Laserfiche WebLink
Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting November 19,2015 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida <br /> Mr. Schulman said to keep in mind that their traffic report was reviewed by the City's traffic <br /> consultant, and staff has indicated that the traffic report was acceptable. In discussions we <br /> have had as to the traffic problems in Sunny Isles Beach,you are a pass-through neighborhood, <br /> ie. traffic from Broward County going to Miami Beach, etc., as opposed to the amount of <br /> traffic generated by 60 hotel rooms. That is what we are talking about,the rest of them are the <br /> basic condominium or hotel/condominium. He thinks Mayor Scholl has said it before, the <br /> traffic that is going through is not City generated, it is basically pass through traffic. That <br /> doesn't mean that there will be no traffic impact but the impacts were reviewed by the City's <br /> traffic engineer and found to be acceptable. Vice Mayor Gatto said right, she knows we hear <br /> that a lot but it is still traffic and a lot of us don't care where it comes from,it is still there. We <br /> are in a situation again where this is an as-of-right project, and the developer has full right to <br /> build, and it is a situation where we could incur a law suit if we don't allow him to do that. <br /> Commissioner Aelion said regarding the allowance of the mobility in and out of the building, <br /> there is something positive to be said that on the north and the south entrances to the building, <br /> you have two ingress and two egress on both sides, not limiting the traffic flow. He is <br /> probably the only one on the dais that is presently living in a 29-story building and facing a 56- <br /> story building being built right in front of his apartment. As was voiced here,this issue about <br /> comfort,noise,etc.,but it is a progression as was noted by the last speaker here tonight. When <br /> this City was incorporated, they decided that they are going to follow a Master Plan,and that <br /> Master Plan is being implemented. He also correctly pointed out that while yes there is a lot of <br /> discomfort throughout the time which was corrected here to be 24 months for built and not 72 <br /> months. The complaints and references that have been voiced here, are something that we <br /> have experienced throughout the last 15 years. Not to say anything that was voiced by people <br /> here that we elected you and if you don't sing our tune we are going to make sure you are <br /> voted out of office. That is taken with a lot of respect towards the people who are voicing <br /> those feelings. We have to understand that, not so much because we feel threatened, but we <br /> would be subject to lawsuits. However, there is more of the in-availability of the <br /> infrastructure and the urbanization of a place of choice. Nobody forces anybody to live in <br /> Sunny Isles Beach, it is a question of choice. With that, he believes in relation to the <br /> comments raised by Attorney Shevlin regarding the hotel and its doomsday scenario,he takes <br /> issue with that because if history is any measure the City has already had hotels raised,and a <br /> few are the Newport, the Acqualina, the Trump, and the Marco Polo, who have experienced <br /> similar erection of structures adjacent to them and their hotel business has continued while <br /> those structures were being built. Yes definitely with an inconvenience and impact but not <br /> with a dramatic outcome as was voiced here. <br /> Commissioner Aelion said the parking in the site plan does not meet the required totality of <br /> the spaces that are needed to be acceptable as per Code. He understands the enjoinment of the <br /> residential/commercial use and the formula that is suggested here about the shared parking <br /> requested. With that it says very clearly that there is a condition to be met for that parking <br /> variance, a so called variance because in his view it is some sort of variance requested and it <br /> makes reference to Condition No. 20. When you look at Condition No. 20, it states"That the <br /> Applicant shall address comments provided by City's Traffic Consultant regarding Traffic and <br /> Shared Parking analysis. The City Manager or his designee shall review and provide <br /> additional comments if necessary." So there is no finite status tonight,it is a work in progress <br /> that has not been finalized. That is something that is a concern to him and something that he <br /> 9 <br />