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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes P&Z 080602CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING August 6, 2002 MINUTES The Special Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Chair Craig Kunkle at 6:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ROLL CALL Betty Laur, Secretary for the meeting, called the roll for the Planning and Zoning Commission and Local Planning Agency: Present Craig Kunkle, Jr., Chairman Vice Chairman Barry Present Chairman Pro Tern John Glidden Dick Ansay Joel Charming Dennis Solomon Steven Tarr Alternate Ernest Volonte Alternate Douglas Pennell Absent Also present were Growth Management Director Charles Wu, Principal Planners Steve Cramer and Talal Benothman, City Forester Mark Hendrickson, and City Attorney Len Rubin. LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY Workshop Petition WA V-00-03: Comprehensive Plan Residential Waiver for The Borland Center A request by Cotleur & Hearing, as agent for The Borland Center and RAM Development, to waive the vertical integration of residential uses required by Policy 1.1.1.3 in the Future Land Use Element in the City's Comprehensive Plan in order to allow for the development of a Non- residential Mixed Use Planned Unit Development on 47.1 acres of land The site is located along the north side of PGA Boulevard between Gardens Square Boulevard and Shady Lakes Drive. Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 Principal Planner Steve Cramer presented the petition. Mr. Tarr verified with Mr. Cramer that the correct use of the property with no waivers was residential mixed; and that under that land use, from a commercial standpoint the church and cultural center would not be allowed. Mr. Tarr commented that the canal was used as a barrier under the required criteria; however, the intent was to have existing buffers off -site. Mr. Ansay asked how the City had designated this property MXD. Mr. Cramer explained that the City was looking to have the most intense uses at major intersections, and the MXD zoning had been in place at least five years. Mr. Glidden questioned the major arterial roadway, which Mr. Cramer verified was PGA Boulevard, that the easement on Shady Lakes Drive would be considered residential abutting the project, and that on the south, the Commons was partly residential. Mr. Pennell asked if the proposal to extend Shady Lakes Drive to 117`h Court would happen if the cultural center were not approved, to which Mr. Cramer responded that the extension was on the thoroughfare map of the comprehensive plan. Mr. Cramer verified that if vertical integration was not granted the applicant could come back with no residential at all. Mr. Glidden asked if the board could approve just the horizontal integration, which Mr. Cramer verified they could not, and clarified that in a residential MXD they could not have the cultural use, and that the applicant did not want to put residential on top of retail. Mr. Cramer clarified that there were minimum requirements for office space. Mr. Tarr commented that there were two aspects of criteria number 3 —that after meeting the 60 %, there must be greater horizontal integration of uses —which he felt was a bigger issue than the 60 %; and that the issue for criteria 2 and 3 was if it was compatible and provided vertical integration as an added benefit. Mr. Glidden asked if the Board was to look at this as if there were no project. Mr. Cramer indicated this was a land use issue and consideration should be whether it fit well with the existing uses. Mr. Channing referred to the shared parking analysis for the master plan and asked if the correct uses were shown on the chart. Mr. Cramer explained that the 76,000 s.£ of office use included both the cultural center and office. Attorney for the applicant, Steve Cohen, commented that in the 1980's a much more intense project was planned for this property and MXD land use had been in place since that time. Donaldson Hearing, on behalf of the applicant, provided background on the project and explained that the MXD designation was the most intense allowed in the City. Mr. Cramer clarified that lot coverage could be 70% and land allocation in neighborhood commercial was 30 %. Mr. Hearing reviewed 4 criteria required for a waiver, and justification of how the applicant complied with the first three; stated they did not comply with number 4, and indicated the applicant would be willing to agree to a condition for construction of a canal along the north boundary and to guarantee that the residential component would be as proposed and would be a part of their plan. Mr. Tarr asked how much of the cultural center building was used for theater, church, and cultural center. Hank Gonzales, President of The Borland Center, explained that all facilities would have shared use with the church and community and that offices would be the only exclusive use within the overall complex. Mr. Gonzales explained that The Borland Center would have a joint use agreement with the church and would be guaranteed an amount of use each year for events for the public. Bourland would program uses for the community, mainly for Palm Beach Gardens and Northern Palm Beach County. Mr. Tarr pointed out that the applicant was adding their own barrier, to which Mr. Hearing responded the applicant 2 Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 believed that met the criteria. Mr. Tarr noted the applicant had eliminated pedestrian access and had not reduced the vehicular traffic by creating this wide barrier, which Mr. Hearing indicated would be addressed in the site plan. Mr. Tarr did not agree with the applicant creating their own way to meet the criteria and commented that the issue was the intensity, in particular the 3,000 -seat theater. Mr. Tarr indicated that meeting two criteria did not mean the waiver would be granted but only allowed consideration of approval for the waiver, and commented that for the compatible issue the overall number of trips should be reduced. Mr. Ansay asked what would be on the tax rolls, to which the response was the Borland Center was a non - profit organization; however the commercial and residential components would add several million dollars to the tax rolls. Mr. Hearing clarified that the Palm Beach Community Church and the Borland Center would own the land. Mr. Solomon expressed concern regarding the canal on the north side because the criteria for the waiver seemed to indicate it could not be met by improvements on the site itself, and criteria 3 needed more discussion. Mr. Solomon commented he had a lot of problems with whether the criteria had been met. Mr. Glidden asked the audience not to clap. Mr. Glidden commented the real issue went back to the cultural use and how it would impact surrounding areas, which would be addressed later in the site plan. Mr. Glidden advised the applicant that the taxable and non - taxable portions of the project must be delineated. Mr. Glidden commented this building would be used partly for church and partly for public performances, and asked which was non - profit. Mr. Glidden indicated that regarding the barrier not being off -site, in the end the site was surrounded so to him the criteria was met. Mr. Pennell commented that in order to get the cultural center the applicant must get the waiver but he believed traffic would be a problem when vehicles left an event. Mr. Kunkle asked if the lake as proposed met the surface water management criteria, to which the response was yes. Mr. Hearing explained that this property fell within Units 2 and 2A of the drainage district so they had to meet strict standards. Mr. Channing asked if the waiver were approved what assurance the City had that it would all get built, to which Mr. Hearing responded the second phase was the cultural center, and the intent was to build everything else in phase one. Mr. Kunkle requested some guidance from staff. Mr. Cramer stated that a staff recommendation would be given at the next meeting, which could be either a workshop or a public hearing. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION Workshop Petition PUD- 01 -13: Rezoning and Master Plan Approval for The Borland Center A request by Cotleur & Hearing, as agent for The Borland Center and RAM Development, for a property rezoning from Planned Development Area (PDA) to Mixed Use Planned Unit Development (MXD./PUD) to allow for the development of 218,500 square feet for a cultural center and church offices; 85,500 square feet for retail space; 12,000 square feet for restaurant space, 9,300 square feet for office space; and 217 apartments on 47.1 acres of land The site is located along the north side of PGA Boulevard between Gardens Square Boulevard and Shady Lakes Drive. 3 Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 Principal Planner Steve Cramer presented the project. Mr. Tarr asked if there was anything in the City west of Military Trail that was higher than two stories, and Mr. Cramer responded, only office buildings. Mr., Cramer verified for Mr. Ansay that the parking garage was proposed to have two levels. Mr. Present spoke about the traffic operations plan, and that the City's thoroughfare plan was to extend Shady Lakes Drive to 117th Court. Staff's opinion was the comprehensive plan envisioned that collector road to relieve traffic. Mr. Present indicated he did not see how traffic could work without a traffic light. Mr. Cramer advised the county would not grant a light without enough traffic to warrant a light. The applicant proposed policemen to direct traffic. Mr. Cramer reviewed the roadway and who owned which portions, and explained that road impact fees could be paid by this project for the roadway extension. Discussion of traffic lights and warrants ensued. Mr. Pennell asked if the study done by the City's traffic engineer was still valid, to which Mr. Cramer responded it was being worked on to convert those trips to the current plan. Mr. Glidden commented that the developer had had to get a concurrency certificate from the county and asked if that certificate addressed the issue of peak/off -peak hours. Mr. Cramer indicated the test was peak -hour trips and that special event trips for this project did not fall into peak hours. Mr. Tarr requested for the next meeting the differences be shown between traffic trips with the property zoned as residential MXD versus the current plan, and that by providing a best guess it would be helpful for everyone. Mr. Solomon questioned the build -out date of December 31, 2003, to which the response was that the period had been 5 years but it had taken approximately three years to get to this point, and the applicant might need a time extension. Attorney Steve Cohen noted the applicant had met and continued to meet with residents and community associations; that they felt it more appropriate to apply for non - residential MXD and would continue to work with staff on that. Dr. Ray Underwood, Senior Pastor, Palm Beach Community Church, explained that the church wanted to build something to share with the City and to meet the City's vision to have gathering places and linkages within the City. Dr. Underwood provided a history or their plan and advised they had followed suggestions from City staff and City Councilmembers. They had moved the lake to the back of the property because residents had requested that location, and it would raise property values in Garden Lakes. A planned road had been removed as well as other changes made in an effort to do what the residents asked and to be a good neighbor. Dr, Underwood explained the applicant had tried hard to please all the neighbors but had not been successful, and the church was ready to build since they had been in rented facilities for 17 years. Dr. Underwood explained the church would own their property, RAM would own their property, and Borland would manage the facility and open it to the community. Hank Gonzales, who had been project manager for the Kravis Center, explained that the Borland Center would handle the events for community enrichment to as broad an audience as could be reached. Mr. Gonzales explained that the Red Cross had been contacted about using this facility as a disaster center, and other proposed programs included joint school programs such as graduations, ethical training, and arts and culture. Mr. Gonzales compared the proposed cultural building to the Kravis Center. This facility would have 218,500 square feet; Kravis had 230,000 square feet. This center would not be acoustical and the Kravis Center was acoustical for operas. Mr. Gonzales explained that the Kravis Center had been the driver for the downtown - uptown plan and development of City Place, and gave examples of how these types of facilities had revitalized other 0 Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 areas. Mr. Gonzales commented this facility would do a lot for the City, that culture attracts businesses and people, and expressed his belief that this project was a once -in -a- lifetime opportunity for the City . The project team was introduced. Donaldson Hearing reviewed the site plan, including location, building placement, architecture, and elevations. Architect Mike Nelson described the proposed theater. Mr. Hearing described their response to community input and the significant changes they had made to their plans as a result of meetings with residents. Mr. Hearing described the density and intensity of the project, and discussed traffic peak hours and requested waivers. Mr. Hearing summarized the outstanding issues, including a summary of the coalition issues, and requested City staff decide if the project was consistent with the comprehensive plan and the LDR's. Kahart Pinder addressed traffic issues and advised that a plan had been submitted to the City and that the applicant had worked with the Police Department. Mr. Pinder noted that projections indicated traffic would meet the warrant, but DOT would not construct it until the warrant was actually met. Peak times for traffic for this project would be outside peak times of traffic on the roadway on PGA Boulevard. Mr. Pinder advised that worst case scenarios had been considered. Mr. Pinder indicated that 287 events had been considered -161 performances during the year and 104 religious services. 156 events were anticipated to be held in the small hall and a number of those would be concurrent. Traffic at events such as school graduations could be controlled by issuing parking passes. Other traffic impacts were discussed. This project had been granted traffic concurrency from both the City and the County. Casey Cummings, President of RAM Development Company, commented the tax assessment would be approximately $50 million, which did not count sales tax and jobs that would be generated. Mr. Cummings expressed a desire to work with everyone to satisfy as many people as possible and called for action in order to meet their deadline. Chair Kunkle commented what needed to be conveyed was the level of impact on what was there today; he did not think enough information had been presented; and believed that more time needed to be spent on traffic graphics. Chair Kunkle requested the applicant map out a typical month of performances, church services, etc., to get a better picture of what would happen and to see if this would congest traffic to the point of gridlock, which was his concern. Mr. Tarr commented he did not see a plan for leaving events, to which Mr. Pinder responded by pointing out routes on a graphic. Mr. Tarr requested in the next workshop package that a map be included showing how traffic would come out and go in for a specific event. Mr. Tarr commented he believed everyone agreed this would benefit the City but the whole issue here was the size of the 3,000 seat theatre; that he did not want a Kravis Center here; and that Palm Beach Gardens was not an urban center. Mr. Tarr commented that the benefit was regional, not just primarily for Palm Beach Gardens, and he would like to see a smaller church. Hank Gonzales discussed the sizing of the theater. Dr. Underwood explained that the church had done two economic feasibility studies, and both indicated the theatre should be a minimum of 3,000 seats in order to attract a certain level of events. Chair Kunkle commented the next workshop would focus primarily on traffic. Mr. Tarr commented this project would bring in regional people, not just City residents, and recommended a scaled down version. Mr. Tarr asked staff if this project would comply even if it was residential MXD, and asked staff to E Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 provide an opinion on this. Mr. Tarr advised the applicant he did not consider things they had done to please the residents to be concessions since the project was never approved; that he considered the project a Kravis Center, that he would like the main street and landscaping reinstated, that he did not like the 4 -story residential height; and that he considered the architecture very institutional looking and wanted to see 3 -D color drawings. Mr. Tarr commented this was a compatibility issue and asked if it was compatible to put a Kravis Center so close to residents. Mr. Ansay questioned how this facility would be different from the acoustically correct Kravis Center, to which the response was that microphones would have to be used. It was clarified that The Bourland Center was not religious based, that Palm Beach Community Church was religions based, and a set of by -laws and programming values would be written. Mr. Present commented he did not expect buildout by December 2003 but would rather the project be done right and the completion date pushed back. Mr. Present indicated one meeting was not enough; if the cultural center was removed then the road still needed to be extended to 117`h; that focus at the next meeting should be on traffic; that he wanted to see how traffic would impact Military Trail and Garden Lakes, and would like to hear more about a future traffic light. Mr. Present commented this was not a DRI and would not have the regional impact of a DRI. Mr. Solomon commented the presentation had been very impressive and he thought there was enough land, but if the Bourland Center was there without the rest of the retail and residential he thought it would be fine Mr. Solomon noted not everyone would be pleased, that this was an important site for the City and a potential opportunity for the City. Mr. Solomon indicated he was not overly concerned about the waiver of vertical integration; that he understood projects must be a certain size to be financially viable; and there might be too many buildings on this plan. Mr. Solomon suggested placing a smaller water body in the front and adding another floor to the parking garage, and indicated 9' parking could be acceptable. Foundation planting was desired to soften the hardscape, but he would wait for the street scenes. Mr. Solomon agreed with eliminating wheel stops but did not favor grassed parking. Mr. Solomon discussed height limitations west on Military Trail. Mr. Solomon expressed his opinion that traffic ingress and egress were the most important thing that would affect nearby residents, commented Shady Lakes Drive should be widened, that Gardens Boulevard looked like an alleyway and should be changed, and deceleration lanes should be added. Mr. Channing asked where parking for residential was located, to which Mr. Hearing responded and explained that the residential was rental built to condo standards. Mr. Channing asked that it be demonstrated that traffic worked satisfactorily and properly, and stated that was very important. Mr. Channing commented that only one main street was not enough to handle traffic and he was interested in seeing line -of -sight studies looking east or west from the theater. Mr. Channing requested plans for buildings in the next package. Mr. Channing noted the other important thing was that the PGA Corridor Overlay be followed, and commented the public realm was almost non- existent. Mr. Channing did not like the residential architecture but did like the theater design. Mr. Channing compared this project with the La -Z -Boy project on PGA Boulevard. Mr. Channing commented if those things plus traffic could be worked out then this would be a great asset to the City, and financial concerns were not of concern to this Commission but traffic was their concern. Mr. Glidden commented you could not please everyone. Mr. Glidden agreed that traffic was the foremost issue, and he agreed with Mr. Channing that the architecture had lacking areas. Mr. 0 Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 Glidden noted FAR would allow .4 and the code needed to be changed to 2.5 if the Commission thought it was too intense. Mr. Glidden asked that the applicant demonstrate a traffic light at Shady Lakes and also traffic control, and suggested deleting one turn to Shady Lakes and making the other wider. Mr. Glidden suggested opening the north road at peak hours to let people get out; and noted there were public spaces but the applicant had not followed the PGA Corridor Overlay. Mr. Glidden suggested adding 1 or 2 levels to the parking garage, stated he agreed with grass parking and suggested it be tried to see if it worked and, if not, then it could be paved. Mr. Glidden requested 3- D sketches of a number of the buildings, and roof plans on the commercial buildings. Mr. Glidden indicated he thought this was a mixed use project and he would like to approve the vertical integration waiver by adding a requirement that there be a certain amount of residential in the project and also requiring the lake. Mr. Glidden agreed with structures in the 55' buffer, agreed with no wheel stops, discussed foundation landscaping, agreed with changing the buildout date, and suggested that parking spaces per building be addressed at the next meeting. Mr. Glidden commented that traffic management and architecture were big issues. Mr. Channing also agreed with changing the buildout date. Mr. Gary Fields, PGA Corridor Residents Coalition commented this would be a regional center, not just for the City, and disagreed with a panel setting artificial community standards as to who could perform. Mr. Fields introduced Dr. Richard Orman and Bulent Kastarlak, speakers on behalf of the PGA Corridor Residents Coalition. Dr. Richard Orman indicated residents were very concerned about this project and felt the project was inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. Dr. Orman advised the Commission they needed to make a decision on the 4 criteria to let the applicant know whether they could proceed. Dr. Orman commented that the project was not compatible with the character of the surrounding areas which had single family residences, and not consistent with the LDR's or the PGA Corridor Overlay District land use criteria. Dr. Orman commented it was the Commission's fiduciary responsibility to the residents to find these issues were the reality. Dr. Orman indicated the coalition handout had provided definitions of terms such as compatibility, hours of operation, contiguous, intent of mixed use development, sensitive to surrounding land use, etc. Dr. Orman indicated the coalition thought it was protected by the comprehensive plan, that four communities had legal standing, and all had gone on record with City staff that they objected to this project. Regarding the waiver for land use, Dr. Orman commented this was not a permitted land use and had no business being on this site; that this was not a community- serving facility but a regional facility, and if it became a strictly religious facility for only Christian performances it would be the largest in the nation. Mr. Kastarlak commented he and the coalition had no quarrel with the intent of Dr. Underwood's proposal and felt the country needed a multi - cultural, multi -faith understanding and this could be one of the facilities to undertake this. Mr. Kastarlak commented it appeared several code terms had been misinterpreted, such as infill. Mr. Kastarlak indicated similar uses placed together worked well. Mr. Kastarlak indicated it was the Commission's duty to make this work, and suggested the cultural center could be placed elsewhere and it was the Commission's duty to be proactive and find where it should go. Mr. Kastarlak expressed his opinion that the waiver issue must be decided first and the decision made whether this was residential or non - residential. 11 Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 Mr. Kastarlak noted site planning issues were not the main focus until that decision was made in order not to waste time and money. Mr. Kastarlak noted several things must be worked out including traffic ingress and egress, and the theater was to be 3,000 seats when the traffic study only covered 2,500 seats. Several things, therefore, had the wrong conclusions. Mr. Kastarlak indicated that such a cultural center should be encouraged somewhere else in the community, and the land use and determination of residential or non - residential mixed use must be made first. Dr. Orman pointed out the 4 conditions that must be met in order to grant a waiver and the coalition's interpretations. Dr. Orman asked the Board to give the applicant direction about whether this was a go or not, and advised he felt a public hearing should be held on that issue and then go to City Council, and only if the City Council agreed there should be a huge performing arts facility on this site only then should the site plan be presented to this Commission. Mr. Tarr commented his comments paralleled the coalition but he had never met or talked to anyone from the coalition. Mr. Present expressed appreciation for everyone's input on this and other projects. Mr. Glidden commented the Commission needed to focus on the waiver and asked for help from staff. Mr. Wu indicated the waiver issue would be decided at City Council level. Chair Kunkle noted it was the applicant's decision to proceed simultaneously. A letter submitted at the meeting by residents Ken Kaneski and Claire Holmes, 11232 Thyme Drive, has been attached to and made a part of these minutes. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business to come before the Commission. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business to come before the Commission. Planning & Zoning Commission Special Meeting Minutes August 6, 2002 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held August 13, 2002. APPROVED: Craig Kunkle, Jr., Chair Steven Tarr " �' = C'> �6 - B tty Laur ecretary for the Meeting r'.