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