2 2024 um may we please all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I PL allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you very much Madam Secretary may we have the roll call please hello okay yes um chairman Ernst present Vice chair MC deerma commissioner each present commissioner blir um waiting waiting she did indicate she would be attending she did indicate so so I'll mark what time she comes in um commissioner CED present commissioner Clark commissioner Bob as well said that he would be in attendance so we'll see what happens and uh last but not least commissioner Dr Besson okay all right we have a quorum very good Mr chair um oh actually uh Miss blir oh commissioner blir and commissioner Bob just walked in so you have a full quum we started our engines a little early here sorry nice to see you Adam secretary do have some uh iPads for both the uh Commissioners I don't see hers Mr oh Mr Bob has is I don't believe okay you well that was fast we give us and we take us away yeah in nature of government very good um next on the agenda is there um any amendments to the agenda staff good evening Mr chair um staff would ask that you would defer item number two on the agenda which is denoted as PC 17- 83 to a date specific for our special meeting to take place on April the 11th at 7 p.m all right the um staff have any comments to is both all parties prepared for for a presentation on this or is there uh you can elaborate a little bit as the reason why this is being um held off until the uh 11th yes sir so we have a companion item that is with this one what you have before you is a text Amendment to the Land Development regulations right upon further review of the applicants request staff determined that they are also required a comprehensive plan text amendment to go in concert with this with that being the case you would need to hear the comprehensive plan text Amendment before you could hear the ldr text Amendment all right so that would be a separate that would have been a separate item yes sir it would and that was not prepared that was not prepared because it was anticipated we had already advertised for this item for this meeting and so we could not include this in this on this meeting so we had to thus request a special meeting to accommodate the applicants timeline Mr hel uh so just not to supplement that but to provide further information on the correct procedure for this there's a recent Florida statutory amendment that requires that the daytime and place of the subsequent meeting be public publicly stated so just to cross all uh te's and do eyes so date will be September 11th and next Thursday April I'm sorry April 11th just to it's okay sir make sure get it right thank you April 11th at 7 p.m in these Chambers and both both items will be prepared both items will be but the only we're actually continuing is pc1 1783 we had discussed whether to read the title but I I don't know that it's pretty clear yeah since it's already been noted that item won't even be uh read into the record tonight and we'll just hold off until uh it's continued next week with the accompanied item so we'll we'll go ahead and move on thank you very much for that this continuation require an acceptance or motion from the the Planning Commission or is this yes why don't why don't we do it by a vote all right well do do I have a motion for continuance so moved moved by Mr mcdermaid seconded by Mr cyre okay all in favor say I I I any oppose no there are no there's no opposition to it so that item will be U moved to April 11th uh to be read in at that time and uh and the item that will be a companion to it will also be uh addressed at that time all right thank you Mr H you're welcome so let's move on to U number two on on your item list uh I need approval of am minutes for the meeting of February 6 2024 moved by Mr mcck seconded by Mr re uh Communications we've already discussed uh the special meeting date of April 11th 24 staff has assured me that that will be noticed at that time for that time um next on the item for communications is a report from the uh parks and U Recreation Department I believe and we have the um director with us good evening glad to see you thank you nice to see you too good evening Christine Carney Parks and Recreation director um I know some of the things that you wanted to talk about to what that are on the list the first is the I'm G to read those out before you get started the report will contain the kagne part update uh space for flag space force flag at Veterans Memorial at Griffin Park art and public places and lighting the I95 underpasses and the crosswalks at Griffin Park and uh I know I had asked at an earlier meeting to give us an update on the Tot Lot at the Bree Tot Lot also on Northeast Second Avenue 125th so thank you for coming and we're all anxious to hear the latest update on what you have for us okay um so it's not a whole lot both Kagney Park north and the Bree swep Tot Lot are actually out to bid so we are under aona silence on that project so it is going it's been out to bid for about almost 30 days uh and it's going to be out for at least 45 and then once the bid the bids are collected and there is someone awarded then the work will begin um it's hopefully to start I want to say mid to late July that's just a speculation again you're not telling us no I can't give you that firm timeline because once the bid is awarded to whoever gets it both projects will have a better timeline for when it will start to when it would finish and in the meantime I I I noticed that uh it's really hard to uh keep an eye on on especially with the Bree sft Tot Lot um it it looks in disrepair because of the construction and everything is there any way that we can improve upon that the way it looks right now because it's quite frankly becoming an is sore right graffiti is starting to show up on the fencing along the outside part of it and kind of overgrown in there I would hope maybe your cruise could get in there and take a look at that and try to make it look a little more strip shape in the meantime yes we have been doing that um not on a weekly basis but at least on a bi-weekly basis on maintaining the inside of the area uh we just received the information on the um graffiti which we're dealing with um it's you know once we clean it up it's going to come back into another spot or it's going to come back into that same spot so it's a constant making sure that we're cleaning it up the unfortunately the material that they're graffi they're putting it on um it doesn't clean up so I have to replace the material every time so it gets to be a little bit more um pricier than what we would want to do but uh for Bree swep Tot Lot I think that one's going to start sooner than we sooner than expected I know it's been a long time coming uh but it will it is going to start I believe and I can almost 80 almost 90% sure that it will be starting in July um the other issue the other um item here listed the space for flag space force flag at Veterans Memorial at Griffin Park yes so that's a new request um and that's something that we will definitely look into it is if you looked at uh Griffin Park at especially at the memorial um we would have to put up another flag pole uh so that's going to be not as quickly as we'd like it to be but it's something that we will have to look into in placement of it because of the way that it's currently set up so it might be a little off-centered but uh we can work on that and getting that put up up but it would have to require a whole another poll which we do not have at that location thank you which would also require line item budget so we presume that would probably be after the start of the next fiscal year it's something we would have to look into I can't I don't know the price of what that would be it could be something that we could afford it might be something that would have to be another line item in getting it into the next budget but if you let me do some research on that on pricing then I can come back to another meeting and give you a better answer for that question would good but while we're talking Breeze swept in Northeast 2 Avenue I've noticed that the pedestrian bridge going over the bis cagen Canal has been closed off we have any indication on that there was tape closing off the access points I'll have to look in um to that a little bit more that's not under my preview so it is with public works but I can definitely look into that and get you guys some information so that there is an answer to you I'm not aware that it was closed but I can find out yeah we would appreciate a report on that next month is fine okay you know somebody's doing something or reportedly doing something yeah it might be and I'm not I don't know I'm not sure I don't I can't speak on that if I don't I don't want to give you the wrong information okay uh the other last two requests that you have actually um my uh cooworker Christina is going to speak on that but if you have anything else for Parks I can answer no ma'am thank you no thank you very much good evening good evening Este team members of the Planning Commission my name is Christina viala I am the sustainability administrator in development services and the projects you you mentioned uh were from our work with the irban design and preservation division within oh you know about that screw because not everybody did yes within the American Planning Association we had a two-day workshop November 13th and 14 2023 and um these workshops culminated in a report um the report divides our work into three groups uh group one resiliency low impact design and passive parks and they use case studies from the city including our storm water park Oleander Park passive Parks so they focus on how to optimize the use of these spaces with green infrastructure group two was focused on Mobility so on how to establish a bicycle Network along the city on 131st Street um and so that includes actually a vision for that pedestrian bridge and group three focus on infill development and historic preservation so the the work of the DEA the APA is is very extensive and they have offered to present to the city some of these um illustrations and uh recommendations that they've had for us any idea when that presentation will take place uh well we could aim for the next May presentation I mean a Planning Commission meeting if that's okay would be good to have that presentation made before the Planning Commission okay they they they came from all over the country so it would have to be a virtual presentation sure okay so we will work on putting that on the agenda there could be a packet with color photos for for the Commissioners yes because that would that would trigger better memory of what this event was and where we might be able to go with this because it's obviously going to take some consistent push with of course you know with City to be able to allocate funding over the next year or two years to achieve some of these things yes we're we're happy to present the current report um it might be a little better to share the presentation it'll be more concise um whichever you prefer well uh you know we'd like to I would like to see the Commissioners get package of photos of what might be of what could be and that would allow for greater interaction with staff and city manager and council members for budgeting purposes I know the only council member that attended part of that was uh uh councilman Charles the others did not gin did show up did he show up well that's that's good that's good you know and if a packets get to the uh the council members as well as Planning Commission then there's a better basis for discussion we can bring it up with homeowners meetings and you know we can Network this A Little Bit Stronger through the community and so if we have an audiovisual presentation that's good and then photographic packet of what might happen and how it might be applied would give us a sense of direction to go forward and request periodic updates and reports may I ask if U the U meeting of the May Planning Commission meeting would that be enough time to get your presentation together yes I believe so because they they had a preliminary presentation they would just have to update it with their final findings Mr Cypher would you be fine that we hold it not for next week because oh of course not next week May would be preferred all right you know give them time to make sure they have packets and photos and we have something to to physically have and share and show and and work with our council members and you know try and encourage this these things to be acted on and and since you you notice this was in November see and I thought it was January see what happens time five we go to so many meetings you can't remember when they are actually um between the time that we spoke this afternoon I literally started calling every department and then realized it was right next door so it was short notice but we were able to get Christina to come in that's excellent and we thank you for coming because now we can see the other Commissioners didn't have the benefit of of that particular Workshop but if we give them the photographs of what might be done of what could be done we then have a greater opportunity to actually push this forward and make something happen thank you I appreciate it my you know having been involved in these things for 30 more years and then some so many good ideas just get shelled because there's no no push for it but these ideas are things that the city can actually achieve with very minimal investment and it would make such a difference if we pull this off and so I I'm very interested in seeing this going forward and I solicit packets for the Commissioners so that they can take a look at the photographs of what might be and we can have more of an open discussion on on what could be done with hypothetically griffing Park what could be done under the the expressway overpasses what could be done in some of the other areas we're talking about so you know I'd like to see this come back with a full color presentation absolutely and I think you'll love the the pictures that we have I I was quite impressed with the with the the wh ifs and what could be done and so I'd like to have this shared with the Planning Commission so we can then share it with the council members and push for this as a budget item for next year to take on some of these projects and maybe get pieces implemented in the next couple of years M Mr cook um will you be able to um accommodate Communications with her so that we can get get that put on our agenda for the next meeting yes sir that's our intent um she's right across the hall for me so oh good all right you yell across to her yes put it on the meeting thank you sir appreciate that very much thank you and thank you um moving down to item four on tonight's agenda continued public hearings uh staff do we have any continued public hearings this evening no sir thank you thank you very much um at this time on item number five public hearing um I'd ask uh Council will this be a semi judicial quasi quasi judicial uh yeah I think it is quasi judici all right so um I'm going to go ahead and um um read the resolution in first then I'll ask for um commission dis disclosure and then I'll ask you to um uh read the oath in to whoever wants to testify in behalf of this item okay well I I'll do the summary of procedures that at some point in that process all right and the clerk will do the other okay thank you very good tonight's public hearing we'll discuss the item PC 17- 82 a resolution of the mayor and the city council of the city of North Miami Florida approving the vacation abandonment and sale of portion a of portion a city owned roadway Northeast 123rd Terrace located between Northeast 17th Avenue and biscan Boulevard further authorizing the city manager to negotiate the sale the set section of public land and to take all necessary steps to effectuate same providing for effective date and for all other purposes um and at this point uh after I've read this in now I'm going to ask commission members if there's anyone that needs to um have a disclosure if anyone has had discussion with this item with anyone in the public or with those here to make the presentation hearing none I'll move on to Mr held Mr held if you could go ahead please before we start the staff report okay this is a summary of quas judicial procedures applicable to this item these rules apply to applications on specific procel of land like zoning map amendments special exceptions variances and conditional use requests the commission will sit like a court hence the term quasi judicial reviewing the facts presented at the hearing applying the adopted rules as explained by staff and the staff report and verbally commission members can V make site visits but must disclose the evidence upon which they intend to rely from that visit commission members uh will disclose at the beginning of the hearing whether they have had communication with individuals on behalf of the applicant or otherwise including who the communication was with and what the topic of discussion was all persons intending to speak to the commission will be sworn by the clerk the staff will make a presentation commission may ask questions the applicant will make a presentation including expert Witnesses if any the commission may ask questions when the public hearing is open the public can make comments on the application limited to two minutes each citizen testimony must be fact based not opinion commission may ask questions and the applicant's attorney if any may ask questions on cross-examination members of the public and declin to be cross-examined commission deliberates based on the evidence presented Commission decision must be based on confident substantial evidence meaning based on the record staff presentations expert presentations and fact-based comments by citizens according to the standards for approval set forth in the city code commission may approve deny or continue the item so while staff previously read into the record emailed or mailed comments since the letters are not comp substantial evidence for example not sworn testimony subject to cross- examination the commission's decision cannot be based on what is contained in the letters but they can be used to identify issues and help to identify sources of information that do contain competent substantial evidence upon which a decision can be based we ask each of you to treat this proceeding with respect and proper decorum no calling out interrupting speakers or disrupting the proceeding please give this proceeding the same dignity and respect as if you were in court disruptions are prohibited and en forceable pursuant to the city code please also silence your cell phones thank you thank you Mr hel mam secretary at this time I'd ask you if you could swear and those are going to be speaking on behalf of this item or is here to oppose it all right all those people please stand okay do you swear or affirm that the testimony and evidence you are about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do thank you very much um may we have staff report please thank you Mr chair as was stated in the reading of the item the item before you is a vacation abandonment closure of a portion of Northeast 123rd Terrace the subject properly uh subject area is approximately 14, 761 Square ft a roadway that's situated on Northeast 123rd Terrace is stated located between Northeast 17th Avenue and bis Gan Boulevard to the east the adjacent properties are 12350 bis G Boulevard which is immediately to the north of the property you have 1705 Northeast 123rd Street which is to the southwest of the property you have 12 300 bis G Boulevard which is to the southeast of the property which is the gas station area that is located at the corner of bis game Boulevard and Northeast 123rd if you're familiar with there the adjacent property owner is biscan Apartments Development LLC in context the adjacent property owner desires to utilize the portion of the roadway for future development of a mix use project which will have a potentially 450 residential units and 30,000 square ft of commercial retail space on the ground floor you had two appraisals that were conducted for the property which is by Charter's request um um and one of the appraisals were for $1,770 th000 the second appraisal was for $1,700,000 per hour Charter a minimum of 90% of the top appraisal must be paid for the vacated property which is for a total of 1,593 th000 there are a few conditions associated with this abandonment there a transfer of Deeds after payment of full by the applicant the city will convey The Land by virtue of deed easement access they would need to provide easement access for each of the utilities that are prevalent such as AT&T um water things that effect and they need to provide those letters as such at time of city council also they would need to issue a Unity or title or they can do a replot or they can do a covered in L within 45 days of this approval they do a replat it's going to take long within 45 days but they would need to do that and the next step would be that the item would is scheduled tentatively for the May the 14th meeting for city council for review for approval or denial that is my prayer presentation thank you thank you very much um is the applicant present that you make a presentation for us and go into a little bit more detail as to the plans yes Mr chair while the applicant is setting up I just want to correct the scrier error the correct Charter citation is Article 1 Section 8A not Article 1 Section 3 so that's also a an error in the ordinance itself um so maybe that's something we can that we have to correct okay thank you is it a text text error that hasn't no no effect on no it has no effect on we're just referencing the correct section all right thank you good evening sir name and address good evening Chris Collins Urban Design offices at 666 Northeast 120 F Street North Miami I'm here on behalf of the surrounding property owners for the proposed Road vacation application which is biscan Apartments Development LLC pretty prominent intersection in the city uh bisc 123rd hopefully everyone can see this here but what is depicted in red is the proposed V Road vacation um which is just North of the existing gas station and paint store and in between the former Johnson and Wales has a four had a four-story dormatory building that's now vacant um the road splits the two two different segments of land um the intent is to vacate the road and then come in eventually demolish all the existing facilities on the three properties and come in with a new mix use development does that go all the way back to 124th Street or just or does that include 124th this is 17th right last here and then bounded to to the east by biscan and then I'm looking at the one diagram here that list 124 Street the intersection of 11 17th Avenue what's the northern boundary of the just the North Boundary correct the main site yeah what's that that's noreast 124 Street which is not a proposed vacation but but your your property goes to that point yes sir the North Boundary is Northeast 24 Street on that other side of that on the other side um is actually land owned majority of the land is actually also owned by the same applicant but they're smaller former dormatory apartment buildings two three stories in nature and all those buildings would be replaced or torn down on a bigger development or what no no that would not be a part of the application okay that's not part of the application no but the building that is that the dormatory portion which you mentioned is part of the application yes the intent would be to remove the four-story dormatory building that's there today the pool Clubhouse building and then on the opposite side of Northeast 123r Terrace to the South Side certainly the the gas station and the the paint store that's there today they're going to they're going to be included into demolition did you say they would be yes okay and um um those owners have been a part of the talks with that or Can U buildings owned by your company our client owns all the properties in question all of the adjacent properties to the room the dormatory building the gas station and the pain store all right I did not know that thank you st M no the strip mall is there a strip mall on the biscane boulevard side that's that's uh to the West the 17th Avenue now that's not that's on the west side of 17th or on the east side it's on the west side west side that's not correct that that's um unrelated to to this and the road their road that is on the back of that yeah I'm sorry the uh the property Charli if you remember the Voyager Motel right that was that's the property and I'm just trying to visualize at the moment that the the property that the property along this game Boulevard their property uh is all of it right now it's the structure that were the dormitories it goes all the way to 124th Street correct okay it takes up approximately one block there's nothing along there correct now I now I can picture it sorry um and I would just like to point out we have already received the letters of no objection uh we did receive one from do since the RightWay actually connects to biscan the road is not open there the I'm not sure if it was ever at some point but that section has been closed off so the road is not run all the way to biscan right um we also have letters of no objection from Tio FPL and the city of North Miami utilities once the road is vacated we would put an easement um in place on those utilities which actually those utilities only service the existing gas station the existing pain store and the dormatory building and then at the time that uh the demolition would occur we would remove those utilities at our expense um and seek to vacate those easements okay go ahead I I'm sorry if I interrupted if you had other items all valid questions um we're in agreement with the the staff report staff has been very helpful with the application um opens any other questions or comments you may have what are you going to start demolition on the uh the current the dormatory that's over there now that four story when are you going to do that um we don't have a time frame yet you know until we are able to really until we're able to get possession of this road we haven't started any yeah um any plans for the actual new construction now one one of the things I would suggest you do now the property between 123rd Terrace and 124th Street I walk that every day on biscane Boulevard you got to clean it up and the other part of it is will you wallers on 123rd Terrace yes you got a bunch of derix living out there I I call code enforcement several times it's all kind of trash up against your wall over there okay on the biscan side or on the no on the 123rd Terrace side between 17th Avenue where it Deads in dead ends into biscane Boulevard you got a dead end in there then you get that wooded area the Shrubbery all of that stuff should be cleaned up I mean walk it and what you're having is the homeless is camping out there the garbage is being strown all over the place so I I I would think that's this is a good this is a good yeah there trash all over I mean right on the boulevard you can see it I I've called several times I even spoke to your management people about it and it should be done but the homeless have now encamped themselves right across the street from the gas station okay up against that wall over there you I I think this is personally I think this is a good addition you know that that street goes no place so what was happening the the garage was using that as a uh a parking lot over and I think the city just uh we made parking spaces over there just now for uh the construction site across the street from you on 17th Avenue but I think it's a good I'll certainly I'll certainly point that out to the ownership management team property management team yeah that would go a long way into enhancing their image with those that have to you know that want to see this project go through sure so um if you have no more I'm going to go ahead and yes sir sorry yes could you microphone doctor um are those leases currently running are they uh in force they're active leases yes right so um what are you doing about relocating these clients or what you know what's happening with the gas station and Sher Williams whatever um I'm not 100% familiar with each of the lease datails I know that those Property Owners sold the buildings recently to our our client with the intention okay of of this this project so yeah I would have assumed that in that procedure of sale that they would more than likely had addressed that the owner has agreed to to unrelated the road closure but the owner has agreed to do some environmental cleanup um with the gas station the gas station's um you not necessarily the nicest looking uh feature at a main intersection of the city um so we're going through some expense to kind of clean up the corner thank you great um thank you any other questions before I open the public hearing okay public hearing is now open anyone wishing to speak on this item we have none Madam Secretary did you receive any Communications uh from anyone uh addressing this any any comment any public comments were any received at all that need to be read in nothing needs to be read into the record thank you very much okay hearing none and seeing none we're going to go ahead and close the public hearing public hearing is now closed uh we'll open up the commission once again for a discussion um Mr cyre I'll start with you sir if you care to have any comment on this thank you yes I think that this is a is a definitely a step in the right direction this looks like a very positive project uh I think the uh the acquisition and eventual demolition of the uh gas station and the paint store will over the next two years be a major Improvement we need the housing projects in the city this is a good location I'm fully in support of this I think it's a it's a very fine move Miss po so my question is outside of the gas station and the paint store there's no one else that would be affected by this change there's no other businesses that would be affected by this no the Northeast 123rd Terrace is a road now it it primarily serves as just access to the back of the gas station or to the dormatory building it has no direct connection to um biscan um and it would only be We own land on each side of the street so would essentially be making one contiguous rectangle there and your the proposed project that is coming has that already been presented to us no we we can't move forward without application until we own the land that the road currently occupies so the first step is to this V Road vacation once this step is completed then we will come back to the city with a a site plan application and that new project would come before you at that time okay uh attorney held in the beginning you stated that is Quai judicial can you explain why only because it's site specific and there are certain requirements that uh need to be satisfied in order for this approval to happen um I suppose an argument can be said that this is an administrative function and you're making a recommendation on an administrative function but um it it only creates a higher level of um public hearing due process so there's if if I'm wrong there's nothing to be lost thank you thank you m m thank you m mcder sir you have the floor yeah I think this is a very nice project and uh hopefully it'll be a good addition to that area so um sounds good thank you Sor hold Dr no no questions Mr Bob uh so it looks like a good project um I like the proposed plan just a quick question maybe I'm skipping ahead a bit but the eventual proposal will it only provide for Access off of 17 or or like will it stay cuz right now it's the one way right so it's kind of like a dead end is it going to stay that way where it's just only accessible through 17 or the we have not done the the plans yet for the new project um but there would likely be access off 17th Avenue whether or not it's exactly where that road is today that's unlikely it would likely be further further to the north so that way you have more of a separation from the driveway to 123rd okay that was all I have Mr reach I think it's U can't wait to see those buildings go and please mention to those people I I I I spoke to them about that it's terrible out there absolutely especially right 120 uh 123rd terce to 124th on the boulevard and you got a couple of bus stops there they're hanging out there there's garbage all over the place in fact in front of the gas station is just loaded with trash not very well m in the me would be really I I think it's wonderful Absolutely I'll bring it up to the property manager um one of the um things you mentioned was that this is a mixed use um I'm always a big proponent of Commerce um being very active on projects like this you have two busy streets now that could be utilized front use for U people to be able to walk to ride their bike to and uh you know to to shop so I don't know if when you said mixed use that this would be anything in your future plans but something that I would encourage you to think about um when you come back to us with with uh a solid plan once you've get you've gotten through all these regulatory hurdles that you need to go through certainly taking advantage of the the ground floor for a commercial space would be high in the priority all right very good um no other questions I'll ask for a motion for oh I'm sorry I yeah I I have no questions no questions okay thank you sir this has to be we have to work on this here either we raise you all up so we can see you I apologize all the time and I I I'm sorry we'll make it at make it that next time um you gentleman or whoever's sitting down there will get first shot at at questions and comment um okay once again um um chair will entertain a motion move I have move for approval by Mr each seconded by Mr mcder I'm going to take a roll call vote on this please if uh Mr cyre you're up first sir all right are we ready yes I vote Yes okay Mr blur yes Mr bmer votes yes Mr mcdermaid yes Mr mcmaid votes yes um okay my Gentleman down front Mr Besson yes Mr Clark yes Mr Clark is yes Mr Bon is yes Mr Bob yes Mr Bob is a yes and Mr reach yes Mr re say yes and chairman Ur say a yes item moves and is approved thank you so much good evening thank you all right uh any committee reports from staff we have no committee reports uh any old business that needs to be discussed and new business I believe we address the uh date and time for the U special me meeting and U the 11th is on what day I that's the Thursday of next week so Thursday okay is everybody all right they've already pretty much are aware of that no conflicts very good on that um I call for adjournment we are adjourned thank you everyone