Final City Council Mtg of 2013 – Ordinance 16/19 back for 2nd reading!

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The December Palm Beach Gardens City Council meeting will be held on Thursday, December 5th at 7pm at City Hall.

The Council asked City Manager Ferris to come back with more details on the status of the proposed Stadium.  While not listed on the agenda, it is possible that his response would fall under the City Manager Report.

• Ordinance 16, 2013 and Ordinance 19 are back for second reading.  If you recall – many residents believed that the proposed stadium was the reason that this change was being made now – although staff and the Council stated that the stadium could be accomplished without these modifications.  From our summary of the October meeting:

Ordinances 16 and 19 were presented as a single item, since both are necessary in order to accomplish the waiver criteria and 25% set-aside capability.  Director of Planning and Zoning Natlie Crowley presented the ordinances and credited Councilwoman Tinsley’s questions from the September meeting and her involvement with the team in making it a better and more solid set of proposals.  Public comment included – Vito DeFrancesco who was concerned that the comp plan changes could jeopardize wetlands and historic properties. Responses by Councilman Levy and affirmation by Ms. Crowley were that there were federal and state regulations that would prohibit such actions.  Barbara Grossman related the proposed changes to Seven/50. Iris Scheibl was concerned that the criteria would allow almost any project to be approved, whether there were mitigation requirements for governmental entities as there were for private developments and finally – asked if the stadium project be completed without these ordinances. Mike Peragine seconded the question on the stadium. Answers given were that the comp plan changes were not required for the stadium, that they could be applied to other upcoming projects, and that mitigation would still be possible with the comp plan changes. The Council’s vote was 5:0. The Comp Plan change will now go to Tallahassee, where after approval, the two Ordinances will once again appear for 2nd Reading, most likely in the November time-frame.

• Ordinance 20, 2013 is set for Second Reading.  This item was on the November agenda; rezoning to allow a CVS pharmacy on the NE corner of Military Trail and Northlake.
• Also on the agenda under Items for Council discussion and action is ‘Neighborhood Improvement Assessment Program for 40th Terrace North and Sunset Drive.

The short form of the agenda can be found here and the full agenda/long form here.

We get the government we deserve – and it’s up to us to watch what they do.  Hope to see you there.