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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting Jul}'16,2015 City of Sunny Isles Beach.Florida <br /> is not today. Today it is a very different City, and we all know what the;traffic is like. She <br /> feels that the project, even though she appreciates the down-scale of the magnitude and she <br /> thinks they did a phenomenal job in doing that because it shows they put a lot of thought <br /> into it. However, she still has the same concerns as that corner is a very difficult corner. At <br /> the corner is a stop sign, across the street is Walgreens, half a block awayi is a bus stop and <br /> a stop sign. And so if you are in that right lane trying to turn to Winston Towers or even <br /> trying to go on Collins Avenue, the backup is tremendous and she sees it almost every day, <br /> there is a lot of cause for concern. She is not comfortable with a condo on Collins Avenue. <br /> We are embarking on redoing our Comprehensive Plan and we are also doing two (2)traffic <br /> studies in the City. One of the two traffic studies are to analyze certain busy corridors that <br /> will really give us the sense of what we are working with because we havenever really done <br /> anything like this since the City was "developed". She proposed that we need to get the <br /> results of that traffic study so that we can analyze what we are doing comprehensively and <br /> make some adjustments before moving forward with this building. <br /> Commissioner Aelion said while he sympathizes with Vice Mayor Gatto, we have to be <br /> realistic. When you look at the building and you visualize the impact that it is going to be <br /> on the major traffic freeway, you are taken aback. While we don't havelthe results of the <br /> Comprehensive Study, we also have to use common sense. We have a much more <br /> bottleneck effect on traffic. We have four (4) plazas along Collins Avenue where you will <br /> see a lot of vehicular traffic. Because of the existence of these plains, ,Sunny Isles Beach <br /> unlike our southern and northern municipalities, have this issue. To that:end, what we have <br /> before us is a site plan approval, and he thanks the developer for cominghowards the City's <br /> concerns, the impact of which traffic-wise, is less than the impact of Denny's use of the <br /> property prior. In other words, if one sits back and looks at the 24-hour]ti affic of Denny's <br /> as a retail service,the traffic which was impacting as a result of Denny's is higher than what <br /> is being proposed here. The second thing is that we have to be realistic as to Vice Mayor <br /> Gatto's concerns along Collins Avenue, and it is a concern, we have to'take each site plan <br /> that comes before us and see the potential impact that it will do, especially as compared to <br /> what is the present use. For example, McDonald's is a 24-hour highly busy situation with <br /> cars coming in and out constantly. He thinks that a 15-17 story high-rise where residents <br /> come in and out once or twice a day is less of an impact than a highly visited place. The <br /> uncomfortable scenario, is the view, and the impact on the view on the west side, it is a fact <br /> of life. We have to value the property rights of the developers, with common sense. <br /> Commissioner Aelion asked Ms. Hasbun for clarification on the egress and ingress from <br /> Collins Avenue, the allowed vehicular traffic, does that satisfy a standing!truck for loading <br /> and unloading, while another truck will go in and out? We had a huge problem of standing, <br /> loading and unloading trucks on Collins Avenue which impacted the traffic negatively. As <br /> a result of changes and new Code,the flow is much better today because akuck goes in and <br /> stays in, they don't park curbside on Collins Avenue, and he just wants to make sure that <br /> this project satisfies that. Ms. Hasbun said on the site plan sheet A011:which is the study <br /> for the garbage truck which will be the most common truck, the driveway is 24-feet and that <br /> is the requirement of the Code, and so that is satisfied. <br /> City Attorney Ottinot noted that Commissioner Aelion wanted to clarify on record that the <br /> restaurant and retail use prohibition will be permanent unless the City Commission approves <br /> it. Commissioner Aelion said that is correct,and what he wanted to be sure on, he said what <br /> he said about the lesser impact traffic of this project as presented tonight compared to the <br /> 6 <br />