2014-0717 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting July 17,2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida really happy and the developer is never really happy because one side wants less and the other side wants more,and it is always a compromise. To Mr. Gibbs issue,it was presented to us as two distinct projects,no question,there was a Phase I and Phase II,even in the drawings you could make a clear distinction on both. We have to rely on our staff as experts. It always frustrates him when something pops up at the end like this when a professional had the opportunity to deal with his colleagues and that didn't happen here. Based on the fact that the street has been proffered and it is a public right-of-way, and it is going to go all the way through, we will have to deal with the building in the back in the future but for the present application he is in favor of the Publix. Vice Mayor Aelion said two issues he would like to address: 1) multi-level entrance and driving issues; and 2) aesthetically the egress and ingress on the loading and unloading is going to be in the front all the time, and not in the back as what is being done now and 3) traffic issues for the time being have been eliminated. Commissioner Gatto asked if the existing Publix store will stay open during construction,and Mr. Schulman said no,it cannot. Commissioner Gatto asked how long do you anticipate that the store will be closed, and Mr. Schulman said it will take 11 months to build a store if we can get the cooperation of the City, and we can do some 24/7 construction which would reduce it by 2 months plus or minus. Commissioner Gatto said then that basically the community will have to find other places to grocery shop during that time period, and Mr. Schulman said yes. Commissioner Gatto said it is difficult because she feels that the fact that Publix wanted to even think about putting a building in that corner besides the Winston Towers showed her they are completely out of touch of what is going on in the community and what kind of chaotic situation that could potentially be and cause danger to our school children. She would like to see this deferred, she would like to see exactly what she is voting for on a site plan. Mayor Edelcup said he would open the floor to the public who want to speak strictly on Phase I of the project. A resident asked how the traffic is going to be impacted with the construction, and Mayor Edelcup said our City Manager will assign Police and whatever additional public safety people that are there to make sure things are safe. City Manager Russo said there is always a plan put together before a project like that would start and it involves our Building Department, Police Department, and other agencies within the organization to come up with that plan before we approve it. That also goes to the issue of extended hours as well because in this kind of case he thinks we will probably look favorable on trying to do extended hours so they can work when school is not in session. Mayor Edelcup said he believes our shuttle bus will run to the Publix store in Aventura and City Manager Russo said we will modify the schedule based on the needs. Mayor Edelcup said we also have the bus that goes to Winn Dixie,and Milans is still operating in the City. Part of the price you pay for progress is the fact that you have to have some kind of inconvenience to be able to get a new store, and so we will just have to work around it. It was noted that Publix had agreed to supply monies for a bus that the City could use to take residents to the other Publix store. Mayor Edelcup said the City Manager will talk to Publix regarding that. City Attorney Ottinot said for the record,the conditions include that the Applicant agrees to 1) provide a 50-foot right-of-way easement as part of Phase I providing the Applicant complies as part of beautification of City Code at a future date; 2) the Applicant agrees to withdraw 11