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HomeMy WebLinkAbout595 - MINUTES - City Commission MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION EVALUATION AND APPRAISAL REPORT WEDNESDAY,APRIL 28, 2004 - 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to order Mayor McElyea called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. 2. Roll Call: Present: Mayor McElyea City Manager Pato Commissioner Anton City Attorney Jeff Sheffel Commissioner Chunn Commissioner Flury Absent: Vice-Mayor Mikes 3. Discussion on updating the E.A.R. (Evaluation and Appraisal Report) Comprehensive Plan (Community Development Director) a) Overview of Dania Beach Comprehensive Plan b) Overview of EAR c) Identify issues d) Recommended list e) Public input Laurence Leeds, Director of Community Development, informed this is the first step in amending the Comprehensive Plan. Dania Beach first adopted a plan in 1980, with the latest revision in 1999. Several amendments to the Future Land Use Element have been made during the past four (4) years and we are working on a new Transportation Element. Comprehensive Plans are not intended to deal with site specific zoning issues; identify specific locations for traffic calming; street closures; speed humps; street lights; sidewalks and traffic signals. State Law requires that an EAR be adopted every seven (7) years. The Comprehensive Plan is to identify new issues that were not addressed and are of critical importance today. Commissioner Flury remarked it is difficult to begin the process without knowing what didn't get finished in prior years, and asked if the Plan was prepared to be financially feasible. Minutes of Special Meeting I City of Dania Beach City Commission Evaluation and Appraisal Report Wednesday,April 28,2004—6:00 p.m. Mr. Leeds responded he will prepare a Plan that is financially feasible. Joe Van Eron, Triangle Village Civic Association, commented he agreed with Commissioner Flury that it would be beneficial for the public to educate themselves and make informed ideas as to what did and did not work in the existing Comprehensive Plan. Michael Schiff has not read the Comprehensive Plan, but thinks redevelopment is one of the strongest issues we should look at in this update. How we treat the eastern part of the City in the future will be critical to the image that is portrayed. Commissioner Anton questioned Mr. Leeds on the three (3) items addressed in the plan: airport expansion, infrastructure and utilities upgrades, and a standalone Library. He thought the Library was a site specific project. Mr. Leeds responded what he is hearing from the Commission is that they want to provide the maximum amount of protection of residential neighborhoods from runway expansion, which may mean changes to the Land Use Plan making it more difficult for the aviation department to acquire or to de-annex Melaleuca Gardens. He suggested inserting Goals, Objectives and Policies that give direction to protect the community. The Public Services Department has begun to address the issues of infrastructure, but we have to amend our Plan to deal with on-going utilities improvements within the Dania Beach service area east of Ravenswood Road. The standalone Library is a site specific issue and will probably be addressed in the Capital Improvement Element because it is a significant community facility. Mr. Leeds explained that Griffin Road, west of Ravenswood, does not have deep frontage. It has been suggested that the City conduct a study which will probably generate a significant amount of homeowner opposition. This could be identified as an issue, subject to study, but he wanted the Commission to be aware that there will be opposition. Mr. Leeds did not suggest placing redevelopment into the Plan because we are currently working on redevelopment in the CRA district. Commissioner Flury remarked the prior Plan should have been distributed so they could have reviewed it. There are only three (3) suggestions from staff, so the document is already planned. She feels the Transportation Element is critical to the City, and would like to see: bicycle paths throughout the City; Dania Beach Boulevard reconfigured; and for us to make an issue of neighborhood improvement. She questioned if the Library should be located in the Methodist Church building in the CRA district and remarked that how we define and control redevelopment is critical for the next 2-5 years. Commissioner Flury would also like to have a regional park in the western portion of the City, which includes soccer, football, tennis, racquetball, etc., perhaps funded by Impact Fees. Mr. Leeds responded that he initiated a change to the Code for Park Impact Fees three (3) ® months ago because we currently only collect fees when a property is being platted; and Minutes of Special Meeting 2 City of Dania Beach City Commission Evaluation and Appraisal Report Wednesday, April 28,2004—6:00 p.m. ® we have the potential for thousands of units in the City on already platted land. He proposed a change that would make the previously platted properties pay the Impact Fee because we have the potential to generate millions of dollars worth of Park Impact Fees. He is still waiting for the formula from which we collect these fees, but is ready to proceed. We have to look at our Capital Improvement Element which identifies funding sources and options for issues such as a regional park. Mr. Leeds summarized that we have to update the Capital Improvement Element; look at the issue of a city-wide park in the western part of the City, or maybe a regional park; neighborhood preservation; transportation; mobility; redevelopment; and the three (3) issues he identified. Mr. Leeds will prepare a memo for the Commission addressing the concerns he has heard today. He will also work on an evaluation of the Comprehensive Plan to see if we are close to where we should be. Commissioner Anton addressed the docking issue; we are trying to move toward a marine friendly community, yet the federal and state governments have been blocking us because of the manatees. Mr. Leeds responded the problem is that Broward County has not yet developed a Manatee Protection Plan. We will expand upon the section of the Plan that currently addresses the marine issue and be more specific. ® Commissioner Flury asked if a meeting had been scheduled to discuss a project for the CRA district. City Manager Pato responded he has been trying to get input from the Commission, but would like to move forward with scheduling a meeting in May to discuss a possible project. We need to move forward because funding from the County is limited and we hinted that we would have a project to them within sixty(60) days. Commissioner Anton remarked that two (2) Commissioners have expressed an interest in the Methodist Church property as a project for the CRA district, and he agrees with them, making the total three (3). This is a piece of property he would like the City to obtain. Mr. Leeds advised the County application is detailed and would require the services of a Consultant to prepare. He is hearing that the CRA project is a higher priority than the Comprehensive Plan; so we will move forward with that project seeing as we have a longer period of time to work on the Comprehensive Plan. Joe Van Eron asked Mr. Leeds if he would consider an amendment to references he made to neighborhood preservation; because he believes that we should look at neighborhood redevelopment. Also, the issue of widening Sheridan Street has been discussed, but we need to look at other streets that have the same problem; is this the time to include what • will happen to the major arteries? Minutes of Special Meeting 3 City of Dania Beach City Commission Evaluation and Appraisal Report Wednesday,April 28,2004—6:00 p.m. Mr. Leeds responded when you get involved with neighborhoods, you are really talking about cities like Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale. These cities do a lot of work in neighborhood redevelopment; they produce separate neighborhood redevelopment plans from the Comprehensive Plan. They usually do it with a special section and hired consultants. He would not recommend it as part of our Comprehensive Plan. As to the Transportation Element, the Commission looked at it eighteen (18) month ago, and we have a draft ready to submit to Tallahassee. Mr. Van Eron is asking for a city-wide analysis which is more expensive, which means hiring a transportation engineer to study the major and secondary corridors in Dania Beach and do a traffic engineering analysis. Mr. Leeds advised the Transportation Element is the most expensive element of the Plan. Commissioner Flury remarked the issues addressed, neighborhood redevelopment, preservation, and transportation, should be in the Plan but how we deal with it remains to be seen. The traffic component is in everything we do; we need to recognize that at some point we need to deal with it, but we do not currently need a traffic study. 4. Adjournment Mayor McElyea adjourned the meeting at 7:01 P.M. CITY OF DANIA BEACH • ATTEST: C.K. CEEYE , MAYOR LOUISE STILSON, CITY CLERK APPROVED: May 12, 2004 • Minutes of Special Meeting 4 City of Dania Beach City Commission Evaluation and Appraisal Report Wednesday,April 28,2004—6:00 p.m.