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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes P&Z 081391CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 13, 1991 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Chairman Jeffrey Ornstein, 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 the secretary and present were: Jeffrey Ornstein, Chairman; Mike Rosen, Vice Chairman; Joseph Hamzy, Domenick Lioce, Carl Sabatello and Alan Strassler, Members; and James Kuretski, Alternate Member. James Leatherman, Member, was not in attendance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 23, 1991 0 Mr. Alan Strassler made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 23, 1991 Planning 0 and Zoning Commission meeting. Mr. Mike Rosen seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a 7 -0 vote. PLANNING AND ZONING PUBLIC HEARING: Text Amendment to the City of Palm Beach Gardens' Zoning Code, Section 159.057 Churches, to allow for Columbariums as a conditional use when used as an accessory to a church or other house, of worship; and, Section 159.003, Definitions, to provide a definition of Couumbarium. (Adv. 7/29/91) Mr. Bristol S. Ellington, City Planner, reviewed the staff report, dated August 9, 1991. Chairman Ornstein questioned the limit of the size of the columbarium to 20 percent of the total floor area of the principal structure of the house of worship. He asked where the 20 percent figure came from. He added that it was a lot of space. Mr. Ellington stated the figure comes from the West Palm Beach code requirement for 1 columbariums. He added that the limit was selected so the columbarium use would not overtake the use of the church. Mr. James Kuretski also questioned whether the 20 percent figure includes the total square footage of accessory buildings on the church site. Chairman Ornstein said that 20 percent of the total floor area is an awful lot. Mr. Domenick Lioce suggested that the definition includes the floor area and height of the columbarium. Mr. Joseph Hamzy suggested other means of limiting the amount of columbariums, such as tying it to the number of active church members or the number of seats in the church. Mr. Strassler asked if 8,850 square feet cited as the total floor area for the St. Mark's church is just for the sanctuary or does it include classrooms, etc. Mr. Ellington said the figure referred the church sanctuary. • Chairman Ornstein suggested that the limit be based on twice the number of church seats. Mr. Hamzy asked how many seats the church has. Ms. Sally Gervin, agent for Petition CU- 91 -03, said St. Mark's has 450 seats. She added that the Commission should consider that the church will be operating for a very long time. Responding to a question from Mr. Carl Sabatello, Ms. Gervin said there are about 900 people on the church rolls and the average attendance is about 300 to 400 people. She added that she has no idea what the demand will be for this facility. The Commission then agreed to change the wording to the text amendment to include: "the number of accessory columbarium niches shall not exceed twice the seating capacity • of the sanctuary." 2 • Mr. Sabatello asked staff for the definition of house of worship. Mr. Ellington said the state has a definition of a house of worship. Chairman Ornstein opened the Public Hearing on this matter. Hearing no public comment, Chairman Ornstein closed the Public Hearing. Motion Mr. Lioce made a motion to approve the above - mentioned text amendment to the City Zoning Code with the following text addition: The number of columbarium niches shall not exceed twice the seating capacity of the church's sanctuary. Mr. James Kuretski seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved by a 7 -0 vote. PUBLIC HEARING: CU -91 -03 - Recommendation to City Council re: (St. Mark's • Episcopal Church) Conditional Use for a columbarium in the chapel garden at St. Mark's Church located at 3395 Burns Road. (Adv. 7/29/91) Mr. Ellington, City Planner, reviewed the staff reported dated August 9, 1991. Mr. Alan Strassler asked Ms. Gervin what would happen if he was Episcopalian but not a member of St. Mark's and he wanted his remains to be stored in the St. Mark's columbarium. Ms. Gervin responded by saying the church would request that he would formally change his church membership to St. Mark's. Chairman Ornstein then opened the Public Hearing. Upon hearing no public comment, Chairman Ornstein closed the Public Hearing. Motion Mr. Hamzy moved to approve the above - mentioned petition with one condition: The chapel garden accessway shall be secured by a wrought iron gate, which can be locked. 3 • Mr. Strassler seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved by a 7 -0 vote. SITE PLAN AND APPEARANCE REVIEW SP -91 -05 - (McDonald's Restaurant) Final Site Plan Approval for a children's playground to be constructed on the east side of the existing restaurant building and for a color change to the restaurant's trim. Located at 3805 Northlake Boulevard. Mr. Ellington, City Planner, reviewed the staff report, dated August 8, 1991, for the above - mentioned petition. Chairman Ornstein called the proposed playground "ugly." He added that he sees no point in placing a playground at a restaurant. Mr. Rosen asked if there was a landscape plan. Mr. Gus Bustillo, representing the petitioner, said there is not a landscape plan. He added that there will be sod and shrubs in the proposed landscape strip. Mr. Rosen . stated the petition is incomplete with the landscaping plan. Mr. Lioce said he thinks the playground is very useful at McDonald's. Mr. Strassler asked why McDonald's wants to do this. Mr. Scott Shubott, owner /operator of the restaurant, said that a number of the customers have asked why the restaurant does not have a playground. He said most of the members of the community enjoy the playground. Mr. Rosen asked Mr. Shubott about the proposed landscaping. Mr. Rosen added that sod is not an appropriate landscaping for the playground. Mr. Shubott said he spends thousands of dollars annually in maintaining the landscaping. He added that if Mr. Rosen does not think that sod is enough landscaping, then he will add flowers to the area. • Mr. Rosen said he would like to see landscaping along the sides of the playground to 4 • buffer the playground equipment from the roadside view. Mr. Shubott said he could provide a hedge, but it could be a safety problem if children 40 reach through the fence into the hedge. Mr. Strassler said the new playground was "chaotic visually." He said he likes the teal blue trim, but it does not go with the roof or the playground colors. He said he would be more comfortable if there was more landscaping around the playground. Mr. Sabatello asked if there was any problems with moving the playground further to the north. Mr. Shubott stated that if the playground is moved then there is a potential security problem. He added that he would like to be able watch the children playing from the restaurant counter. Mr. Bustillo said if the playground is moved to the rear of the store, the petitioner will not be able to supervise who enters the playground. Entrance to the proposed playground is planned to be from within the restaurant, he said. The Commission members then recommended that the petitioner slide the playground to the north in order to provide a landscape buffer from Northlake Boulevard. Mr. Shubott said there is plenty of landscaping on the site and the restaurant is not readily visible from the store. He said he does not understand the Commission's problem with the request. Chairman Ornstein suggested moving the playground to the north by 10 feet, which would result in the loss of an additional parking spot. With the additional 10 feet, a landscape architect could place trees, shrubs and other vegetation within that buffer, Chairman Ornstein stated. Mr. Hamzy stated that the McDonald's playland on Okeechobee Boulevard is an example 5 of what should be avoided in constructing this playground. He said the white picket fence around that playground look atrocious. Mr. Sabatello questioned whether the proposed picket fence should be white. He suggested a bronze color, which would blend into the building. He proposed trees and vegetation on the south side of the playground and a dense hedge around the fence. Mr. Bustillo asked how high would the Commission like the trees. Mr. Sabatello responded by stating that he would like the trees at varying heights. Mr. Shubott said he did not understand how the Commission could have a problem with this request as McDonald's restaurants worldwide have installed playgrounds and the children love them. Chairman Ornstein said the board wants to keep the City looking as good as possible. Some of the board members think that this proposed playground is good looking, he • added. He suggested that there should be a way to soften the look. Mr. Kuretski said he can support the playground, but its appearance does not have to jump out at them. He added that the teal blue trim is not compatible to the red and yellow playground. He added that annuals (flowers) do not make up for landscaping. Mr. Strassler suggested that the eastern buffer should be extended in order to protect the fence from cars backing up. Chairman Ornstein said the next meeting will be on August 27, 1991. He added that if the petitioner makes the necessary revisions in time, the petition can be placed on that agenda. Mr. Shubott asked if the teal blue trim color was acceptable. Chairman Ornstein said he agrees with Mr. Kuretski by stating the trim color does not match the proposed • playground. 0 • He asked if the trim color is something he needs to address. Mr. Shubott said he took a survey of his customers and 209 out of 214 said they liked the teal blue trim color. The Commission said it had problems with the teal blue and the red and yellow playground. Mr. Ellington said the McDonald's on U.S. 1 and on 45th Street have playgrounds that are blue and grey. Mr. Shubott said kids do not like those alternative colors. There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. • • 7 • r- 49t� �;C/�l Ja Kur6tski Marty .A. Minor, Secretary Carl Sabatello