2010-0902 Special City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 2, 2010 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Rabbi Aaron Lankry; Daniel Wallach; William C. Kreidt, Sr., Architect; Rosita E. Kenigsberg; Isaac Franco (former President of Temple B'Nai Zion); Soritta Saltzstein; Sam Gasson; Marc Mogil; Arnold Klein; Bob Welsh; Keith Poliakoff, Esq. of Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., introduced Roxanne Feldman of the firm, Daniel Wallach who is their board certified appellant attorney and federal litigator, Architect Joe Kaller, and Marla Sherman Dumas will be reporting tonight. Mr. Poliakoff asked the City's Consultant Ellen Uguccioni about the terms of her contract with the City, and she said that she is doing a number of things including: review of the design of the high-rises along the beach and to write a book about them for the City's 15th Anniversary; explore possible incentives for historic preservation including ad valorem tax exemptions, transfer of development rights, review the ordinance as it presently exists and make recommendations to the City Commission, the Historic Preservation Board, and to the City Attorney. He asked her how much the contract was for and if she responded to an RFP, and she said no she did not respond to an RFP, and that she was getting paid $52,000 for a total of 18 months. Mr. Poliakoff asked Consultant Uguccioni the following questions: if she was aware that the City has plans upstairs showing part of Temple B'Nai Zion as part ofMt. Sinai, and she said no. Mr. Poliakoff asked her if she was aware that the City attempted to lien the site, and she said no. He said that St. Mary Magdalen was built before Temple B'Nai Zion and so why isn't St. Mary Magdalen being considered for historic designation, and she said that she does not know what policies the Historic Preservation Board has in making this list but it probably could be designated. Mr. Poliakoff said St. Mary Magdalen asked the City not to designate it, and so it was taken off the list for designation but Temple B'Nai Zion was left on the list. You spent a long time under Standard B speaking about one of the fundamental reasons that you believe this site should be historic, is the fact that the City sponsored an event in which 200 holocaust survivors showed up, obviously you felt that to be historically significant. He asked Ms. Uguccioni if the site gets designated as historic, are we allowed to remove the 12 Disciples, and Ms. Uguccioni said that you are required to go to the Historic Preservation Board and design something that is appropriate to the design that exists. You have to demonstrate why you need it, how you designed it, how you're sympathetic to the design of the church, and you can offer that to the Historic Preservation Board, they would make the ultimate decision or advise you to maybe go another route in your design. Mr. Poliakoff said if they suggested that the Memorial Tower should be removed because it is a Christian icon, what would they need to do, and Ms. Uguccioni said they would file for a "Certificate of Appropriateness" they would go to the Historic Preservation Board and ask for permission to take away the Memorial Tower. The whole point of the designation process is to ensure that the most important parts of the structure that we define are kept in place. It does not prohibit development of the site, and it does not prohibit the City from granting variances. Mr. Poliakoff said if Rabbi Lankry came up here tonight and said you say the Memorial Tower is significant, take it, I am happy to give it to you. Would that preserve it for the City's purposes? The City could put it wherever it wanted, and Ms. Uguccioni said that it has no context without the Temple. 3