A
Special council meeting requested by David Singer was held on Monday, April 2, 2018,
regarding the Palmetto Bay Village Center (PBVC) legislation. On March 19th
during the zoning hearing, the Village Council considered an agenda item
seeking to repeal the zoning regulations adopted through an ordinance 2016 for
the Palmetto Bay Village Center and revert to regulations adopted in 2008. During the Special Council Meeting this past
April 2nd, the Village Council once again discussed the VMU zoning designation
for the Palmetto Bay Village Center at length.
Councilman Singer, the sponsoring Council Member for an alternative
ordinance, presented the differences between the regulations of the 2008
Ordinance and his amended one. The Village Planner, our Traffic Consultant and
Village Attorney discussed historical and zoning background and answered
questions to provide clarification between pending legislation and the impact
of competing ordinances. CLICK HERE to view the video of this Special Council
meeting. The meeting should be an eye opening for many. Numerous presentation
boards created for this meeting to address the differences between his
amended/clarifying ordinance (which passed on a first reading 3-2) from the
ordinance that repeals the 2016 ordinance entirely. (CLICK HERE to
view the presentation boards) Here is what the facts show:
·
The 22 acres have development rights. There are NO covenants
prohibiting development. Our village attorney clarifying that ‘any attorney
opining otherwise is committing malpractice’.
·
All village planners, past and present, agree that the 22 acres
are in fact developable. Past and present village attorneys have opined that
these 22 acres are developable. The land is an Interim Zoning district.
·
A DERM vegetation management plan is NOT a covenant prohibiting
development.
·
The Village Planner explained that this land was once part of a
general zoning under a long-past county plan that predated Palmetto Bay. This designation had at one time provided for
1,400 residential units located throughout the overall property. This was prior to the Burger King World
Headquarters.
·
The maximum development allowed under the 2016 ordinance is based
upon a traffic study – The traffic study cap/requirement is REMOVED if the
ordinance is repealed. The 2016 ordinance places a real cap on development at
the Palmetto Bay Village Center. This
was a negotiated cap. Therefore, a
repeal of the 2016 ordinance would remove it and create uncertainty, risk of
greater traffic.
·
304 units, not 389, is what the PBVC is limited to if the
developer refuses to deed over the 22 acres (you can’t keep your property and
transfer developmental rights too).
·
The maximum number of units drops from 400 to 304, from the 389, if the developer refuses to deed over
the 22-acres to the Village.
·
The clarifying ordinance and the numbers determined by our Planner
can reasonably be defended in court, much more than a full repeal, as it is based
upon the evidence as it is based upon competent substantial evidence.
·
The repeal would re-establish the development of 400 units plus
the development rights associated with the 22 acres and a hotel as well. The 2014 attempt to allow development in the
22 acres involved an initial 41 units, but placed that land at risk for a
maximum up to 220!
·
The risk of a hotel is real, as hotels are commercial uses, not
residential, not subject to the 100/300 units in the 2008 ordinance. Hotel
units generate significantly more traffic than residential.
·
If, and that is an “if” the PBVC ever built a hotel, it would be
limited to a maximum of 189 hotels rooms (exhausting any right to any
residential) or would drastically reduce any residential if less than 189 rooms
are built as hotels generate no hotel and a maximum of 389 units under the 2016
ordinance, versus unlimited development of a hotel (at a much higher traffic
count that residential units) and 400 units plus the development rights to 85
units or more in the 22-acre buffer area, if the 2016 ordinance is repealed.
·
Less traffic will be generated through the traffic controls agreed
to in the 2016 ordinance and demonstrated last night in the presentation.
Repeal reopens the Palmetto Bay Village Center to risk of aggressive growth and
substantially higher traffic counts.
·
The PBVC is the last piece of property in the “Urban Infill Area”
(properties east of 77th Avenue).
Properties located within the Urban Infill Area are not subject to the
same traffic concurrency requirements, therefore there is no traffic
restrictions with a repeal but there is with the 2016 ordinance (77th
Avenue ends at 184th Street).
·
Repeal of the 2016 opens the 22 acres to development at 5 to 10
units per acre (applying simple math shows the risk to be 110 to 220 units in
addition to the hotel units and 300/100) for a potential total of 620 units and
in addition the real possibility of a hotel.
·
The 2008 ordinance was adopted unanimously- 5-0 - after over 40 public
meetings were held and included the public Charette process (The Charette
report was accepted in September 2004).
I am always willing
to listen to alternatives. That is what a public process is about. But why not argue the merits of the 2016
traffic controls placed in the 2016 ordinance.
Offering only ‘don’t be afraid to litigate’ is not a good option. We need to be proactive and find real
solutions. Did Palmetto Bay learn nothing from the Palmer and Charter School
litigation? Both BIG losses as the Court recognized the property development
rights in both cases over the simple denial of development by the Village
Council.
Legislation versus a zoning hearing:
I offer the above
on the legislation, separate from the zoning hearing that will be held late
this year. The Mayor and Council essentially
sit and act as judges in a quasi-judicial proceeding – matters such as the
Palmetto Bay Village Center – at any zoning hearing. I have made it clear that
I will continue to conduct myself accordingly. Any discussion based upon
political catch phrases and emotion, ignoring the evidence would not be
defensible in court.
The opinions above
are consistent with the near action taken in 2014 where prior Mayor Stanczyk
attempted to development of those 22 acres. That effort failed due to political
reasons, not due to legal barriers – the 2014 staff report NEVER claimed any
inability to deny that development due to any alleged covenants. The
proceedings leading up to the 2016 ordinance arose directly out of concern that
those 22 acres would in fact be developed. It is my goal that the 22 acres must
be protected.
The Court rules on the evidence and law, not emotional wants or
political statements.
Elected officials
need to be honest about property rights and cease the false contention that a
property has no rights greater than what currently existing on a property.
It takes true
leadership to speak the truth about developmental rights. It is tempting to hide behind political rhetoric
and let the courts decide. Of course, that what we saw in the Palmer litigation
- years of politically fueled litigation entanglement that led to approximately
$1 Million – that’s right, $1 million in hard monetary costs to our
Village. And, in the end, the prior
administration ended up totally capitulating after years of assurances of
litigation success. See: Palmetto Bay approves Palmer Trinity expansion, by Lola Duffort, Sept. 26, 2014,
documenting that the Village gave back all gains in the zoning issue, releasing
about 80 conditions. All of this could have been resolved years earlier through
rational compromise, but the politics got in the way of common sense, as well
as, in my opinion, a failure to own up to basic legal principals.
The article details
include:
Mayor Shelley
Stanczyk made a point of underlining before the vote that all was not said and
done with Palmer Trinity’s litigation outstanding against the village and some
of its residents.
“We’ve been
promised a new era tonight,” she said. “But I think that era only starts – in
my estimation – when those lawsuits get dropped.”
Ball Mehta said on
Tuesday that the school was looking to end litigation, but would not say
whether or not it would seek a settlement.
“Discussions are
going to commence and I anticipate that we will find common ground so that the
parties can reach an acceptable resolution,” she said.
The bottom line is
run for cover when your officials rely upon political tag lines and cute
campaign sound bites, used far too often to gain populist appeal over truly
serving the public good. I have followed much of this litigation on my blog at
eugeneflinn.com. In fact, CLICK HERE to follow the “litigation” label you only need to scroll down
5 posted to read articles of how the Palmer litigation progressed.
The real issue is
this – there are very real property rights vested in the PBVC site. Do we want
to be proactive and limit development or fall victim once again to the
political campaigns that want to litigate with our collective tax dollars and
then ‘blame the courts’ for any adverse consequences?
Do we want to risk
real controls agreed to in the 2016 ordinance by repealing it and having the
courts decide.
In summary, the
stakes are real. We either engage and work
to reduce our exposure using what leverage we have or turn the entire matter
over to a court and risk a real unmitigated traffic disaster.
I could not be more proud how our hard work paid off - Palmetto Bay's Municipal Center is certified LEED Platinum in recognition of its energy efficiency (and money saving) features. 
