2014-0918 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting September 18, 2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach. Florida and Stephanie Trump, Larry Freedman of Cohen Freedman & Associates Architects, Juan Espinosa of David Plummer and Association Traffic Engineers, Rick Chitwood. Vice President of Construction for the Trump Group, Eric Propes and Michael Garehart from EDSA our Landscape Architect, and he is also told that here tonight is the President of the Golden Strand Ocean Villa Resort Association Joseph Feldman. General Manager Bertram Safset, and the Association's Legal Counsel Leonard Lubart of Greenspoon Marder. All the exhibits that we are going to use tonight we want to include in the record as well as the complete file, and he will provide small scale copies if they are not already available. It is great as a lawyer practicing 42 years to have a loyal and trusting client that are also close friends. He has known the Trumps for over 35 years when we started a little project called "Williams Island" which some said could never get done, and we got it done. When they traveled across the Intracoastal Waterway their loyalty continued and they came back to him. and he was pleased to bring to the Commission " Acqualina', "The Mansions at Acqualina', and now the third Trump Group project "Palazzo Di Acqualina". Jules Trump thanked the Commission for creating an environment where developers could dare to see their dreams with the confidence that they will in fact be able to turn them into reality. He also thanked City Manager Chris Russo, City Attorney Hans Ottinot, and City Planner Claudia Hasbun. We are very proud of what Acqualina has achieved in terms of recognition and quality. When we first came to the City we had a vision for a world -class resort. Without the support of the City there is no way this could have happened, and we are very grateful for the tremendous support that City Staff Commission and the Mayor has given US. as well as the late Mayor David Samson. We have grown together, Acqualina earning 5- Star and 5- Diamond recognition shared by only a select few hotels in the County. Sunny Isles Beach is securing for itself the most sought after address in the world as the "Florida Riviera'. Our team and our family has a deep commitment to Sunny Isles Beach. We will continue building on the strength of Acqualina ultimate quality and delivering 5 -Star and 5- Diamond service. With the Golden Strand property we will control 1,100 feet of frontage. We will be building two (2) towers with an exciting new look, and between the two (2) towers will be a magnificent villa providing multiple amenities for every age group, and a famous restaurant will be open for food and beverage. All the condos are very large, and instead of maximizing the number of units, we have chosen to go with bigger units and will minimize the footprint so that there is a tremendous amount of gardens and beautiful landscaping. He thanked Cliff Schulman for his remarks, and he introduced Brian Degnan, Esq. who is the in -house attorney who has also done a tremendous job on getting us to this place. Clifford Schulman, Esq. provided to the City Clerk resumes for Eric Propes of EDSA, Laurence Freedman of Cohen Freedman & Associates Architects, and Juan Espinosa of David Plummer & Associates. This is an as -of -right no variance project, in fact, it not only meets the requirements of the Code, it exceeds the requirements of the Code. This project has 23% less lot coverage then is permitted by the Code, the project has 26% more open space then what is required by the Code. The project front setback is 100 feet further than it needed to be, the garage setback is 60 feet more than the Code would require. The towers themselves are 142 feet less in width then is provided by the Code, the Code provides for 250 width, we are 142 feet less than that, and most importantly the Floor Area Ratio of this project is 278,000 square feet less than the Code would allow. Secondly, it is 392 units less than the Code would allow. 0