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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2200 - MINUTES - CRA MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING CITY OF DANIA BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2005 - 4:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order Chairman Castro called the meeting to order at 4:11 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present: Chairman: Anne Castro Vice-Chairman: Patricia Flury Board Members: Robert Anton John Bertino City Manager: Ivan Pato City Attorney: Tom Ansbro City Clerk: Louise Stilson Absent: Board Member: C.K. McElyea 3. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of September 27, 2005 Vice-Chairman Flury motioned to approve the Minutes of September 27, 2005; seconded by Mr. Anton. The motion carried on the.following 4-0 Roll Call vote: Mr. Anton Yes Vice-Chairman Flury Yes Mr. Bertino Yes Chairman Castro Yes Mr. Mc>Elyea Absent Chairman Castro advised that Bermello, Ajamil & Partners, Inc. withdrew their application and would not make a presentation at today's meeting. 4. Presentations 4:15 p.m. Zyscovich, Inc. Melissa Hege, AICP, Senior Planner of Zyscovich, Inc., advised she has been the Project Manager on most of the Broward County projects they worked on for Urban Planning and Design. Zyscovich is one of the largest firms in Florida that does architecture planning and . interior design, and they have experience and understanding of buildings and working with J developers. They are recognized by their peers and others throughout the State of Florida. Their first major project was for Miami Beach in 1993 when the St. Moritz Hotel was renovated. She indicated the City of Dania Beach could capitalize on projects such as the Dania Beach Hotel. They also worked with the cities of Miami, Cocoanut Creek, and Hollywood on various projects. She noted extensive community involvement would be required in Dania Beach. Suria Yaffar, Director of Design and Principal at Zyscovich, presented an implementation plan for Dania Beach. She commented the City had unique areas, such as State Parks and the Beach, which are wonderful places that people would like to live near. This is an asset, as well as the commercial historic district. She commented that Jai Alai could be used as an anchor to connect two corridors within Dania Beach which would expand on the recreational opportunities of the City. She suggested capitalizing on the historic aspects of the City and protecting the historic buildings by providing opportunities for developers if they protect the historical aspects. She stated the City had zoning categories to attract developers. They would like to have an opportunity to have a visioning session to evaluate the CRA districts and see if they need to be expanded. The biggest incentive in place is height, and by allowing for additional height it would be a generator of private redevelopment in the area. They believe they are the right firm to help the City and that we are doing this at the right time to guide and control redevelopment. Mr. Bertino asked if they had the clientele to help us attract large developers. • Ms. Yaffar responded they are architects and are constantly asked by developers for the next area to look at for development. Mr. Bertino asked how she envisioned the City. Ms. Yaffar responded it is driven by the districts that are defined. She commented you want to have people living in the core of the City, so we would need to allow height for residential development. Chairman Castro commented on the traffic through Dania Beach and the lack of parking facilities. Ms. Yaffar encouraged connecting parcels with those to the rear of the property to have an efficient parking area, and extending the zoning area. She indicated Federal Highway would always be a corridor linking the major cities along the east coast, and suggested transit opportunities such as a trolley system. Mr. Bertino asked if they saw a need for a City Commercial Center in Dania Beach. Ms. Yaffar responded each city is unique and needs to build on its assets. Dania has unique history, closeness to the beach and State Parks, and the quality of life for residents in Dania Beach is unique. The redevelopment generators in Dania Beach would be hotel, entertainment, • dining, and commercial. We need to encourage the existing uses we have but also begin to allow Minutes of Regular Meeting 2 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday,November 15,2005—4:00 p.m. • for larger parcels so that other national companies will begin to come here. She stated we need to tell them how we want them to create redevelopment, and she thinks the size of parcels is deterring redevelopment. She noted we would need to have a series of community meetings to find out what is envisioned for the community. 4:35 p.m. Iler Planning Group Henry Iler, AICP, President of Iler Planning Group, introduced the members of his planning team. They include members of EDSA, Keith and Associates, Dickey Consulting Services, Inc., and McMahon & Associates, Inc. He advised this is the same team that originally did the City's Redevelop Plan. They are not architects or engineers; they are planners with 30 years experience in Land Use Planning. They are currently redoing the Land Development and Comprehensive Plan for Lake Worth, and have worked for several other cities, and they just completed the South Miami CRA Plan update. Bill Keith, Keith & Associates, spoke on the Deerfield Beach CRA project and Hillsboro Boulevard project. He noted this is the first time that FP&L agreed to bury all their utility lines within the Right-of-Way, which did not require easements from adjoining property owners. Bill Renner, EDSA, commented that Mr. Keith was able to negotiate the CRA TIF District for Deerfield Beach. He noted the challenge in Lake Worth is getting everyone to agree on what they want to look like; then they will begin to put the regulations into effect. This will be a code . based on design, but done within the structure of existing Land Development Regulations. Mr. Iler noted that Lake Worth will have specific standards that reflect the community vision and not allow the flexibility for variances. He has been told this is a possible strategy for Dania Beach. He noted the Oakland Park CRA Plan has been submitted to the County and it is assuming a TIF plan, which has not been seen in Broward County for about four years. He noted the Dania Beach CRA Plan concept includes increasing building heights, and the rewrite needs clear and concise standards, including Urban Design Standards. Development height and density; transportation workforce housing; mixed use for the downtown district; and CRA funding are all issues that are important to the City Plan. Mr. Keith noted they have been very successful with funding for CRA's and local municipalities. He indicated it is essential to know all the agencies to work with, and to work in conjunction with other agencies. Mr. Renner remarked if we do a plan and write it into the code, it is something we can work with over a long period of time. They talk to the community and affected neighborhoods, and understand their appearance standards. He noted the City is not only doing a plan, but also writing it into the Code. Mr. Iler commented they have experience in Dania Beach and wrote the Plan several years ago; they are a complete team of planners, urban designers, engineers and community outreach specialists; they work together well; they have national experience in design and regulation of Minutes of Regular Meeting 3 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday,November 15,2005—4:00 p.m. • urban areas; proven experience in South Florida with Urban Design and Land Development Codes; coordination with other agencies; and a proven track record in funding. He noted a Capital Improvement Program needs to go along with any CRA Plan, and the City already has one. Vice-Chairman Flury remarked the Plan from 2002 sits on a shelf and they all made comments about their associations and influence with the County and they did not get anything done in 2002. They failed and we did not get our CRA; she acknowledged part of the failure was the City's part: She thought it was a good plan, but it was relatively useless. She wants to insure that we do not have another useless plan, which she sees coming. She commented we never got any money and only the City Manager's hard work put together what we have now and we think we can do something. Mr. Iler responded they were not retained to seek the funding, and we all got caught in the County's rapidly changing policy which used to be TIF but changed to Capital Improvements when we submitted our plan. They do not see any need to update the plan; the City only needs a zoning rewrite. The plan would only need to be updated if`the County goes back to the TIF policy. The City of Dania Beach only needs to change its zoning plan. He believes their plan would be clear and concise and would be able to be implemented by staff. Mr. Anton agreed with Vice-Mayor Flury. He noted it is time to implement some of the things in the plan, but there is not enough building height in the plan because nobody wants to touch it. He is interested in an implementation plan on how to implement the original CRA. He noted that • we have not received any funding from the County even though we have submitted several projects. Mr. Bertino commented we all got caught by the change of the County's TIF. Our problem is .that we have a lot of small parcels and we have to amalgamate the properties together for a meaningful sized development. He would like to hear plans on how to amalgamate these tiny parcels. He wants developers to make a profit; but he is worried about the County saying a certain amount of affordable housing units need to be included and the developer will not make enough profit. He asked if they had any ideas on how to say that the City of Dania Beach has done its.share of affordable housing. Mr. Iler responded there are a couple of ways to approach the aggregation of small parcels. One approach is to take people's property and choose a developer; eminent domain is a possibility, especially within a CRA. The other approach is to provide, with adequate funding, a subsidy for private developers to develop a demonstration block of downtown, and it is up to the developers to aggregate the properties and go to the property owners. Another way is to provide incentives in.density and intensity to drive the development sector to go and expand their parcels to larger sizes. He noted we need to add incentives into the Zoning Code. As to housing, you have the option of an inclusionary zoning for downtown and the CRA where we would put in a percentage requirement for affordable housing. The first priority in Dania Beach is to show that we already are meeting the affordable housing standards and other communities need to stand up. 1-0 Minutes of Regular Meeting 4 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday,November 15,2005-4:00 p.m. • Mr. Keith commented that Broward County does not have a policy for percentage of affordable housing. Broward County needs to look at it as a regional issue, not as a city issue. He noted that retirement communities are affordable housing units, and that affordable housing in Broward County is $243,000. Chairman Castro thanked Mr. Iler and his group for their presentation. City Manager Pato commented we need to take a clearly defined first step to rewrite the Zoning Code. He would like to meet with both firms and get a firm quote and timeframe which he would bring back to the Board for consideration. Mr. Bertino commented time is exceedingly critical and he is prepared to move forward tonight. He knows who he wants and would like to vote and move forward. Vice-Chairman Flury commented she did not see a timeframe in the Iler presentation. Mr. Iler responded the timeframe is 4-6 months. Vice-Chairman Flury remarked she likes the City Manager's idea of getting done what needs to be done in a reasonably short period of time. She thinks it should take 6-8 weeks for the Zoning and Design Guidelines. Chairman Castro commented she is not comfortable making a decision tonight. Mr. Bertino confirmed the City Manager would negotiate the price with the firm when selected. Laurence Leeds, Director of Community Development, commented we need an amendment to the Zoning Code that deals with traditional zoning but also incorporates the form-based design issues. We have to get something in six months that creates certainty and does not turn everything into a variance or special exception. The rules need to be clear and concise. Vice-Chairman Flury motioned to codify the CRA Plan into zoning and design initiatives and authorize the City Manager to negotiate with both firms in terms of pricing and timeframe, and to bring back cost proposals at the next CRA Board meeting on 'Tuesday, November 22, 2005 immediately following the Regular City Commission meeting; seconded by Mr. Anton. The motion carried on the following 4-0 Roll Call vote: Mr. Anton Yes Vice-Chairman Flury Yes Mr. Bertino Yes Chairman Castro Yes Mr. McElyea Absent Chairman Castro asked for an update on the Dania Beach Hotel. City Attorney Ansbro responded we received an updated proposal and he will make changes to it tomorrow. He wants to insure that there would be actual triggers and thresholds that make them • go forward with the project. He advised that the height variance and special exception would Minutes of Regular Meeting 5 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday,November 15,2005—4:00 p.m. • need to be approved at the same time as the site plan. He noted the City Commission and CRA Board are still moving forward with the Eminent Domain Resolutions so they will be in place and keep us on track. 5. Adjournment Chairman Castro adjourned the meeting at 5:44 p.m. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ATTEST: ll ANNE CASTRO CHAIRMAN - CRA LOUISE STILSON CITY CLERK Approved: February 2, 2006 • • Minutes of Regular Meeting 6 City of Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Tuesday,November 15,2005—4:00 p.m.