval. Motion carried by 3 -2 vote with Mr. Glidden and Mr. Solomon opposed. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business to come before the Commission. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Solomon stated it was hard to read the handouts included in the staff report. Mr. Solomon commented that it was hard to understand why staff recommended approval subject to certain things and when there was resistance they suggested compromise. Mr. Solomon expressed his opinion that every effort should be made to let applicants know all requirements at the earliest possible time. After further discussion, Growth Management Director Manning explained that staff would have had 5 16 I Planning 4 mm & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 no latitude to recommend less than 100' stacking except that in this case the engineer had stated there was latitude. Mr. Masters stated that as an engineer, engineers must apply judgement, and that better guidelines were needed in regard to stacking for various kinds of projects, various kinds of occupancy, and various kinds of traffic patterns. Mr. Masters expressed his opinion that using 100' stacking for every project was not a satisfactory evaluation. Growth Management Director Manning explained that staff was looking at a code revision based on the type of the road and the traffic on the road. A suggestion was made to look at the code used by Boynton Beach. City Council Liaison Carl Sabatello. commented the City was moving away from being consistent, and that a project located on a side street in NorthCorp had been approved by this Commission with less than 1001; however, the City Council would not go against the opinion of any professional or consultant on a safety issue. Mr. Sabatello commented that in making recommendations, staff was trying to equip the Commission members with as much information as possible and the Commission did not have to abide by their recommendations. Mr. Sabatello commented that the roadway being accessed and the type of traffic were very important, and that the Growth Management Director, staff, and the City Engineer could work on guidelines; and that staff could notify applicants early on that this had been an issue in the past and although it was not code, 100' was strongly recommended and had only been waived in very unique situations. Suggestions by the Commission were that this be made a code requirement and that an engineering formula be worked out which could allow variances. Lit Planning 4 & Zoning Commission Minutes July 28, 1998 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon motion by Mr. Pisani, seconded by Mr. Masters, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. The next meeting will be held August 11, 1998. APPROVED: (Absent) Diane rlino, Chair Joe/ Chann }'fig,; Vice_ Chair Joh G1' den, Chair Pro Tem (Absent) John Nedvins 9 Ralph Pisani Denn' Solomon Richard Masters, Alternate a e Holloman, Secretary • 7