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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes P&Z 111296CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS • PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 12, 1996 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Chairman Carl Sabatello at 7:30 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. The roll was called by Secretary Melissa Prindiville: Present Carl Sabatello Diane Carlino John Glidden Chris Jones William Mignogna Tom Paganini Jeff Ornstein Absent Thomas Pastore John Nedvins Also present at the meeting were Assistant City Attorney Paul Golis, Assistant City Manager Greg Dunham, Planning and Zoning Director Richard Walton, Principal Planner Marty Minor, and Planner Edward • Tombari. ITEMS BY PLANNING AND ZONING DIRECTOR There were no items by the Planning and Zoning Director. ITEMS BY CITY COUNCIL LIAISON There were no items by the City Council Liaison. Minutes of October 22,1996 - Vice Chair Carlino made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Mr. Mignogna seconded the motion, which carried by 6 -0 vote. Mr. Ornstein abstained from voting on the motion, as he was not present at the October 22 meeting. SITE PLAN AND APPEARANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE Recommendation to City Council: Petition SP- 96 -06, by Frank S. Palen, agent for Devonshire Limited Partnership, is requesting an amendment to the previously- approved site plan for Devonshire Nursing Home located within the PGA National Commerce Park Planned Unit Development (PUD) at PGA National Planned Community Development. (15 -42S -42S) Principal Planner Marty Minor reviewed the staff report dated November • Planning 6 Zoning commission Minutes November 12, 1996 6, 1996. Frank Palen, agent for the petitioner, referred the Committee to the changes made since the last meeting which were highlighted in the staff report, and explained that there would be one chiller which would be housed within a metal box. The exteriors of the chiller, generator and boiler equipment were described by Project Manager Josh Mendelson. Mr. Ornstein pointed out that curbing should be shown on the plan, and expressed his concern that the equipment should be screened. Discussion ensued. Petitioner agreed to raise the berm on which the ficus hedge would be planted by one foot if possible, to help screen the equipment, and objected to painting over the factory - applied paint since that could cause a maintenance problem. During discussion of Mr. Ornstein!s concern regarding how large trucks would get out of the project, Mr. Palen explained that a DRI amendment would be needed if dimensions were changed. The letter provided by the City Engineer was discussed. Mr. Palen explained that the overall issue was how drainage was handled in Commerce Park as a whole, not only this project; described how the existing drainage system worked; and commented that the concerns expressed by the City Engineer were that changes to this property could affect the drainage of the overall system. Mr. Palen reported that a drainage study would be done to discover how the overall system would be affected. Mr. Glidden questioned the dimension of the row column, which the petitioner pointed out had been addressed. Mr. Glidden questioned the colors on the building exterior, row column, and stucco banding; and window details not shown on the plan. Mr. Glidden explained that the roof slope and pitches did not work. Petitioner agreed that the roof plan on Plan C -2 would govern and slope and pitches would be adjusted accordingly. Vice Chair Carlino made a motion for recommendation to the City Council to approve Petition SP -96 -06 with the following conditions: 1. Prior to the issuance of the building permit, the applicant shall submit a Lighting Plan,that meets the LDR requirements. 2. The construction plans shall show the removal of the raised median island near the guard house within Hiatt Drive, the paving of the island, and appropriate pavement marking and signage to divert exit traffic around the guard house. 3. Prior to the final construction plans, the applicant must submit drainage calculations that verify the deletion of the swale on the south property line in respect to time of concentration. If these calculations do not support the 1986 approved times of concentration, the applicant will provide such physical improvements to the infrastructure as needed. 4. Prior to scheduling this project for City Council approval, the 10 -foot drainage easement on the south side of the property shall be abandoned. A legal document recorded in the courts • 2 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes November 12, 1996 will need to be provided to the City prior to City Council approval. 5. The berm elevation will be raised one foot as noted on Cross Section AA to screen boilers and chiller equipment. 6. Indicate on the plans that the decorative columns shall be natural stone in texture and color. 7. Roof height and design must adhere to Plan C -2 and the elevation slopes will vary accordingly. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paganini. During discussion of the motion, Mr. Glidden commented that the petitioner had not provided a color elevation, and suggested that the horizontal stucco banding be made two shades darker or lighter than the building exterior color. Petitioner did not agree with the suggestion. Mr. Glidden withdrew his suggestion. The motion passed by unanimous vote of 7 -0. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Workshop: Petition PUD- 96 -04, by Glenn Pate, agent, for approval for the construction of an 80,760 square foot church which would accommodate approximately 2,500 people for worship services. The proposed Christ Fellowship Church is located on the north side of • Northlake Boulevard and east of Gibson Road. (14- 42S -42E) Principal Planner Marty Minor reviewed the staff report dated November 7. 1996. Glenn Pate, agent for the petitioner and architect on the project, stated that the petitioner had no objections to any of the comments in the staff report but did have some questions. Mr. Pate commented that the major issue was the drive on Gibson Road, and that petitioner had met with the Homeowners Association, and originally had agreed to no drives at all; however, the City Engineer had recommended one drive, and the recommended placement near Northlake Boulevard was agreeable to the petitioner. Mr. Ornstein commented on the site plan that the building was being built to accommodate 2,500 people, and asked what the average attendance at services was at the present time. Mr. Pate responded that the present average totaled approximately 2,000 in the current three services, which would be combined into one service in the new facility. Mr. Ornstein expressed concern with approving grass parking in the percentage requested and concern with how the grass could be maintained with concrete wheel stops in the grass. Mr. Pate agreed that maintenance would be a problem, and also expressed his concern with safety problems of cars driving through the grass and people falling over the wheel stops. Mr. Ornstein commented that the sidewalk should be concrete rather than the proposed asphalt, and suggested that moving parking from the front to the rear could provide • 3 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes • November 12, 1996 room for more landscaping in front. Mr. Ornstein requested a revised plan showing paved parking. Discussion ensued during which Mr. Pate pointed out that the paved parking was intended for staff and use during the week, and the grass parking would only be used three hours each week. Mr. Ornstein commented that there were problems with the handicap parking and access to the building as proposed. A comment by another Commission member was the difficulty of turning left coming out of the Hunt Club, to which Mr. Pate responded that police officers would direct traffic at services. Mr. Pate responded to Vice Chair Carlino that the church anticipated growth. Mr. Jones commented that the handicap parking did not meet code, and expressed concern with the concrete wheel stops in the grass parking area. Mr. Jones questioned the drainage on the site and whether the grass parking area might flood during the time services were held. Traffic report information was discussed. Suggested alternatives to wheel stops were curbing the grass parking area or paving the parking area. Discussion on stacking cars ensued. Mr. Glidden expressed agreement with the grass parking; commented that the wheel stops only told cars where to park, and suggested grass paver block to stripe the parking areas. Mr. Glidden indicated concern with drainage and requested that petitioner demonstrate the slope was sufficient so that large amounts of water were not being retained. Mr. Glidden commented that a roof plan would be required. Mr. Glidden favored two entry drives onto Gibson Road and questioned whether the traffic engineering report had indicated the ultimate number of lanes needed on Gibson • Road at the corner of Northlake Boulevard, where he suggested both right and left turn lanes. Mr. Glidden expressed concern with the buffer provided next to the residential area to the west, and offered suggestions to build up that buffer by eliminating some ]parking spaces. Mr. Mignogna expressed concern with traffic intensity and commented that he would like to see the traffic study address that situation. Mr. Mignogna requested a lighting plan for the site which would indicate the amount of light slippage which would affect the adjacent residential areas. In response to Mr. Glidden, Mr. Pate indicated that the present facility would not be used simultaneously with the new facility, so that traffic from both entrances would not be exiting at the same time. Discussion of the median layout and the access to the nearby Church of the Nazarene ensued. George Gentile, Landscape Architect, addressed the west and north buffering by explaining that the major canopy tree was oaks, used with varying heights of pine trees and Sabal palms as well as a continuous meandering Coco Plum hedge along the property line (except for the access drive at Gibson Road) which could reach 6 to 15 feet in height and was proposed for installation at 2 feet. Discussion ensued regarding the buffering created with the proposed materials. Mr. Gentile explained that an advantage of the grass parking as opposed to paved parking was that there would be a lot of percolation so that water would not accumulate like it would on asphalt. Chairman Sabatello suggested landscaping along the west side of Gibson Road. During discussion of the proposed dry retention area in the front, Mr. Pate explained that the area was necessary for positive outflow • 4 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes . November 12, 1996 and that it would not be practical to move it to the rear with piping out to the front, which would be very expensive. Chairman Sabatello expressed his opinion that dry retention areas did not work aesthetically. Mr. Jones questioned whether the sodded area in the rear was planned for activities, to which Mr. Pate responded it was planned only for a play area at the present time. Principal Planned Marty Minor explained that present land use was Residential Low and present zoning was PDA; and the petitioner was requesting a change to PUD. Chairman Sabatello stated that he was uncomfortable using buffers to conform to Residential Low for such an intense project, and stressed that conditions of approval must be very specific because the underlying code did not work. Mr. Gentile clarified that the front landscape buffer was 107 feet, the Gibson Road side buffer was 15 feet; and the rear had an 8 foot landscape buffer as well as additional green space for a total of 194 feet. Chairman Sabatello suggested that the City Engineer should look at the grass parking areas and that a bond or appropriate instrument require that if the grass parking did not work that the petitioner must then pave the area. Mr. Glidden suggested that a drawing be provided showing a typical section of a landscape area sloped to the middle where a car would be parked on both sides that would show the vertical drop so that the amount of water that would accumulate could be determined. Chairman Sabatello commented that a flat area would also hold water, and agreed that a typical section should be provided. • Mr. Ornstein suggested that this project should be treated like any other large project, and like other large church petitions, where guidelines would be established for buffer setbacks, etc.; and that the Commission should decide how many parking spaces should be paved or left in grass. Chairman Sabatello expressed concern that if the growth pattern continued, the petitioner might find it necessary to conduct more than one service on Sunday. Discussion ensued regarding the amount of paved parking which should be required. In regard to the fact that changing the amount of paved parking would affect drainage, Mr. Ornstein commented that the University of Florida had experienced a problem of grease and oil from cars which had filtered into the ground water instead of going into the storm system in a large grass parking area which was used for football games. The procedure which must be followed by the Commission in considering grass parking versus paved parking was explained to the petitioner. Some of the Commission members expressed a preference for grass parking. Mr. Ornstein stated that he had a problem with not paving code - required parking. Other churches with percentages of grass parking were discussed. Planning and Zoning Director Walton suggested that the section of Code dealing with grass parking should be studied before a final opinion was formulated; and stated that the section indicated grass parking areas may be approved by the City Council for uses which have infrequent peak demand, subject to standards and criteria to insure that the grass parking would work on the particular site. Mr. Ornstein suggested that if all Code required paved spaces were not going to be met that the Commission should establish a number • 5 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes • November 12, 1996 for required paved spaces to be consistent with other approved projects. Mr. Glidden expressed the opinion that if grass parking worked with the drainage then paved spaces should only be required to meet peak daily load. Chairman Sabatello requested that the petitioner provide information regarding daily usage for the next meeting. During discussion of how many extra services would be held per year for specific religious celebrations, Tom Mullens indicated that only Christmas and Easter would entail larger congregations. The petitioner indicated that plans were to use the existing facility for current day -to -day and week -to -week operations, and that the new facility was planned only for weekly services on Sunday and Wednesday so that one service could be held instead of three, and had been designed based on projected growth. Petitioner discussed paved versus grass parking and indicated that paved parking was intended for daily use and grass parking only for the twice weekly services; and that the grass area was well compacted, with good percolation, and no problems had been experienced from cars parking there to date. Petitioner explained that the primary focus used in designing the new facility was to provide buffering to the adjacent residential areas. Chairman Sabatello made the following suggestions in order to provide direction to the petitioner: 1. Move parking that is currently in front to the rear. . 2. Provide a 20' landscape buffer around the property. 3. Repeat the same type of landscaping on the north and east sides of the property that is used on the west along Gibson Road. 4. Provide 200 paved parking spaces in the area which surrounds the main entrances to the building. 5. Substitute the cocoplum with a denser plant installed at 5- foot height. 6. Provide a typical section to illustrate the landscape screening. 7. Provide a cross section of the swale area and the trees to be planted in the swale area, and assure that the City Forester is comfortable with trees planted in the swale area. 8. Provide a self- contained traffic plan for stacking on the property without access to Gibson Road. 9. Provide traffic plan to the Police Department for review. 10. Provide information regarding hiring off -duty police and 0 6 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes • November 12, 1996 impacts to neighbors of police directing traffic. Mr. Jones stated he was in favor of the grass parking, but was not sure how a figure should be determined for the number of paved spaces. Chairman Sabatello explained that he had arrived at the figure of 200 based on the number of users of the current facility. Chairman Sabatello pointed out that if the parking did not work that a vehicle would be in place to correct the situation. Vice Chair Carlino expressed concern with the potential for additional growth so that the number of services might have to be increased, and the impact of growth on residents in the surrounding community. Vice Chair Carlino suggested that the project might be too intense for this location and might need to be downsized. Discussion ensued regarding how to have a traffic light signal installed. Mr. Mignogna requested that the dry retention area and lighting be added to Chairman Sabatello' s list. The petitioner was also requested to provide information regarding more realistic use of the facility in order to establish a number for paved parking spaces. Mr. Pate commented that a 20 -foot landscape buffer would eliminate a lot of parking spaces. The Commission requested that the petitioner provide a floor plan for the building. • The exterior elevations of the building were reviewed by the Commission. Mr. Pate described the exterior finishes and textures of the building. Heat retention of a black metal roof was discussed. Mr. Ornstein objected to the large black roof as not in keeping with the surrounding houses. Chairman Sabatello stated that the building was too massive, and out of character with the area, and that he could not support the building as presented. Mr. Ornstein agreed. The petitioner was requested to make the building compatible with the existing zoning and surrounding communities. Discussion ensued regarding impact of the building scale. Mr. Pate explained that the building was one story with sloped seating inside, and that a portion along the back was two stories. It was brought out that a 25% growth factor had been assumed in designing the building to accommodate 2,500, since present attendance approximated 2,000. Discussion continued regarding the building mass and its impact on the surrounding area. Petitioner questioned direction regarding the building. Petitioner requested more specific direction, and was told that the Commission must adhere to specific guidelines and was not allowed to help redesign a building. Commission members stated that the building mass was the problem, and the kinds of things that would reduce the mass would be to reduce the height, architecturally soften the building, to break up the mass into smaller elements, etc. The differences between straight zoning requirements and special exception use in any zoning category were explained. Roof color, size, and shape; size, height, texture and massing of the building, the square plane of the building were listed as items for the petitioner to consider. After further discussion, Mr. Glidden commented that the • 7 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes November 12, 1996 height of the eave was an issue and it would help if it could be shortened; that if the roof and building mass could be broken up that would be helpful; that a different color of roof would be helpful; that more landscaping around the building would be helpful; that the overall vertical scale and mass needed to be more compatible with the existing neighborhood. OLD BIISINESS There was no old business to come before the Commission. NEW BIISINESS There was no new business to come before the Commission. • • 8 • • -10 Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes November 12, 1996 There being no further business, upon motion by Mr. Jones, seconded by Vice Chair Carlino, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 P.M. a%-e� next meeting will be held November 26, 1996. An j APPROVED: �/ Carl Sabatello, Chairman 7 Diane Carlino, Vice Chair John Glidden ::5)� �41� William Mignogna Thoma Jeff Ornstein, Alternate (Absent) John Nedvins, Alternate Melissa Prindiville, Secretary 0J