Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDocumentation_Regular_Tab 5A_10/26/1989 • . .. .. _ ? Ib VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA •'•`,s, ,, Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive • ��,, o Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 • (407) 575-6200 FAX: (407) 575-6203 M TEQUESTA DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 6 , 1 9 8 9 • I . The Tequesta Downtown Task Force held a regularly scheduled meeting. at the Village Hall , 357 Tequesta . Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on • Friday, October 6 , 1989 . The meeting was called to order at 9: 38 A.M. by Carlton Stoddard, Chairman. Other Task Force members • ' present were: Dr. Stanley Jacobs, Jim Pilz, and Edwin Nelson. Jim Stergas was not in attendance. Village Officials present were: Village Manager, Thomas G. Bradford. Also in attendance was Village Planning Consultant, Jack Horniman, Sir John van Kesteren and Dan Cary, Executive Director of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council . Many local citizens were present : E. Faye Schrecengost , Lighthouse Gallery; Robinson Murray, Jr. ; Bill Treacy; Jim Park, Executive • Director of Gee & Jenson; Pat Watkins ; William Elliott , and Kathy Basquill . In attendance from the Tequesta Country Club Community Board were Robert Hoffmeir, President; former Mayor of Tequesta, W.H. Mapes , Treasurer ; W. Sharpless , Legal Council ; and Diane Gustafson, Board Member. II . APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Pilz suggested an opportunity be given to the attending citizens to comment , early on the Agenda, so they might not have to sit through the entire Task Force meeting. The Agenda was revised adding "Citizen ' s Comments" under III . (C) . The Agenda was amended to include the above and approved accordingly. III . APPROVAL OF MINUTES A) Task Force Meeting of September 18, 1989 : Approved as submitted. B) Task Force Meeting of September 22 , 1989 : Change Dan Carey to Dan Cary. Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 Page 2 On page 4 , last paragraph , after "what the community will look like after completion . " , add "On date of September 21 , 1989 , a Proposed Marketing Plan ( see attached) was submitted by Jim Pilz . Discussion of the Marketing Plan took place . " With the above changes and additions , the Minutes were approved. C) COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS HARVEY MAPES : If this Master Plan is adopted , what is the number of new residents to be allowed? CHAIRMAN STODDARD: The potential addition at total buildout is approximately 3 , 000 people . W.H. MAPES : If a total of 3 , 000 new people are coming in , what is the plan regarding water, since we presently do not have enough water to take care of the citizens already living in Tequesta? CHAIRMAN STODDARD: The Village Council is presently examining the expansion of the Village' s Water Plant, and new wellfields , though expansion will not happen overnight . W. H. MAPES : I believe the Master Plan ought to include plans for water supply, as well . JIM PILZ : Three thousand new residents is not a hard number, but merely an estimate of a possibility. People from the Water Department were involved in the Charrette . Part of the Master Plan includes proposals on on-site water retention . Also, because of the increase in residents, there would be an increase to the present tax base, allowing for the funding of a water plant expansion . • VILLAGE MANAGER BRADFORD: At the last Village Council Meeting, an amendment was made to the Five-Year Water Department Capital Improvement Plan so that a reverse osmosis water treatment facility would be scheduled to begin in fiscal year 1992 . DAN CARY, Executive Director, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council : One of the present water problems being faced is salt water intrusion . An attempt to increase the fresh water recharge was done in the Master Plan , with less runoff being lost . That in itself will help protect some of the existing well fields . Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 Page 3 VILLAGE MANAGER BRADFORD: The Village has a permit application filed with the South Florida Water Management District to get an extra million gallons per day from the surficial aquifer , and to ' get it from a new wellfield in southern Martin County. The same application also has up to five million gallons per day from the Floridian aquifer to he treated by reverse osmosis . Within 60 days the Village will hear from the South Florida Water Management District and will know at that time which way the Village will have to go with the water problem. If no more water is allowed from the surficial aquifer, the capital program will have to be moved up and go to reverse osmosis even sooner than originally planned . This problem exists whether or not one more person moves into Tequesta . ROBINSON MURRAY: What ' s wrong with the zoning we presently have for that 90-acre area where you want to do all this redevelopment? Why are we doubling the size of our community? What benefits are the current residents going to gain? JACK HORNIMAN: First of all , you have a dead downtown area and nobody there to use it . Part of the reason these dead areas are dying is because they have no relation to one another. For instance , there is no reason to go from K-Mart over to the Tequesta Plaza. Therefore, a mixed use concept has been introduced . Somehow a market has to be created - the area has to be revitalized and the way to do that is to put people back in there . ROBINSON MURRAY: We have no responsibility to bail out anyone . What benefit is it to me if those malls are full of good stores or not? We have enough malls already, and we don ' t need any more people . DAN CARY: Redevelopment should enhance the quality of life_ in a community. This Master Plan does that . It will make Tequesta a better place to live. There are many great places in the world . Those great places have some things in common: 1 ) almost all of them have great public space , and great public space isn ' t just open land . It ' s land that has been configured in such a way that people want to he in it , they feel good when they' re in it, they' re happy, they' re safe, and they are , in fact, attracted to it. It ' s the kind of place where they run into their neighbors . Without those Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 Page 4 kinds of places where you can get together with your neighbors and see each other once in a while , there is a lot of concern that a true democratic community is never developed. 2 ) Just as you should not be concerned about bailing out a developer, you should also not be concerned whether there are an additional 1 , 000 , or 2 , 000 , or 10 , 000 people. What you should be concerned about is , .what is it going to take to create this great place . Great places don ' t happen by chance . These places are not artificial - they are created very deliberately. Great places have great amenities . You don' t want everyone leaving the downtown area at 5 o'clock , with no one left. This area may be so good that your neighbors may want to come down here just to mill around and enjoy it . JIM PILZ : The citizens were given a questionnaire to fill out about one and a half years ago . The number one issue was that the residents did not like empty shopping centers , thinking the centers may perhaps get worse, and wondered what was going to happen if they continued to be empty. That primary issue was addressed when the Task Force was formed. There are seven shopping centers within the Golden Circle area. Tequesta does not need that many. Therefore, suggestions have been made for putting the dead shopping centers to better use . PAT WATKINS : Our children are now going to Limestone Creek Elementary, which is overcrowded already. The building going on around us will increase that burden . Perhaps we need ro consider building a school in Tequesta for our children . CHAIRMAN STODDARD: When we started planning, we wanted the citizens of Tequesta involved . That ' s why the planning was public. Some of the best planners in the country were involved. They were committed to the responsibility of a quality development, one with proper codes to guarantee the quality of life Tequesta is looking for. This is a plan with openness , lots of water, and attractive landscaping . The plan is a product of the people of Tequesta. Mr. Stoddard showed the public the Tequesta Golden Circle album which had been put together and invited all to review it . Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 • Page 5 KIM HEIMAN : rnmmended the Task Force on their foresight and planning and stated he and his wife are looking forward to moving to the Village of Tequesta . IV. REVIEW OF PROPOSED PLAN yr. Pilz stated the Task Force had received the Master Plan in the mail , but found it difficult to read much of the information on it . He suggested that someone from Image Network participate in a workshop with the Task Force, to be quizzed by the Task Force as to why public buildings were put where they were , etc . , before going to the Village Council . Then, go before the Council with a 30- minute presentation that they have asked for, saying that the Task Force is approving the framework of the Master Plan , but they are trying to get a new owner for Lighthouse Plaza with a plan to get one, two or three developers who are willing to work with the Village to complete the Plan . At that point the final plan would be presented to the Village Council , with the cooperation of the landowners . Village Manager Bradford suggested that the Task Force develop an outline for reviewing the submitted Master Plan to: 1 ) Identify- the elements of the Plan ; 2 . Ascertain the intention of each element. ; 3 ) Review it for accuracy; 4 ) Then come to a consensus as to whether or not the final product is ready for recommendation to the Village Council . Mr . Bradford also reported on a visit he had made to Charleston Place in the Boca Raton area by Camino Reale Road. It is a neighborhood of approximately 140 units of housing, some single family, but most were zero lot line . Driving into the community causes you to immediately realize you have arrived in distinct neighborhood which is totally different from anything else in south Florida. It looks reminiscent of Charleston, or Savannah, or the Georgetown area of Washington, D. C . The place is completely sold out, with only one left for sale . During Mr. Bradford' s 30 minute visit, there were approximately 15 couples who came in just to look at the place. The fact sheet indicated this last unit was the cheapest one in the development and was on the market for $165 , 000 . The sidewalks were all brick , the trees were of sufficient size , giving an immediate feeling of a mature neighborhood, with adequate shade . Mr . Bradford explained that Charleston Place is an example of the architecture proposed in the Master Plan of Tequesta . Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes • October 6, 1989 Page 6 Mr. Pilz again expressed concern about too many rental properties in this redevelopment area, and felt the size of the units as well as the number of rentals , ought to be proportionate . Mr . Pilz also stated that the details of the Master Plan be kept flexible , for the public ' s sake , regarding square footage and population . Mr. Bradford suggested arrangements be made with Mark Schimmenti to attended the next regularly scheduled Task Force meeting for discussion of discrepancies of the Master Plan . Mr. Cary recommended all labels be taken off the buildings on the Plan, and suggested potential uses might be better wording. Therefore the heat would be taken off trivial debates . Mr. Pilz stated he had concerns regarding the traffic flow between Lighthouse Plaza and Tequesta Plaza . Chairman Stoddard stated he had received a letter from the representative for Lighthouse Plaza, stating they had reservations regarding the flow of traffic , requesting that. Tequesta not interfere with the present two-way traffic flow, and asking that the parking lot not be reduced . Dan Cary stated retail stores need traffic to move , but slow enough to see their stores . People will deliberately take congested routes because they' re. more interesting. Chairman Stoddard presented a copy of the Master Plan inked drawing with an alternate location for the cultural center on the south two acres of St . Jude ' s pine woods . The site would be adjacent to the library. It would provide space for a community auditorium-theatre and a new expanded Lighthouse Gallery, and arts and crafts school center. The cultural center and library would front on three large mirror pools on a major east-west street connecting U.S . #1 and Old Dixie Highway. Color photos of the site were exhibited . The proposed alternate site would combine the art center and cultural center. Faye Schrecengost agreed that the art center and cultural center ought not to be separated . Mr. Bradford asked if plans that were once drawn up to have Lighthouse Gallery as a part of the Loxahatchee Historical Society still represented , in terms of square footages and functions within, today's Gallery needs? Faye Schrecengost answered that in the progression of negotiations with the Historical Society, those entities began to separate because of incompatibility, but, yes , the square footage of the exhibition area and the school are still the need, as well as exterior plans for outside workshops , stone sculptures, and incorporate an auditorium and theatre for concerts and public events . Downtown Development Task Force Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 Page 7 Mr . Cary stated it may be a good idea to get potential public building tenants together with the designers in a special meeting because there are a number of different things that, can he accomplished by different. arrangements . For instance , from a convenience standpoint, it may be good to have a gallery next to a school . It also has certain benefits regarding public beauty. Sometimes you can make a better community by having your public buildings a block apart . You have to be careful about "packing" . You need well -defined designs . Sir John van Kesteren made an observation : Tequesta made need a school and speculated using the old Winn Dixie transformed into a school . Mr. Pilz wondered if a country day school might be appropriate. Mr . Cary stated Palm Beach County is in favor of smaller schools and Tequesta, being an economically balanced community, is a good candidate . Mr . Bradford stated in 1980 there were approximately 450 children in Tequesta 18 years and under. Chairman Stoddard stated that many parents are concerned about their children being bussed to Limestone Creek School since the drug problem there in the past has been so intense. V. ANY OTHER MATTERS . Jim Pilz recommended that for future meetings , comments by the public be limited to 5 minutes . He asked what happened at the October 9 Chamber. of Commerce meeting. Mr. Bradford stated the meeting was an informal reception , with no debates , no speeches nor presentations , for the County Commissioners . The intent of the meeting was to let the Commissioners know that, though we' re going to single-member districts , not to forget Jupiter and Tequesta. Chairman Stoddard reported that the meeting held at Lighthouse Gallery was overcrowded, with standing room only. Some could not get into the room - a striking example of why Tequesta needs a community auditorium. Downtown Development Task Force - Meeting Minutes October 6 , 1989 Page 8 VI . ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Task Force, the meeting was adjourned at 12 : 00 Noon. Respectfully submitted , 1//14'11-j (dt-6 -) Fran Bitters Recording Secretary ATTEST: Bill Kascavelis Finance Director/ Village Clerk /fgb Date Approved: