Draft 021016 Workshop Summary Mins re Transportation Master Plan

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City Commission Workshop February 10, 2016 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 5 reluctant. Did you or staff approach the State in seeing the feasibility of the State taking action on your recommendations? Mr. Rothore said no, not yet. Commissioner Aelion said you are saying the proposed bus lane on Atlantic Boulevard which according to your drawing would be situated just south of the proposed project. Now that is very close to the entrance to City Hall. Today the scenario is that the Police actually block off vehicle traffic for the required period from the back entrance to the RK Plaza, and so if we would have a situation where the bus lane would be placed more south, that would entail a closure more south and would impede the flow of traffic and the service to our residents from that lane which is extremely important. Collins Avenue is already so congested, and they want to have an alternative, and this is indeed by far the busiest Plaza in our City, and access to it has to be very relevant. Ms. Hasbun said it is not very clear in the image but we are proposing a bus lane actually in the parking lane on Atlantic Boulevard, not on the actual road. Commissioner Aelion said we are talking about a school bus, it will need more room. Ms. Hasbun said yes, we will make modifications to that lane. Mayor Scholl said Atlantic Boulevard is a City street, and so we could put the stop signs at 178th and Atlantic Boulevard, and so the good news there is we can do that if we wanted to. Commissioner Aelion said there is illegal parking by parents on private property and in this particular case, Publix. Today in a present scenario we have about 40% to 50% or more of current pickup time, and maybe even in the morning of parents parking their vehicles on private property to be able to pickup and drop-off their children. That is something that the City has no control of, and he thinks the Police are raising up their hands that they can’t do otherwise. In light of the future development of that site which will make it even harder for parking because it is going to be on the upper level, this impact is something that, and he doesn’t know if you took it into consideration or not, but it is definitely an impact on the whole projected study. As such, his concern is that if you take into account that those vehicles are not supposed to be there or if those vehicles are4 not to be a part of the present scenario and place them outside which makes them legal parking, then you have a completely different picture. Commissioner Aelion said today he received an email and the person who sent it, didn’t know about this meeting. This is a parent with four (4) children who live in Golden Shores and she tells him the following: Is anything being done to combat the traffic it causes during school pickup time? It is coming to a point I can’t even go to any of the stores around the school at pickup time because there is no place to park, Publix or CVS. Even then with the fact that the residential parking of the regular buyers at the Plaza when there is a pickup of children, it is so flooded that regular residents that don’t have to pick up their children cannot park there, and all the parents of course are taking up the parking spaces.” And so that is something that is very real and it is happening in real time in our City, and that being such an intricate problem of what we are having, he thinks that is extremely important to address. Mayor Scholl said what Commissioner Aelion wants to understand is if we are doing something, if we could do something, or if it was considered in the plan about the fact that a lot of the vehicle pickup and delivery happens on private property. Chief Maas said it does happen. Mayor Scholl said he feels that the Chief has a different perspective on that because