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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Commuinity Appearance_8/30/1995 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA fr0oDEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT �:' . Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta,Florida 33469-0273•(407)575-6220 , Fax: (407)575-6239 C1 h CoUN VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA COMMUNITY APPEARANCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 30, 1995 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Community Appearance Board held a meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on , Wednesday, August 30, 1995. The meeting was called to order at 9 : 35 A.M. by Chair Leslie Cook. Boardmembers present were: Chair Leslie Cook, Vice Chair Vic Strahan, Claudette Dalack, and Steve Parker. Alternate Molly McCormick arrived at 9:42 A.M. Also in attendance was Joanne McCabe, sitting in for Scott D. Ladd, Clerk of the Board. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved as submitted. III. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES The minutes of the August 16, 1995 were approved as submitted. IV. NEW BUSINESS 1. An application from the Village of Tequesta for final approval, per Florida Department of Transportation specifications, for U.S. Highway One median landscaping. (Kathleen Spain, Gee & Jenson) Director of Parks and Recreation Gary Preston explained that this project, which had been before the Board on two Recycled Paper Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 2 previous occasions, consisted of seven median islands, three of which would have only ground cover and four of which would have trees and ground cover. Mr. Preston explained that since these islands were only ten feet wide that the selection of trees was limited, and advised the Board that this was not a PGA Boulevard or an Indiantown Road type of project since the islands were only ten feet wide and there was not much area to work with. Mr. Preston stated that Savannah Holly was the recommended tree, and presented plans and photographs to the Board. Ms. Spain commented that the islands would be planted with Savannah Holly trees 40 feet on center down the middle of the islands, with Trailing Lantana ground cover on each end, and Evergreen Giant Liriopi, Society Garlic, and Dwarf Alamanda around each tree. Ms. Spain explained that the East Palatka Holly previously considered would become too large, that the Savannah Holly was cold tolerant and tough enough to handle the streetscape. Chair Leslie Cook expressed concern that the Society Garlic would not last and that she would prefer to use budgeted replacement plant money for other items; Ms. Spain commented that it had lasted 12-13 years near her home off Village Parkway, and light irrigation was needed. Mr. Preston explained that the Village would contract the maintenance out and that maintenance must meet strict DOT standards or they would pull the landscaping out; and that DOT had left no room for negotiation regarding the height of the landscaping and required clear space that must be left open. Alternate Molly McCormick arrived at this point in the meeting. Chair Leslie Cook requested that the green area on the islands be extended to use less Lantana. Ms. Spain stated that the percentage would be 95% green and 5% color. Vice Chair Vic Strahan stated his preference for more color to make the islands a showcase. i l Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 3 Vice Chair Vic Strahan made a motion to accept this application as submitted. Motion was seconded by Boardmember Steve Parker, and unanimously carried. Mr. Preston reviewed the schedule for this project: The next step would be Village Council approval; then DOT final approval; the bidding process; approval of bid by Village Council; making the projected start date March or April of 1996. Mr. Preston explained that remaining DOT work to be finished by October 1 consisted of concrete work to lead U.S. One into driveways, and one additional layer of asphalt over the complete project. After a 30- day waiting period for the asphalt to cure, striping would be done. DOT would remove all plants from the islands, however it would be grown up in weeds by the time landscaping could start and would have to be dug down to 9 inches to remove the weeds. Mr. Preston reviewed the anticipated costs and advised that most of the $75, 000 allowed by the State would be used. 2. An application from the Village of Tequesta for resubmittal of Tequesta Branch Library landscape plan to consider amendments to previous plan required by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for Scrub Jay habitat protection. Village Manager Bradford reported that after the Community Appearance Board had approved the library landscaping plan submitted by Michael Reich, President of Select Contracting, who was present at this meeting, that scrub jays had been discovered on the property which stopped all work by FPL. The Village had then gone through a series of events with the enforcement division of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, whose representatives had appeared unannounced at several offices in the area scaring people by stating that certain people had violated the Federal Endangered Species Act, which was a very serious offense. The result Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 4 of two environmental assessments authorized by the Village showed evidence that scrub jays had been living in the northeast corner of the property. U.S. Fish and Wildlife representatives from Jacksonville came on two occasions and confirmed that work on the property could not be continued per the original plan, but that certain areas must be fenced and protected, and after the Village had complied, the revised landscape plan had, been approved. The Village Manager described the new landscaping as a natural scrub landscape look, and explained that as compensation for the areas that could not be touched that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife division had added some additional plants in other areas, and that it was believed they would allow no changes since they had provided a list of plants which were preferred by scrub jays and produced their food. Required changes made in the landscaping consisted of changing hedge material to sand live oak, adding 26 sand pines, changing to pine straw mulch, and increasing from 65 pentas to 130, from no lantanas to 120, and increasing kuntes to 100 . Mr. Reich explained that the. cost had remained approximately the same after the changes had been made. The Board discussed changes they would like regarding the pentas, lantanas, and kunte. Village Manager Bradford advised that making changes to the revised plan could open a Pandora' s box of problems. After discussion, it was the consensus of the Board to table this application until later in the meeting to allow the Village Manager and Mr. Reich time to locate the list of plants furnished by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so that the Board could choose replacement plants from the list for the pentas, lantanas, and kunte and then submit those replacements for approval. Village Manager Bradford reported that the Village had been sent a list of all Tequesta areas on the scrub jay Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 5 habitat list and the Village had notified every property owner as well as the property owners within 200-300 feet of those properties that their properties might contain scrub jay habitats and that they could not touch their properties without approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Village Manager stated that people did not understand the seriousness of violating the Endangered Species Act, which could result in large fines and a minimum of five years in jail. Village Manager Bradford explained that the Village could adopt a Regional Habitat Plan in conjunction with other agencies such as Jupiter and the County which would establish protected areas. A problem was the maze of regulations created by three layers of regulations required by the federal government, the state government and the county. Boardmember Steve Parker stepped down due to conflict of interest on the next two agenda items. 3. An application from Parker-Yannette Design Group, Inc. for review of preliminary landscape plans for Ordinance #377 compliance for Cypress Plaza, 357 Cypress Drive. Steve Parker, landscape architect and agent for Cypress Plaza, introduced Frank Broedell, Jr. , the owner of the property. Mr. Parker reviewed the following waiver requests, which were necessary because the required landscape islands and planting strips would reduce the number of parking spaces which were at a premium, and would severely limit the parking lot circulation. NORTH PROPERTY LINE: 1. 10 ' landscape buffer abutting public street, 5 ' proposed. Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 6 2 . 10 trees required, 6 trees proposed. • EAST PROPERTY LINE: 3 . 5' landscape buffer abutting adjacent land use, 5 ' proposed for 76 ' length, 3 ' proposed for 44' length. 4. 5 trees required, 3 trees proposed. SOUTH PROPERTY LINE: 5. 10 ' landscape buffer abutting public or private streets, 0 ' proposed. 6. 11 trees required, 1 tree proposed. 7. 150 - 2 ' ht. Hedge plants required, 0 proposed. WEST PROPERTY LINE: 8 . 5 ' landscape buffer abutting adjacent land use, 4 ' proposed for 70 ' length, 0 ' proposed for 50 ' length. 9 . 5 trees required, 0 trees proposed. 10 . 60 - 2 ' ht. Hedge plants required, 35 proposed. OTHER: 11. 15% gross parking area landscaped required, 0 proposed. 12 . 8 - 6 ' x 20 ' landscape islands at the end of each parking row, none proposed. 13 . 8 landscape island trees required, none proposed. Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 7 14. 5 - 6 ' x 20 ' landscape islands every ten parking spaces in a row, none proposed. 15. 5 landscape island trees required, none proposed. 16 . 60W landscaping indigenous to South Florida, 35% proposed. 17. Parking rows and traffic aisles shall be separated from principal structures by a 4 ' landscape strip, 0 ' proposed. After discussion of all of the waivers, Mr. Parker summarized the changes requested by the Board, as follows: To adjust the height on some of the Simpson Stopper from 2' to 4' , therefore reducing the quantity slightly on the two ends. Boardmember Dalack made a motion to accept the plan as submitted in addition to the comments made by Steve Parker. Motion was seconded by Boardmember McCormick, and unanimously carried. 4. An application from Parker-Yannette Design Group, Inc. for review of preliminary landscape plans for Ordinance #377 compliance for N-Tire Partners, 160 Bridge Road and 221 Old Dixie Highway. Steve Parker, landscape architect and agent for the applicant presented the application. Also present was Frank Broedel of N-Tire Partners, the property owner. Mr. Parker reviewed the following waiver requests, which were necessary because the required landscape islands and planting strips would reduce the number of parking spaces which were at a premium, and would severely limit the Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 8 parking lot circulation. NORTH PROPERTY LINE: 1. 10 ' landscape buffer abutting public street, 0 ' proposed. 2 . 13 trees required, 4 proposed. 3 . 165 - 2 ' ht. Hedge plants required, 80 proposed. 4. Access way from public R.O.W. maximum 24' width, 180' proposed. EAST PROPERTY LINE: 5 . 5' landscape buffer abutting adjacent land use, 0 ' proposed for 163 ' length, 5 ' proposed for 144 ' length. 6. 11 trees required, 1 proposed. 7 . 120 - 2 ' ht. hedge plants, 10 proposed. SOUTH PROPERTY LINE: 8. 5 ' landscape buffer abutting adjacent land use, 3 ' proposed for 132 ' length, 5 ' proposed for 110 ' length. 9 . 9 trees required, 5 proposed. WEST PROPERTY LINE: NOTE: The perimeter landscape buffer was reduced when Old Dixie Highway was widened. 10 . 10 ' landscape buffer abutting public street, 5' Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 9 provided for 160 ' length, 0 ' provided for 32 ' length, 10 ' provided for 40 ' length. 11. 116 hedge plants required, t100 proposed. 12 . Access way from public R.O.W. maximum 24 ' width, one entrance proposed at a 30 ' width, one entrance proposed at a 26 ' width. OTHER: 13 . 15% gross parking area landscaped required, 2% proposed. 14 . 12 - 6' x 20 ' landscape islands at the end of each parking row, 1 - 8' x 20' island, 1 - 6' x 20 ' , 1 - 20 ' x 15 ' and 1 - 5' x 15' proposed. 15 . 12 landscape island trees required, 3 proposed. 16. 2 - 6 ' x 20 ' landscape islands every ten parking spaces in a row, 0 proposed. 17. 2 landscape island trees required, 0 proposed. 18. Parking rows and traffic aisles shall be separated from principal structures by a landscape strip of 4' , 0 ' proposed. Joanne McCabe cautioned that since this was one of the first commercial properties to be reviewed for Ordinance 377 compliance, that the Board should be careful about granting waivers since consistency must be used for all applicants. Vice Chair Strahan made a suggestion to install a narrow planting bed and an island, define an entrance, and change the direction of parking at one end, and install Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 10 a small planting area next to the small door where tires were unloaded. Extensive discussion of this suggestion ensued, however it was not considered workable because of the tight parking situation. Also, Village Manager Bradford cautioned that drainage problems might not allow such a configuration, and suggested curbing similar to that at Gallery Square to halt the water, and the establishment of two primary points- -one for ingress and one for egress--to the north off Bridge Road so that then the Village could define public space and private property. The Village Manager also explained that property owners could be required to provide landscaping within the right of way if their property had space constraints, and that the right of way off Bridge Road was Tequesta property while the right of way off Old Dixie was County property. After further discussion, it was the consensus of the Board that because of the drainage problems which would be addressed by the Village in the near future that the entire front of this property should be subject to the Village engineer' s comments on drainage. The Board requested that trimming of the tops of the oak trees be stopped to allow them to grow taller and pruning be done to thin out the density. waiver 4 was changed to add the following: That the 180- foot width from Old Dixie to the property line of Bridge Road be reconsidered when the Village is in a position to provide some engineering information regarding drainage problem from Bridge Road onto Old Dixie. Waiver 7 was changed to require a full hedge consisting of Simpson Stopper. Waiver 13 was changed to require a 20 ' x 30" cut out of asphalt at grade along the front of the building to be planted with 24" to 30" height hedge plant plus a couple Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 11 accent plants, and if feasible to do the same thing on the other end of the building. Waiver 18 was changed to delete 0 ' proposed and to insert 20 ' x 30" along north side of the Goodyear Tire Building. Vice Chair Strahan verified that the only changes from the plan submitted were the addition of a hedge and the planting areas along the front. Vice Chair Vic Strahan made a motion to accept the application as submitted with the additions as annotated on the plans of the hedge on the east side and the planting area along with front, with the provision that the accesses from Bridge Road onto the property are reconsidered at a time when the Village has prepared an engineering study of the area to take into consideration the drainage and the general access situation. Boardmember McCormick seconded the motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote. At this point in the meeting, Steve Parker rejoined the meeting as a member of the Board. 2. Reconsideration of item 2 ensued, which had been postponed earlier in the meeting. village Manager Bradford reported that only the tree list could be found, so a telephone call had been placed to Dawn Zattau, wildlife biologist in Jacksonville, who advised that no native plants could be changed, therefore only the pentas could be changed. After discussion, it was decided that Ilex Vomitoria would be an acceptable replacement. Vice Chair Vic Strahan made a motion to accept the plan as submitted with the exception to exchange 130 pentas for 65 Ilex Vomitoria in 3-gallon size, as annotated on Community Appearance Board Meeting Minutes August 30, 1995 Page 12 the plan, as the Board wished the overall appearance to be more compatible with the scrub land left on the north side of the property. The motion was seconded by Boardmember Parker and passed by unanimous vote. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business to come before the Board. VI. COMMUNICATION FROM CITIZENS There was no communication from citizens. VII. ANY OTHER MATTERS There were no other matters to come before the Board. VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12: 08 P.M. Respectfully submitted, ATTEST: Betty Laur Recording Secretary e (; C Jo.- t a McCabe Acting Clerk of th- =oard DATE APPROVED: