Special City Council Meeting on Avenir – Wed. January 6th at 7PM

There will be a Special City Council Meeting on the Avenir Development on Wednesday, January 6th at 7PM.

The agenda can be found here and is comprised of:

• Ordinance 3, 2016 Avenir: Large-Scale Future Land Use Map and Text Amendment
• Ordinance 4, 2016 Avenir: Rezoning and Master Plan Approval and associated Resolution 4, 2016 (Avenir PCD Mixed Use Development Master Plan) which will have to be voted on at the Second Reading/Hearing of Ordinance 4, 2016.

Expect the meeting to be very well-attended by both supporters and opposition to the development. We covered the December PZAB meeting regarding Avenir where the items passed 7:0.

Avenir Passes Key Milestone

The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board (PZAB) voted 7:0 to recommend approval of the 3 Avenir items on the agenda.  Sarah Peters of the Palm Beach Post summarized the meeting here.

The Council chambers were quite full.  Many in the audience supporting the massive project sported Avenir ‘badges’. Most of those making public comment however were opposed to the project on traffic, density and environmental grounds; it was interesting also that most of those in opposition were NOT residents of Palm Beach Gardens. Sustainable Palm Beach County, Everglades Law Center, 1000 Friends of Florida, the NCNC and residents from the Acreage were among the groups represented.  In all we counted 17 folks speaking against approval as presented, 5 for and 1 raising concerns but not taking a position. The Economic Council of Palm Beach County provided their support via a letter, and the North Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce also endorsed the project.  Additionally 23 comment cards were submitted into the record but cards were not read allowed so it is unclear what positions were held.

Also interesting to note in the history of the tract, were the 7500 residential units envisioned for the property during the 2003 Scripps/Mecca Farms proposal.   It was clear that staff had invested a huge amount of time working with the owner/developers and the Avenir project has evolved significantly over the two years that it has been active.   Major changes and concessions have been made even since the last public workshop, and the project achieved Traffic Concurrency approval from both the City of Palm Beach Gardens as well as Palm Beach County.

SAVE THE DATE, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 6 AT 7PM FOR A SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING SPECIFICALLY ON AVENIR

The Regular City Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 7th.

Public Comment Dominates the Agenda

Two disparate but important topics plus an item culled from Consent Agenda took much of the first two hours of the meeting on a very rainy evening.

Eight members of the public spoke eloquently about their concerns regarding lack of progress on the Corey Jones investigation (Michelle Maiden, Derrick McCray, Dorothy Lowery, Monica Roundtree, Mami Kisner, Megan Cadet (sp?), Natasha Clemons, Rae Whitely). There were over 30 folks representing Corey’s family and friends. While the speakers praised and/or thanked the Council and staff for the firing of ex-Officer Raja, and for meeting with them on topics like Policy and Procedures, body cameras and an accountability review board, many issues remain. After saying Mr. Raja couldn’t be fired last month, why was he three weeks later? Several echoed the question – who was responsible and accountable for permitting Officer Raja to work in plainclothes? Was he even on duty that night? Why was the family not contacted for about 12-13 hours? City Manager Ferris replied briefly saying that the City can’t jeopardize the investigation; that they turned over the investigation to the Sheriff within 60 minutes. He tried to assure the public that if anyone was found by the investigators to have behaved inappropriately, action WILL be taken. The City is accelerating work on body cameras, and looking at the idea of the review board. Mayor Jablin called a quick break so attendees not wanting to remain for the rest of the meeting could clear the chambers.

The Shady Lakes Drive extension brought out a contingent of about 20 residents. Vito DeFrancesco led off the comments, suggesting a parallel roadway to 117th Ct to relieve congestion. Four other speakers echoed alternative proposal(s): Katherine Beamer, Jim Jaramillo, Randy Kerr, Christine Kerr.  It was clear that the residents had done some research to try to come up with solutions. Mayor Jablin had done his homework too:  he essentially personally attacked 2 of the speakers, who had no venue to respond, by pointing out that in a petition from 2008  those individuals had signed in favor of the Shady Lakes extension – although they didn’t live in Shady Lakes at the time. He then said it was ok when they didn’t live there but now it wasn’t. The Mayor cited past experience with objections to Kyoto Drive, and said the residents will be much happier with what the City does if they work with staff instead of objecting. The residents left the room prior to the City Manager report, where Mr Ferris showed a project plan chart showing construction of the extension beginning by the summer, and summarizing meetings with neighborhood associations.

Also speaking during public comment was Joe R. Russo thanking the City for its involvement with the Big Heart Brigade.

Pulled from the Consent Agenda (which passed 5:0) was Resolution 64, 2015 regarding North County Airport. Mayor Jablin gave an update on negotiations that had occurred over the last year or so. George Gentile, Rick Sartory and Carl Creedon all spoke in favor of the resolution that may allow for a contract Control Tower at some time in the future; Sal Faso of the NCNC expressed concerns that there is no date for such a tower, that the demand for a runway extension could be questioned and that many safety issues still remain. After a brief discussion the Council passed the resolution 5:0.

Ordinance 14, 2015/Resolution 65, 2015 Mary Circle Rezoning Ordinance: Resident Terry Brady from Garden Oaks said that building on the empty lot will make traffic worse in an area already bad due to school buses dropping off children right there. Robert Hanley reiterated the traffic issues  and said that school uses that lot for parking, and park on Mary’s Circle during functions. Planning and Zoning Director Natalie Crowley addressed the concerns, saying that many of the issues are related to enforcement of the nearby day care center and the applicant meets all requirements and will take care of maintenance/mowing of land across the adjoining canal. After some discussion by the Council, the item passed 5:0.

Resolution 56, 2015 – City Clerk Patricia Snider listed modifications, additions and communications fees (for turning on ipads) to the agreement between the Supervisor of Elections and the City, for 2016,  made unilaterally by SOE Susan Bucher. The SOE will entertain ballot questions ONLY on the August primary election ballot on case by case basis with cut-off date of June 20 at 5pm ; NONE on November ballot. Charges and fees are undefined by Bucher and will be invoiced after the election. Deadline for the contract is December 15th. Council Member Tinsley asked “How do we budget for this?” Snider replied that for City elections she can give the details to the penny – but the SOE has no such details. Tinsley: Charging for turning on an IPAD is ludicrous! Tinsley also had a big problem with providing this blank check.  She said that the Term Limits PAC had every right to put their items on the ballot, and had to sue the SOE to get it on the ballot but the SOE billed the City for the lawsuit, and had threatened to not do future elections if the City didn’t pay the $7,901 for the lawsuit immediately. More discussion on what to do? City Attorney Lohman did a public records request for the SOE 5 year budget in electronic form; it was sent in paper rather than electronically and the City was charged over $200 for the public records and being given 2nd notice for the payments. Lohman proposed having the contract document amended the way the City wants the contract, and also giving the Mayor authority to sign the modified agreement, and giving  City Attorney Lohmann permission to sue the SOE over the public record charges for not providing the records when requested and not providing them electronically. Should SOE Bucher refuse the modifications, the Council will vote on it in January; they can always have an emergency meeting if necessary to approve further contract changes in December.

All other Public Hearing Ordinances and Resolutions passed 5:0. Presentations were made by the Principals of Howell Watkins Middle School, William T. Dwyer H.S. and Allamanda Elementary schools.

SAVE THE DATE – City Council Special Meeting on AVENIR – Wednesday January 6 at 7PM in Council Chambers.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday, December 3rd

The next City Council Meeting will be this Thursday, December 3rd, at 7pm in City Hall. This will be the final City Council meeting of 2015.

Presentations: Presentations by the principals of Howell Watkins Middle School, William T Dwyer High School, and Allamanda Elementary School outlining programs for the upcoming school year.

Consent Agenda includes:

• Resolution 59, 2015 appointing the Deputy City Clerk and the Assistant to the City Clerk to the City Canvassing Board for the March Municipal Elections. The third member will be appointed by the SOE.
• Resolution 64, 2015 amending certain provisions regarding the North Palm Beach County Airport to read: Exhibit “B” to the Agreement is amended to strike the last sentence of Paragraph 1 in its entirety and replace it with the following: THE CROSSWIND RUNWAY WILL BE LIMITED TO 6,000 FEET IN LENGTH. THE AIRCRAFT APPROACH CATEGORY FOR RUNWAY 13/31 WILL BE A CATEGORY C (APPROACH SPEED 121 KNOTS OR MORE, BUT LESS THAN 141 KNOTS), AND THE AIRPLANE DESIGN GROUP WILL BE GROUP II (WINGSPAN OF 49 FEET OR MORE, BUT LESS THAN 79 FEET).
• Purchase award for urgent repairs to the synthetic turf at the play ground at the Burns Road Recreation Center – this is a piggyback contract for 1 year of around $115K and was not competitively bid.
• Purchase award for MY 2016 vehicles via a piggyback contract for $472K and was not competitively bid. Vehicles are being purchased for the Police Department, the Fire Rescue Department, and the Public Services Department as replacement vehicles.

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 15, 2015: “….is a City-initiated request to update the Capital Improvements Element (CIE) to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The Five-Year Schedule of Capital Improvements and Summary of Capital Improvements Program, Tables 9A and 9B of the CIE, are required to be updated annually in accordance with Section 163.3177(3)(b), Florida Statutes. The update is primarily housekeeping in nature and will provide for consistency with the City’s budget and Comprehensive Plan.”
• Resolution 58, 2015: Amending the Banyan Tree PUD approved Master Signage Program; the PUD is located at Northlake and MacArthur
• Resolution 61, 2015: Upon reaching the 50,000 population level, Palm Beach Gardens applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from HUD. There are 3 parts of the application and this resolution contains the 3rd part – “The last component of the application process is the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing, which must be submitted to HUD by December 31 , 2015.” The resolution details include some interesting demographic analysis of our city which residents might find interesting to review.
• Resolution 63, 2015: “The subject petition requests approval for a Miscellaneous Signage Amendment to relocate the existing Principal Structure Identification Sign for Fidelity Investments on the north elevation of Phase II of the Grand Bank Center within the Regional Center PCD.”
• Ordinance 14, 2015 (First Reading)/Resolution 65, 2015 – Mary Circle Commercial Rezoning regarding ” A request from Sea Ya Holdings, LLC for a rezoning from General Commercial (CG-1) to Professional Office (PO) with a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Overlay in order to develop a new 3,560-square-foot office building. The subject site is located on the east side of Military Trail, 1/4 mile south of Northlake Boulevard.”
• Resolution 56, 2015: updating the contract between the Supervisor of Elections and the City “Although the Agreement for Vote Processing Equipment Use and Election Services by and between the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) and the City of Palm Beach Gardens (City) does not exceed the threshold requiring Council action, staff deemed it necessary to bring this item before Council this year to inform Council of the continual changes made by the SOE. “
• Resolution 62, 2015: “The Emergency Services Agreement for Mutual Assistance, Automatic Aid, and Dispatch Services provides for the closest unit response for emergency services. This Agreement will be reciprocal between Palm Beach County, the Village of North Palm Beach, and the City of Palm Beach Gardens. Based on this information, we have agreed to renew this Agreement for a period not to exceed ten (10) years and will expire on October 31 , 2025. “

There are no items listed for Council Discussion or City Attorney Report.

The agenda (with links to full detail) can be found here. Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting.

‘Justice for Corey’ Dominates City Council Meeting

The scheduled agenda for the Nov. 5th meeting was a light one – two items on the Regular Agenda, and two presentations. But on entering the Council Chambers, it was apparent that Public Comment was going to dominate: Media vans outside, cameras inside, along with fairly full chambers (usually sparsely populated for the average Council meeting).

The Palm Beach Post’s article sums up the justified concerns by those seeking ‘Justice for Corey Jones’, along with commentary by the Council and City Manager Ferris. The thirteen people who spoke were respectful, eloquent but adament that action be taken on the paid leave status of Officer Raja who they said clearly did not follow Policies and Procedures. Watch the video to hear the comments.  Here is a link to the City’s web-page for updates on the shooting.

Mayor Jablin called a brief recess after which normal city council meeting process resumed.

The scheduled Presentations were rescheduled to the January 7th City Council Meeting. During Items of Resident Interest, Vice Mayor Levy briefly mentioned the proposed Fire/Rescue Sales Tax Sur-tax of 1% that would replace the current ad-valorem tax. Watch for this – as it, along with other sales tax increase proposals are in the offing for the November 2016 ballot.

Public Comment included Kevin Easton, talking about the water hook-ups in Sunset Terrace, Maria Marino spoke on being Principal for the Day, two folks spoke against the proposed Shady Lakes road extension – and staff listed upcoming neighborhood meetings. Nothing has been decided yet on the extension. The final speaker from Jupiter primarily spoke against the Briger tract development which got a fairly testy reply from Levy.

There was no City Attorney report, and the two agenda items passed 5:0.

Next City Council Mtg on Thursday, November 5th

The next City Council Meeting will be this Thursday, November 5th, at 7pm in City Hall.

Presentations: Presentations by the principals of Palm Beach Gardens Elementary and Palm Beach Gardens High School outlining programs for the upcoming school year

Consent Agenda includes:

• Resolution 35, 2015 creates an Economic Development Incentives Agreement with Zimmer Inc. In June, 2015, the Council approved Resolution 29, 2015 conceptually approving $350,000 as the local contribution to the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund for Project Bruin – now known to be Zimmer, Inc. This resolution formalizes the agreement.
• Resolution 50, 2015 creates an Economic Development Incentives Agreement with Carrier Corp aka Project Diamond. In March of 2015, the Council unanimously approved Resolution 14, 2015, conceptually approving an Economic Development Employee Incentive Grant for “Project Diamond” in the award amount of $1,400 per employee for both the 70 local jobs retained and the 380 new jobs created based on the average minimum wage of $85,000. The City Council also conceptually approved “Project Diamond” for the Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Program for 100% exemption for 1-5 Years and then 50% exemption for 6-10 Years, provided the company completes the application process for the tax exemption that will come before the City Council for final approval.
• Purchase award for Continuing Contracts for Professional Services for the Planning and Zoning Department in the amount of $550K over 5 years. This was competitively bid.
• Several proclamations are also on Consent, along with a resolution approving the Alton Pasteur Plat One for the United Technologies Carrier Corporation Center for Intelligent Buildings development.

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• Ordinance 13, 2015 – 2nd Reading and Adoption of A City-initiated text amendment to Code Enforcement Procedures, Administration Fines, giving the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate authority to impose fines in excess of the limits set forth in Paragraph (2)(a) of Section 162.09, Florida Statutes, approved on 1st Reading unanimously.
• Resolution 55, 2015 – a signage size amendment for Nova Southeastern University.

See our summary of the October 8th City Council Meeting here. For the latest Martino Minute, click here.

The agenda (with links to full detail) can be found here.   Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting.

Chambers Full for Avenir Workshop

The majority of those in the chambers were sporting Avenir stickers, and the ones we spoke with had very definite reasons for their support.  Sarah Peters of the Palm Beach Post covered a lot of the discussion.  Traffic continues to be the greatest concern and the developers were challenged by the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board to address the issue in greater depth.  Even the detractors speaking at the workshop described the owners of the property as very nice people who were trying hard to address their issues.  The build-out of the project is expected to take 20 years.  Expect to see the project come before the Board as well as the City Council over the next several months.

Public Workshop on Proposed Avenir Development – October 13 at 6pm in City Hall

Many residents have a high interest in new development in Palm Beach Gardens and have heard about prior proposals for Avenir (aka Vavrus property).  Over the last year, plans for the project have been modified due to lots of feedback.  If you are interested, please attend and let your neighbors or communities know about the

Public Workshop at City Hall at 6pm on Tuesday, October 13.

This will be a presentation, not an open house – so plan on being there on time.

No decisions will be made at this meeting of the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board.  The meeting is informational only, for public awareness.   Descriptions of the plans can be seen on the Agenda Item here.

Alton Projects Move Forward and Code Violation Fines Increase

The primary topic of the evening was development at the Alton site (Briger Tract): 3 Resolutions pertained to the site. Atlantico, a 353 unit luxury apartment complex garnered the most discussion, centered around potential parking issues. About 125 of the apartments will be one bedroom and will have a single parking space allotted to each – which meets code. Council Member Russo suggested that it might be inadequate since it’s unlikely that each of those apartment will have a single tenant, and couples would most likely have two vehicles.  United Technologies’ Intelligent Buildings Technology Complex was the other significant development project. Several aspects of the building itself will be a showcase of technologies offered by the corporation. All 3 resolutions passed 5:0.

Two opponents of the development, both residents of Lake Worth spoke against the project on environmental grounds; one about Alton in general, the other calling Unitied Technologies a ‘felon’. In both cases, Council Member Levy took issue with their statements and rebutted with facts as he knew them.

Ordinance 13, 2015 also passed 5:0 on first reading. The ordinance significantly increases the code enforcement fines that can be issued by the Special Magistrate, allowed by statute for municipalities exceeding 50,000 in population. Resident Kevin Easton commented that such fines are more punitive than helpful/beneficial and could be subjectively applied, and said that most residents want to comply with code. Council Member Levy disagreed saying that no everyone wants to be compliant. He cited as an example foreclosed properties where banks aren’t paying attention; he also said that the magistrate needs all the tools he can get.

During Matters of Public Interest, David Levy mentioned that one of the topics at the last League of Cities meeting was the upcoming Sales Tax surcharge proposals for the 2016 ballot. Many of the cities are eager to see an infrastructure sales tax passed because the municipalities are have maxed out the 10% millage rate allowed by statute and are looking for other sources of revenue. Palm Beach Gardens would net about $3.8 million/year from the tax which must be applied to infrastructure improvements. Yet, since the tax would have a sunset provision, the City wouldn’t decrease property tax rates. The Council decided to stay neutral and not take a position at this point.

During Public Comment – Bob Jaeger, resident and President of his HOA directly across from PGA National Park, spoke about excessive speed limits on Northlake Blvd in the area and fatalities that have occurred. He understood that Northlake is a county road, however the Council was sympathetic to the concern – which wasn’t new – and suggested that perhaps he get with the Chief Stepp to discuss enforcement.

Kevin Easton, resident, asked about project status on the Sunset Drive water project. The Council was visibly irritated and Mayor Jablin retorted that the project would have been much further along if not for actions by Mr. Easton. He asked that Kevin speak with the City Engineer and both left the chambers to meet.

All board appointments and re-appointments passed 5:0 as did the Consent Agenda. Council Member Tinsley spoke about All Aboard Florida at the end of the meeting.

Next City Council Meeting on October 8th at 7pm

The next City Council Meeting will be this Thursday, October 8th, at 7pm in City Hall.  There are quite a few items on the agenda.

Presentations:  Presentations by the principals of Watson B. Duncan Middle School and Timber Trace Elementary outlining programs for the upcoming school year

Consent Agenda:

• One Purchase Award for EMS Supplies via a piggyback contract for $120K/year for one year, renewable twice.
• Several resolutions at the behest of the Florida League of Cities requesting that the Obama administration and Congress maintain tax-exempt status of interest on municipal bonds, maintain funding of community block grants and clarify the de-obligation process of previously approved disaster relief funds.
• Several proclamations.

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

Ordinance 13, 2015 – A City-initiated text amendment to Code Enforcement Procedures, Administration Fines, giving the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate authority to impose fines in excess of the limits set forth in Paragraph (2)(a) of Section 162.09, Florida Statutes. Apparently reaching the ‘magic’ number of 50,000 in population allows the City authorization to impose higher fines. “Administrative fines are imposed to impress upon the violators the severity and seriousness of their violation to the City, and the direct and indirect impact to the citizens.  The proposed fines attempt to account for the larger imposition violations can place on a growing population”.  Fines would be increased fourfold from $250/day to $1000/day; tenfold from $500/day to $5000/day and threefold from $5000 to $15000 for specific descriptions of the violations.

Three Resolutions concerning Alton PCD

• Resolution 44, 2015 AN AMENDMENT TO THE ALTON PLANNED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (PCD) IN ORDER TO CONVERT FOUR (4) MULTIFAMILY DWELLING UNITS TO THREE (3) ADDITIONAL APARTMENT UNITS WITHIN PARCEL C, INCORPORATE ADDITIONAL PREMIER, PRIMARY, AND SECONDARY STREET TYPICAL CROSS SECTIONS WITHIN THE DESIGN GUIDELINES, AND INCLUDE A MODIFICATION TO PCD BUFFER B1;
• Resolution 45, 2015 – APPROVING THE ATLANTICO APARTMENT COMPLEX SITE PLAN IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE CONSTRUCTION OF 353 MULTIFAMILY APARTMENT DWELLING UNITS WITHIN PARCEL C OF THE ALTON DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL IMPACT (DRI)/PLANNED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (PCD);
• Resolution 46, 2015 – APPROVAL OF A 241,400 SQUARE FOOT CENTER FOR INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS TECHNOLOGY COMPLEX also in Parcel B of the Alton Development – this is the United Technologies complex.

In addition, there are several resolutions for appointments and reappointments to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the Art in Public Places Advisory Board and the Fire Pension Board.

See our summary of the September 17th City Council Meeting (including the Final Budget Hearing) here.  For the latest Martino Minute, click here.

The agenda (with links to full detail) can be found here.  Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting.

We get the government we deserve – and it’s up to us to watch what they do.  Hope you can make it. If you can’t make the meeting try and watch live-streaming or on-demand.

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