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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-09-07 - City Commission Special Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COMMISSION OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Schreiber called the Special Workshop Meeting of the City Commission to order on Frida�, September 7, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 105 of Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88t Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. PRESENT: Mayor Joe Schreiber, Vice Mayor Marc L. Sultanof, Commissioner Edward C. Portner, Commissioner Gertrude Mishkin, and Commissioner Karen L. Roberts. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, City Attorney Mitchell S. Kraft, and City Clerk Marion Swenson. 1. COMMERCIAL BOULEVARD AND UNIVERSITY DRIVE CORRIDOR STUDY: City Manager Miller said the purpose of the workshop is to discuss some planning issues and no decisions are necessary today. The issues to be discussed are the University Drive and Commercial Boulevard corridor studies, the CRA proposal for State Road 7, and an exciting idea for NW 57t" Street. This is long range planning and visualization, and something to be considered for the future of Tamarac. Community Development Director J. Christopher King said the corridor study was approved in last year's budget, and the consultants have been hired. Community Development Director King introduced Henry Iler of Iler Planning Group, and said Mr. Iler has done extensive work with the City, updating the comprehensive plan over the past few years, and assisting the planning staff with issues that came before the Commission. Mr. Iler gave an overview of Tamarac's future as a result of the corridor study, and said the city's planning staff had tremendous input into all aspects of this plan. Commissioner Portner asked who is impacted most by Tamarac's visual appearance, people driving through the city or those who live and work in the city. Mr. Iler said residents and business owners can tell where things need to be improved, and, when people come into an area, as an example Boca Raton, they have an idea from the landscaping that they have entered a particular city. Vice Mayor Sultanof suggested the construction of a rotary or stanchion at the intersection of Commercial Boulevard and University Drive. Vice Mayor Sultanof also asked about removing the wires in this area. Mr. Iler said while a stanchion at that intersection is a good idea, it would be a major project. Mayor Schreiber said he was under the impression that the County and/or State plans to expand University Drive to 8-10 lanes, and asked how that would affect these plans. Mr. Iler replied that improvement to the road may assist the city in implementing certain things, and it would be a good idea for Tamarac to be at the table from the ground floor. There is also the possibility that the city can change the mind of the county from building an additional lane to building a pedestrian or bikeway improvement. Commissioner Roberts said she thought there were plans in the works City Commission Workshop 1 for Broward County to create a bike path on University Drive. Mr. Iler said the widening of University Drive is over a 5-year time frame. There was discussion about access roads. Mr. Iler spoke about the existing transportation system on 57th Street, bikeways, sidewalks, bus shelters, pedestrian access and possible crossing points. Commissioner Mishkin said there are walk overs in Las Vegas, and Tamarac may want to consider this. Mr. Iler said there is a walk over for the school on University Drive. Vice Mayor Sultanof spoke about Japan's traffic rules wherein all street traffic stops for pedestrians. Mr. Iler discussed building and site design, retail shopping patterns, landscaping, signage, opportunities and recommendations. Mr. Iler said he recommends use categories be established in the corridor, with the creation of nodes of similar uses, and said zoning and land use creates a lot of control for the city. Mayor Schreiber said setting up and identifying different areas for different purposes would have to be done through the zoning process, and this would generate more pedestrian traffic. Mayor Schreiber said he would like to see a bikeway/pedestrian walk on 57th Street, carried to University Drive, so people would be able to walk from University Drive to Commerce Park. Commissioner Roberts questioned crossing University Drive, and Mr. Iler said that would be worked out. Vice Mayor Sultanof suggested turning 57th Street into a promenade, and spoke about possibly getting rid of the Chevron station at that corner. Mr. Iler spoke about visible, tangible assets, and said north of Midway Mall is a 5-acre parcel, which, through the development process, Tamarac might be able to turn into a waterside park. Mr. Iler said the building design themes are already set at Mediterranean and Contemporary, and Mayor Schreiber said Tamarac needs more art. Mr. Iler suggested that Tamarac may want to consider an art in public places program. Mayor Schreiber asked about mixed uses, and Mr. Iler said the property on University Drive north of the church is a great location for such a use. Additionally, Commercial Boulevard and 571h Street are prime locations for those types of uses. Commissioner Roberts asked about acquiring the parcel on Pine Island Road and McNab Road that belonged to the County, for a park. City Manager Miller said the City now has that parcel. There was discussion about vagrants inhabiting passive parks. Mr. Iler said the next step is to establish a zoning overlay and guidelines. Commissioner Portner said everything discussed today relates to the west side of Tamarac and the people on the east side of 441 are not being recognized. Mayor Schreiber said the corridors are not fully developed, and we want to encourage business to come into the city, but there is no room for new development on the east side. Commissioner Roberts said Sunshine Plaza is being redeveloped, Satellite City Hall is on the east side of the city, Hampton Hotel has been built as well as a new Eckerds. Community Development Director King said staff was not directed to look at the area east of 441, but in conjunction with the corridor study, staff looked at the creation of a CRA in that area. City Commission Workshop 2 Commissioner Mishkin said when people drive through Tamarac they should be aware they are in Tamarac. In order to differentiate between one city and another, some northern cities have their own styles of light posts; some paint cartoon characters on the fire hydrants, and Tamarac might want to look into doing something unique to distinguish it from other cities. Commissioner Mishkin said addresses on buildings should be posted in large numbers. Community Development Director King summarized the presentation and asked the Commission to formally adopt the proposal at the September 26th meeting and direct staff to proceed with the creation of an overlay zoning district. City Manager Miller said this item is to be placed on the next workshop agenda. Mayor Schreiber said there are two new schools on Commercial Boulevard and the entire area must be looked at very carefully with regard to new development. Community Development Director King gave a presentation on the corridor study, and explained the various land uses suggested for the corridor. Commissioner Roberts questioned the mixed -use node, and Community Development Director King said the next step would be to redefine certain areas and come up with more specific uses. Vice Mayor Sultanof said when the new library is completed and the old library is moved out of the mail, another type of government use should go into that space to keep that mall active. Commissioner Portner questioned whether public art is loaned to the city or is purchased and Community Development Director King said his staff has not done too much research on this yet, but he does know that the County goes out to bid and artists from around the world compete and bring in proposals. Then a committee selects an artist. There was discussion about funding for artwork. Mayor Schreiber recessed the meeting at 11:05 a.m. Mayor Schreiber reconvened the meeting at 11:15 a.m. with all present except for Vice Mayor Sultanof who had a previous appointment. Community Development Director King introduced Michael Houston, Urban Designer, who gave a presentation on the Main Street project. Mr. Houston said opportunities to create a main street, such as Tamarac has designed, are rare and unique. Mr. Houston discussed various aspects of the main street, such as a waterfront park at the civic center, streetscape elements, side street design, opportunities for mixed uses, greenways on canals, the various nodes, and existing residential areas. Mayor Schreiber said in order to accommodate these ideas, changes would have to be made to our code. Community Development Director King said each member of the planning staff had an integral part in the concept behind the 57th Street Main Street Plan, and he thanked them for their efforts. Additionally, he thanked Messrs. Iler and Houston for their outstanding work on the project. Community Development Director King said the plan would be developed over the next 15-20 years, and development regulations would take one or more years to create and adopt. Public participation throughout the process would get community buy -in. Mayor Schreiber asked Mr. King to bring back to the City Commission Workshop 3 Commission a basic plan of what is involved, finances, and a time line. Mayor Schreiber said this is a unique and new vision, and Tamarac is setting the pace, which is very exciting. Mayor Schreiber and the Commission agreed they are in favor of moving forward with the project. Commissioner Roberts asked how development that is in the process of being approved is going to fit into this plan, and Community Development Director King said the city can have what is called zoning in progress, where developments coming through are told that a plan is being proposed and they need to conform to those regulations. City Attorney Kraft said this is a recognized methodology. City Manager Miller added that a lot of communities take an area for detail planning and almost put a zoning moratorium on the area until the plans are done. It is very defensible, and we may need to pass an ordinance to protect this area. City Manager Miller said a zoning issue is coming forward that the Commission may need to table because of the corridor study. Commissioner Portner asked when an east side downtown can be expected, and Community Development Director King responded that when this is in place here, then the city will move eastward on Commercial Boulevard. 2. REDEVELOPMENT NEEDS STUDY (CRA). Community Development Director J. Christopher King said the City hired Mr. Iler to look into the CRA and turned the microphone over to Mr. Iler, Mr. Iler said the CRA focused on the east side of Tamarac, State Road 7 and Commercial Boulevard. Mr. Iler said CRA's bring money to the table; however, Tamarac does not have a lot of areas that are not sharing in the prosperity. Mr. Iler said the area looked at was the Florida turnpike along Commercial Boulevard west to State Road 7, and to the City limits on each side of State Road 7. Sunshine Plaza was not included in the study area as they are presently under renovation. Mr. Iler discussed Tamarac's growth and the tax base of this particular area, and said it is estimated that this area, if designated as a CRA, might bring in $140,000 from the County and Hospital District for redevelopment. After calculations were done, it was concluded that establishment of a CRA would not be beneficial to Tamarac. Mr. Iler said renovations being done at Sunshine Plaza might spur redevelopment in the area, and the area might redevelop on its own with the right incentives from Tamarac. Mayor Schreiber asked if Tamarac could fund the strip centers along the west side of State Road 7 to improve their appearance, and Mr. Iler said after Sunshine Plaza is completed, those would be a high priority, north and south of Commercial Boulevard. Commissioner Portner said he would like to see a meeting set up with the owners of the strip centers north and south of Commercial Boulevard to see if they could be enticed to redevelop their areas, and he would like to see this done soon. Community Development Director King said interest has been shown on the southeast corner of 441 and Commercial Boulevard, and redevelopment may be forthcoming in the near future on two parcels in that area. City Manager Miller said he believed a meeting would be a good first step. Commissioner Roberts suggested instead of the city putting $150,000 out to start a CRA, it would be more beneficial to put that money into the community to establish incentives for new facades and landscaping. City Manager Miller said some cities set up revolving loan programs for fagade and landscaping programs. Commissioner Portner asked if the east side of 441, which belongs to Ft. Lauderdale, could be made to do some renovations, and Commissioner Portner City Commission Workshop 4 11 1.1 suggested annexing that side of the street. City Manager Miller said he broached the subject with Floyd Johnson, City Manager of Ft. Lauderdale, and was told annexation would not be possible, as Ft. Lauderdale intends to hold on to that property. Community Development Director King said there is CDBG funding available for commercial uses, which was not recommended or approved during the past 2 years, but can be put into next year's budget. Mr. Iler recognized Tammy Reed, Economic Development Manager, and thanked her for her work on the redevelopment study. Mr. Iler recognized Jill Quigley of IPG, and thanked her for her work on the corridor and redevelopment study. Community Development Director King thanked Mr. Iler, Mr. Houston, Tammy Reed and the Planning staff for doing an outstanding job of putting this project together. Mayor Schreiber said we have to stop neglecting the east side. There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Mayor Schreiber adjourned the workshop meeting at 12:10 p.m. I i Marion Swen on, CIVIC City Clerk City Commission Workshop 5