2011-1020 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting October 20,20 II City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida projects. We also increased the Beach Enhancement Bonus slightly to provide funding for the Beach Renourishment Project. In addition to the Bonus revision, we also amended the MUR District regulation to eliminate inconsistencies regarding height limitation to ensure consistency with Federal Law which is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). We also amended the Code to permit a 5% variation on the width of property on Collins Avenue to be permitted to have a 20-foot side setback instead of a 50-foot side setback. In the Town Center District, the proposed ordinance will allow height flexibility with phased projects on the south side of Sunny Isles Boulevard. Specifically, a proposed development project may increase the height in a certain building to a maximum of290 feet iftwo conditions are met: 1) if all the buildings average 200 feet in height; and 2) if adjacent to Collins Avenue is under 140 feet. The bottom line, all the buildings in that phased project when you calculate it, the average height must be 200 feet. An additional change in the MUR District is to allow adjoining property where there is commonality of interest or ownership to have a connective pedestrian bridge that will meet the Florida Building Code. He also provided a sample in terms of funding by comparing what the City would receive under the current Ordinance and this proposed Ordinance. Public Speakers: Cliff Schulman; Gil Dezer; Warren Stamm Mayor Edelcup clarified that the MUR District is on the oceanfront, and we are talking strictly about the east side of Collins Avenue. City Attorney Ottinot pointed out that this proposed Ordinance does not increase density, the number of units an applicant can build. This proposal only allows bigger sized units, not more units. Mayor Edelcup noted then that the number of people in a unit doesn't basically change but the unit that they may live in might be larger then currently permitted under our Code. Vice Mayor Thaler noted that a builder does not have to take all the bonuses, this is the maximum that we can get on an acre. Cliff Schulman, Esq. said when the City first created the MUR District, the FAA limited heights in Sunny Isles Beach to 550 feet, and Acqualina was built at 549-feet 6-inches in order to meet the FAA requirements. Since then the FAA changed their regulations, and he wants to correct something for the record that those regulations now allow buildings 1,200 to 1,400 feet high in Sunny Isles Beach, that is not true. What they do allow are buildings now to 649 feet as opposed to 550 feet in Sunny Isles Beach, and so he asked that the City Commission look at that and that is in the Ordinance to allow them to go up to that. Perhaps the most important point made by the City Attorney was that none of the changes proposed today adds one additional unit of density, it reallocates it, it redistributes it, it allows builders to build. For example, their project "Mansions at Acqualina" has an average unit of 4,000 square feet with their Penthouse Units being 8,000 square feet. What does that do for them, we are able to charge more. What does that do for the City, the taxes that the City will collect on 4,000 square foot units and 8,000 square foot units are a significant improvement. The changes that they have also suggested will show a varied skyline in the City, portions of the south district by the Town Center District are uniformly shown at 200 feet, this will allow changes in the skyline without an increase in density or intensity. Mr. Schulman said that we will now have a new amenity in the City of Sunny Isles Beach, we will have a skywalk between adjoining properties that will be able to be traversed above grade under roof but not enclosed, not to obstruct any beach access or any beach access views, we are looking forward to doing that at the Mansions at Acqualina and coordinating it, 4