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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2194 - MINUTES - CRA MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING CITY OF DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006 - 5:30 P.M. 1. Call to Order Chairman Flury called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Present: Chairman: Patricia Flury Vice-Chairman: Robert Anton Board Members: John Bertino Anne Castro—arrived at 5:33 p.m. City Manager: Ivan Pato City Attorney: Tom Ansbro City Clerk: Louise Stilson CRA Consultants: William Salim Michael Moskowitz Absent: Board Member: C.K. McElyea 2. Approval of Minutes of March 1, 2006 Mr. Bertino motioned to approve the Minutes of March 1, 2006; seconded by Vice- Chairman Anton. The motion carried unanimously. 3. Review of Conceptual Renderings City Manager Pato distributed conceptual renderings of what NE I" Avenue and NW I" Avenue could look like with 6-8 story buildings. He noted these are concepts to give the Board an idea of what things might look like; they are not final documents. The renderings incorporated some of the historical buildings in the area, as well as new development. He noted that turning NW 1" Avenue into one lane of traffic, in one direction, would allow for parallel parking and create an atmosphere which would enable the City to close the street for special events. He indicated that future plans could develop a government campus, including City Hall, Library and train station, which would bring people downtown. City Manager Pato advised the agreement with the consultants, Calvin Giordano, includes attendance at two meetings with the CRA Board. Once the Board approves the renderings, he would suggest moving forward with the creation of a marketing campaign to attract developers. • Mr. Bertino stated he has been advocating the need for a governmental campus for many years. He has always tried to buy the Jean Cook property, which is south of City Hall, however he did not have any support. He does not believe the proposed development for the property will occur, and suggested the Commission consider purchasing the property if it becomes available. He indicated that we need to inject housing units with the business development of the downtown area. He also wants to encourage a Tri-Rail Station, surrounded by residential units. He has a meeting with the Tri-Rail representatives to incorporate the Dania Bus route with the Tri-Rail schedule. He will keep the Commission advised of his progress. He has come to realize that we need more density in the downtown area, including living units, hotels, and businesses. Vice-Chairman Anton noted the buildings would need to be staggered in height so as not to produce the "canyon effect". He stated we would have to develop a parking concept, such as a parking garage that can be tied into the Tri-Rail station. City Manager Pato advised a third rendering would address the parking issue, but was not ready for tonight's meeting. Ms. Castro noted this comports to the original CRA Plan. She disagreed on the "canyon effect" because it is a pedestrian area and protects from heat, rain, and other elements. She stated architecture of the buildings was up for discussion. She noted we need to actively pursue a parking structure, and suggested we may want to consider a bond issue for a downtown parking structure. She agreed with Mr. Bertino on the development of the FEC Corridor, including a stop in Dania Beach. She hoped this concept would send a message to landowners to help them realize the actual value of their property. Chairman Flury commented the real issue is how we go forward; we have a history of planning without funding. She indicated we need a new application to bring to the County as soon as possible. She noted there would be a delay in the Ocean Development project and that it would probably be pushed back by another year. She remarked all the Commission is doing is talking, and people in the community are getting sick of us talking. Her personal feeling is to go forward with a commitment from this Board and finalize and develop the brochure. Then, her preference would be to identify properties to purchase. She thinks we should have an application into the County as soon as possible. She stated she is concerned that we will not meet the timeline to convert the loan into a grant. City Manager Pato is waiting to hear from the Interim County Manager for assurance that they will process our application within 90 days. The Board concurred that we need to identify a project and move forward with an application to the County. Ms. Castro motioned to follow up with the plan, as recommended by the City Manager, to move forward with the two meetings with Calvin Giordano and to finalize the brochure; seconded by Mr. Bertino. The motion carried on the following 4-0 Roll Call vote: Minutes of Regular Meeting 2 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3,2006—5:30 p.m. • Mr. Bertino Yes Vice-Chairman Anton Yes Ms. Castro Yes Chairman Flury Yes 4. Discussion of CRA Trust Fund a. Ordinance Issues b. Funding Sources William Salim, CRA Consultant, advised in order for the CRA to receive funding from the County, we need to establish a CRA Trust Fund. The ordinance has been drafted and will be presented at the next City Commission meeting. The County reviewed and approved the proposed ordinance. City Attorney Ansbro advised he received an analysis from Attorney Nancy Stroud with recommendations for the funding. He noted it does not present anything that will infuse money into the CRA. Chairman Flury wondered if we could collect extra money from existing impact fees for the CRA. Ms. Castro advised she contacted Carol Westmoreland, one of the establishers of the Florida • Redevelopment Agency for the Florida League of Cities, and she said there are a lot of opportunities available. Ms. Castro stated she forwarded the information to the City Manager. She suggested there may be grants available. City Attorney Ansbro cautioned that impact fees cannot be used for operational matters. He indicated we could attempt to develop impact fees for operational purposes, but we would be challenged. Ms. Castro questioned why we could not put part of our millage rate into the Trust Fund; it only diverts it out of the General Fund. City Attorney Ansbro stated we have the worst type of CRA; we need to go back to the County Commission and let them know it does not work, and ask for the traditional TIF CRA. Vice-Chairman Anton remarked we need the money now; we cannot wait for the conventional TIF because it will not produce funds until after redevelopment. The Board concurred we would need at least $1.00,000 to begin the fund. City Manager Pato suggested the Commission consider using a portion of the Economic Development Funds to develop the CRA Trust Fund. The Board concurred that the Economic Development Funds were not to be used for the CRA. • They are looking for new sources of funding. Minutes of Regular Meeting 3 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3,2006—5:30 p.m. • Ms. Castro suggested the incremental increase of the assessed value of properties in the CRA district be placed in the CRA Trust Fund. She questioned it was possible to do this, or a percentage of the incremental value. Mr. Salim responded if you call it a TIF you are in trouble with the County. If the City Commission increases the millage rate and lets the City Manager use the budgeted money for the CRA, you could probably get away with it. The Board concurred there would be no tax increase. Ms. Castro suggested using the additional funds the City receives from the assessed values in the CRA area to start a CRA Trust Fund. City Attorney Ansbro clarified they would be using the extra money from the Roll Back Rate which would be very minimal. He noted this is same money we currently use to balance the budget. Mr. Bertino clarified it would be the same money that would go to the General Fund. He would prefer to have new money, such as an assessment fee. Ms. Castro asked if someone could calculate the math in the process described. • Mr. Bertino suggested adding a Line Item in the budget for the CRA Fund. City Manager Pato advised he met with a developer today, and commented the window of opportunity is closing. Chairman Flury remarked there is something wrong in this City; maybe it is the Commission, maybe the Commission doesn't make decisions properly. She does not know what the problem is, but somebody has to figure it out pretty soon. Michael Moskowitz, CRA Consultant, commented the County is willing to provide funds if we identify certain projects. The roadblock we encountered was how we acquire those properties; we need voluntary sellers, the County will not fund eminent domain. He thinks it is time to go back to the County and ask for a regular TIF CRA. We need to first meet with the County Administrator, followed by County Commissioner Rodstrom because he represents this City. Then we need to meet individually with each County Commissioner and explain our inability to do anything because voluntary acquisitions cannot happen unless you have threat of a hammer over someone's head. Mr. Bertino remarked we need to set the height and density so developers and property owners know the value of property. Laurence Leeds, Director of Community Development, attempted to answer the question of why • things aren't happening. He said the first thing holding up the City was the water lines; which Minutes of Regular Meeting 4 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3, 2006—5:30 p.m. ® currently do not allow anything above 4 stories in the central core. The second biggest problem is the Zoning Code that has been in existence since 1976, which was designed to prevent change. Chairman Flury did not allow Mr. Leeds to finish. We know we have code and infrastructure problems. She suggested holding a workshop with a developer so we can tell him what he can have. She stated we understand there are many problems but we have to deal with them as they are identified. We can't just say because there are so many problems, we can't move forward. 5. Consideration of Renewal of the CRA Counsel Agreement City Attorney Ansbro advised the contract expires this month. Mr. Moskowitz stated they serve at the pleasure of the Board, on a month to month basis, whether or not they have a contract. If at any point and time, for any reason whatsoever, the Board no longer needs their services, they accept that and are thankful for the opportunity to have worked with the Board. Ms. Castro motioned to renew the CRA Counsel Agreement, under the same conditions, for a period of one year; seconded by Vice-Chairman Anton. The motion carried on the following 4-0 Roll Call vote: • Mr. >Bertino Yes Vice-Chairman Anton Yes Ms. Castro Yes Chairman Flury Yes 6. Update on the Iler Planning Group Zoning and Design Regulations Ms. Castro asked for a point of clarification. She asked Mr. Leeds if there were any other points we should be looking at that prevents construction from happening. Laurence Leeds, Director of Community Redevelopment, responded we need to be flexible especially in the urban core. He wants quality development, but he thinks there needs to be a balance. He reiterated that Iler's proposal should include a cap on density and height. He thinks we need to get away from the concept of the variance for the downtown area. He thinks the Commission needs to think about how flexible they want to be on architecture; and do they really want every building to look the same. He advised that step-backs developed in 2001 were proposed to allay the fear of"concrete canyons". Tonight's rendering does not have any step- backs above the first floors. He stated if we do not get a parking structure downtown, the parking requirements in all these buildings are going to be through the roof. Mr. Leeds provided a schedule for the CRA Zoning Code. The first Visioning Workshop will be in June/July 2006; notices will be sent to everybody whose property will be affected by the rezoning. We will show them some very preliminary things to get their input. A second Visioning Workshop will be in October 2006, and he would like the CRA Board to attend the • workshop so they can hear from the public. The Planning and Zoning Board will hear the Minutes of Regular Meeting 5 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3,2006—5:30 p.m. • proposal in November 2006, and the City Commission will hear the Ordinance in December 2006 and January 2007. The properties would be rezoned between January-April 2007. Chairman Flury remarked if we really wanted to know, we could ask the developers how we could help them. She is concerned the rezoning will be in place in April 2007, which is one year away. Mr. Leeds responded if we get a draft ordinance, and if there is a comfort level from the community, we can incorporate what we have so far from the consultants later this year so we don't have to wait. City Manager Pato suggested a different approach. When we get close to finalizing the brochure, that is when we meet with developers to let them know what can be developed. While improvements have been made, politically and otherwise, there is an still element of uncertainty which is now aggravated by the uncertainty in the market, not just the City. Developers need to hear from the Commission what they want; the Commission needs to have a vision of what they want the City to look like. Chairman Flury remarked one developer is hung up on what his project is going to look like, not what the City is going to look like. She asked if there was something we could do between now and next year to resolve this issue. . Mr. Leeds responded the Commission can cap the density. Currently, under the LAC there is a pool with no restriction on how many units can be assigned to each parcel. Another remedy is to change the code. 7. Discussion on canceling or rescheduling the July 5, 2006 CRA meeting City Clerk Stilson advised the City Commission was on vacation during this time period. Chairman Flury does not want to cancel any CRA meeting, she directed the Clerk to contact the members to see when they would be available for a meeting. Ms. Castro advised she would be out of town from July 8-18, 2006. City Manager Pato noted a representative from Calvin Giordano would be at the June 7t" meeting with revised conceptual drawings. He will bring the rest of the information to the Board in June. City Attorney Ansbro advised the Board needed to elect the new Chairman and Vice-Chairman because of the change in Mayor and Vice-Mayor. Ms. Castro motioned to elect Mayor Flury as the Chairman of the CRA Board, and Vice- Mayor Anton as Vice-Chairman of the CRA Board; seconded by Mr. Bertino. The motion carried unanimously. • Minutes of Regular Meeting 6 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3,2006—5:30 p.m. • 8. Adjournment Chairman Flury adjourned the meeting at 7:08 p.m. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ATTEST: PATRICIA FLURY t4) L ) CHAIRMAN - CRA LOUISE STILSON, CMC CITY CLERK Approved: June 7, 2006 • Minutes of Regular Meeting 7 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Wednesday, May 3,2006—5:30 p.m.