a special planning commission meeting the city of North Miami Thursday September 18th 2025. We are beginning at 7:03. Um Madam Secretary, uh please have a
roll call of the members. >> Okay. Chairman Erns, >> present. >> Vice Chair McDermade, >> present. >> Commissioner each, >> present. Commissioner Blamir
um is probably running late. She did say she was going to be here. Um Commissioner Seaf Freed >> present. >> Commissioner Pierre >> present. >> Commissioner Bob
>> and our alternate Commissioner Besson. >> We have a quorum. >> Very good. Thank you very much. Let's all please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Where's the pledge? >> I pledge 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. >> Staff, do we have any changes or amendments to the agenda? Debbie,
>> Debbie, can you hear us? >> No. >> Okay. >> No, we do not. >> Thank you very much. And uh next in communications uh we're asking uh are we on schedule for the next planning meeting to be October 7th, 2025?
>> Yes, sir. However, at this time, we do not anticipate any items being ready for that meeting. >> Okay. Very good. Um, looking ahead to November 3rd, I believe that would probably be the next date. I will not be
available. That is a I'll be smack dab in the middle of a project. So, >> we typically don't have that on the November 3rd. Uh, because >> I'm sorry, the fourth. >> Cynia, can you confirm
>> November 4th? >> Have that on November 3rd? >> No, it would be November 4th. Um, I'm pulling up my calendar. Hold on. September, October, November. It would be November 4th. >> Yes.
>> And please make a note that I will not >> chairman. You won't be available for that. >> No. >> Thank you. Do we have any continued public hearings? >> No, sir. >> None. Okay. Very good. Um, before we get into the public hearing, both items
tonight that we're we're hearing are >> I'm sorry. The were the minutes done? >> Yes. You forgot the minutes, sir. >> I didn't see it on my um >> It's not on there. >> Yep. I'm sorry. Skipped right over it. I'm not in a hurry or anything. I
apologize. Um, so we're asking for a motion to approve the minutes of June 26. >> So move second. >> Approve. A motion by Mr. McDermade, seconded by Mr. Cipher. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I.
>> Motion to approve. Passes unanimously. >> Okay. I apologize again. Uh get back to the continued public hearings. We said there are none. And going down to the
public hearings. These are both as I started to mention are quasi judicial u and our um board attorney will read into record um um what entails uh the quasi judicial procedures.
>> Okay. Um these rules apply to applications on specific parcels 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 in the staff report and verbally. Commission members can make site visits, but must disclose the evidence upon which they intend to rely from that visit. Commission members
will disclose at the beginning of the hearing whether they have had communications with individuals on behalf of the applicant or otherwise, including who the communication was with and what the topic of the discussion was. All persons intending to speak to
the commission will be sworn by the clerk. The staff will make a presentation. The 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. The commission may ask questions and the applicant's attorney, if any, may ask questions, that is cross-examination.
Members of the public can decline to be cross-examined. Staff may present additional testimony to supplement or rebut arguments made. The commission deliberates based on the evidence presented. The commission's decision must be based on competent 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. The commission may approve, deny, or
continue the item while staff previously read into the record u into the record emails or email or mailed comments since these are not competent substantial evidence for in for example not sworn testimony subject to cross-examination.
The commission's decision cannot be based on what is contained in the emails or mailed comments, but they can be used to identify issues and help identify sources of information that do not that do contain competent substantial
evidence upon which a decision can be based. Lastly, 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 enforceable pursuant to the city code. Please also silence your cell phones. Thank you. >> Very good, sir. >> Um at this point, uh two other um issues
we need to get through. Um first of all disclosure before with the commission anyone having anybody on the panel having discussions with anybody that's party to the petitioner or uh has has u
had any kind of interaction or spoken with anyone that is speaking tonight or has any knowledge that they imported to you Mr. Ciphered? No, I've had no communication with anybody on this project. >> Mr. Bob,
>> can tell you that >> I ride my bicycle to work most of the time >> and go right by that property. And so I I don't call that an on-site inspection because I didn't stop to go around the block and walk through the
site, but I pass it uh quite frequently. >> Sure. Okay. Um, and while you're on that subject, yes, I'm familiar with the property because I've driven by it many times. Um, just because it's like either a shortcut or something that
I've have business in that area and I've I'm familiar with what the property looks like. Um, but I've had no discussions with anybody about it. Mr. McDermade, sir. >> Um, Mr. Chairman, yes. Due to a con conflict of interest, I'm going to have
to recuse myself for this particular item. >> Okay. Uh so noted a counselor, are you um you were aware of this? >> Yes, Mr. McDermian's already submitted his conflict form, but now if you like,
you can call the alternate board member to take his seat. >> All right. >> Can you make it, Mike? Okay, buddy. >> Mr. Best, you may come forward, sir. Uh just for procedural purposes uh once um
um this item is done m Mr. Mcder can come back >> at that time right since he doesn't have a conflict for the second item I'll go and get him. >> All right. Um and also Madam Secretary make note that Mr. Mur has arrived.
>> Welcome. >> Hope everything is okay. You're all set. Um we are have just finished um >> nice to see you >> reading that these two items are quasi judicial. So we went over that procedure. Um and while you arrive I'm
going to ask you if you've uh had any communications regarding this item with anyone um >> no >> right at this meeting. Okay. Very good. Uh >> I u chief >> I had a discussion uh yesterday with uh
Councilman Burns and staff uh with regards to the NRO's and uh may may have we we were looking at this project but nothing nothing definite but just in general talking about the old NRO's that we >> Sure.
>> Okay. Uh yeah, we'll probably have further discussion with staff regarding that. Okay. It is noted in the item. Um, Mr. Bob, I've talked to you already, sir. And, uh, you have no >> and Mr. Pierre,
>> no. >> Dr. Dustin, >> no. Uh, previous communication on this matter. >> Very good. So, at this point, I'll ask if uh anyone wishing to speak on this matter. Uh after I've read it in the
article and we've heard the um and heard the comments from the petitioner, um I ask that you all stand and take a an oath. Since if you are planning to speak before this panel, anyone wishing to speak before this
panel must stand and be sworn in. prior to speaking. >> Counselor, are you all set there, sir? >> All right. >> Okay. Um, do you all swear or affirm
that the testimony and evidence that you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Very good. Thank you. Bear in mind that Madam Secretary, we will do it again for the second item. >> Okay.
>> All right. Very good. Thank you very much. Okay. So, I'm going to go ahead and read the item into the record. It is uh PC17-12. It is a resolution of the mayor and the city council of the city of North Miami, Florida, approving an application for a
conditional use permit and substantially the attached form for a purpose for a proposed development consisting of a 10 unit townhouse project on two parcels of real property located at 1330
Northeast 10th Avenue and a vacant parcel located in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Northeast East 131st Street and Northeast 10th Avenue identified with the Miami Dade County folio numbers as follows 06-229-
050- 0241 and 06-229-050--240 [Music] and totaling approximately 0.52 acres in accordance with article 3 division for sections
3-42 through 3-47 article 4 4-310 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances chapter 29 entitled land development regulations providing for an effective date and for all other
purposes. May we have staff report please? >> And good evening once again Debbie. >> Good evening Mr. Chair. For the record, Debbie Love, development services director.
Let me share my screen with you. We see you. >> We do see you. The item before you is a request for conditional use progress. Um, as you noted, it is located at 1330 Northeast
10th Avenue. The request, it consists of a um request for nine floating bonus units. Um the parcel size is 15,000 square ft or
just.34 acres. One of the parcels is vacant. The other has a single family home. It is currently zoned R2 which is actually low density residential not medium density
res apologies. and it's also located in the former NRO. As you all know, during the conference of plan, we uh decided to do away with the NRO because we believe
that it was uh in not the appropriate mechanism um and was having a militarious effect on the single family neighborhoods. However, um we do we did have quite a few applications
already in progress at that time. This was one of them. There is only one more after this that is um vested for the interim. So, with that said, under the
current designation, it would they'd only be allowed to um have about one house essentially on this bar, but because it's in the an row, uh it gave them the
opportunity to build up to 90 ft and 90 dwelling units per acre. I mean, yeah, with the CUP. Now, that would equate to 47 units that this property could accommodate.
Uh, and again, it could be up to 10 stories. >> So, what you have before you is a twostory 10 unit townhouse development. They're in two buildings. Again, two stories.
There's five units per building and the height is 24.6 feet which is actually a little bit more than 10 ft lower than the height that is actually allowed in the air.
They are going to be providing 16 off street spaces and that meets all of our parking standards. It does have sustainment design. they're pursuing need um rain certification. Once again, um we have 100% Florida
native vegetation requirement. Their lot coverage is 21%. And the 80 they could they could actually max it out at um 80%. So this is well below that. And that area is
going to give them more open space. um storm water production and reducing of the heat island effect. Now the economic impact this is 35
direct and indirect jobs as well as $3.7 million in wages during that two-year construction period. It does uh anticipate about $0.3 million annually
in addition taxes and and the onetime 95,000 impact in improvement fees. Now the CU conditions are as follows. First of all, it has to go to DRC. After
this goes to city council for the approval of the conditional use permit, they will have to submit for DRC site plan approval. That's where we'll get into the real nitty-gritty
of um landscaping placement, all of those other issues because this right now is the conceptual site plan. They will be required to construct and maintain a I'm sorry, that
should be a uh 6 foot wide sidewalk along the northeast 10th Street frontage. they will have to underground all the utilities uh they'll have to provide their lead certification
prior to they get co and uh they will have to maintain their sustainability commitments and their low impact development activities that they um say they would be doing.
So the next steps is this is anticipating toatively uh going to city council on October 14th. Then as I said they'll come back submit their DRC site plan and review.
So this project will then go to city council for site plan review after DRC preview. So they'll have to there's a lot of details as you all know at the DRC level that are the where the rubber
meets the road and then the after that piece they'll go to the building permit and then there's another set of reviews that is completed by zoning landscaping.
uh so that it's a very robust review process and with that that is the end of my presentation. I do know that the >> Oops.
>> And we lost her. >> Debbie, if we've lost you, if you can hear me, I'm going to go ahead and u ask the U. Okay. I have the same problem with AT&T. folks. Thank you for your questions. Hi, how are you? >> My apologies.
>> That's all right. As long as you can hear. There you are. Good to see you again. Okay. Um, is there anything? >> As I said, that was the end of my presentation. The applicant and their team is here and I know they have a presentation for you
as well. I am here for any questions as well as anybody. >> All right. If you can introduce the uh petitioner, you can come forward, please, and start your presentation.
Good evening, counselor. How are you, sir? >> Good to see you again. >> Yes. >> Oh, >> no. >> Nope. >> That one. >> There you go. Oh, okay. Thank you so much. >> Please state your name. >> The hard stuff. So, uh, good evening,
Mr. Chair, members of the board, alternate member. I'm Joseph Geller of Greenspoon Martyr LLP, and we're here as attorneys representing the petitioner. With me tonight is the owner's representative, Mr. Samil Jamie Akbas,
and also with us tonight um, is an architect for the project, Mr. Norberto Loyano. Mr. Lyaniano, if you'd give him a wave from Madson Designs in Boca Raton, we're very appreciative of your
hearing us this evening and we'll try to be as brief as we can so we don't uh keep you here too long. So, let me begin by besides saying good evening by saying to all the members of the board, um I
guess my first I have a question just of councel if I might. Uh, council, has the staff report been accepted into evidence? >> Well, nothing's been moved into evidence at this point, but >> we would request at this time that the
staff report be accepted into evidence. >> All right. And that's the report that we have in front of us. Is that correct, sir? >> From Miss Love. Yes. >> I believe that's standard anyway. Is that correct, uh, Miss Love? Whatever staff report that you presented
us, it's the same. Yes, sir. >> All right. >> And I say that because frankly in and of itself, the staff report is competent substantial evidence and the fact that it recommends approval is something that
is or should be significant to this body, although of course I defer on that to your council and to the city's council. I think most of the members of this board are aware that a project on this
site was presented I think it's a little over a year ago now. Um but this is a a different project in a lot of ways and I want to take the opportunity briefly to walk you through it. I'm not an
architect. I'm not testifying. I'm here to present some arguments to you and I'll do that. I'll then defer to the architect so that you can ask him. He can present to you the specifics, the
architectural facts about this project. What he says is something that you can consider as evidence. I'm only providing argument. I don't give you evidence. Uh that said, what your professional staff
gives you is evidence and you can take that into account and I hope you will in making your decision. So let me run through quickly what is I want to focus on what's different. This is still 10
units. It's still 10 town homes. This project is ownership. These town homes will be subject to some kind of presumably a condominium. Could be perhaps some form of homeowners
association, but this is not rental property. It's not designed as rental property. And as your staff told you, this is a long way from final approval. I'm hoping that you will grant the conditional use permit to allow us to go
forward and that the city council will do the same. But after that comes detailed site plan. We're not here on a site plan tonight. And even after site plan is approved, they have to submit building permits and that's subject to a
very rigorous vetting process. So this is step one on what is frankly a fairly lengthy road. This is under the former neighborhood out NRO. understand that under that
as you heard they could be building I think it was something like 80 units 47 units I stand correct 10 stories high and 80% lot coverage where they have 21
so this is very very very scaled down from what could be asked for on this site in addition compared to the application previously, although it's still 10 units. I don't know if it was
clear last time that it was going to be ownership or not. It's less space for a number of reasons. The previous design has been changed substantially. There's simply less space. They shrunk
what's being built for a couple of reasons. And there are a couple of changes. One of them is there had been some parking issues previously that there had been some kind of stacked parking. That's gone. As you heard, this
project fully complies. It provides all the parking that's needed. There is no stack parking and all the parking that's required is here as off. Well, it's it's in the area of the development. They have enough parking on
site to cover everything the city code asks. In fact, by the way, no variance of any kind is being sought here. None. There is no variance. this is being that doesn't mean you're required to grant it because conditional use is within your
purview to say yay or nay, but it does mean that they're not asking you to vary your codes other than what's permitted under the former NRO to give this conditional use permit. In addition,
one of the reasons that the units are smaller, that they've been shrunk, was to provide more internal space for, among other things, a pedestrian walkway inside. Before that really
didn't exist. Now, in terms of amenities, that does. The landscaping of this project is significantly different. We have a landscape architect engaged. Um his uh
recommendations, findings, etc. can be presented by our architect, Mr. Lyano of Madson Designs. And there's a lot of shrubbery, a lot of ground cover.
The trees are certainly an issue. And I understand why neighbors are concerned about them. There are three large trees, including a very large specimen oak, that have to be removed.
It's not that the developer especially wants to do that. But what's called the um there's a technical term for it, but the root network as the landscape architect was explaining to me as you'll hear is such
because it's it's not just where the tree stands. The roots from those three trees are underneath the whole thing. And you just can't move forward with any kind of really new development there and have those trees stay because you'll kill the trees no matter what you do.
you'll be taking out parts of their network. Now, keep in mind, this is only a two-story project. Each one an individual town home. Each one of the 10 units is a twostory individual town home. So, these are not
little cheap units. We recognize the issue with the trees. The developer has put forward a landscape plan that calls for
24 new trees. We know about the three large specimens that are being replaced that have to be but 24 new trees and they're each I think it's there's a technical term for
these kinds of trees and the canopy that they will ultimately have there is I believe approximately 3400 is it >> yeah but square feet in currently
Yeah. of what exists currently. >> Each of these 24 trees at maturity will have a 500 foot canopy.
So square foot. So, as you'll see now, you know, trees do take a little while to grow, but they reach maturity. These trees are expected to reach maturity. I heard a little snickering in
the back, of course, in seven years, not tomorrow. We're not trying to play fast and loose with that, but my understanding is that at three years,
they will provide as much canopy as the three large trees provide. Now, at 3 years, these 24 trees will equal it. And at seven years, there'll be something like four times as much canopy as is
provided now. That's the 24 trees that are shown on our It's not really a site plan. It's a a preliminary. But tonight, different than what was submitted to the
city staff to review. The developer has indicated that because we understand there is concern, they're committing to put an additional six trees over the 24 that are shown. So the total
would be 30 new trees each providing at maturity at seven years 500 square feet. And when I say that at 3 years it will
equal what's there when you add in those six additional trees, it'll be probably in the neighborhood, I'll defer to the to the architect of somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 and a/4 to 2 and 1/2
years somewhere in that before it matches what's there today. The developer doesn't have to do that, but they're profering six additional trees for a total of 30 because they want this site to be beautiful. And that will be I mean they
have to sell it and that's in addition to all the shrubs and ground cover that they're looking to provide. So we think that this is a much better project. I haven't mentioned.
You have some renderings here. You have a brand new architect from a very respected firm up in Boca Raton. It's just nicer looking. There's just no other way to put it. It's more articulated.
It's more attractive. It is a low, not terribly encroaching, lots of open space, almost 80% open space, the 21 instead of
the 80 they could go to. This is really to the eye and also to the people who will be living in it and around it. a very different project because the developer
who took their time coming back here made substantial changes went out and got a much better architect that's presenting a really nice project a nice piece of work and if you
give me just a moment to make sure I didn't miss anything that we think is important here. Oh yes, there is one more thing that's very important and I'm glad I stopped to check my notes for a moment.
I've seen some comment to be quite frank about the fact that the developer has not yet conducted community meetings. There's a reason why it hasn't happened yet.
We're hoping that this body will provide a preliminary approval for this project, but as you heard, it's at least a month before it's going to go to the city commission. If there
were some huge problem, we might need to address that. We hope there's not, but we might need to address that before we get to the community hearing. But I'm here to tell you on the record that it is the
developer's plan to hold at least one community meeting, maybe more if needed, but to hold at least one meeting with the community, to hear what the community has to say, to allow input to be provided, to let these neighbors come
forward if they have suggestions which perhaps could be incorporated. and that that will take place prior to whenever this project goes to the city council, whether that's next month or or whatever happens with it. They value
input from the neighborhood and they're committed to really listening to what the neighbors have to say. Um, at the end, I'll close and turn it over to Mr. Leano, the architect, just saying you heard all the things
that could happen on this site under the former overlay, none of which is being proposed. Um, I understand that it's a there's one house there now, but as you see all around, there is a need for housing in
our community. People are desperate for places that they can live that are near where they work. This is low impact. One of the parcels is currently a vacant parcel. There's nothing on it. And certainly there could be some
development on the vacant parcel. So we as I turn it over to the architect, we humbly ask you to consider what we've put forward. Recognize how hard the developer has worked to make this not just a better project, but a good
project. and to adopt and or recommend support of the conditional use permit. The very first step in in a long journey. With that, I'll turn it over for testimony to the architect, Mr.
Lyano. And of course, as your council will tell you, you can feel free to ask any questions of him or for that matter, if you have at this time or when he's done any questions of me, I'm happy to respond as well. Thank you, Mr. G. Before you introduce
the architect, um Debbie, I need a clarification from you um with regards to the process of them moving this forward. Is the city arborist um um have any input into um um the
decision regarding the plot of land where the trees are located? Is she a a party to the approval process? Yes sir. But the concept at the conceptual level primarily we look at um
does it have native vegetation? Um is it uh well designed but where they really get involved is at the DRC level.
That's where they look at the trees that they propose. Do they have the right percentage? Uh are they replacing the canopy properly? They may end up having to uh pay mitigation fees. Uh so again,
that is where we talk about more detailed review at the DRC level. >> Okay. Very good. And she's a part of that, correct? >> Oh, yes, sir. >> All right. Um and then the other
other point you mentioned that it's a vacant parcel but now um we're talking two parcels of land correct staff. >> Yes sir. >> Both both those parcels I believe have a
house on it that is the existing structures are on in place on those two parcels of land. Am I not correct? Hm. >> One is vacant, one has a house. >> Okay. But but for technical purposes
that is that house that's vacant currently occupies that parcel of land which is also a part of where the trees are that we are discussing or will be discussing uh down the road. Is that
correct? That is not sure I understand my colleagues. >> The parcel of land that the trees are on has a house on it right now that's vacant. Is that correct? >> A house that's vacant. >> Well, we just said there's a house that's vacant.
>> There's a house on it. You have a vacant lot, >> right? >> And then you have another lot that is a house on >> I thought there were two parcels of land or two. >> There is two parcels. >> Two houses. >> Bear with me just a second, sir. Okay,
I am. Go ahead. Can you see? Hold on just a second. >> Can you see the screen? >> Yes. I'm looking at the same thing on my in my booklet. >> Okay, >> that's right. You can see you see the one that are the vacant lots. >> Got it. You can see the property lines
>> now. I see it. >> The dark one. >> At first I did not see that dark line. My apologies. >> Yes. No worries, sir. >> Right. >> So, it is definitely um a lot of you you'll see that there's
a lot of trees there. >> Yes. >> And they're going to be mitigating whatever they have to remove. And one of the things that we look at when we are looking at design
is do you have to remove the trees to accommodate the development? And then as it gets on into the major design
um and review through DRC, we look at um how many they're removing, how much canopy they're removing. Um and then how much they replacing and is that adequate? Does it meet our
code? uh and it may require paid mitigation, but that will be determined at the DRC review level. >> Okay, that answers my question. Uh Mr.
Geller, if you go ahead, thank you for letting me ask that question of staff. If we can hear from the architect now, um please have him come forward. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Thank you for that clarification. >> Thank you, Mr. Sure. >> Good evening. If I could have your name
and address, sir, for the record. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh, my name is Norberto Loano with Matson Design. Um, you said the address, too, right? >> Is his microphone on? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> 416 Southeast Fifth Street, Dway Beach,
Florida. Um well here we are to present our project. I have to admit you know when the the developer approach us um and I
started studying the uh potential of of this property. I immediately you know um obviously went to the code and communicate with him. Um, you know, previously he had the the project doing
by somebody else and and I said, uh, are you aware that you can do nine floors, 10 floors, and 40 something units? And he immediately said, I am, but I don't want to do that. I want to do something
pretty that the community can, you know, enjoy. I want to be not only the project that I do here, it's my vision to continue working in in this town. And I was obviously,
you know, surprised because that's not the normal. The normal is yeah uh give me 50 units, you know, even though you can say 47, but developers are that way. you know that this person was you know
totally different and I was really surprised to to hear that. So, um, with that being said, you know, um, again, I we inherit this project and, um, we believe like,
uh, the council said, you know, that we believe that we improve significantly the image. um other aspects too. You know, we had a situation where parking was in a manner that was
stacking, you know, like two cars here and there. It wasn't a pedestrian walkway to access the units. Um you know, we provided all of that. we
mitigate the the fact that those parking were stocking right now and I'm going to go to and now you can see that uh that is no longer the case.
Um if we going to talk about height, you know, we are at 246 where we could go 35. Um and again, you know, this is part of the uh the vision of the developer, my
client, that he wanted something with, you know, low impact and nice. And I believe that we accomplished that. Um well you know it's not too much to say uh landscape yeah we can we can uh
obviously we we study you know we are not uh here to attempt something that is not going to pass DRC all the calculations are there uh the canopy is going to be
not only replaced but significantly uh enhanced. So uh I'm open to questions if anybody has. >> Thank you so much. >> At this point if the commission um
>> I have a question. >> Well, I wanted to go ahead and have public hearing. Chief, is that okay if we Yeah. go ahead and let's let's move to the public hearing first and then we'll reserve our comments after we hear everybody's uh um points that they wish to present to us.
Um bear in mind um what was uh spoken to you about uh presenting us with facts and and uh um please have no comments from the audience while you speak or ask for any reactions from u any of your
neighbors that are here uh to speak on the issue. So um at this point I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this may come forward and uh let uh let you know also that we're going to allow two minutes
for your presentation. Two minutes and two minutes only. Anyone wishing to speak on this item, please come forward. Public hearing is now open. And the same save time, one person could go to one mic and the other person could go to the other mic and we can u not be
delayed. >> Ma'am, I'll let you go first. Good evening. How are you? >> Good evening. >> State your name and address for the record. >> Sure. My name is Katrina Morris. Um my address is 4130 Lie by Avenue, Coconut Grove, Florida, 33133. I am not one of your constituents. It is nice to be here
in a smaller venue um where I feel like I I can really be heard. Um a neighbor did call me and tell me that there were 200year-old oaks that were at risk. Um I know that you know that mature root
systems mitigate water much better than any new root system. Um, furthermore, I find it this property was purchased I looked up on Zillow for $350,000
um, a few years ago. I we run into this thing in Coconut Grove where the developers purchase a piece of land um, and then act surprised that there are 200y old trees on them.
I don't know what due diligence they're supposed to do, but these trees did not grow overnight. They knew what was there, and they are going in with the understanding that they can work a deal.
They can work a deal to get rid of these trees. And this is why I show up at something like this for 200-year-old trees because there's nobody who can advocate for those trees. And I think that they deserve respect. They
do a lot more for your city than a building will do in the long run. In the long run. I know tomorrow we need bucks, but if you save these trees
in the long run it will do more for your city than the buildings will do. In the short run, maybe the buildings maybe you can function with money, but in the long run the trees will save you and you will be happy that you made that decision.
>> Thank you. Good evening, sir. Name and address. Andrew Russell, 1090 Northeast, 132nd Street. Good evening, neighbors, commissioners, and members of the planning commission. At our last meeting, Commissioners Bllemir motion,
second by Commissioner Sephreed to deny this project was unanimous 6 to Z. With clear conditions, the developer should hold two meetings with neighbors, retain the three existing trees, and re-evaluate the design accordingly.
But today, revised plan posted only two days ago leaves out the two most vital elements, the community and the trees. No neighborhood meetings occurred and instead of saving the oaks, the plan still calls for destroying three trees,
each over 200 years old, as well as a lovely home that is a fixture of the neighborhood. The developer cites section 52304 to justify this, but this section prioritizes preser preservation,
environmental value, and strict mitigation, all of which these oaks meet. They provide storm water absorption, air purification, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, canopy cover that cools urban heat. More than that,
they are living landmarks, trees that predate the city and define the neighborhood's character. Mitigation is impossible. The plan states new planting at an arbitrary location chosen by the city. This can't replace culture,
ecological, or historical values of 200year-old oaks. The new plan worsens this by offering mostly pavement on site and just a small token patch of grass conflicting with section 5802H
and risking our Tree City USA status. Accepting this as re-evaluated would ignore your unanimous vote, dismiss your conditions, and damage community trust. I urge you, honor your motion, respect
the neighbors voice, and protect these living monuments. They are not just trees, sir. They are history, heritage in the heart of North Miami. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, sir. Name and address. >> Sean Friedel, 1035 Northeast 133rd Street. Respectfully, Mr. Geller, this
isn't your community. It's ours. You don't live in Iron's Manor. 21% coverage, 30 trees, better tree canopy. Impossible. Last July, this same developer came to the planning commission with a poor design. A bad fit for the community. You recommended they
keep the three very old and large oak trees and have two community meetings. They will keep zero trees and have and have had zero community meetings. This design is even worse. Only one way in or out. Who would be comfortable with cars simply backing out of their parking
space or trying to turn around that can ram into your front door or your full height window? There is no turnaround space for cars. Their traffic study is three years old and is so inaccurate it contradicts itself. People blow through north people blow through northeast 10th
a run stop signs fly through roundabouts. This property is is the corner of a roundabout. Building so close to that corner, it's more accidents waiting to happen. And the city does nothing about traffic easing. Two days ago, two days ago, there was a
horrible accident on Northeast 10th A exactly two blocks from this property. An overturned SUV, cars totaled, people injured. These developers have had the time to do what's right. They squeezed in under the NRO that was shut down for a reason. They have shown they are bad
architects, will be bad landlords, and bad neighbors. They don't even want to meet us. Just vote no. No continuation. No recommendations, no tableabling, just no. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Good evening, ma'am. Name and address for the record. >> Hello. Thank you for for listening to me. Deborah Davies, 1165 Northeast 127th Street. I'm going to repeat some issues, but they're important. the developer bringing back this project which was
sheld in the summer of 2024 after the local community presented serious objections as of now to it. This is a single family home on almost half an acre of land with three 200year-old oak trees including one with a hawks nest in it. The plans in the agenda do not show
the trees as we've heard but they I do not think they can legally be cut down. So what's going on? This is a major environmental concern. This time around there has been no community meeting about this which should have happened before this meeting and was they were
already asked to do that. Um and also the um all the notices were sent out late since the NRO was lifted for this area some time ago. a proposal does not meet current zoning and there must be a really reasonable limit to how long a developer can keep claiming that a
project can be grandfathered in under an old NRO which the city removed expressly to preserve the single family nature of the neighborhood and I must say Miss Love was a proponent of that very strongly in any case with or without the NRO the city has other rules that must
be followed although this commission and the city council have made a habit of ignoring them I'm talking about section 3-405A of the city code in which subsections 5, seven, and nine prohibit development that will have adverse impacts on
adjacent properties on the community character of a neighborhood. So, I hope this planning commission will take its responsibility seriously in this case and apply the city's rules as they are written. We need housing, but we already have many huge buildings that
you all know about that are being built and have been built that are nowhere near filled at this point. So, I don't I don't see where the housing is the important issue here over preserving the trees and our and our health of the
community. Um, okay. If we are to preserve this area in the heart of the city as a single family neighborhood, we cannot keep making exceptions to the rules and until it is dotted with large non-compliant structures that destroy the community character of the neighborhood. Exactly
what section 3-405A prohibits. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. Good evening. Name and address for the record, please. >> Hi, good evening. Tatiana Perez, 1035 Northeast 133rd Street. I live two
blocks from this development. My sewer backs up every other month. Now they want to add 30 bathrooms to the failing sewer system on one lot. We have parking problems in our neighborhood already. Now you want to add 40 bedrooms with
only 10 assigned parking spots. All of this development just brings problems without much benefit. Where are the rental tax dollars to renovate the water plant? My water bill keeps going up and still no renovation. Why do we have traffic jams for blocks
on 125th Street? From West Dixie Highway, it takes me 15 to 20 minutes to get to Biscane Boulevard. I've been here for 15 years. I used to love our quiet bedroom community, and it has been slowly changing, but you can help stop the bleeding. Save North Miami. Save
Iron's Manor and vote no. Thank you. If there's anyone else after the lady has has approached the uh forum, you can go ahead and take the other stand so we can go right to you after she finishes. Good evening. Name
and address, please. >> My name is Jennifer Clark. I'm at 965 Northeast 130th Street. My property is directly behind this proposed development. I recently escaped Coconut Grove because of all the overbuilding of town homes
and I came here, fought that house, thought this is the perfect neighborhood for me. And here we are again. It's all starting all over again. Trees are being cut down. You're building giant rental apartments.
And I'm wondering why why does this keep happening? Um, I also didn't receive proper notice. I have not received I've lived here for a year and I have not received proper notice of these meetings. And um I'm wondering if you allow this
to be built, how does that protect the privacy of the two properties that abut this development, this proposed development that it's twole town homes will be looking right into my yard and my
neighbor's yard. >> Okay. Anything else you want to add? Thank you very much. Anyone else wishing to speak to this item? Give it a few more seconds to ponder. If not, I'm going to go ahead and close the
um public hearing. Public hearing is now closed. Um I will not open the panel yet. Um, the petitioner uh has a chance to review any of the evidence
that you just heard from from the public. I recognize >> I'm going to be extremely brief, Mr. Chair. Um, we respect these citizens. We respect their efforts to come out here and be heard.
I've put on the record that if this project is going to be scheduled for the city commission as was suggested, we have committed to some some pointed out that we had not had those public hearings, but we've put
on the record we're going to have at least one, maybe more before this gets to the city commission. We want to meet with these citizens. We will meet with these citizens. We're going to afford them the opportunity. We're going to hear what they have to say. They raise
some interesting points and I'm not here to argue with them. I am here to tell you that your staff has pointed out that most of these issues such as specifically tree mitigation. We're offering six more than required. You
know, there's a 25% increase in what's required. But if it develops a DRC that we need to do more, including the possibility of paid mitigation, we're open to that. So this is a process. This is the first step.
As your staff has told you, it will be thoroughly reviewed at DRC. It will be back in front of you for site plan approval on the specifics of it. And that's all before actual building permit plans are submitted. this project might
not go forward. There's a lot still to be covered. But tonight, as just concept plans, when it's not 10 stories, but two, when it's not 47 units, but 10, when it's not 80% coverage, but 21, all
of these things, it could be. We simply ask you, let us move to the next step. We will meet with these citizens. will hear what they have to say before we even ask conditional use from the city
commission and there's still site plan and there's still permit review. Just let us begin the path and if down the road you or the commission decides otherwise, you have every opportunity.
But let us move forward. Let us meet with these citizens. Let us present tonight just conceptually and all these issues that we've talked about such as tree mitigation and coverage and and what can be done and what could or
should be done. There's plenty of time down the road on this to hear all of those things. So, we humbly ask for you to let us take the first step on a long road. And again, if there are any questions as you move
forward, myself or the architect would be happy to address them. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Geller. Um, just a quick u question to Miss Love, you can hear me.
>> I can sir. >> Yes. Um there was a um point brought up uh in public comment regarding the fact um several people noted that we had turned this down um roughly a year ago I
believe or less and um that there was evidently can you clarify that that what was mentioned was that meeting part of part it being turned down was that we had asked that the trees not be
removed and also the fact that um public hearings would be set at least two meetings be set. Um is this correct uh based on on on what was recorded from that meeting?
>> That is my understanding. But this is a but because this is a different project, they would need to go through this process and they should have met
with the public ahead of time because this is one of the things we always tell them. Please meet not only with the council person and the the mayor and other
council members but also to meet with the public. It is now up to you all to say look you we will move you forward or we will not move you forward and
that's where we go from here. >> I understand. And I just needed to find out if in fact what we heard wasn't was true with regards to the meetings with the public and um and also the
resolve the issue with the trees. Um so I'm going to go ahead and open this to the other members of the commission for comment. Uh I'm going to start with you Mr. Bob down in the front. Uh good evening. Uh so I have a few
concerns uh after hearing the presentation. Uh so I'll just go through them. The first one that comes to mind is the the parking spaces. 10 homes but only 16 parking
spaces if if I'm correct there. So my concern with that would just be, you know, homes that have multiple cars, guests, overflow, where is that going to go? And that kind of looks at the entire project on a whole, right? Um, and then
the main concern that I have is the true commitment to having the community involved. And I say that because, you know, recommendations were provided previously as far as getting the
community engaged and getting their feedback. And, you know, today we we haven't heard of any of that taking place. Um, you know, I think a lot of the concerns that have been raised could
have been addressed in the plan prior to this meeting had uh community meetings been held. Uh, and I think to me that's a red flag. I I do question the intent and the true desire to work with the neighboring community, right? And then
when you're talking about the community, this sort of project, how, you know, you look at a neighborhood's character and the goals of it. And my question is, a project like this, you know, how it fits into it, especially when you're talking about
the trees, how long they've been there, uh, the impact on the drainage system. Um, those are a few things that that kind of speak out to me. Um, and then just as far as access, you know, if
you're coming off a roundabout going into that property, you know, if you have well, first off, there's already a lot of traffic. And then if you have units that have multiple cars, if you have guests, I mean, where are they parking? What what's kind of the
plan for that? Um, and honestly, I kind of feel like this presentation is a little bit premature simply because, you know, there's no community meetings that have been held and and that's really kind of what I go back to. Um, I believe in preserving the environment
and because it gives the neighborhood and the surrounding area a certain uh character and also the benefits and you know it doesn't seem like it's been taken into account at a uh to a level
that at least myself that I feel comfortable with. Um, you know, you're giving up a tree that has deep roots that have been that's been around, you know, decades on decades for
trees that will, you know, uh, sprout and and be functional, you know, seven years, right? And so what happens in the meantime? Uh, so that's really just, uh, my view on it. I'm not in support of this project. And another
thing that uh came to mind for me is the privacy concerns, you know, as far as the vision, the the sightelines of those occupants and those units because what's being done as far as a landscaping
buffer for the privacy of those adjacent residents, right? So, um so those are just my views. Um, I I have nothing else to to add at at this time. >> Thank you, Mr. Bob. Chair recognizes Mr.
Pierre. >> Thank you. Um, I share many of the same concerns as uh Mr. Bob. Um, one of my biggest questions is regarding the tree. Uh, I'm I'm not sure who to ask asked
this, but if let's say whoever owns the property now wanted to cut it down, could they or >> I I'm not quite clear on that whether or not that can happen. Um, I know that it has to u be certain situations where it
would be if it was dead or uh a hazard or whatever uh probably staff or or mislo. Can you do you have an answer to that or can can council give us an answer on that? A legal legal opinion
Jennifer or or >> if I may. >> Yes, go ahead. I'd like to um just make the point that um they typically
if you are you have beautiful specimen trees >> and this was just a single family home and the folks wanted to just cut the tree down for whatever reason on their private
property. Um we would our requirements are that they have to prove why it has to be removed. >> Um they are healthy.
Uh there's not root damage going into the plumbing or the building. And and so we would take a look at that. Uh and but in this case it's a little bit different because they are
redeveloping the property and so we still are not happy with the oak trees being removed. Um but to accommodate the development
they are requesting those to be removed and include mitigation to um address those concern and if you whether that is planting on site, planting offsite
or to mitigate a payment mitigation into our tree. We are actually looking at strengthening our current code. Uh but we struggle with people now
who have homes who want to remove trees just because they want to remove the trees. They don't like the leaf litter um and other nonstructural non-damag um reasons that they would like to do
that. And we fight that all day long just in right down to our street trees. People actually request our street trees to be removed because of leaf litter.
So um we are looking at potentially further strengthening this section of the code. Um but as long as they because we want to preserve those type of candy
but right now this project meets our code which is the only reason that we are recommending approval. Not because we particularly agree with this
uh type of development going here which is the reason that we did away with the NRO but they were has submitted before the conversation of removing the NRO occurred.
They so we have to honor that application and because they were vested they have to be reviewed under the NRO standards >> correct >> which is the reason we're making
recommendation of approval because it does meet the code the parking to your question sir um Mr. job is that
they have 16 parking space. This our code currently requires 1 and a half parking space per dwelling unit and then an additional 5%
on top of that for guests. Um, this may be something that we may visit during the LDR updates that we are currently undertaking. We've uh talked to folks in
the community as to potential changes, but yes, they can apply to have trees removed. In the case of a single family where the gentleman or the property owner
just wanted to remove the trees because they wanted to remove the trees, we would that would not provide um adequate justification for us to allow them to remove
these large canes. But in the case of redevelopment, we have to look at that slightly differently. One of the things they didn't tell you is all that space
that you see um on that's on the ground is permeable materials. That is a requirement to try to deal with um drainage issues and having
having the safety, having the open space area. Um, we do agree that it does need more landscaping. Uh, and we will look at that closer at the DRC. So, hopefully this answered your
question and perhaps more than you asked. >> Thank Thank you for clearing that up. Um tree issue aside, uh I'm not comfortable with the project only because of the community meeting not coming to pass
before um they are coming before us, especially when it was spoken about the meeting previous. >> Thank you, Mr. Pierre. Um Mr. Reach, you have the floor, sir. >> I'd like to ask the architect a couple
of questions if I may, please. Thank you. Uh how many square feet in each one of these units >> on the ground floor is uh 750 plus 200 uh cover space >> under AC 7 750
>> 750 on the first floor or total >> correct the first floor >> and what's on the second floor? uh 8 850. >> So we're looking at 1500 square f feet with four >> a little bit over 1500
>> 1550 under roof with four bedrooms. >> Yes. >> Can you hear me? 1550 with four bedrooms. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. My other question is what would these uh units sell for? >> Uh I don't know that, sir.
Well, we're talking about we're going to be selling these. These are not going to be rentals. Is that correct? >> Correct. This >> ballpark figure what we're looking at. I mean, what's the market going for now? I mean, it can change, but >> what would a unit like that go for now?
Do we have any idea developer? >> Uh, James, do you know? I don't think that even my client knows that yet. >> All right. Well, I I have The concerns have already been mentioned
that I have, >> right? >> We're putting the horse before the cart or vice versa, the cart before the horse. We were supposed to have a community meeting that was explicitly brought out on the last time we went around here. We talked about the trees.
Okay. Now, I understand the trees supposedly have to go because this is a new project and maybe by law you might have this. I don't know. I look at this project and I say, is it going to benefit the neighborhood? The reason I'm asking you about the cost of the townhouse,
is it going to be compatible and improve the property values of the neighborhood or is that going to bring it down? Now, when we looking at putting 10 houses and four bedrooms each, we're looking at, you know, a hell of a lot of people
going into this neighborhood. Sir, >> then we're going to let me and we're going to take out the the trees and >> you know I I don't have a problem with developing that property. I don't have a problem with townhouse, but we could do it a heck of a lot nicer. You know, we talked about 27 ft.
>> I wouldn't care if you went 34 ft as long as it was a classy, elegant building that was going to improve the property values for the other people there. To me, this looks like bare bones. I I I don't mean to knock your your style. I I know you were given a mission and you're a very qualified
architect and I think you did a good job with what you were asked to do, but in my opinion, it could be a heck of a lot better and it could be more compatible with the existing trees that are there if we want say seven houses or you know,
whatever. But I I just do not understand how this is going to improve the value for the other people in the neighborhood and also their quality of life. I go on the other side of the tracks. I really recently seen a development I think on 126th Street just east of 15th Avenue by
Arch Creek. Same type of a neighborhood, but this man put up a beautiful 4unit building which was absolutely elegant and it improved the values of everybody over there. And you know, you're you're a very sharp guy and I'm sure that you
can come up with a concept that would blend in with the neighborhood, be elegant. I wouldn't care. like you say 34 ft. Go 34 ft and make sure that we have the shrubbery between the other residents and that to give the people the privacy. I I I I have those concerns
and uh my biggest concern was we did not meet with the uh with the neighborhood and I I I that to me is pinnacle. I I mean that's something that we should do. I do have a question uh for staff if I may. Thank Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
>> Thank you. Um, we come up with this uh on our project attributes and we say 14 permanent jobs created and a half a million in wages. Is that going to be coming out of the people that live in the townhouse or is that going to be for service of the townhouse? I I I didn't
quite understand that. How did we come to that? Uh, >> we didn't come to that. Their their economic analysis >> Yeah. uh that they presented to us um indicated that >> take a look see if I have uh
>> yeah I I I didn't know the details >> is that because of the people moving in are going to bring that economic analysis or is that because >> let me see what they're saying >> or we're going to be servicing that project. It didn't just drive with me.
>> Sure. Um let's see what it's saying. building, employment and operating and I think the applicant would be the better to telling you explain that to you
um because it is it is definitely in their economic impact analysis. >> Okay. The developer. >> Okay. >> Yes. That that came from the developer. >> Okay. Can I can I have um Joe or somebody explain that to me please if you if you would sir. >> And for the record that's 14 permanent
jobs. >> It's on page four of Hal 14 permanent jobs created with the total of uh million. >> It's a half half a million dollar 500,000. >> I I didn't quite understand. >> So yeah, I guess we're trying to look at
where those numbers go to. uh yard maintenance. Uh uh you know, >> is that maintenance to the project? >> It actually cost 14 direct and indirect full-time jobs
and more than a half million direct and indirect wages and benefits annually. >> Okay. So that would be to building employment and operating expenditures >> that and that would be to service the town houses.
>> It it doesn't state that that's why I said I have to defer. >> Okay. Sorry that answer. >> How does that work? Is that to service them or or >> let me um >> thank you >> answer as best I can. Um there are two things in the economic
analysis. One of them is that it results in something like $340,000 a year in property taxes for the city. And that's one of the impacts that we have in economic analysis. As to the rest of your question, Commissioner
each, um, my understanding is that it does relate to people that are going to be keeping up the landscaping, people that are going to be doing the maintenance, people that may be on site, whether there's, you know, there's some management, but
>> I'm not in the habit of uh, talking through my hat, Mr. each. And the direct answer to your question is my client retained somebody to submit an economic analysis that was done. It was submitted by the city. We've answered the
questions that staff had, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you something that I don't know. >> So, um, let me >> say to you that having we haven't heard Well, you know what?
I'm going to defer. I have one comment I would like to make, but Mr. Chair, I I want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to ask at least their question. >> I'll give you that opportunity once we get >> I I'll just do that, but Okay. >> I'm not going to give you an answer that I don't know is right, Mr.
>> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> All right. Uh the other the other thing I had it says expansion of home ownership opportunities in a neighborhood dominated by older single family homes. That's true. But is it going to be an added value to the existing homes? That's my other question.
>> And and and with that I uh >> let let me try my >> um we're just a long way >> okay >> from knowing what this final project is going to look like. These are not small. These are four bedroomedroom. They're
they're spacious. They're not these little mini places. So we think they're going to be substantially valuable. But we're so far from any kind of final approval and not just what the site plan
might tell us, but what we might have to do with the building permits. Till we have a better idea of the cost of construction of what the final project is going to consist of, any guess that we gave you about what it's going to sell for
wouldn't really be based on reality. and we don't want to sit here and just pitch numbers out. >> Fair enough. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. McDerman or I'm sorry. >> He's He's out, Mr. Besson. >> Okay. Um, I have a question regarding
the distance between the two buildings where the cars will be driving in and out. Um, who would be able to answer that question for me? >> Yes sir. Um we are required to provide a 24 uh drive aisle and that is exactly
what the project is providing. >> Okay. Um an SUV is how long? >> Typical SUV um Chevy Tahoe Suburban Explorer >> I'm sorry >> between 14 and 18.
>> 18 and you have 22. Well, the requirement for every parking in throughout the state of Florida mostly is 24 feet aleisle drive. >> I understand. Um, but your entrances to the >> and plus I'm sorry and plus you have the
the actual parking space, you know, which >> uh adds the depth, you know, beyond what is the requirement. Yeah. >> No, I understand that. So when people come out of their front door, they have and and they want to walk to the street,
they're going to walk in that parking alley, so to speak. Correct. >> It is a sidewalk. >> There's And how wide is a sidewalk? >> 5T. >> Is it on both sides? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> And that leads to the gates on the front.
>> Okay. Um, question for Mr. Geller. >> Yes, sir. Were you present at the meeting a year ago when denied it? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. So, we strongly recommended that
you have meetings with the public. >> Why did you not do that when we strongly suggested that rather than kicking the can down the road and saying, "Well, if you give me the okay, then we'll we'll have a meeting, maybe two." We directed you to do that. Why did you not do that?
>> Well, there's two answers to that. >> Okay. There's a legal answer and then there's a practical answer. The legal answer is as your staff has advised you, we weren't required to do that because we weren't continuing
with the same application. We went out and got a brand new architect who designed a different project with different landscaping, with different mitigation, with different parking, with different articulation.
And those were if we had continued with the same application, which we weren't. >> So, we weren't required to. I I understand people say, and yes, I was here. I heard what was said. As I said
in my initial presentation, we thought maybe wrongly from listening to the members of this commission, but we thought that it would be more productive to come before this commission
to hear your thoughts and comments and then to hold the community meeting with the benefit of those which we've committed committed. Now, I've talked with my client and since the point has been made that previously it said two, I
said we committed to hold at least one. We'll change that on the record. We'll commit that we will hold at least two community meetings before this project goes before the city council. You make a recommendation, the city council still
has to decide it. And again, this is only conceptual. This is just the conditional use. Site plan is an enormous hurdle
and DRC before you get to site plan. And then we first have to have actual working plans that go before the the building department, all the subsp specialties and they have to, you know,
vet all of these things. Now, if the only thing that kept you from letting us move that first baby step was that we
made a mistake in saying we think it's more productive for us to meet with these citizens who've taken their time to come out of their house at night and sit here and voice their opinion before we go to the city council meeting. If the only thing
that is going to keep you from saying you can take that first baby step is that we chose wrongly in making that I I said that we're going to have these before we get to the
council. Then certainly if you voted that you didn't want to approve this until after those are hold held. Well, that's your privilege and of course we will comply because that's this application and if that's what you tell
us, we'll comply with that. But I I honestly don't see the difference of holding those meetings before your vote, your recommendation, and holding those
meetings before we go to city council. having heard from the people who came out tonight, but equally importantly having heard from you before we go into them. But if you think otherwise, if you think no, by God, our feeling was
you should hold them before you come in front of us and you vote that, we will comply. We will respect that. We'll do as you ask. But we would submit to you that we made it a choice. Maybe
we made the wrong choice. I don't mind owning mistake. We thought it would be more valuable after this meeting before city council. And if you feel otherwise, then vote that and we'll comply. I hope that answers your question.
>> Thank you, Mr. Ger. Thank you. Chair recognizes Mr. Blur. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, I just have a few questions uh concerning the the applicant. Um,
Mr. Geller, is there anyone else here besides you and the architect representing Blue Development? >> Yes, ma'am. We have Mr. Samil Jamie Akbas. He is an owner's rep. He is present. He is available. He took an
oath uh to testify truthfully. I I'll say that I did ask him if he knew at this time what the owner intended to charge for these pretty large spacious units. And I gave that answer on the record, which is too many unknowns at
this time in terms of what the final plans would actually look like and what the cost of construction would be and any other adjustments. And as Miss Love said, if the substantial 30 trees
that we've offered is insufficient and the fact that it will take maybe two and a half years to match the current canopy could be insufficient, Miss Love pointed out that we could very well be asked to make a financial
contribution to the tree fund for additional mitigation. And if that's where the city comes down, so be it. But obviously that's one thing that would potentially impact substantially
how much the units would be offered for sale because nobody offers them for sale at a loss. But if there are other questions, because Mr. Akbas told me, not really something that he could answer now. He's an owner's rep. He's
not like the owner, but if you have any other questions that you'd like to ask of him, he's here and he's available and I'm happy to bring him up. >> Can he please come forward? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Hello. Good evening, everyone. My name is Jamie Akbas. I'm the owners rep for
this project and I'm here to to respond any question you guys might have. >> Good evening. Thank you so very much. And so my first question is, is this your first attempt to develop here in the city of North Miami? >> Second. >> The second. >> Second.
>> And can you share a little bit about the first attempt? >> Solo Miami project. >> Solar >> Miami. >> Ah, okay. And so in developing Solar Miami, you did do a community workshop,
correct? >> Correct. So, I'm a little lost as to understand and I know that Mr. Gella did a very good job explaining that there were going to be a few changes and so on and so forth, but why didn't you follow
the same procedures that you went through with Solo Miami? >> I believe Mr. Galler answered that question. That's why I don't want to repeat the same answer here. >> No, I understand. But after going through the process the first time, you
understand what should be the standard. And so although they may have advised you not to, you know that the residents are not going to let up, you know that they if they ask to meet with you,
they're going to want to meet with you and they're going to keep coming back and highlighting the fact that you failed to do that. And the reason I asked to speak to you is because I want to be fair. If you've never built here before and you've never dealt with our
residents, then okay, fine. You may not really understand how they function. But if you've done this before, this is not your first rodeo per se. Correct? >> Right. you should really come forth with
that knowledge and you should display some kind of understanding of how the city of North Miami works. >> I understand, but I'm not 100% sure. But I believe we did the P I mean the community meeting before the uh the city
council, not before the uh this meeting. >> Okay. So I I because >> that's why you know we've >> I don't want to misread what is being said, but to me it seems as if it was
put aside because we're not the city council. >> No, no, no. Please stop. >> And no, I'm just saying this is what it seems as if like you guys really wanted to do everything and get it ready for the city council and make sure that everything is prepared for that. And I
understand that frame of thought because they are the they are the final decision makers. However, if you do not meet them at the point that they're requesting right now, what do you think is going to happen when you go to city council? If
you have 10 people here now, you're going to have 45 people then and it's going to be worse on you. So, I'm saying all of this to say to you that use the knowledge that you've gained with Solar
Miami. Don't sweep it under the rug. It's the same city, the same people, the same mentality, the same frustration, and some of the very same challenges, right? Removing trees is not something
that we as a community, as a si city favor because we have a lot of drainage issues and we have a lot of flooding, right? So the minute you say you want to remove trees, everybody's alarm goes off
because we know that had we had we treated trees differently in the city, we may not have some of the issues that we have now. Okay. Uh the other question that I have >> um before the other question um so
that's the reason that we heavily landscape the previous design didn't have this much of trees. So now we have a lot more trees and a lot more shrubs and and bushes in the property >> and um we are also we also changed the
uh the amount of the permeable pavers in the property. So we have a lot more than before. >> Okay. So we try to you know uh mitigate the the concern from the previous one and we also drastically change our design as you guys see is a lot better
and you know look >> than before. Listen, I understand obviously >> we try really hard and it took long time to come to this point because you know we really put the time and effort to come out with this with this design and I understand and I really do feel the
the the you know uh the the intensity of the uh you know the pain of the removing trees but like Mr. together u said in previously that you know we are willing to uh put more trees even besides our
property wherever the city wants us to put to mitigate >> the other issue >> equ issues >> okay the other issue that I have where do you live sir >> uh southwest ranches Florida >> okay southwest ranches so the other
issue that I have is if I am looking to purchase a home in the city of North Miami. And I'm going to purchase a four bedroomedroom. At minimum, I need two parking spaces. One for me, one for my husband. >> Mhm. >> And I have a 8-year-old son. By the time
he turns 17, we're going to need three. I I kind of need you to think along those lines, okay? Especially for someone to who lives in Southwest Ranches, right? So, I I know sometimes,
you know, as a business owner, as a businessman, you're thinking about your project. You're thinking about how you're going to make money. And I totally get it as as as a business owner myself, but you also have to put yourself in the shoes of the of the people that you that you're bringing the project to. You know, one and a half
spaces for parking, one of one and a half parking spaces. And I know the the staff is telling you that it's okay, but think outside the box. Think as if you were coming to live here in this space.
Would it be ex acceptable? And then just say you you just have a you know your cousin or your aunt over. Where are they gonna park? It doesn't it it doesn't make sense. And when it
doesn't make sense, people feel as if you don't consider them >> and that you're just coming to make money. >> And you seem like a very nice guy and I've seen your other project um over there. And so I I I want you to
understand my heart here. Put yourself in the shoes of the other people. one and a half parking. No matter who in the city of North Miami tells you that that's acceptable, it's not acceptable.
It's not. Their job is to give you the minimum requirement of what the law of what they've put together. But think about it as a person who's living here. Doesn't make sense. Okay. So unfortunately I cannot support
the project and not because I don't want to and not because I don't feel that we need home ownership. I've been like literally screaming from the top of my lungs forever that I'm sick and tired of apartments coming into
North Miami. We need home ownership. Right. So, I love what you want to bring, but the issues is the parking, the lack of communication, the fact that you have knowledge of the city, but
you're just listening to staffers who are not the one who are sitting before you telling you no. And clearly, they may, if you ask them, they're not happy with the staffers either. Clearly, right? There's a big like, you know, get
with the program a little bit. They're not happy with the staffers. They're not happy with the decision. They were never happy with the NRO's. That's why we took them away, you know, and it's not your fault. But if you're going to be successful in this
environment, you have to read the room. And even when staff tells you something is okay, you got to ask yourself based on your knowledge, based on your experience here, is it really really okay? May not be. >> Thank you so very much.
>> If if Mr. I if I could just uh interject another point on on what you've just said. You know, we're in moral limbo here.
Um far be it from me to try to judge somebody morally whether they're right or wrong. Um, but when it comes to something like looking at this property and the reason why we took it out of the NRO is because of it being in a
residential area and the tree covering and the trees that are on that property. Um, I would had thought, and maybe it's just me, that the developer
would said, you know, this is not a very good spot for me to choose to put a development like this on this piece of land. So that played into a big part with our first first rejection of this as to the fact
that why would somebody want to jeopardize that piece of land and those trees and and the greenery that's there and actually bring something that's doesn't even fit in that neighborhood
to to our city and to that and and to put it on that piece of property. So, you know, that's that's something that um easy for me to judge, but um you know, I would I would have hoped as a developer you would have thought along
that line. Okay. I'm sorry, Mr. Cipher, you have the floor. >> Well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I voted against this project a year ago and my mind has not changed and I'll
tell you why and try to be brief about it. Uh, as I look at this project, I remember the old design and it was 10 housing units and I look at what you tell me is a
brand new project. It's still 10 housing units. I understand the legal distinction. I don't see this as a different project. 10 units and 10 units. That's what I look at at the street level. Now, I I
tell you, I'm not a car driver in these years. I ride a bicycle and I go to work every day. And you know, when you ride a bicycle, you get an entirely different
perspective on neighborhoods. When you cruise down our residential streets at 35 to 45 miles an hour, you don't see the houses, you don't see the landscaping,
and you don't count the cars. As a bicyclist, I can take you on a ride and show you homes if you want to get up early in the morning that have three,
four, five, six, and seven cars parked in front of single family homes. >> And so now you present this picture where the code says one and a half parking spaces. Well, I've got news for
you. That code was written in the days of Azie and Harriet. For those of you that happen to remember your television history and in those days, >> you had one car and maybe a motorcycle
>> and that's what you had >> a a Vesa scooter. >> Yes. And one person only went to work. Oddly, they never explained how the children got to school. That was left out. They never discussed childhood
labor issues where they had to go to work. And I I look at today's family environments. And I've got news for you. We're not living in Aussie and Harriet times. The 1950s died a very long time
ago. We now see where you've got to have both parents working if they expect to pay the mortgage and pay the light bill and pay the phone bill and pay the the gas bill if they happen to have a washer and dryer. I've got news for you there. There's not
a coin laundry that you can walk to in that neighborhood. So, you're going to have to drive. I don't know who did the the uh traffic study and I don't know how old it is, but I take serious issue with this. I'm
surprised staff blew by this and thought it was wonderful. Uh I quote here that the transportation manager indicates a net increase of only five morning and seven evening peak hour trips.
Oh, people get real. If you're not both working, you can't afford to buy a townhouse and live in this town and have children. I'm sorry. The economics just don't work anymore.
Those days are long over with. And so when I sit back and I look at this, yes, it's a prettier picture than we had a year ago, but 10 housing units is still 10 housing units. That hasn't changed. I think the far better use for this
property would be for the city to buy it and leave it as a neighborhood park. >> Yes. >> Uh relative to the single family structure. Yes. That's an antiquated concept. And
you know, antiquated concepts have a great deal of value in our neighborhoods. And there are some places that just should not be messed with. And in my humble opinion, this site is one
of them that should not be messed with. North Miami doesn't have that many trees left that are 200 years old cuz we bulldozed them all. And we have paved over so many available spots in this city that we're going to
wind up like Houston on the next big wet hurricane and have no place for the water to go. We need these kinds of neighborhood spaces to absorb the rainwater that is going to come. And this plan is I'm sorry, don't tell me the engineering. It
just isn't going to work. And I appreciate the logic and I appreciate the academia academia studies. I I just don't buy it. Uh not for this site. It is the wrong project for this site. You
want to buy the house, bulldoze it, and put up a new modern house, a single family house. Okay, fine. But don't do a a wholesale destruction of what has the greatest value in North Miami. I'm sorry. I I I don't buy that. And then it
says this application is consistent with applicable development standards in the LDRs. Well, maybe in theory, but the theorists have never walked the streets because they're all busy in their offices.
This is a single family neighborhood. 10 town homes are not going to increase property values. Not when you consider all the cars that are going to come along with it. No house, no housing unit can make do on
one and a half parking spaces. Just ask the people in Kendall. You find out, yeah, you can't you can't get across the street. There are too many cars. Why? We're we are an automobile society. Now, do I
welcome electric cars? Yes, I do. And do I think we should have more mopeds and more scooters? Yes, I think we should. And absolutely more bicycles. Reason we don't have bicycles, the city isn't smart enough to put bicycle parking
slots in front of our commercial properties. I could tell you lots of commercial properties I've been to but can't go into because there's no place to park a bicycle. Now, the use is compatible with adjacent
development. 10 town homes are not compatible dropped in the middle of a single family neighborhood. They don't look anything like the single family homes in that neighborhood. And again, I travel the streets very slowly. You
know, it's something about aging. You you finally wake up and realize you got to smell the roses before they're all cut down. And I tell you, being a bicyclist for the last several years has radically
changed me in my perspectives on urban living. Now, for those of you who don't know me, it's fine. I, you know, you're just neighbors I haven't met, but I've been on this planning commission for, I
think, pretty close to 40 years. Spent 20 years as the chairperson. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And I I tell you, I I deeply respect the individual perspectives of our
commissioners. We are as diverse a group of people as you're going to find and a representative board for this city, and I have not heard one redeeming opinion in support of the project, which makes me feel good. But I I was prepared
to be the only one to say no, but I I kind of think that we're all going to wind up in that position. And uh there's no substitute for 200 year old trees. There just isn't. Uh I I think
open spaces, we need a few more of those in the city. And Joe, you're you're one hell of a good lawyer and I deeply respect your work in your career and you're an amazing guy in so many ways.
Um, and I look out at the audience. These are homeowners. They're vested in where they live. And I see no compatibility between this project
and their neighborhoods. Now, if this were a borderline project that was butt up against our industrial area or butt up against one of these new high-rise apartment buildings that are
springing up like weeds over the city, okay, I you could twist my arm and give it some leeway and you might call it compatible with adjacent areas. There's nothing adjacent to this that it's compatible with. and it doesn't look anything like the
single family homes that are there. Uh I I see no redeeming qualities with this. I'm a little surprised at the position that staff has taken. I I I understand that they feel obligated to
follow the law and as long as this project touched the legal basis points, they they feel compelled to support it even though they admit they don't like it. I don't like it at all. I think it doesn't belong at that location. Uh I I
won't tell you where I think it belongs. That is somebody else's concern. I I just don't see it. And you know, I look at the rest of these uh points that they've made and I honestly think they're really stretching it
>> to draw their conclusions. And above all else, you've got a four apartment unit and you've got one and a half parking spaces, 1,500 square ft. I can show you homes
that are 1350 square feet and have seven cars in front of them. I don't know where the people sleep. I don't know how many bathrooms they've got in the house, but I can tell you >> you're not going to make this work with one and a half parking spaces. Our parking regulations, I have felt for for
a decade or longer are unrealistic in light of urban development. Now, I understand government is always behind the real world by 10 or 20 years, but we really got to get caught up. Uh, and
you're not going to make one and a half parking spaces pan out. And yes, you've got 16 spaces. I think that's really cute. You're not going to tell me a family when their children get to be 16 and they need a car and you're going to
have the average of two children and two parents or maybe a grandparent too. Well, you know, granny or granddad, they got to get around also, you know. And uh I I just don't see this, Joe. I'm sorry. I I you're a hell of a great guy.
I'm opposed completely. I'm disappointed in staff, but I understand the position they're in. And that's all I can tell you. Charlie, >> Mr. Geller, um, obviously you've been reading the tea leaves while we've been talking. >> May May I make a brief comment?
>> Yeah, because I need to ask I know you have >> a couple. No, and also we want to I've got to get some clarification from >> I may be able to stop. >> Go ahead and and and say a lot of things have been said. A lot of things have been said by citizens. A lot of things
have been said by members of this commission. Um I think of all of them perhaps the most compelling came from Commissioner Blur
who said read the room. Um I can read including this room. I will confess that
it was clearly at this position an error to say, well, these community meetings would go better after planning commission. That's not because we don't respect what planning commission has to say. Frankly, it's the
opposite. We wanted the input of the planning commission, but notwithstanding that was an error in judgment. At this time, Mr. Chair, having heard loud and clear what both the citizens and the commissioners have said, we wish to
defer this application until such time as we can hold at least two community meetings, hear what the citizens have to say, see if there results in any changes about what we're proposing, and there have been a lot of suggestions. So, we
would ask simply that you allow us to defer this and we will not come back until such time as we've held at least two community meetings. Uh, councelor, um, can you give us the
ramifications of us voting for or against it or or following the petitioners? um wishes to defer, >> you could either vote against it and
require the meetings as you did the last time with the other project or if they withdraw their application, it is their application. You could also allow them to come back after the meetings. We we ask to defer. That's clearly the
sentiment we're hearing tonight. allow us to have the meetings the way you have said we should. We'll do that. And I commit we will not be back until we've held at least two community meetings. We will not seek to be rescheduled in front
of you. We would ask you to allow us to >> counselor. Is that this defer deferment uh is it a matter of us uh approving it on a vote on a vote? Well, you would have a motion and
a vote on whether to defer. You could also have a motion or a vote on denial with the condition that they have these meetings before coming back. >> The last time we put the proviso in there that we wanted to save the trees.
>> I don't know how you want to do that. We would ask that you allow us to explore other opportunities before you put that in because you ultimately will you're not giving anything away by letting us defer >> at the end when you've heard from us and
you've heard we've heard from the community. You can do whatever you think is appropriate. For now, we will just ask that you allow us to have these. >> Let me let me ask staff. Um um should we should we
vote no in moving this forward? Um does this mean no that it does not go to the city council or that our recommendation would go as a 70 against recommendation? >> 6.
uh Debbie, can you can you explain that further to us please? >> Yes sir. Um if you defer um which it is your decision whether to defer or
to vote as your counselor has advised you. Typically, when you vote no, that doesn't necessarily mean it can't move forward to city council.
Um, however, he has noted that he's committed to doing those two public workshops. >> I would like for them to also look carefully at this landscaping
and the tree issue. Uh again, as I said, they didn't meet the strict application of the code and it put staff in a position of having
to make recommendation because it did meet all the code. Not that we liked it, not that we want the trees removed. >> So my recommendation would be to defer. Then there is a very clear direction for
staff. It's not going to go anywhere and it will have to come back to you. That would be my recommendation, but I would like to to defer to Mr. Paleno.
>> Counselor. >> Well, it it's up to the board. I think the board has the option of doing either. Now you have staff recommending that you give them clear direction that the project shouldn't go forward that it has to come back to you after these two meetings. So >> all right
>> you can decide to follow. >> So I'm going to entertain a a motion uh to defer this item. >> Um I have a >> Who made the motion? >> I did. >> Okay. Mr. Each has moved that we defer.
I have a second I believe from Missur. >> Okay. >> And I'll make a roll call vote on this. >> All right. Um, Chairman Erns, >> um, I vote for deferment. Yes. So, >> okay.
>> We're voting for Yes. >> Yes. Okay. Commissioner Blamir. >> Yes. >> Commissioner each. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Seaf Freed. >> No. Commissioner Pierre, >> yes.
>> Commissioner Bob, >> yes. >> And Commissioner Besson, >> yes. >> Oh, I'm sorry. It was seven. >> Yes, it is. Um, the motion to defer this item passes with a vote of 6 to one.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members, and uh citizens who came out tonight. We look forward to seeing you and interacting with you. Thank you very much. >> I ask for a 10-minute u recess for everyone before we move on to the next
item if we could please. Thank you. >> We are in recess for 10 minutes. >> I don't mind the minority vote. It was okay. >> I just think this thing is never gonna die and it's got to but you know
>> I have a good family starting this they know right now he's doing design for the Google billion to interrupt. I apologize, but we're
gonna bring Mr. McD. >> No, we're going to do that now. >> They know exactly what each unit costs and what they don't call a bare bones.
40 story. Not 40tory story. 40 foot building. [Music] That's a stand. [Music] How are you? supposed to be a great story. Yes. Yes. It recovered much more.
>> I saw down the street. I like to everything. by 5:30. [Music] Yes, sir. Right. >> No, I can always I heard that they open.
really wanted money that they can also That's it. County looking for back money. Are you ready?
[Music] >> This is our two-minute warning. two minutes to uh when we >> resume. >> You okay, buddy? >> Is this >> No, we're going to be tied up another
hour or so long tonight. >> Okay, partner. Take care. I'll speak to you later. All right. Hungry. >> You hungry? >> Are you hungry? >> No. >> Oh, yeah.
>> Miami. Right next to I think it's 13 >> Miami. All right, folks. If everybody wants to take their seat, uh, we're about to begin. >> Mr. McDermade, if you can hear me out in the hallway,
we are about to begin. We're waiting for Mr. McD. >> Where's Mike? >> Just call him. >> Did you ever get ever call honor flight? I never did because I got tied up with some other stuff out of town.
>> I had I had to pull a lot of stuff down from the attic. >> Well, I got the purple heart. >> I have to go. And then I I received the crossar from the Vietnamese government and I
never had the looked at 1968. >> Yeah. 1970. Is that >> D214? We're still waiting for one more two more people here. There he is.
Mike >> 134 >> 860 >> 850 >> 850 I know where you can see the high school. >> Okay, we're waiting for Mr. Ciphered and
we'll we'll begin. Once again, this is a quasi judicial. This is a quasi judicial um proceedings. Now, uh call back into session the planning commission meeting for
Thursday, September 18th, 2025, time 9:20. Um Madam Secretary, uh we will need to uh swear everybody in. Uh Mr. attorney, do
you need to read the U items over again or >> is there I mean if people were present at the beginning of the meeting, you normally you wouldn't reread it. >> You don't need to. Well, in the past, we haven't had to as long as they they took the oath. The only person who
would need to take the oath um again is to do the translation. >> Well, the gentleman, sir, do you still need to translate? >> Well, okay. So you can take the oath if you come up to the podium when it's time. >> But as far
>> sorry I do have to swear one more person in. >> I see Mr. I see councilman. >> Yes. >> Right. >> Okay. But are there any people here who weren't here earlier >> when the oath was given? >> Okay. >> So you we will have to swear them both
in then. You want to wait until they come up to the podium to do that? >> I think they said they were here and sworn in earlier. Correct. >> Yeah, they were. Okay. >> Okay. And maybe your witness, your witness who doesn't speak English can be sworn in, >> right? When I believe
>> So, the only person who actually needs to be sworn in, >> right, Mr. Burns? Would you like to be sworn in, sir? Before we >> So, if you just stand, um, 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? >> Thank you so much, gentlemen. Um, did you wish to swear the translator in at the time of public hearing or No, >> no, I think he he was here when we >> No, it's for something else that the normally we'll have to
>> I mean it's up to the board how you want to handle it. >> Translate. It's another oath. >> All right. Oh, well, he's got to translate what you say. So, yes, that's right. Sir, could you come to the podium, please? >> Thanks. So, do you solemnly swear and affirm that
the translation you will provide in this proceeding will be accurate to the best of your knowledge, skills, and abilities? >> I do. >> Thank you. So, can you translate in, you know, obviously while it's going on to the person who's here with you? Thank you. >> Very good. All right.
So, also on this item, I need to have any disclosures from the members of the commission. I'll start with Mr. Bob down front. >> Have you had any communications or
shared any anything regarding this item? >> Mr. Pierre, >> no. >> Ken, >> have you on this next item? We are about to >> Oh, yeah. Thank Thank you. Uh I was at a meeting to hear the proposal. I think it
was Tuesday night. I I went over to the uh I forget the name of the uh condo on 135th Street to listen to the proposal. I didn't speak to anybody. I just sat there and listened to what they want to build. >> All right. Uh counselor, does that
meet all the requirements? We're okay with that? >> Yes, sir. >> All right. Um Mr. McDermy, >> no. >> None. myself. None. Miss Blurr. >> No, >> Mr. Cipher. >> No. No input on this one.
>> And I I forgot. Did I ask you Mr. Bob? >> Okay. So, we're clear on all that then. Okay. So, um, the next item up is res is, uh, PC17-113, a resolution of the mayor and the city
council of the city of North Miami, Florida, approving an application for conditional use permit and substantially the attached form for proposed development consisting of a 10-story 18 unit residential building on two parcels of real property located at 1998
Northeast 135th Street. identified with the Miami uh county uh folial numbers 06-229-00008-0060 [Music] and 06-2229-00008-001 uh 61 and totally appro uh totaling
approximately 0.34 acres in accordance with article 3 division 4 sections 3-402 through 3- -47 articles 4 division 2 sections 4-202 sections 4-203
parenthesis A close parenthesis section 4-205 and sections 4-310 of the city of North Miami code of ordinances chapter 29 entitled land development regulations providing for an effective date and for all other
purposes. May we have staff report please? Once again, for the record, Debbie Love, development services director. I do have to apologize because my PowerPoint apparently is uh not
working. It is all blank pages. So, um if you don't mind, I'll walk you gently. >> Yeah. >> Through the planning commission report. >> Okay. Thank you so much for your patience. >> And if you could refer to pages, I think hopefully some of them are are marked.
The pages are >> in the staff report that the pages are numbered in in and of itself. >> Okay. >> So, let me get over here so I can share my screen. >> Okay. If I may be allowed to interject
at this point, I'm putting on page two of seven and the site location according to that color photo, the aerial photo >> is 127th Street and Arch Creek Road does
not seem to match the address of 135th and 19th 20th Avenue. >> Yes. um iPad help and um you can see the actual aerial photo that I corrected
and it's on your screen. You'll see that this is the location of the property and once again it is a request for conditional use permit. The applicant and uh their team is here
also with the presentation after I'm finished. So the property is uh again it is located at 1998 Northeast 135th Street. Uh this also has
two parcels of land. You can see the black line here that is the separation between the two parcels of land. It is currently zone R six
um on the zoning map. high density residential and uh they can do 20 25 dwelling units per acre and go to a maximum of 110 ft and based on lot size the zoning allows
for nine dwelling units by right. The applicant is propo proposing a actually it's an 11story 18 unit luxury condominium building.
They are requesting nine floating units to add to their existing as of right nine for a total of 18 dwelling units. The parial size is 0.34 acres about
15,000 square ft. Down here you can see the zoning the zoning is adjacent to C2BW C2B my liabilities.
Um and it is looking at the project attributes are 300 plus short-term direct and indirect construction jobs during the approximate 2-year construction period with about 20 million in short-term construction
wages. About 60 million a year and they're anticipating to generate retail goods and primarily in retail and eating and drinking establishments. a little less than a million dollar
annually in addition taxes and a onetime $400,000 impact and permit fee payments. The units will be five bedroomedroom 3,264 square ft
and they are proposed as luxury condominium units. They have 38 parking spaces within integrated parking garage and of course they're going to be green goalie 100%
native vegetation and and public art as well. Uh based upon our analysis uh we do recommend approval of this particular project.
the that would be the end of mine unless there are specific questions over and above what I have presented here. The next steps after this is again as I discussed in the first item
we anticipate this item going to city council at their 1014 council meeting but again those dates are tentative. uh they will then come back assuming that city council approves the condition
permit they'll be required to come back and apply for DRC site plan review once again that's a more detailed indepth analysis and uh once that is approved by DRC and
they have to answer all the um suggestions requirements for all disciplines before it gets final DRC approval. It will then go to city council for final
site plan approval. After that, assuming that it it's it's approved, they will go directly over to building permit and once again have a very robust review for building permit because they
have to take this to the county at that point before they submit for building permit. So Miami Dade County will look at traffic, they'll look at storm water, they'll look at wastewater, they'll
they'll confirm and have other issues that they may raise that has to be addressed by the applicant before we can actually do building permit review. So they would have to incorporate any changes the
county requires and then go to submit new plans and then that's the set of plans that will go um to building permit review. So this is quite a
long process that that folks go through. So with that is the end of my presentation and if you um have any questions that you have to answer and again the applicant is here I know they have a
presentation and they're excited to present their project to you. >> Thank you Miss Love. Um >> yes sir. >> Good evening. May we have your name and address please for the record? >> Absolutely Mr. Chair. Good evening, members of the planning commission. My
name is Rachel Stridefelds. My law office is at 7275 Northwest First Court, Sweet 104 in the city of Miami. I am honored to be land use council to the Shelton Miami Incorporated. They are the developers
and the applicant for this beautiful project, the Shelton. I'm joined this evening by our architect, uh, Kobe Karp, who's the principal of Kobe Karp Architecture, uh, and his senior designer, Matthew Peicard. We also have
our landscape architect tonight from Witkin Haltz. That's Chris Eves. Just wave, Chris. Our owner's representative, uh, Farat Akai is here as well. Um, and I think that is it for our for
our team. Uh we are very happy to be coming before you this evening with a recommendation of approval from your staff and we listened um intently. Um and we're grateful for the education provided to us by your first item. Um
and I do have a PowerPoint presentation. So if staff wouldn't mind do I need to hit something? F5. There we go. Did it. Uh, so this is the Shelton Miami. As Miss Love stated, we're at 1998
Northeast 135th Street and we are coming to you for a recommendation of approval for a conditional use permit. We are, as Miss Love stated, we are in your
highest density multifamily residential district here in uh the R6 zoning district. The underlying land use is the high density multif family. Um we are next to a marina and dry boat storage
and to the east of us is the Keystone Towers condominium. We had what I believe to have been an extraordinarily informative, productive, friendly uh conversation at the Dorset House on
Monday night. It was very well attended. There were about 30 neighbors who attended that community meeting. We were there for about 2 hours. Um and again, I feel it was very productive. We have incorporated comments from the neighbors
into our presentation. Um, and I look forward to this opportunity to reassure our community on 135th Street. Not only that we will be responsible as we build this project, but we will be stewards of
the peaceful, quiet residential neighborhood that is 135th Street, including supporting the environmental and resilience goals of the neighborhood, such as preserving access to the Arch Creek Preserve, as well as
improving the park that is the median on 135th Street. So, our conditional use permit request is for nine floating units to bring our density to a total of 18 units on a.34 acre lot. We are not
asking for an increase in height. Your code prohibits a height increase request under the conditional use permit. So, our maximum height is 110 ft, which is consistent with the neighborhood and with the zoning. We were very deliberate about our front
setback. So the setback that's required in the R six is actually 25 ft and that's what our setback is. But your code actually has an interesting provision for commercial corridors where the front setback can be no more than 15
ft. And 135th Street, interestingly, even though it's mostly residential, is designated in your code as a commercial corridor. So instead of doing that maximum 15 ft setback, we wanted to be respectful of the character of the
street and bring our building farther away, which is why we have that 25- ft setback. And there's other reasons to having that setback at 25 as opposed to 15. And we'll walk through that a little bit later in the presentation. I also heard the conversation that you had
about parking. Recognizing that the city's language may be a little bit outdated, we are providing more than the required parking to the tune of about 10 additional spaces. So, we are doing 38
parking spaces in a fully integrated innovative parking system. We are using triple stackers and we are going to be using a local company that I think you all are familiar with which is Claus Parking to build our parking garage and
it will be serviced by a 247 valet operation that will be professional, courteous and it will be organized and updated in real time so that available parking spaces are maximized by not just the residents of the building but also
by their guests. I've heard a concern from the neighbors during our community meetings. Um, and I should say that in addition to presenting at the Dorset House on Monday night, um, about a month ago, we had the
opportunity to speak at the Keystone Point Homeowners Association. Um, we attended with several boards. We answered questions. We were given um about 10 minutes to present to Keystone Point and we had support from from the
neighbors at the Keystone Point Homeowners Association. So, the concern that we heard was that we're building a big building on a small lot. Well, your code tells us how much of that lot we can actually cover. And the maximum in this zoning district is
80%. We are at 62.71% lot coverage coming in 17.5% less than what the maximum would be in this zoning district. So we have less
lot coverage. We also have 34% open space. All of the driveway and drop off areas will be per pvious pavers. They will be elegant large pvious pavers. And we're particularly paying attention to
drainage with this project because in addition to having our 25% green space and meeting your landscape requirements and the 100% native plants that are in the code, we are also going to be lining the perimeter of these properties. Our
we have 10-ft side setbacks. We are going to be filling those setbacks with perus pvious pavers but also with rain gardens and bio swelailes. And the rain gardens and bio swailes add a second
layer of green infrastructure which will amplify the impacts of the gray infrastructure that we have engineered by our civil team to manage all of the storm water to have more than sufficient drainage capacity on this site.
We're also going to be an FGBC, Florida Green Building Coalition certified uh sustainable building. We are increasing the width of the existing sidewalk. We're going from a 5-ft wide sidewalk today to a new 10-ft sidewalk. We know
that this is an area that people like to walk to, right? We have this beautiful preserve at the end of the block and we want to encourage that pedestrian activity. We also want to ensure that pedestrians as well as bikers, Commissioner Safe Freed, have a safe
trip past our property. Right. So, when we first came for our pre-application meeting and we met with your staff and Miss Love, some people asked if there was any possibility of adding two on street
parking spaces in front of our building. And we asked not to do that, right? We didn't want to have parking in front of our building. And so we are keeping, and again, this is within the city's right of way. It's not our property. And so ultimately, what the city wants us to
do, we're going to do. But we are keeping the swailes in front of our property. And that's going to further protect pedestrians and bikers. It's going to enhance the character, that residential character of the street when we protect those swailes. Um, and I'm
really actually proud to be representing a client who voluntarily, proactively, in advance of our community meetings and these hearings, made a charitable contribution to contribute to that park. We are helping pay for uh trash
recepticles to keep the area clean and free of dog waste um as well as some park benches. So, we see the vision for this corridor and we're actually thrilled to be a part of the future of this street. I mentioned the required setbacks. We're
going from 20 from 15 to 25 and we do believe that that is going to enhance the relationship between the street and the building, especially for pedestrians as you're walking past the building. We meet all of the sustainability requirements that are set forth in the
city's code as well as the underlying zoning requirements. And we wanted to make sure that with our project there was no idling on the street in front of this building. We are relatively close
to Biscane Boulevard here at this property and we do not want UPS trucks, Amazon trucks, uh, ride share drivers, anyone who might be stopping by the property for a couple of minutes at a time. We don't want them idling on 135th
Street. And so what we did is we used that front setback and we're using pvious pavers to create a drop off zone so that those short, like I said, UPS or Amazon drivers will be able to easily
ingress onto our property. They will be able to drop off their food or pick up their passenger and then safely make their way. And there's room for a T-turn on our property. They won't be backing out onto 135th Street. The traffic circulation was very, very thoughtful
when we were putting together this site plan. I also just want to highlight again, we did speak to the Keystone Point Homeowners Association and we were welcomed and we received positive feedback from them. Um, we have a shadow study. We were able to walk them through
our shadow study and that eased, I think, some of the fears that some Keystone Point uh HOA neighbors may have had. Um, and we also again had that very productive conversation with the neighbors at the Arch Creek East Neighborhood Association and the
residents of the Dorset House and of uh the Keystone Towers as well as other neighbors who came to ask us questions and there were a lot of questions. We also are contributing to the character of this street by removing
nuisances. What are the nuisances that we're talking about? And this is why it's so great to have communication with the neighborhood. This is not something that I would have known because I live in North Bay Village. This property as it currently exists has had a kayak
operation that has there have been not you know code violations and the city has come to enforce its code. um commercial uses. Kayak unlicensed kayak launch businesses are not allowed here. And apparently some of the neighbors have been exasperated over the years by
this constant traffic of um illegal kayak, standup paddle, and potentially jet ski businesses that are being launched from this property. So, we're looking forward to making it over uh to introducing resilient, highquality,
luxury housing here at 1998 Northeast 135th Street. I already mentioned uh the park improvement contribution that we have already made and we frankly are committed to further supporting the uh the park improvements as well as that
access to the Arch Creek Preserve improvements on the sidewalk. Um, we will be planting 20 trees on this property. All of them will be Florida native species. And we really do believe that this project is going to increase the property values for everyone who
lives on 135th Street. These are five bedroomedroom luxury condominium units. We are hoping that they will sell for about $3 million a piece. Um, and you heard from Miss Love that the economic impact is about a little less than a million dollars a year in advorum taxes.
So, our last slide really just reiterates what is already in the staff report that is before you. Um, you know, I'm I'm actually really grateful for the language that Miss Love included in that staff report because it's not just a
prefuncter um acknowledgment that we meet all nine or 10 of the requirements for a conditional use permit. but she articulates really why and how we have done that. And I think over the course of this presentation, you'll learn a
little bit more about why this conditional use permit is absolutely inconsistent with the spirit and intent not just of the underlying zoning district, but of the conditional use permit in general. And so that with that, I will turn it over to our architect
who's going to walk you through the beautiful building itself, Kobe. Hi, good evening. My name is Kobe Carb. Thank you very much for having me here. Since Rachel made this very detailed presentation, I I don't have very much
to say. Um, there are a couple of things that she did mention, which is important to just be cognizant of. This is our proposed building. I have made a simple material board here because the materials that we're seeking to do are
nice. Uh we have stone fluted stone on the facade. We have copper uh trim all the way around and then we have the teak wood underneath. Um specifically our property as mentioned you can see it right here. Um we have our 10-ft setback
which is lushly landscape but also between us and the Keystone Towers there's a physical separation. They have a parking lot next to our property. Um it's about 60 double loaded plus another lane. So it's probably about 80 feet. So
we're the buildings are going to be apart from each other. The marina is immediately to the um west. The construction that we are using is augur cast piles. Augurcast piles is how we
build homes. They're big screws that screw down into the soil. So there's no pounding. There's no pounding of piles. There's no pounding of sheet um piles or any of that. It's augur cast piles. They go down and then we pour the concrete in
there. We also happen to be in a pretty good location right across from 30th court. So when you come out um it goes directly to the north right over there. So you can drive into our property and
scoop around and on 30th and go back to the west. um during construction. Um the construction and all the work will be done on site and then our trucks will also be able to um sweep around and come back out right here on this street right
here on 30th, which is nice because then you can just scoop back and go back and leave this um 135 uh street more um open here, if you allow me. Um, this is a
closeup of the detail of working with your staff has been a real pleasure. They have been very specific that they want high-end finishes and materials. So, we selected um stone and materials everywhere. If you
want to look some buildings that are similar to this, if you are familiar with Surfside Artee that has the stone on it or um Seaway that was just finished with the historic preservation has the stone on
it. So materials are quite nice when you see also the way we build our buildings cuz we know how we build a lot of buildings right next to each other with historic buildings and so forth. We are cognizant of our neighbors. So with that, when we met with staff, they were
very deliberate that the building looks 360 degrees um with the imagery and the fluting all the way around with the materials. Did I miss anything, Matt? >> So with that, I'll be quiet because I know the time is late.
>> Thank you very much. Yes, sir. >> Give us a second. Councelor, is there anything else you want to add? >> No, nothing else. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Karp. >> Mr. Chair, I would be grateful for some
time for rebuttal after public comment and then of course I'm happy to take questions from the panel. >> Certainly. Thank you. Okay. At this point, uh, commissioners, I'm going to go ahead and open up the, uh, to the public hearing. Public hearing is now
open. Anyone wishing to, uh, address this item, please step forward. >> Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My English is no good. My name is Walter Pipkin. I owner the Kingstone Point 2035
apartment 503. H I need a translator for my initi said he'd like a translator for some of his concerns. >> Okay. His address again was what? >> 2000 Northeast 135th Street, Unit 503.
>> Thank you. says that the the the the area is prone to substantial flooding. um and he has concerns with the level of the flood plane and any work that's being done
and and he hasn't seen a geotechnical study on the project that he could feel comfortable with um basically the condition of the soil and his his main concern is that the movement with the construction of the uh
soil and the structure is going to damage possibly Keystone towers with the con with the movement of the construction >> considering how close we are to the water. Yeah, [Music]
>> you have to try and tides are very high. >> And the tides are very high. He has a serious concern with the parking situation considering these units are going to be five bedrooms and only two uh parking spaces are going to
be offered per unit. Uh based on that density Like the councilman or the commissioner said with visiting relatives, grandparents and multifamilies living in such a big unit right now on that street in his
community there is a serious parking issue >> and he wants to thank you for his time. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Anyone else wishing to address this item, please support it? Yes, sir. Name and address, please.
>> Good evening. My name is Tom Dockerty. I'm the president of Keystone Towers Condominium. Uh address is 2000 Northeast 135th Street, Apartment 904. Um I've been on the board of Keystone Towers for about 15 years. Uh seen a lot of changes on the street. Uh on the plus
side, I'm very excited about this. I think it's a great uh development concept that they have. Uh I am very concerned, however, about the quality of life for the residents of our building. Um I it is, you know, if you look at the map, it's really one lane of traffic in,
one lane of traffic out. So I think during the, you know, 18 to 24 months of construction, we're going to have have to really figure out how to manage the amount of traffic and the heavy equipment and all the materials that are become going to be coming in and out. that would cause a lot of disruption on
our street. Um, I am also concerned that we've talked a lot about parking tonight. Uh, the anecdote I will give you is that the Titanic had more lifeboats than was what was required at the time, but it still wasn't enough. And 38 spaces sounds great, but if you're talking 19 five- bedroomedroom
apartments, uh, my concern is that's still not enough. Um, I think what we what we don't want to have is things that make the quality of life worse on our street. Um, and so I think the the challenge here is that parking
is very tight and we need to figure out how to make sure that we've got enough space so that there isn't overflow onto the street for uh taking up other spaces. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Good evening, ma'am. May I have your name and address, please? >> Yes. My name is Susan Frink and I live
at Keystone Towers 2000 Northeast 135th Street, unit 907 and which is exactly right next to next door to where the proposed building is
going possibly going to be. um ditto and what everything that um our um um manager just said, our president of our association. Um I've lived on this street for nine years
and I moved to this street because it's very special, very different as he pointed out. Um we have um it's one way here with a and one way that way with a large median in the middle which is our passive parks
and of course the preserve at the end of the street and it's been very special quiet street for the residents there and of course we're all concerned about the kind of traffic tie up that's going to be caused by all the construction and
it's not that we don't think this building is wonderful. and beautiful. Um, we just have our concerns and we'd like to be sure that they're addressed and managed properly. Um, so there is
the parking issue because obviously it's not going to be enough parking with 38 spaces allowed for um 18 units and these are five bedroomedroom now. We've learned we thought it was four
bedrooms. It's five bedroomedroom units. It's it's obviously not going to be enough um parking for these people and we already are very stressed for parking. My husband and I have to juggle everybody on the block has to do this
like after 3:00 in the afternoon. Everybody's scurrying to make sure you're either home already or that you've jug um gotten out of your parking space so the other person in the family has a space to park when they get home.
And it's it's a real nightmare on our street for parking. And we've been pushing and pushing to get more parking without disrupting our passive parks in in the middle of course. And um it hasn't been able to happen.
>> Okay. Thank you very much. Your time is up. >> My time is up. >> Thank you. >> Councilman Burns, please step forward. name and address and good evening. >> Good evening. Kevin Burns, 776 Northeast
125th Street. Um I'm just here to say that um when the applicant originally came to our office, um they were already aware of uh some some of the concerns and limitations on that particular street. Um as you know, it's in my district and we're putting a lot of
effort into Arch Creek Reserve and to protect that street from uh ever being open. up and and making it a thorough affair. Um I have to say the uh uh speaking with the mayor, I mean with their attorney that um we
they knew quite instantly that the community had to be brought up to speed to speak. So they not only one community meeting but two community meetings to make sure they heard back from the community and some of the issues that we have on that street and as the residents
have said and concerns are it's a narrow street and during construction the logistics of how this is all going to happen but already just out of the meeting that they've had all the construction workers and they can probably talk about more than I should is going to be offsite. Um there are not
going to be hundreds of uh workers cars lined up up and down 135th Street. They're going to rent a space offsite to to deal with that. And as it gets closer, the building department's going to work with the logistics of uh getting the maneuver of the road and and uh what
a construction site might look like, but they also know that they have to clean it up every night and they know those details and those limitations. So, um I'm looking forward that um they're going to accomplish what they need to do and make sure that there's always going to be a little discomfort when you have
a construction zone, but I'm I'm comforted to know that um they have pledged to work with the city staff 100% to make sure it's mitigated as much as possible. you know, um I think we're fortunate that we're getting a building
of just 18 units compared to what live local or other things may or may not come along that we would have no control over. So, I'm I I hear the buzzard and she's about to yank me away, but thank you for your uh consideration. I just wanted to say that they did reach out to
the community unlike your previous applicate applicant that didn't. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Councilman Burns. Um, let me let me make sure that there's nobody else that wants to speak. Um, anyone wishes to speak, please step
forward. Uh, seeing not, I'm going to go ahead and close the, uh, public portion of the comments. Go ahead. >> I would prefer to give you all the
opportunity to ask ask questions. >> Certainly. Um, I'll go ahead and open up the panel then to the comments from the commission. Uh, let's start with Kevin. You may go first if you don't mind, sir.
>> Well, no, I I don't mind. I think it's been nice to occasionally get to go first. >> Yes. >> I I I had my opportunity many years ago, Charlie, to be first or last, and so uh this is fine. I happen to like the project. I understand there are still
some reservations about flooding in the street and I think if the and the the parking is going to be a continuing issue and it's possible and I would encourage the developer to revisit parking to see if
additional spaces could be worked into this project at 3 million or so per unit. I I would think that additional parking could be developed uh without breaking the bank and uh I
would be concerned about flooding because we we know the waters are going to rise and what we saw the last 20 years is not what we're going to see in the next 20 years.
Having said that, no one can predict the future, but you know, we develop the building on maybe a slightly higher footprint um and revisit that that issue. Uh I think
this is a wonderful project and uh with some reservation as to parking and flooding, I would be very happy to support this. Thank you, >> Mr. Bob.
>> Uh, good evening. Let me say that uh the presentation was very thorough. Um, and uh, it seems like you crossed all your tees and dot all dotted all your eyes as far as uh, community engagement and involving them in the process. Um, not to beat a dead horse, I think my
concerns are pretty much the same that you've already heard as far as guests and overflow parking. um for a five bedroomedroom, you know, a little over two spaces, it's it seems a little bit less than what would be needed. So, I'd be interested to hear how you plan on
tackling that. Um as well as kind of the drainage issue that is kind of citywide, but with this project given its density, those concerns. Other than that, I I think it's a great project. Um,
and I have no no other uh comment. >> Thank you, Mr. Bob. Mr. Blur, >> thank you so very much. Thank you for the presentation. Um, I think that you again dotted your
eyes, crossed your tees, uh, and you really, uh, presented it well. I do have a concern with the parking. uh you know, someone who's purchasing a $3 million unit, I I I truly believe
that they would be interested in having more parking space. Uh the other question a question a few questions that I do have is who owns Shelton Miami?
Shelton Miami Incorporated is actually a Turkishbased developer. They have exceptional Shelton and other projects that they have built in Turkey and other locations across the world. This will be their first Miami development. Um, and because this was their first Miami
development, they decided to rely upon one of, if not our best local architect, as well as very experienced civil engineers, uh, landscape architects. Um, they hired a zoning attorney, you know. um these these the they're very very
thoughtful and we have been extraordinarily proactive in terms of reaching out to your staff at the very beginning of this process uh reaching out to the district councilmen. Um I have also met with several of the other members of of the council um to make
sure that we understand the city of North Miami and that we are not pushing you beyond where you are prepared to go. >> Okay. Um my next question is uh with the price tag of about three million per unit,
who are we looking at? Who are we marketing to? We are going to be marketing uh to individuals interested in owning waterfront property in a residential neighborhood. Um these are not investors
who are going to try to come in under the radar and do some type of vacation rental. Uh that is certainly not going to be the case. Um we think that this will be a mix of primary and secondary homes for certain individuals. And that
influx of potential secondary homes is one of the reasons why we do believe that it look if we if we could have had three parking spaces per unit, we would have done that. But we are triple stacking. We are using our GL our ground
floor, right? So when you come in off of the street, there's a 12% grade up to our ground floor. And that is where you are going to meet the valet and drop off your car. The second floor, and there's a great uh building section if somebody
wants to >> show that. The the second floor will be a lobby um as well as a gym and a mail room. But at the rear half of the property, our
parking stackers actually extend up to the second floor. That's how we're doing the triple stack. So, if you see that section right there, >> if we were to include more parking, it would take away two of our sellable units because it would be an entire other floor. And when we lose those two
sellable units, we cannot make the project work, unfortunately. So, we we racked our brains around this and there was even a thought that we would ask for some lenience on height and then we decided not to go that route and to
instead exceed your parking minimum, add those 10 extra spaces and to ensure that we have this 247 fully staffed parking system that is updated in real time so that we aware
are aware of the spaces that we have avail available. And I just I want to say something about the guest parking. Um there is no on street parking on this street until you get to the end of the block where they have about I don't know
maybe 10 14 spaces. >> Not a lot, >> right? And it's reserved for people who are coming from other parts of the city who want to enjoy the preserve. Um, we do not believe that our guests um are typically going to be parking in those spaces, which is the only on street
parking option. We do believe that they will be advised it's probably best to take a ride share to come if there is to be any type of dinner party, cocktail party, meeting, whatever at somebody's home in this building. Um, and we also believe that trends regarding young
people wanting driver's license, young people are actually trending away from driver's licenses because shared rides like Uber and Lift are so available. Um, it relieves them of a little bit of responsibility. I personally, I'm a millennial. I don't understand that. I
love my car, but younger people um may not necessarily be as excited about having cars. And then the one other point on the parking, you're absolutely right to point out that people who can afford a unit of this caliber, especially with so many bedrooms, they
may want to have more cars. They are absolutely going to have more cars. And we think that it will be a function of the market where people will understand that if they have four, five, six vehicles that they're going to have to
have private parking spaces at a private garage. There are facilities such as this like that offer concierge, um, car washing, detailing, and other parking services. So that the fleet of someone who who owns a unit in this building
would be primarily located elsewhere and that the two cars that they keep on property would be their main sort of everyday type of vehicles. Thank you so very much for such a thorough response. Um my my next issue with this particular
project, as I stated, it's beautiful. I I I obviously uh I think this commission is very familiar with Mr. Kobe and so we know that he's put a lot of effort into it. I do have a concern of it pricing out
people who actually live here and so I understand and this is why I asked you who you're marketing to. And so I just want to put on the record that while I think it's an amazing project, I do have a concern of us
building uh units for sale that people who currently live here who may be renters and who may be interested in owning may not be able to afford this. Uh thank you so very much. That's all I have for tonight. >> Thank you for your very thoughtful
questions. >> All right. Chair recognizes Mr. Pier. >> Um I share many of the same concerns as the rest of the council just regarding the parking for uh so many rooms and uh
so little. Um other than that, I think it's a great project and it's a very nice looking building. >> Thank you, Commissioner. >> Thank you, Mr. Pier. Miss McDermott. >> Yes. Um great presentation. Thank you
very much. and Kobe as always a class act. Um, beautiful design, beautiful materials. It looks like it's gonna be a wonderful project. >> Um, but am I correct that there's going to be um how many bedrooms in this total
bedrooms in this building? So, the way the building is designed is that um we're going to have basically couples um elderly folks who are selling their homes in the community um in the single family homes and then they want to downsize into a condominium. So, what
happens is that these folks want to stay in the neighborhood and so what would happen is if I own a house in the neighborhood and I want to sell it, I come and I can live in this condominium and stay in the neighborhood. So it's for a lot of people who are downsizing. The kids have grown up and they're on
their own. Um so the bedrooms also are being used as our um as we discussed our home offices. What happens here is that the folks who live in the building will probably have no more than one or two cars and they will be um also using
their homes as as a place where they do their um offices. and then they step out and they go to a restaurant for lunch or a dinner. I have the same thing in my family. There's only 18 units in this building and we're looking at people who live in the community to basically who
are selling their homes to people who want to renovate the existing homes and bring their families up uh to come into this community into our project. >> I also want to follow up on on the words of our architect. Every room in our
floor plans that is not a bathroom or a closet or the open floor plan, main living, kitchen, dining area of the of the unit. Every room is labeled as a
bedroom. So that might be, you know, a little bit misleading. what Kobe said is absolutely right that that these are spaces that could be used as playrooms, as offices, as TV rooms, as you know, plant rooms, whatever people want, right? But they just happen to be
labeled as as bedrooms. >> Okay. >> So, so the layout, if I >> can interject, the layout, how will they be sold? Will they be sold like uh 32, 33, 43?
If they're not, every room is not a bedroom. >> That's correct. >> But but >> there's a cons misconception here, I think, is that people are thinking that there's five bedrooms in that house, correct? in that living facility when in reality
>> you're counting the living room and any other space with a door or whatever as as a bedroom. >> No, no, no. Let me let me clarify him. >> Yeah, because it is a little confusing. When I heard five bedrooms, I said that doesn't sound right as far as >> there is a main living area that we're
calling the great room, right? >> And that room houses the kitchen, the living area, the gathering area. We also have the primary bedroom suite and then there are four other bedrooms. We haven't named those bedrooms office or
playroom or that kind of thing. They are they are noted on the plans as bedrooms and they will be able to be sold as bedrooms. But the comment is that in actuality when they are lived in they may not necessarily be occupied as
sleeping quarters for individual humans who live there all the time. I see. >> Yeah. Otherwise, I think it's a beautiful project and going to re really enhance the neighborhood. It's gonna It's really nice. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Chief.
>> You're up, sir. >> You're getting rid of uh the blight over there behind the marina in front of 2,3. I remember when those buildings went up. You talked about parking. grown up in New York City and Manhattan,
the pre-war co-ops that were built didn't have parking spaces. They used private garages. I remember one on 84th Street, 83rd Street, and that's the type of situation you would have here with people with disposable income. Now, the new condos, not co-ops, they're building
condos over, they had massive underground, when you could do it in New York City and Manhattan, you have the bedrock. They had massive parking spaces. I don't see I have to agree with you. I don't see the parking to be a problem. And the fact you're you're given you got three stacks. Uh you're
having what 18 apartments. How many parking spaces do you have? >> 38 spaces. 38. >> That's more than uh what we have in really that's way out. And and Kobe, what you mentioned before about the pilings, I I think that that would probably I don't know if you guys
discussed it with him, but that would kind of settle. I was at your meeting the other night and I heard oh well we're going to have the pounding of the pilings in the buildings going to come down and all this and then you're also raising the seaw wall if I'm not mistaken right >> correct yeah we have to raise the seaw
wall a little bit to meet the new uh sea level rising based on Durham >> all of our foundation are augur cast t p t p t p t p t p t p t p t p t p t piles all the water drainage has to remain on site we will have concrete tanks that
collect all the water and hold it on site. It's of the law. It's a code requirement for Durm >> for Wasa. There's >> And ours is even more stringent than than the county. >> Yes, sir. We are not allowed to drip one drop off of our site to the public right away.
>> And then with regards to they brought up uh the parking for the construction, those people aren't going to be there. They're going to be offsite. You your construction people will rent the site and you know, not not a problem. I think it's a great project. Thank you. And as always, an outstanding job. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you
so much, Mr. Chairman. >> Just a couple quick questions. It's more of my curiosity than anything else. What What kind of a base did you find there when you did a survey as far as silica sand a coral bed or
>> all the soil? Let me rephrase it. Most of the soil in the state of Florida, especially where we are out east by the bay, it's all sand that the piles that drive down like a screwdriver >> are called friction piles. They never
reach bedrock. They are they never touch solid. The friction holds them in place. All the highrises you see from Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale are all on friction piles. The homes that are built in Keystone point to anywhere else
you'll see they come out with a little round thing and they're drigging. That's called the augur cast piles. We will not we shall not do the pounding piles. >> So you don't have to you don't have to dig for a foundation. >> Yes sir.
>> Because there's so this is kindly new technique. Correct. >> We have been using it for construction. Some people didn't believe in it. Some people believed it, but now with the technology, it's all augur cast piles.
>> Yeah, I see. >> And also, for example, we build mine beach in the historic buildings. We're doing the Raleigh, we're doing the shore club. So, we do the soil mix and we do the augur cast piles right 5T away from a building from the 1920s. Right. So, >> you know, I was just thinking you're
saying the piles on the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side, >> they hit bedrock. On the Manhattan side, they never hit bedrock. Exactly. >> And that's how many 100 years something. >> And that's and that's and and also what we do for liability. We put sensors on
all construction sites so that we can you know show that we did not have any vibration or any since the champagne towers all construction sites standard have to have it. >> Yeah. Right. >> Mr. Chairman, >> very very impressed. Thank you, sir.
>> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes. >> I'd like to I'd like to make a motion to move the item. Okay, there's a motion on the floor approval. Seconded by Mr. Cipher, we'll do a roll call vote. Madam Secretary, >> I apologize. I heard um Mr. Ciphered
second. >> Seconded. Mr. McDerm made the motion. >> Kevin second. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Chairman Erns. >> Uh yes. >> Vice Chair McDermade. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Blamier.
>> Yes. Commissioner H. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Seaf Freed. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Pierre, >> yes. >> Commissioner Bob, >> yes.
>> Okay, the item passes unanimously. >> Very good. >> Thank Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you all so much for your time and for your service. Have a wonderful evening. >> Thank you very much. Good luck with your project. >> Thank you. Mr. Chair,
>> it's been a long week. >> Mr. Chair, before before we move, um I know we want to go out here, but I do want to uh we have something a little something for Commissioner Boomer.
Um would you present it? >> Um Cynia, please. I did it. I >> a >> You look like an Olympian runner.
>> I hid it in the computer room. I have it now. >> And this is >> Thank you for the occasion. >> Commissioner Mour is this will be her last um service to us on the Bonnie
Commission. >> Oh no. after all these years. We want to thank her for her service and we love you and we'll wish you on our commission. >> Thank you so very much. I am uh at a
loss for words. I want to thank the city of North Miami for the awesome privilege of serving on this planning commission for the last four years. I want to thank all of my fellow commissioners. Uh Mr.
Chairman, vice chair. It has been an honor to serve. I am departing from the city, but uh the city will remain close in my heart and uh it's been an honor to serve.
>> Well, we will absolutely miss you and it was a pleasure to have you serve with us. you brought a whole lot to this this entire board and we can't point enough words to express our appreciation for
for what you you you gave us and and and your input. Thank you so much and we wish you the very best >> and we will definitely miss you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Debbie, are you still with us? >> I answered.
I have one request if you could for the November meeting. >> Yes, sir. >> They're replacing the pedestrian foot bridge over the Biscane Canal at 131st Street. >> Mhm. >> The sign is up.
Is there a design? Do we have any idea what it's supposed to look like? How the approaches will be figured? You know, in November of 2023, we had this wonderful two-day presentation uh in the city. Uh brought in this whole
team of people to talk about what could be done. Have we revisited that landscape plan to incorporate that into our new bridge? >> I would have to check with the public
works. They're the ones who are managing this project, including the design. Uh, and would you like for them to come before you in November with an update? >> Well, I certainly would.
>> I would I would I would agree with that. >> Yes, Kevin. >> Charlie, that's in your neighborhood. >> Yes, definitely. I was surprised when I saw the sign going, "Oh, all right." without any knowledge that they were even planning to fix that bridge. Well,
I know it was in a 5-year plan. They would get to it one day, but we didn't know what that day would be. >> Maybe. Can that be arranged? >> We will certainly reach out to the public works director. >> Okay. >> And request uh he have some he or
someone from his team uh present to you at your November meeting. >> And hopefully the the actual construction of it won't take as long as it did to get the tot finished. Yes, that that was uh almost a lifetime
project >> which which by the way is outstanding and I can't believe the amount of people that use it. Of course, they're coming from all parts of the city to take advantage of what's offered there. And I know some of the neighbors are already starting to complain a little bit about
the o overflow cars on the swailes and everything. But it it is a beautiful park and they did a a great job. test. >> All right. >> All right, Debbie. We look forward to a report that would show what they think the bridge is going to look like and
what the approaches will look like >> and their landscaping concept. >> Right. >> Uh now, do we have any old business to attend to? >> No, sir. >> Uh no new business. I guess under new business would be the our request for
the bridge update. >> Yes, sir. >> All right. Then I call for adjournment. >> So move. >> We are adjourned. >> Boy, it's a long one. I'm glad I'm getting >> Thank you.