2013-1219 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes Regular City Commission Meeting December 19,2013 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida properties between 211 feet to 299 feet of frontage along Collins Avenue provided that a fee payment of$1,000,000.00 or $500,000.00 paid for maintenance of adjacent public beach access, streetscape and park improvements. These fees are generally paid of a project approved via the Site Plan process at the point of issuance of a building permit. Public Speakers: Stanley B. Price, Esq.; Bob Welsh; Greg Nicklas Stanley B. Price,Esq.representing Fortune said they are supportive of the Ordinance but they ask that the issue of the fee be revisited. A question was posed to the City Manager at the Workshop in conjunction with the total fees that would be paid by a developer who seeks to utilize all the bonus provisions and the impact fees of the City,and he assumes the amount is several million dollars. They are good corporate citizens of this community,and they want to be on the 2017 calendar with a fabulous architectural building and they are asking for consideration by the Commission to reduce the fee for the 25-foot setback to $750,000.00. Greg Nicklas, Tropicana, said they are delighted that something is going to happen to the structure next door to them, it has been a long time. They would of course prefer to have a 30-foot setback, it doesn't seem like a lot to ask given what they have gone through for the past many years. We would like to ask the Commission to help with another issue that they know the Commission does not have direct control over. If there is going to be a building next door to them as large as this one is going to be, the traffic at the u-turn when you are going south on Collins Avenue and the u-turn that we have to use to get back on the north side is really dangerous. With the additional traffic,especially with construction traffic,they would like the Commission to consider helping them with FDOT to get a traffic light in there. They would also like to be kept in the loop as you move forward in this process. Stanley Price said the genesis of this concept was that today we have two lots that are of a nature that we can have a 20-foot setback on the 100-foot lot and the concern that was raised and recognized by the Commission is the fact that theoretically there could be four driveways now entering and exiting on A 1 A. What they are proposing are two (2) driveways, they would like to work with Mr. Nicklas too because they are going to have the same traffic issues ultimately, and if we work together to find a solution, two is better than one. Commissioner Levin said you have asked for a reduction of the $1,000,000.00 to the $750,000.00,but at the Workshop you mentioned adding parks to be part of what the money is used for. You asked for us to include parks but now you want to take away some of the money when we have more to take care of,and she asked Mr. Price to explain his reasoning. Mr. Price said they feel the fee is high based upon the totality of the fees,and the community is still going to get additional fees for parks as part of the bonus program that they have to participate in. She asked how many more units they will be able to build with the decrease in the setback, and Mr. Price said they have not even hired the architect yet to design this building but Fortune has reached out to previous designers here in Sunny Isles Beach and so it will be a very unique building. Commissioner Levin asked if he had any idea what the sale prices would be, and Mr. Price said he assumes they will be very high on a square foot basis. Commissioner Scholl said he had an ex parte conversation with representatives from Fortune and Manny Grosskopf. When he met with the developers, they had indicated that they were looking for 25-feet, and so he thinks that we are giving them a mechanism to get the 25-feet. 7