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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_04/27/1995VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box- 3273 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 (407) 575-6200 Fax: (407) 575-6203 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE. COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES APRIL 27, 1995 I. II. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Village Council held a special meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Thursday, April 27, 1995. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 P.M. by Mayor Ron T. Mackail. A roll call was taken by Betty Laur, Recording Secretary. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Ron T. Mackail, Vice Mayor William E. Burckart, Elizabeth A. Schauer, Carl C. Hansen, and Joseph N. Capretta. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, Village Clerk Joann Manganiello, Village Attorney John C. Randolph, and Department Heads. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Schauer moved that the Agenda be approved as submitted. Councilmember Hansen seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Ron T . Iyiackai 1 - for William E. Burckart - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the Agenda was therefore approved as submitted. Kec-ycled Pnj~er Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 2 III. SPECIAL EXCEPTION USE PUBLIC HEARING FOR SHOPPING CENTER (COUNTY LINE PLAZA EXPANSION), 500-722 U.S. HIGHWAY ONE NORTH. Anne Marie Eustace, Interplan Practice, Ltd., Agent for TamWest Realty, Inc., Owner. In order to bring the Village Council up to date, Building Official Scott D. Ladd explained that the Special Exception Use for the K-Mart expansion and the Jo-Go's expansion had been combined for publication purposes, and needed to be acted upon at tonight's meeting along with discussion of the final site plan for K-Mart and the entire site plan for Jo- Go's. Building Official Ladd recalled that at the last Village Council Workshop meeting it had been decided to separate the Ordinance 377 compliance process for the property owner from the K-Mart and Jo-Go's expansion applications, and that Mr. Steve Miller had picked up a waiver application to address Ordinance 377 and had reported that the property owner was in the process of retaining a landscape architect to look at the entire site and then come before the Village Council for review. Mayor Mackaii verified with Building Official Ladd that the goal of tonight's meeting was to only address the expansion of both K-Mart and Jo-Go's including the landscape plans for their specified areas, regardless of the actions that the property owner was about to undertake in regard to Ordinance 377. Building Official Ladd also recommended that maintenance for those areas be tied in to the two expansions. Councilmember Schauer questioned whether K-Mart had received the Community Appearance Board landscaping suggestions prior to this meeting. Building Official Ladd stated he believed those had been faxed, and if the Village Council agreed with the suggestions that those could be attached to the approval. Councilmember Schauer stated that Chair Leslie Cook and Vice Chair Vic Strahan were present at tonight's meeting representing the Community Appearance Board. Councilman Capretta commented that he assumed that implicit in the approval of the K-Mart Expansion and the Jo-Go's expansion was that the loss of parking spaces was accepted by the Council. Building Official Ladd stated that he was in the process of researching changes to the parking Ordinance which would help not only County Line Plaza but every other shopping center as well in their compliance of Ordinance 377. Councilman Capretta questioned whether the Village had any means to enforce employee parking in the rear of all the shopping centers, to which Mr. Ladd replied that the Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 3 ------------------------------- shopping center owners would do that as soon as their shoppers needed those spaces now being used by the employees. Councilman Capretta suggested that a better avenue to assure compliance by the County Line property owner in maintaining the landscaping would be that the tenants apply pressure by not paying the rent rather then to rely upon code enforcement. Building Official Ladd stated that it was staff's recommendation to attach to tonight's approvals some sort of bonds, irrevocable letter of credit, maintenance agreement, or developer's agreement in regard to landscaping. At Vice Mayor Burckart's request, Mr. Ladd described the delineated areas on the plan for K-Mart's and Jo-Go's landscaping, and stated that he would prefer that their whole leased areas be included for landscaping purposes rather than only the delineated areas. Building Official Ladd stated that the area south of K-Mart's leased area had some non-compliance areas under Ordinance 377 which needed to be addressed by County Line Plaza when the Council considered that issue. Village Attorney Randolph questioned who the applicant was that Building Official Ladd referred to; Mr. Ladd explained that he considered the applicant for tonight's actions to be Interplan Practice and K-Mart. Village Attorney Randolph stated that the application appeared to make Interplan Practice limited agents for TamWest Realty, Inc., and that it was unusual for the applicant to be a tenant as opposed to the owners of the property and that it appeared to him that the property owners were really the applicants and that they had just given K-Mart the opportunity to act as agents for the owners; therefore, anything approved for K-Mart or for Jo-Go's would be by virtue of an agreement that the property owners would join in with and share responsibility in, and to protect the Village there would need to also be agreements in regard to landscaping. Building Official Ladd explained that K-Mart's and Jo-Go's intent was to install and to pay for landscaping but not to participate in the long-term maintenance; therefore, the Council needed to address the maintenance at the time that County Line Plaza applied for compliance with Ordinance 377. Village Attorney Randolph asked whether the reason to separate the issues was so that K-Mart and Jo-Go's would not be saddled with problems that existed with the entire property so that they could go ahead with their expansion projects. Building Official Ladd responded that was correct. The Village Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 4 ------------------------------- Attorney stated that a guarantee to the Village by way of agreement addressing the entire center and all three properties needed to be in place at the time this matter was allowed to go forward. Mayor Mackail stated he did not believe it was fair to hold K-Mart or Jo-Go's hostages for what they felt was needed for their businesses and that they should exert pressure on Mr. Miller as the property owner's representative to properly maintain the landscaping. Mayor Mackail also stated he believed that the property owner was trying to piecemeal the plaza at the risk of the Village of Tequesta; that he had no problem with the two expansions, but that he did have a problem convoluting the issue of Ordinance 377 and that K-Mart and Jo-Go's were investing monies at the risk of the Village trying to provide assurance that the owner of the property would comply with Ordinance 377. Village Attorney Randolph explained that was why Building Official Ladd had separated the issues so that the Council could accommodate the expansions and deal separately with the property owner, which was all right as long as the Council made sure they were protected relating to the property as a whole, by making any approvals subject to an agreement and bond to assure landscape installation and a survivability period. Councilmember Schauer suggested that the agreement include a requirement for a specified number of water meters; however, was advised by the Village Attorney that it was not the business of the Village to tell the property owner how to maintain the landscaping. Building Official Ladd explained that the Village possessed power under both Ordinance 377 and the site plan review process to assure that the plaza would complete their portion of the landscaping, and perform the maintenance, and bonding. Village Attorney Randolph suggested that by approving the landscaping of the two expansions that the Village would be giving up leverage in regard to the property owner since the only power that would remain would be code enforcement. Steve Miller as representative of TamWest Realty, Inc. and County Line Plaza stated that the owner's position was that compliance with Ordinance 377 was the avenue that should be used by the Council to enforce upgrading the landscaping and that it was the property owner's intent to properly maintain the landscaping, replant the area behind Winn- Dixie, and place hedges on the north and south sides of the property, but was not willing to post a bond since there was Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 5 ------------------------------- no precedent within the Village and since the .property owner was interested in protecting his investment, which was substantial. Mr. Miller explained that the property owner planned to hire the engineers which had worked for K-Mart to produce a new landscaping plan for the center, which he would have within the next thirty days. Councilmember Capretta questioned whether Mr. Miller was willing speak for the owners to assure the Village Council that a landscaping plan would be implemented to which Mr. Miller replied affirmatively, and stated that there were other issues that needed to be addressed concerning the outparcel and the future expansion of Winn-Dixie to square off their building from the rear. Mr. Miller explained he was hoping to piggyback the landscaping plan to the change in the Village parking Ordinance. After discussion, Councilmember Capretta suggested that those issues would provide further leverage for the Village Council in dealing with the property owner. Sam McRoberts stated he represented the property owner to the north of the shopping center and that a commitment had been obtained to place a high-end Hampton Inn on that property. Mr. McRoberts' comments included his belief that the landscaping plants should be upgraded; that he saw no hardships in this situation, and in regard to variances that had been granted he requested the same consideration be given when his project was submitted. There were no other comments from the public in regard to the Special Exception Hearing. Motion was made by Councilmember Capretta to approve the special exception for the shopping center. Councilmember Schauer questioned whether the Community Appearance Board's recommendations would be included and was advised that would be a part of the site plan review. Village Attorney Randolph stated the special exception was for the expansion, however, that would not be approved unless it were conditioned upon items represented in the site plan review, therefore, he did not see how they could be separated. Building Official Ladd explained that was probably why they were always discussed together; however, in the past, actual voting procedure had been to first consider the special exception public hearing, vote on the allowed use, and immediately following to vote on the site plan review. Village Attorney Randolph suggested that the special i Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 6 ------------------------------- exception be approved subject to the ultimate approval of the site plan review. Vice Mayor Burckart verified that the Council would be voting to approve 221,454 square feet, which would exclude the outparcel. Building Official Ladd responded to Vice Mayor Burckart that the landscape percentage would be 18.3 for the whole center in accordance with the variance granted by the Board of Adjustment but not necessarily 18.3$ on the K-Mart site. Village Attorney Randolph explained that the applicant was the property owner and that granting the special exception was conditioned upon 18.3 landscaping for the entire shopping center; therefore, if the applicant did not provide 18.3 for the entire shopping center that the applicant would no longer have either the special exception or the variance. Councilmember Capretta inquired of Building Official Ladd if the motion he had made allowed increase of the square footage of the shopping center from its present number to 221,454 without the outparcel and also granted a special landscaping exception to only increase to 18.3$ instead of 25~, and included landscaping by K-Mart and by Jo-Go's within their own areas, plus the rest of the shopping center; to which Mr. Ladd responded that was correct. Village Attorney Randolph stated that no conditions had been made in the motion to tie in the landscaping. Mayor Mackail stated he would like to approve Councilmember Capretta's motion conditioned upon receipt from the property owner a letter of credit equal to 125 of the estimated value of the landscaping and irrigation. Mayor Mackail expressed disapproval of the way staff had handled this matter since the Village Council had been placed in the position of voting on an application which they were not comfortable in doing, since they had unanswered questions. Vice Mayor Burckart stated that he would like included within a developer's agreement an agreement with a certified landscape maintenance company. Councilmember Capretta commented that K-Mart needed to proceed and that the Village still had the 221,454 square feet, the 18.3 landscaping, the exclusion of the outparcel, and still had enough clout to deal with the property owner. Therefore, his motion still stood with the qualifications discussed. Motion was seconded by Councilmember Schauer. Village Attorney Randolph verified that Councilmember Capretta had Bade a motion to approve the special exception based upon the requirement of the property owner to provide 18.3$ landscaping over the entire project and the approval to be Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 7 ------------------------------- 221,454 square feet. Councilmember Schauer withdrew her second to the motion since the motion did not include a developer's agreement or a bond. The motion therefore died. Vice Mayor Burckart made a motion to approve the special exception hearing for the shopping center at 221,454 square feet subject to a letter of credit being delivered to the Village for the survivability of landscaping at 125$ and a developer's agreement which would include the maintenance and a contract with a certified landscaping company, landscaping at 18.3$, with the approval conditioned upon the successful approval of the site plan review in agenda item 4 and 5. Motion was seconded by Councilmember Schauer. Discussion of the motion included Village Attorney Randolph questioning whether the Vice Mayor wished to include necessary irrigation costs and a length of time that the letter of credit or the survivability bond would be in effect. Vice Mayor Burckart responded that he wished the survivability period to be two years. Councilmember Capretta stated he did not understand how the maintenance of the landscaping could be included in the requirement to increase the landscaping from 15~ to 18.3. Village Attorney Randolph explained that the 18.3$ landscaping had already been granted by the Board of Adjustment and that the Village Council was not approving that tonight. Village Manager Bradford explained that this approval was only to allow expansion to 221,454 square feet. Ray Royce, Attorney for K-Mart, stated that K-Mart's concern was that developing an agreement or obtaining a letter of credit would delay their project for some time, and therefore urged the Village Council to support Councilmember Capretta's position. Village Attorney Randolph stated that the Council had not heard whether the property owner would accept the conditions in the Vice Mayor's motion and if they accepted the conditions that would take some time. Councilmember Capretta questioned whether there was anything wrong in his original motion which would approve the special exception for County Line Plaza to expand to 221,454 square feet, to which Village Attorney Randolph responded that the result would be that the landscaping would be 18.3 so that when the property owner submitted a site plan review that in order for him to move forward, he would have to assure that the 18.3$ landscaping was provided, and did not guarantee a bond or a maintenance agreement. Attorney Royce suggested that conditions could be placed on the site plan approval Village Council Special l~ieeting Irlinutes April 27, 1995 Page 8 ------------------------ when submitted by the property owner, that the Village could use other means of leverage in the future, and urged the Council to allow the K-Mart expansion to move forward. Vice Mayor Burckart amended his motion to approve the special exception use requested by the overall shopping center owner, Tamwest Realty, Inc., for 22.1,454 square feet and in addition that the owner would submit a site plan which complied with Ordinance 377 at 18.3$ landscaping coverage; that the square footage would be approved without condition; but that prior to certificate of occupancy a letter of credit with a 2-year duration for survivability of the landscaping at 125$ of the landscaping cost along with compliance with Ordinance 377 at 18.3$ coverage and a developer's agreement to provide for maintenance agreement of the landscaping would be approved by the Village Council. Attorney Royce objected to his client being placed into the position. of obtaining a building permit and moving forward and risking being able to obtain a certificate of occupancy because of conditions beyond their control. Mayor Mackail stated although he agreed with Vice Mayor Burckart, he believed that the Council should move ahead on the approval since the expansions should not be prevented from .moving forward. Councilmember Schauer stated she withdrew her motion to Vice Mayor Burckart's motion. Therefore, Vice Mayor Burckart's motion died. Councilmember Capretta restated his original motion to approve the special exception to allow County Line Plaza to be increased to 221,454 square feet which excludes the outparcel on the condition that the overall landscaping is increased to 18.3$. Councilmember Hansen seconded Councilmember Capretta's motion. At the request of Vice Mayor Burckart, Village Attorney Randolph restated the motion. The vote on the motion was: Ron T. Mackail - for William B. Burckart - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Page 9 the motion was therefore passed and adopted. IV. MODIFIED SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR R-MART EXPANSION AT COUNTY LINE PLAZA, 500-722 II.S. HIGHWAY ONE NORTH, TEQUESTA. Anne Marie Eustace, Interplan Practice, Ltd., Agent for TamWest Realty, Inc., Owner. Ms. Eustace verified with the Village Council that the approval now being sought was for K-Mart's demised area only. Ms. Eustace stated she had not personally seen a copy of the Community Appearance Board's suggestions, that Mr. Strahan had told her what they were, and that she needed direction over how to handle the installation of sabal palms on the north buffer since K-Mart had no control over removal of Australian pines on the adjoining property. Building Official Ladd explained that under Ordinance 377 the property owner was required to remove exotics and that it was up to the Village, through code enforcement if necessary, to get the Australian pines removed from the adjoining property. Vice Mayor Burckart requested that the sabal palms be replaced with queen palms. Community Appearance Board Vice Chair Vic Strahan explained that a qualified landscape architect on that Board had reported several shopping centers had just recently been done with sabal palms, however, Mr. Strahan had no objections to use of more queen palms on the site. Community Appearance Board Chair Leslie Cook stated that the difference in sabal palms and queen palms was that the sabal palms would give a larger visual impact which would help fill up the large space in the parking lot. Vice Mayor Burckart agreed to 50$ sabal palms and 50$ queen palms, with heights to range from 12 to 18 feet. Vice Mayor Burckart requested that the 132 live oaks which were to be removed be replanted and spread .out along the west property line, to which Ms. Eustace agreed. Mr. Strahan stated that the oaks were in such poor condition that many would not survive after replanting. Ms. Eustace clarified that K-Mart would not be responsible for replacing any live oaks which died after replanting. Motion was made by Councilmember Schauer to approve the modified site plan for the R-Mart expansion at County Line Plata, with the condition that 50$ queen palms and 50$ sabal palms be used and that the suggestions of the Community Village. Council Special Meeting Ninutes April 27, 1995 Page 10 Appearance Board be incorporated into the landscaping. Notion was seconded by Councilaecber Hanson. The vote on the motion was: Ron T. Nackail - for Willias E. Burckart - against Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for the cotion was therefore passed and adopted. V. NODIFIED SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR JO-GO'S EXPANSION AT COUNTY LINE PLAZA, 686 U.S. HIGHWAY ONE Motion was lade by Counclsember Hansen to approve the codified site plan for Jo-Go's expansion at County Line Plaza. Notion was seconded by Counciiaeaber Capretta. Vice Nayor Burckart pointed out that there was no condition for irrigation or survivability of the landscaping. The vote on the notion was: Ron T. Nackail - for Willies E. Burckart - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for the notion was therefore passed and adopted. VI. ANY OTHER NATTERS There were no other matters to be discussed. VII. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS Al Levy, 7149 SE River's Edge Road, Jupiter, suggested that a Roman Catholic elementary school at Village Boulevard and Old Dixie Highway could be beneficial to resurrect the downtown area. Advantages listed by Mr. Levy were that the children could go to a neighborhood school and would not be bussed,. property values would rise, and stores in the area would benefit from shopping by school personnel and by parents who came to drop off and pick up their children, since the school would draw from Jupiter and Hobe Sound as Village Council Special Meeting Minutes April 27, 1995 Paqe 11 ------------------------------- well as Tequesta. Mr. Levy pointed out that such a school would change the character of the Village, that the nearest Roman Catholic schools were in North Palm Beach and Stuart, that other non-public schools. in the area had long waiting lists, and that Jupiter might build such a school unless the Bishop of Palm Beach were lobbied. Mr. Levy urged residents to contact the Bishop by calling 775-9500. XV . ADJUTIIRNISENT Councilmember Schauer wooed that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Hansen seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Ron T. Mackail - for William $. Burckart - against Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Garl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for the wotion was therefore passed and adopted and the weeting was adjourned at 8:47 P.M. Respectfully submitted, ATTEST: Betty Laur Recording Secretary ann Mangani to Village Clerk DATE APPROVED: