2014-1218 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting December 18,2014 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida Marissa Amuial,Esq. said in summary,we are requesting approval for this 22-unit residential building which is well within the required FAR,density and parking. We can actually by right build over 100 units here and we are only providing 22 units. Because of its unique size and character it creates a classic scenario for a variance and its proximity to the State Road. Because we are only proposing 22 units the impact on traffic has been claimed to be de minimis in our Traffic Study. In fact because we anticipate that so many residents of the building will use the school and the restaurant in the facility of the Chabad we anticipate that there will be even less of an impact to the surrounding area. Vice Mayor Aelion opened the public hearing to hear from residents, and closed the public hearing as there were no other speakers. Commissioner Levin asked what is the projected sales price of the units? Marissa Amuial said they are 4,000 square feet and it is about$800 to $1,000 per square foot,which is about $4 Million per unit at 22 units. She introduced one of the developers, Audra Jane, who reported that it is a very expensive building to build because of the challenge of its height. She was also involved in another building, The Regalia, and this building should be more expensive because of its structural costs to build on such a narrow parcel. Commissioner Levin asked why it is more expensive to build on such a narrow parcel from an Engineering perspective? Audra Jane said first of all it is a site issue because when we stage a project you need to have more room to build around,and this will be a poured concrete construction and so it won't be your typical pulled cable. Actually we will have to lay forms and pour concrete, and when you do that,you have thicker slabs,more weight to the foundation,which means it is a piling.The other thing about this particular building is that it was important to glaze it on all sides to bring in the views, etc. On the north side we will have to do some mitigation on the sound, and so actually the cost of the glass on the north side facing the highway will be more expensive to glaze. Commissioner Gatto said she doesn't know if it has been made clear that we can't have one without the other, they come as a package, and the developer said that is correct. She has always said these variances are between a science and an art, meaning that she looks at each opportunity separately. This is an extremely unique situation,the fact is that she spent several conversations with the Rabbi over the past few years knowing how important the Jewish Community Center is to him and to the Jewish community. She is really unhappy being in a position to have to make that kind of decision on a height variance in order for us to get a Jewish Community Center located in our community. Knowing how the community can benefit from this, she will support the project. Commissioner Goldman said she is a great proponent and advocate of the great tapestry of religious worship and the religious existence,and the various benefits this Chabad Center can bring to our community which are unmeasurable on many levels. Having said that,the height is really problematic for her. If it were a stand-alone individual parcel it would have a height restriction of 200 feet. Because of the unity of title conjoining the two parcels, this project would have a real height restriction of 290 feet. 325 feet is very substantial,that is a 125-foot differential, and she recognizes the legality of the unity of title. Marissa Amuial said it is by right 290 feet and we are really only asking for 35 feet. The buildings are physically connected,we are really building only one building which will be connected by a breezeway. Originally the building was double in size, we are really trying to make this work with 6