CCPC Minutes 11/01/2001 RNovember 1,2001
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Naples, Florida, November 1,2001
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Planning
Commission, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted
business herein, met on this date at 8:36 a.m. In REGULAR
SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples,
Florida, with the following members present:
CHAIRMAN:
Joyceanna J. Rautio
Russell A. Budd
Kenneth L. Abernathy
Paul Midney
Lindy Adelstein
Lora Jean Young
David J. Wolfley
Dwight Richardson
Mark P. Strain
ALSO PRESENT:
Patrick G. White, Asst. County Attorney
Susan Murray, Chief Planner, Planning Services
Page 1
CLERK TO THE BOARD
MAUREEN KENYON
AGENDA
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION WILL MEET AT 8:30 A.M., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1,
2001, IN THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING ROOM, ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER, 3301 TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, NAPLES, FLORIDA:
NOTE: INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO 5 MINUTES ON
ANY ITEM. INDIVIDUALS SELECTED TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF AN
ORGANIZATION OR GROUP ARE ENCOURAGED AND MAY BE
ALLOTTED 10 MINUTES TO SPEAK ON AN ITEM IF SO RECOGNIZED
BY THE CHAIRMAN. PERSONS WISHING TO HAVE WRITTEN OR
GRAPHIC MATERIALS INCLUDED IN THE CCPC AGENDA PACKETS
MUST SUBMIT SAID MATERIAL A MINIMUM OF 10 DAYS PRIOR TO
THE RESPECTIVE PUBLIC HEARING. IN ANY CASE, WRITTEN
MATERIALS INTENDED TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE CCPC SHALL BE
SUBMIT'FED TO THE APPROPRIATE COUNTY STAFF A MINIMUM OF
SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC HEARING. ALL MATERIAL USED
IN PRESENTATIONS BEFORE THE CCPC WILL BECOME A
PERMANENT PART OF THE RECORD AND WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR
PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IF
APPLICABLE.
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THE CCPC
WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS PERTAINING
THERETO, AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A
VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH
RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH
THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED.
1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2. ROLL CALL BY CLERK
3. ADDENDA TO THE AGENDA
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - OCTOBER 4, 2001
5. PLANNING COMMISSION ABSENCES - None
6. BCC REPORT - RECAPS OF OCTOBER 9, 2001
7. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
8. ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEAdGNGS
A. BD-2000-27, Ben Nelson, Jr., of Nelson Marine Construction, Inc., representing Norm
Aipert, requesting a 15 foot extension for a dock facility protruding a total of 35 feet into
the waterway, for property located at 217 Bayfront Drive, further described as Lot 22,
Bayfront Gardens, in Section 6, Township 48 South, Range 25 East, Collier County,
Florida. (Coordinator: Ross Gochenaur)
Bo
BD-2001-AR-1182, Jerry Ncal, representing Wayne Carmignani, requesting a 5-foot boat dock
extension of an existing 44-foot dock to create a dock facility protruding a total of 49 feet into the
waterway at 41 East Pelican Street, further described as Lot 27, Isles of Capri Unit 1, in Section 5,
Township 52 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida.(Coordinator: Ross Gochenaur)
VA-2001-AR-1295, Robert L. Duane, AICP, representing Collier County Public
Utilities/Wastewater Collections, requesting an after-the-fact 4.5-foot variance from the required
minimum front yard setback of 50 feet in the "A" Agricultural Zoning District to 45.5 feet for the
existing Secondary Clarifier Tank; a 9.5-foot variance from the required 50-foot front yard setback
to 40.5 feet for the existing Sludge Holding Tank No. 1; and a 23-foot variance from the required
50-foot front yard setback to 27 feet for the proposed Sludge Holding Tank No. 2, for property
located at 5600 Warren Street, in Section 20, Township 50 South, Range 26 East, Collier County,
Florida. (Coordinator: Ray Bellows)
PUDA-2001-AR-881, William L. Hoover, of Hoover Planning and Development, Inc.,
representing James Morande, of Morande Kid, Inc., requesting an amendment to the Salvation
Army PUD for the purpose of a adding an automobile dealership as a permitted use, for property
located at 3180 Estey Avenue, on the western side of Airport Road, approximately., 600 feet north
of Davis Blvd., in Section 2, Township 50 South, Range 25 East, Collier County, Florida,
consisting of 5.78± acres. (Coordinator: Chahrarn Badamtchian)
PUDA-2001-AR-843, William L. Hoover, Trustee, representing Bucks Run Land Trust and The
Restoration Church, Inc., requesting an amendment to the Bucks Run PUD having the effect of
adding a child care center as a permitted use on the western 15+ acres and a maximum of 288
affordable housing dwelling units on the eastern 24+ acres, for property located on the east side of
Collier Boulevard (C.R. 951), approximately 700 ft. north of Vanderbilt Beach Road, in Section
35, Township 48 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of 38.99+ acres.
(Coordinator: Ray Bellows)
PUDA-2001-AR-1404, Dwight Nadeau, of RWA, Inc., representing Conquest Development
U.S.A., L.C., requesting an amendment to the Silver Lakes PUD for the purpose of reducing the
Park/Travel Trailer area fi.om 26 to 24 acres, the buffer area fi.om 5 to 3 acres, the
commons/recreation area from 97 to 78 acres and increasing the conservation area from 3 to 26
acres, for property located at 1001 Silver Lakes Boulevard, in Section 10, Township 51 South,
Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida. (Coordinator: Chahram Badamtchian)
RZ-2001-AR-1143, Tim Hancock, of Va~r~s,,se~,~,~ ~,a, ylor,,~LP, re,,presenting Golden Gate
Capital, Ltd., requesting a rezone fi'om~l~SF-3 to RSF-6 for single-family housing for
property located on the comer of 20~U~a~e S.W. and 51st Street S.W., Golden Gate City, in
Section 2 I, Township 49 South, Rangg'26 L~, Collier County, Florida. (Coordinator: Chahram
Badamtchian)
CU-2001-AR-371, Bryan Milk of RWA Inc., representing Hideout Golf Club, Ltd., requesting
Conditional Use "1" of the "A" zoning dislrict for earthrnining per Section 2.2.2.3.1, for property
located at the southwest intersection of Kean Avenue (a.k.a. Brantley Boulevard) and Garland
Road, in Section 25, Township 49 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida, consisting of
20.5:t: acres (Coordinator: Chahram Badamtchian)
PDI-2001-AR-1317, Kevin L. Higginsoa, P.E., of Coastal Engineering Consultants, Inc.,
representing Southern Marsh Golf Club, L.C., requesting an Insubstantial Change Deternaln_ation
to the San Marino 16UD for modifications to a portion of the PUD Master Plan to reflect layout of
the entrance road and the boundaries of the preservation areas for property located on the east side
of C.R. 951 approximately 1.5 miles south of Davis Boulevard (S.R. 84), in Section l 1, Township
50 South, Range 26 East, Collier County, Florida. (Coordinator: Ray Bellows)
o
10.
11.
12.
13.
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
PUBLIC COMMENT ITEM
DISCUSSION OF ADDENDA
ADJOURN
1 1-01-01/CCPC AGENDA/SM/lo
November 1, 2001
(The proceedings commenced with Commissioner Midney not
present.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to call to order this meeting of the Collier County
Planning Commission for Thursday, November 1 st, 2001. Welcome.
The first item on the agenda is pledge of allegiance. Please stand
with me and join us in the pledge of allegiance.
(The pledge of allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I have an announcement to make. We
have obviously exceeded the capacity of this room for fire safety, so
each of you who is not seated at the moment must stand out in the
hall and observe our proceedings from the hall. We have speakers
out there that you can hear what's going on. It is a safety issue. So,
please, if you're not seated, move toward the hall.
(Commissioner Midney entered the boardroom.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And if you happen to be a speaker, if
you have somebody here that is a friend of yours and trade out their
seat, please do so. And we're going to change the agenda this
morning.
Mr. Weigel, can you talk to him?
(A discussion was held off the record.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Unfortunately, we may exceed the
capacity of the hallway too.
(A discussion was held off the record.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: If you could depart the room quietly,
we'll call the roll.
Mr. Midney.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Yes. Good morning.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Good morning. Mr. Adelstein.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Budd.
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November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Ms. Rautio, here.
Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Wolfley.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Present.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We do have a quorum. Thank you.
Do we have any addenda to the agenda?
MS. MURRAY: Yes, Madam Chair. For the record, my name
is Susan Murray, current planning manager. Item G has been
continued, and honestly I'm not sure why. I don't know if that was at
the request of the petitioner or not. I just got a notice that it was
continued. Marjorie Student has,jury duty today. I understand
Patrick White is supposed to be filling in for her. I don't see him, but
David Weigel is here, so I'm sure we're covered.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: He'll be satisfactory.
MS. MURRAY: As well, I know you wanted to have some
discussion on e-mails. I don't know if'you want to have that now. I
know Mr. Weigel's here to discuss that with you, I believe. I just
wanted to bring that to your attention, and that's all I have.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And has someone made a
request, then, to move Item E to be the first item on the agenda?
COMMISSIONER BUDD: So moved.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: So moved.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Second.
Page 3
November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We have a motion by Mr.
Abernathy --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Everybody on the right.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- and a second by -- everyone on the
right -- a second by Mrs. Young to move Item E, PUDA-2001-AR-
843, an amendment to the Bucks Run PUD, to the first item on the
agenda. Do we have any discussion?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON:
sides here that represent that?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
standing in the hall too.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, because it's so --
they may have counted on that being later in the schedule.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, they do--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Before we vote we're in
discussion. I'll recognize Mr. Arnold.
MR. ARNOLD: For the record, Wayne Arnold representing
Bucks Run. Mr. Cuyler, our attorney who's been working on our
affordable-housing component, is on his way.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Is that mike on?
MS. MURRAY: It should be.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Somebody said they saw
him in the building.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Is Mr. Cuyler in the audience
anywhere, in the hall? Well, actually it's not fair, then, to the
petitioner to move this.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Madam Chairman, while we
have this, what is the number of this?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: This would be E, as in elephant.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: 8-E.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: No. The -- I have 834 on
Are the people on both
Are the attorneys here?
I believe I saw everyone. They may be
Page 4
November 1, 2001
mine, not 843.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Well, I have 843 on my agenda.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Right. But on the -- on the
actual packet, it's 834.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I'm dyslexic. I didn't
notice it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Well, it looks like we have succeeded
in one more typo for this particular agenda and packet.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, 43 is 34 backwards.
It's close.
MS. MURRAY: It's not really relevant. We know what the --
the petition name is. It doesn't affect the advertising requirements.
As well, I need to read into the record the correct title for another one
of your items.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. But we're not doing that. We
have a motion and a second on the floor to move this item on the
agenda, and we're in discussion at the moment.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I would offer a --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. I would like clarification.
Are we dealing with 834 on this Bucks Run, or is it 843, as the
agenda states?
MS. MURRAY: 834.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you, just for the record. Okay.
Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I would just offer a tabling
motion until both sides are ready.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Or we can withdraw the motion if we
want to.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I would move we withdraw
the motion and go on with the next case.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
Page 5
November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I was going to amend it and
take these two boat dock extensions first and slide it in there so we
won't have to --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Yeah. Go to the top of the
agenda.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's reasonable. So would you like
to amend your motion to hear Public Hearings A and B first on the
two boat docks, and then the third item would be the Bucks Run PUD
amendment?
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: That sounds fair to me.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Second, okay?
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Second agrees. Any discussion? Mr.
Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Just to comment, the -- it would
only be fair if the other two applicants, C and D, had no problem with
being pushed to the latter part of the agenda because they're going to
have to wait through the Bucks Run issue now, and I'm not sure that's
fair to them. It might be fair to have Bucks Run move forward, but is
it equally as fair to those other people that have been scheduled all
along? So do we have any objections, then, from C and D?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That is a consideration. If they're
handy, would they please step forward.
MR. DUANE: Robert Duane, for the record. I'm willing to
defer Item C until you've finished your business this morning.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Hoover's on both, so it
doesn't make a difference.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Hoover?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, he's on both.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. He's on both, so he's here
Page 6
November 1, 2001
anyway. Okay. Any other comments, discussion on our amended
motion? Mr. -- Mr. Wolfley.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I just want -- I had a meeting
with Mr. Cuyler and Mr. Arnold here a day or so ago regarding
Bucks Run.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
call --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Oh, we're not there yet?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- each individual item. We're not
quite there yet. We still have a ways to go to --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: My apologies.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. I appreciate that.
Okay. I call the question. All those in favor of moving Item E to C,
change it to the third item on the agenda, say aye. (Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Okay.
Moving right along, we will have a discussion of e-mails at the item
on new business. Any other addenda to the agenda?
MS. MURRAY: Just that I need to read the title whenever
you're ready.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: For which item, please?
MS. MURRAY: That would be Item C.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's an amendment to the
agenda then, isn't it?
MS. MURRAY: Not really. I mean, there's -- it's just a
correction.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: The title of it.
MS. MURRAY: A correction, yeah.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Go ahead and correct that one.
We'll do our disclosures when I
Page 7
November 1, 2001
MS. MURRAY: Okay. It would be VA-2001-AR-1295, Robert
L. Duane, AICP, representing the Collier County Public
Utilities/Wastewater Administration, requesting a 3-foot variance in
the "A" Rural Agricultural Zoning district from the required
minimum side yard setback of 30 feet to 27 feet for the proposed
Sludge Holding Tank No. 2 for property located at 5600 Warren
Street in Section 20, Township 50 South, Range 26 East, Collier
County, Florida.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Okay. Moving along to
approval of the minutes for October 4th, do we have a motion?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: So moved.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I think I have a motion by Mr.
Wolfley, a second by Mr. Budd to approve the minutes for the
October 4th meeting. All those in favor say aye.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I have a correction.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Oh, we do have a correction.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Page 114 says -- and this is my
discussion -- "When I was down at the county scrambling for money
to get documents." I don't go to the county for money, and I don't
want that to be on the record that way. I used the words "on
Monday," when I was down at the county scrambling on Monday, not
for money. So if I could make sure that gets corrected.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: There's been enough
scrambling for money already.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I read this morning's paper before
I came in too.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. So we have a correction on
page 114 for Mr. Strain's remarks. Are there any other corrections to
the minutes?
Page 8
November 1, 2001
Okay. So we have a motion to approve revised minutes.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I would so move.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. First and second agree? All
right. All those in favor?
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. We have revised
minutes. Planning Commission absences, do we have any anticipated
absences during the month of November? Hearing none from other
commissioners, it is possible that I will be out of town on the 28th of
November, which is a scheduled Land Development Code meeting.
So Mr. Abernathy, as long as he's here, he can run the show.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Come to think of it-- no.
I'll be here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you. Board of County
Commissioners report, recaps of October 9th. Do we have some
highlights you would like to present to us, Ms. Murray?
MS. MURRAY: Not unless you have questions. I did want to
let you know that on 10/24 the Board of County Commissioners
approved the LDC amendments pretty much as you-all have
recommended. There were really no substantive changes to those.
So the public participation strategy is now in effect, and we have
been telling applicants as of October 1 that they needed to abide by
that as policy. So you will see some petitions come through that have
not participated in those -- that process. They were in -- in the
analysis stage way before October 1. But anything as of October 1 or
later will be required to comply.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Susan, I'm not sure I
understand the purpose of this recap. This is the second time I see
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November 1,2001
items that are listed here, but they don't give what the disposition
was. There's one that starts on page 3, continues to the top of page 4,
the Vanderbilt Villas PUD. And then there's one at the bottom of
page 4 that continues -- or is it -- let me see. Yeah, the Eagle Creek
PUD, and then-- well, that's denied 5-0. Excuse me. Then the
following one, White Lake Industrial Park PUD, it sets out the whole
issue, but it doesn't give a disposition. I thought that's what this thing
was supposed to do.
MS. MURRAY: You're correct. Our office doesn't handle this.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Can you -- do you know
off the top of your --
MS. MURRAY:
approved.
I do know. The White Lake PUD was
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MS. MURRAY: Okay. And the other one that you mentioned
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Vanderbilt Villas is the
second installment that was built too close to the first.
MS. MURRAY: I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Vanderbilt Villas, is that --
MS. MURRAY: Vanderbilt Villas was actually withdrawn, and
if you see right under Item 8-A, usually they put the result of the
hearing at the bottom under the item, but here they had put it at the
top. It says "withdrawn" right at the top there.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just to clarify that, though,
Mr. Abernathy, it was withdrawn at the applicant's request because
the -- I listened to that part of the hearing -- because they determined
that the sense of the commission was such that they were going to be
defeated, so they took it back and were going to try to work it out
with the -- between the two parties.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: So that withdrawn with the
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November 1, 2001
colon applies to A, B, and C; is that --
MS. MURRAY: No. That would just apply to Item A.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Would you take the time to express to
whomever it is in charge of formatting this particular report that we'd
like a little more clarity --
MS. MURRAY: Sure.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- to save us some time and your staff
time? Any other comments, questions from commissioners on the
Board of County Commissioners report?
Okay. Moving right along to No. 7, the commissioners --
excuse me -- the chairman's report. I'm going to take a little time
here today and talk about some guidelines of-- for all the public, for
staff, petitioners and, of course, for planning commissioners. First
item for the planning commissioners would be a reminder that we
must disclose all ex parte communications. When I call the particular
item for the public hearing, that is the time to get my attention and let
me know if you have spoken to anyone. Number two, reminder for
those who come to the podium, please state your name clearly. If it's
unusual, spell it for the court reporter and, also, that only one person
in the room speaks at a time. I'd like to remind each person to kindly
wait until the person speaking finishes their thought process before
attempting to answer a question or to comment. It makes it so much
easier in this particular board, and we do not want people anticipating
an answer to a question, whether that be staff, a petitioner, or
someone from the public. So we certainly appreciate you-all being
here today. And, again, only one person speaks, and we cannot have
people speaking from the audience because it's impossible for the
court reporter to get an accurate verbatim record. Thank you.
With that, I'd like to open the advertised public hearings. The first
item is BD-2000-27, a 15-foot boat dock extension. All those
wishing to present testimony today please stand, raise your right
Page 11
November 1,2001
hand, and be sworn in by the court reporter. (The speakers were sworn.)
MR. GOCHENAUR: Good morning, Commissioners. For the
record, Ross Gochenaur, planning services. The petitioner is
requesting a 15-foot extension to create a docking facility protruding
a total of 35 feet into a waterway which is about 300 feet wide. The
property is located at 217 Bayfront Drive in Lely Barefoot Beach and
contains about 88 feet of water frontage. The projects consists of the
construction of a U-shaped dock and boat lift on a lot which is
currently unimproved. No building permit for this facility would be
issued unless a building permit were issued simultaneously for a
single-family home on the lot, and even then the dock could not be
legally used prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the
home. The proposed dock as shown in the petitioner's drawing has
been modified in response to the concerns of the owner of
neighboring Lot 21, and the second boat lift has been deleted as
shown in the amended drawing. And this is what I've passed out
prior to the hearing this morning. We've received no objections to
this petition. It meets all relevant criteria, and staff recommends
approval.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any questions of staff?.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I have one.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Ross, on subparagraph H
you say that the petitioner owns a 27-foot vessel. I can't find
anywhere where the petitioner said that.
MR. GOCHENAUR: That information was provided to me
separately. I have a letter from the petitioner which states that. It
wasn't in his original application.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: The letter is not in here
either, is it?
Page 12
November 1,2001
MR. GOCHENAUR: No, sir, it's not.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions of staff'?. Mr.
Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair. Ross, this
dock cannot be used, then, until the house is placed on the property
that it's serving. That's what you said; right?
MR. GOCHENAUR: Yes, sir, correct. That's generic to all
such --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Is there such -- is there
any procedure that that dock could be posted so that someone else
doesn't come along and start using it illegally? It just seems like it's
an attraction to someone to start to use prior to the time it's legally
appropriate to use. I just wonder if they ever have any posting that
would say, you know, you can't fish off this dock or you can't boat
here or something because it's not -- why have the rule if we don't
have a way to enforce it?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I thought you couldn't build
it until you had a structure; is that --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: He's going to build it.
MR. GOCHENAUR: You could build the house and the dock
simultaneously. And in answer to your question, technically that
would be a construction site. So, for instance, trespassing would be
prohibited since the house would be under construction at the same
time as the dock. I don't think --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I misunderstood. I
thought they could go ahead and build a dock ahead but not use it
until the property has a house on it. You're saying it has to be
simultaneous.
MR. GOCHENAUR: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions of staff?.
Would the petitioner care to present?
Page 13
November 1,2001
MR. NELSON: For the record, Ben Nelson representing the
applicant. I'd be glad to answer any questions anybody might have.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any questions of the petitioner?
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: What will the first lift hold?
What does -- the first lift, what capacity does it have?
MR. NELSON: The capacity of the lift is a 16,000-pound lift.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Madam Chairman.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: The correction that we were just
handed shows a 10,000 pound. Is that right or wrong?
MR. NELSON: It's probably a typo. It's a 16,000-pound lift.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: So the correction needs
correction?
MR. NELSON: Well, I'm not sure that the lift capacity has
anything to do with the extension.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any further questions?
Do we have any registered public speakers? MS. MURRAY: No registered speakers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Having no registered public speakers, I
close the public hearing. What's the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I make a motion to approve
BD-2001-AR-11 -- no that's the wrong one -- BD-2000-27. We're
getting ahead of ourself.
MR. BUDD: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mr. Abemathy, a
second by Mr. Budd to approve the BD-2001-27. Do we have any
discussion? Hearing no discussion, I call the question. All those in
favor say aye.
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
Page 14
November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Thank you.
Second public hearing petition would be BD-2001-AR-1182, a 5-foot
boat dock extension. All those wishing to give testimony today
please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in by the court
reporter.
(The speakers were sworn.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Gochenaur.
MR. GOCHENAUR: For the record, Ross Gochenaur, planning
services. The petitioner is requesting a 29-foot extension to create a
docking facility protruding a total of 49 feet into a waterway which is
about 390 feet wide. The property is located at 41 East Pelican Street
in Isles of Capri and contains about 431 feet of water frontage.
There's a typographical error in the staff report that says that's
231. That conflicts with another reference in the staff report that says
431. The correct water frontage is 431 feet. The project consists of
the removal of existing mooring pilings seaward of an existing legal
nonconforming dock and the replacement of pilings which would
protrude 5 feet further into the waterway than the originals. And I've
shown that on the drawing here. The proposed new pilings would
increase the protrusion of the dock and, therefore, the nonconformity,
requiring approval of an extension to the full 49 feet. No deck area
would be added to the existing dock. We've received no objections to
this proposal, and staff recommends approval.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any questions of staff?.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Ross, I'm a little -- would
you explain the concept of a legal nonconforming deck?
MR. GOCHENAUR: Yes, sir. There was a time when docks
could be constructed to any length without a boat dock extension
petition. If the dock was legally built according to the county rules
Page 15
November 1,2001
that were in effect at the time, it's considered legally nonconforming.
The addition of these two pilings results in a 5-foot extension to the
legal nonconforming dock. And the code says that you can't increase
a nonconformity; therefore, the property owner had to come back and
basically legalize the entire facility just to have these pilings.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So it is now completely
legal?
MR. GOCHENAUR: If you approve it.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So it's no longer a
nonconforming covered dock after this action.
MR. GOCHENAUR: Yes, sir. It'll be a legal dock.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any further questions?
Would the petitioner care to present?
MR. NEAL: Jerry Neal representing the owner. The dock was
built in 1976. And, as Ross said, back then the rules were totally
different than they are today. The owner of today just purchased it,
just remodeled the home, and just brought his boat in and found that
the existing facility would not accommodate his boat. For one, the
boat would slide underneath the roof of the boathouse and get caught
up underneath of it, so he's asking to be able to shift it out away from
the boat dock -- boathouse, existing, 5 feet in order to keep his boat
from getting caught underneath the roof of the boathouse. If there are
any other questions ...
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: No questions?
Do we have any registered public speakers? MS. MURRAY: No registered speakers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: With no registered public speakers, I
close the public hearing. What is the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I'll make a motion to
approve BD-2001-AR- 1182.
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Second.
Page 16
November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mr. Abemathy, a
second by Mr. Budd to approve this boat dock extension petition. Do
we have any discussion? Hearing no discussion, I call the question.
All those in favor say aye.
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Okay. We are now at the
changed agenda for Item E, which is now C, PUD-2001-AR-834,
amendment to the Bucks Run PUD. All those wishing to give
testimony today, even those in the hall, please step inside, please
stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn by the clerk -- clerk of the
courts.
(The speakers were sworn.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Your turn.
MR. BELLOWS: For the record, Ray Bellows with the
planning services staff presenting the Bucks Run PUD, Petition No.
AR-834. The petitioner is requesting to amend the Bucks Run PUD,
which is located, as you can see on the visualizer, on the east side of
Collier Boulevard, the Golden Pond PUD to the west. To the north is
a vacant agricultural land with -- and a landscape nursery on part of
it. To the south is an approved but undeveloped Mission Church
PUD. To the east is the developed Vanderbilt Country Club PUD,
and in the southeast comer is the Collier County treatment facility.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And before you go any further, are
there any disclosures? Mr. Strain, we'll start at your end.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I spoke with the applicant's
representative, Mr. Wayne Arnold, and we discussed my concerns
about the project as well as his.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I also had a conversation with
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November 1, 2001
Mr. Arnold and Mr. Cuyler, same -- referring to objections that I saw,
problems.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Yes. I was contacted by
the applicants and had a telephone conversation with them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: I had a telephone conversation
with Ken Cuyler regarding this.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I had a telephone conversation with
Mr. Cuyler and Mr. Wayne Arnold, who is the planner for the
petitioner. And I also had a telephone call from a Mr. Mike Davis,
who is a property owner in a land trust very near this piece of
property. We discussed my concerns. We discussed affordable
housing. I asked a number of questions to clarify points in the
petition for -- that we're considering today.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I met with Mr. Cuyler, and
Mr. Arnold joined us via teleconference, and that's -- we had a
conversation about the petition.
COMMISSIONER BUDD: I met with Mr. Arnold and Mr.
Cuyler regarding this petition.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I feel left out.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you very much. Okay. You
may continue.
MR. BELLOWS: The Bucks Run PUD was approved in 1999
in Ordinance No. 99-79. It allowed for 156 dwelling units at that
time at a density of four units per acre. It also allowed for a church
and a school. The proposed amendment is to increase the number of
units to 348 via the affordable-housing density bonus process. In
your agenda packet, you will see an attached affordable-housing
agreement that's prepared by our housing and urban improvement.
We have the housing and urban improvement director here to go into
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November 1, 2001
detail of that part of the application. The Land Development Code
and Growth Management Plan allow for increases in density via this
affordable-housing process. The reason we have a PUD document
that's not striked through and underlined is the fact that there were
significant changes due to the increase in density, and we treat it like
a new PUD. And so, therefore, there is no strike through and
deletions. We're treating this like a brand-new project, and that's why
it's presented in this format.
The Future Land Use Element has what we call a map showing
where a future development can go and the densities. It's located in
the yellow area which is urban residential with a base density of four
units per acre. If it was located within a density band, it would be
eligible for three additional dwelling units per acre, but it's not in a
density band. So, therefore, to increase the number of units to make
an affordable-housing project, the county offers its bonus incentive
program. And with the -- an executed affordable-housing density
agreement, they're eligible to receive up to 8 additional dwelling units
for a total of 12 dwelling units per acre, and such is pointed out in
your staff report. So the proposed petition is consistent with the
Growth Management Plan with the approval of the affordable-
housing density bonus.
The transportation review indicates that the subject site would
generate 1,152 weekday trips and 115 during the a.m. Peak hour, will
not lower the level of service on Collier Boulevard or any other road
and, therefore, is consistent with Policies 5.1 and 5.2, the
transportation element of the Growth Management Plan. In regards
to compatibility with the adjacent land uses, one of the more
important things that staff looks at when we change densities
-- you can see that this is a copy of the master plan. Basically not
much has changed on the master plan from the originally approved
master plan. The access still is off of Collier Boulevard. We have a
Page 19
November 1,2001
-- preserve areas in -- centrally located with an access to the back. In
the west track is proposed for the church, school, and possibly a day-
care facility. In the eastern tract is proposed for this affordable-
housing project.
The affordable-housing project was originally intended to be --
and I think it may have snuck into your staff report -- be limited to 55
and older. That was the original submission by the applicant;
however, they were not able to work out that process to their
satisfaction. And they resubmitted the affordable-housing agreement
after the staff report was prepared to eliminate that requirement. I
hope that you got the revised page to eliminate that requirement in
your document.
The compatibility issue is the fact that we'll probably be dealing
with multifamily instead of single-family housing type. The rental --
the affordable-housing agreement points out to rental units. The
property to the east in the Vanderbilt Villas PUD currently contains
multifamily structures that would be similar in nature to what's being
proposed for this affordable-housing project except that this will be a
rental unit versus their condominium type of units. I have an aerial
photo attached to your staff report that basically shows the structures.
As you can see, they line the property line to the east side. From a
compatibility of structure to structure, the multifamily buildings
proposed for this development would be compatible to what's being
proposed in Bucks Run. We also have water management lakes and
preserve areas.
The county transportation department has requested an
interconnect with the property to the south and the property to the
north; however, it may not be feasible to have the interconnect to the
property to the south. That PUD is far along in its development and
design, and there's some environmental issues that may prevent the
interconnection at that point, though we still think we can get the
Page 20
November 1,2001
interconnection to the north. To the north is vacant agricultural land
or is partly developed with a landscape nursery. And to the south is
the Mission Church PUD, and if we could get that interconnection, it
would be a natural connection between the two church/school
projects.
Staff has received just recently a petition from residents within
the Vanderbilt Country Club objecting to the affordable-housing
component of this petition primarily. They do have some concerns
with traffic also. As you can see, we have numerous people here, so I
guess -- I also wanted Greg Mihalic to speak now to address the
affordable-housing component to give you a better idea of the price
ranges in that market.
MR. MIHALIC: Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Greg
Mihalic. I'm director of housing and urban improvement for Collier
County. I really would like to reserve most of my comments until
after the petitioner makes their presentation so I'm available to
answer questions and talk about what's going to be in this project, if
that's okay with you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It might --
MR. MIHALIC: If you have questions now, I'll be happy to
answer them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It might be; however, we had questions
last time on an affordable-housing issue. Would anyone care to just
ask him some general questions now to clarify points that were not
clarified previously that wasn't in the staff report? Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I have specific questions about
your affordable-housing agreement. MR. MIHALIC: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I don't know what the appropriate
time would be to bring those up.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Go ahead.
Page 21
November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: It was included in our packet, and
I need to -- unfortunately I thought it would be something we should
have reviewed prior to this meeting. Mine seems to be incomplete.
Page 6, No. 9 is a beginning of a -- it says "Authority to Monitor.
The parties hereto acknowledge that the Director of Collier" ... That's
it. The rest of the document's missing. The same thing applies to
page 7. The same thing applies to page 8. And I'm just wondering if
the completed document has all those paragraphs completed in it, or
what happened that we got a version that wasn't complete?
MR. MIHALIC: I'm not sure, but we'll check on that and be
sure there is a complete original version.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I'm just wondering if it has any
relevance to this meeting today.
MR. MIHALIC: It's a legal question, but really it's my
understanding legally the affordable-housing density bonus is really
not even an issue that's generally presented to the Planning
Commission. We tried to include it so you had a complete package,
but the Board of County Commissioners really makes the decision on
that document to the best of my knowledge.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes. But we do have the opportunity
to review it, and this board -- MR. MIHALIC: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And this board truly wants to be able
to read the documents in total. It may not be your fault, but someone
who provided this information leaves us wondering about verbiage.
MR. MIHALIC: I'm afraid I can't -- I can't answer that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Mr. Richardson, you had a
question.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Yes, Madam Chair. I just
want to make sure that -- on the public record that I understand that
this application's coming in under the Ordinance 90-89 which is the --
Page 22
November 1,2001
permits this density.
MR. MIHALIC: Yes.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: And that from staff's
standpoint this application fully meets the requirements of that
ordinance.
MR. MIHALIC: It goes far beyond the requirements of that
ordinance, and that ordinance has now been integrated into the Land
Development Code, so it no longer stands alone.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions for Mr. Mihalic at
this time?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Bellows.
MR. BELLOWS: I don't have any other information other than
if you have other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Staff is
recommending that this petition be forwarded to the Board of County
Commissioners with a recommendation of approval.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Ms. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Ray, under your findings for the
PUD, page 2, Finding No. 3 it says in the last sentence, "The subject
PUD proposes to allow residential uses at a density under one unit
per acre, which is consistent with the Future Land Use Element." Is
that a typo?
MR. BELLOWS: Which page?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Page 2 of the findings for the
PUD, Item No. 3, finding.
MR. BELLOWS: Yes. It should read 12 units per acre.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Does the finding still remain the
same then if it goes from 1 to 127
MR. BELLOWS: Yeah. The staff report earlier on under
Growth Management Plan consistency talks about the compatibility.
There was just a typo in that reflection there.
Page 23
November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Certainly one that I tripped on also.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: And on No. 7, under your
summary finding, the last sentence says, "Relative to this petition,
development of the subject property is timely, because supporting
infrastructure is available." I drive the roads out there every day
multiple times, and I know that there's probably going to be
discussion about the roads. I had heard that Dawn Wolfe might be
here to discuss that. Good. She is. The roads are two lanes out
there, and I can tell you that the level of service on those roads from a
driving viewpoint is not acceptable. I'm sure that you're going to
have some counter to that, and I'd be curious to --
(Applause)
MR. BELLOWS: Yeah. I live out there too, and I understand
the conditions. And Dawn Wolfe will be here to elaborate the
changes she's making to the level-of-service standards through the
next LDC amendment cycles to make them more realistic to the
conditions out there and directions that the board has given staff.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I look forward to her discussion.
And I have one other comment. On your rezone findings, No. 5
under the pro it says, "The proposed zoning change is appropriate
based on the approved residential land uses to the east and the south."
The residential land use to the south is a church. I mean, there's a
church there, not a residential land use, isn't that correct, or at least
it's zoned for a church or approved for a church?
MR. BELLOWS: Which page are you on now?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Page 2 of the rezone findings,
Question No. 5.
MR. BELLOWS: I don't see that one.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I can show you my copy if you'd
like.
MR. BELLOWS: This is Exhibit A, findings for PUD or--
Page 24
November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: No. Rezone findings. We had
two findings in our packages. One that says PUD and--
MR. BELLOWS: Number 5?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes.
MR. BELLOWS: Summary findings?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: No. Number 5 under pro. It says
that the residential land is to the east and to the south. I think there's
a church to the south or is proposed to be a church to the south; is that
correct?
MR. BELLOWS: Residential land uses to the east --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: To the north there's a nursery. To
the south there's a church, a zoned church.
MR. BELLOWS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay.
MR. BELLOWS: Just to the east.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: That's the questions I have of
staff at this time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: I, too, am concerned about the
transportation element with the terrible problems we have now on our
infrastructure, our roads. You say this project will generate trips of
approximately 1,152 weekday trips. And, of course, with people
going out to their jobs, that'll be at the peak period of use. How can
you say that this will not have a significant affect on 951 ?
MR. BELLOWS: I said there is a significant impact, but it does
not degrade the level of service below the adopted standards the
county has maintained for the minimal service standards.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: What standard would that be?
Would that be D?
MR. BELLOWS: D.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Ms. Wolfe, do you care to comment?
Page 25
November 1, 2001
MS. WOLFE: Dawn Wolfe, transportation planning director.
One of the primary issues we've been battling for the past year is the
issues with transportation and our level-of-service standards. We
currently have submitted a major modification to our level-of-service
standards and capacities which had not been updated since 1997.
That is one of the reasons why we are here telling you that this is
consistent because we are still working under those old standards
which do not necessarily incorporate the most current technical
parameters.
You will be seeing a significant change in roadway level-of-
service capacities and how we grade and rate whether or not a new
development is at significant and adverse. However, because the
current level-of-service tables are contained in the Comprehensive
Plan, we are bound by the tables that are contained in there. And by
going from those tables, they're being consistent with the
Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Code, and we can
only measure them against those standards. Our hands are tied to
measuring them against what our code and Growth Management Plan
require.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Are the new standards
going to be more liberal or more stringent?
MS. WOLFE: The majority of them will be significantly more
restrictive.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Midney.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: What's the process that you're
using to develop these new standards?
MS. WOLFE: We are using the most current version of the
nationally recognized highway capacity manual procedures and
utilizing methodology developed by the Florida Department of
Transportation, which is consistently applied throughout the State of
Florida and which is based on most current standards. It has taken us
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November 1, 2001
a while to get all of the data in order to provide the most accurate
tables.
One thing we are doing is we are removing the specific tables
from the Growth Management Plan to allow ease of update of those
tables. That is something that is currently in the pipeline for our next
round of amendments to the Growth Management Plan. So we are
actively working towards updating them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: How soon do you expect that to be
available to be actually used?
MS. WOLFE: Susan, what's our time line on our Growth
Management Plan updates?
MS. MURRAY: That's usually a comprehensive planning issue.
I'm going to say at the earliest this time next year, Dawn. It's usually
about a year process before it's transmitted and then adopted by the
board.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: About a year. Mr. Midney, you had
another question.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Why is this change in the
standards coming about now? Is it that people were more tolerant of
traffic congestion before, or what's happened?
MS. WOLFE: I can't explain what happened prior to October of
last year when I came on board here. I can say that our application of
these and review of these criteria has been ongoing since last year,
and it takes some time to actually generate them and make sure that
they are consistent with accepted practices. I can't say what
happened prior to now, but they've been applied generally consistent
with what's in the Land Development Code and the Growth
Management Plan. It's just that because some of them were quite
expansive in their allowances for capacity, the nexus of whether or
not they are either significant or adverse were very hard to define
based on those standards. And that's what we're trying to remedy, but
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November 1, 2001
it does take a little bit of time.
We do have other avenues to ensure that the immediate areas of
any development through the Land Development Code are
appropriately evaluated and upgraded to ensure safe and operational
consistency when these projects do develop. So there's other steps
down the road where we will ensure that we will maximize the safety
out there on the roads as well as make sure they provide for turn lanes
and other improvements potentially at adjacent intersections, not
necessarily their direct access, to make sure that conditions are at
least tried to be maintained. But until we get those changes in place
which we talked about over the past year -- and we are forwarding
now so that we can actually implement them. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Could you clarify this for me?
Would this -- if we approved it, then would we be approving a lesser
road capacity which will be improved by law in later time?
MS. WOLFE: We actually are -- would be -- you would be
recommending approval of this based on a roadway capacity that
actually is greater than will -- would be approximately one year from
now. But there's -- the county is very aggressively pursuing all
projects to address what we have identified as deficiencies. And this
is in our program -- at least in the early stages for design, within our
five-year program. So we're actively pursuing improving the roads
within this area and this road in particular. It's a matter of timing,
being able to pay for these improvements. But we're actively
pursuing to address the issue of level of service out on that road
regardless of what the Comprehensive Plan says the level of service
is.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Midney, you had one more follow-
up and then Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Thank you. I will be pleased to
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November 1,2001
see a more stringent requirement because it's been somewhat
frustrating to me in my short time on this board to see that -- you
know, when it's plain that there is traffic problems on certain roads
and yet it's presented, you know, when PUDs come up that
everything is, you know, sufficient, you know, even for the proposed
increases, which in a common sense basis doesn't make sense to me.
But, you know, we have to go by what the law says.
MS. WOLFE: And I share your frustration.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Dawn, if you take this table
out of the comp plan and just put it in an ordinance, aren't you
making it more susceptible to political -- politicization? In other
words, every subsequent commission -- a couple of votes change on
the commission, and you could go back to liberalizing it again.
MS. WOLFE: As long as we're basing it off of technical merits
and accepted practices, it will be not readily changed just to meet a --
a decision that may be made by the board. These are of a technical
nature and are based on facts and accepted practices.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, I hope -- your
optimism has got to be forward looking, I would say, rather than
backward.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Having experienced four, five years'
worth of efforts at getting a solid operational code for utilities and
knowing what happened on the ground versus what was there and
what was approved by our Board of County Commissioners who
didn't understand all the technicalities, you are very optimistic.
(Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Ms. Wolfe, as long as
you're there. On this particular application, all that -- what we've
talked about is forward looking and I'm sure will be helpful because
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November 1,2001
you'll be there to make sure it happens. But in terms of this specific
application, what the board, commission, here typically struggles
with is concurrency. We're looking forward to capacity that's three
years out, typically, when you apply the -- the judgment that the
capacity's going to be there. Can you give us some insight as to what
the road plans are of improvement for this specific -- that would
affect this specific project, how its timing will come in and relative to
what we'll be asking the applicant, the timing of whatever
improvements he plans for this property, to see if we can get this to
dovetail?
MS. WOLFE: Well, first off, a PUD approval does not give
explicit concurrency approval. That is issued at a later time in the
development process. That is another issue we are addressing in the
Land Development Code. Rather than adequate public facility
certificates or your concurrency certificate being issued solely at the
time of building permit, we are looking at moving that up to where
with -- when a site development plan is submitted, that is the time at
which we will say yea or nay on whether or not concurrency has been
met. And we are going to be addressing the issue of cumulative
rather than this is what the count is now, but also looking at what
other projects are out there and pending that also have a direct
implication to what our level of service will be. The timing of when
this plan is submitted will either fall within our current standards if
it's applied for early on, or if it's later on, it could be subject to more
stringent standards in regards to concurrency.
Our five-year capital improvement program has identified a
design stage for the 951 widening. We are actively looking at
multiple alternatives and resources to advance all projects that we can
within that program, seeking state and federal funds as well as what
we have locally to put into that program. And we will continue to try
and advance needed projects. But right now we -- it's not
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November 1, 2001
construction funded in the five years as part of it taking a while to get
to the point of where you can go to construction. We do have the
design funded in the next five years because it had not been
previously designed, and we will be designing that for six lanes out
there, not just a four to a six lane. Our goal is to put what is needed
at one shot, as with many of our other projects.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And in this particular petition that
we're looking at, as far as concurrency is concerned, no one's going to
wave their magic wand and suddenly all these units are going to
appear, just like no one's going to wave the magic wand and suddenly
all of the roads are going to appear that we need, that we know we
need. So there is a time frame, which I know the public is frustrated
as is transportation, but we have to have a concept of the timeliness
of this as it moves through the process, although it may be very slow.
MS. WOLFE: If, for instance, the -- the application was
approved and they submitted a site development plan next month,
they would be subject to the current Land Development Code criteria,
which means they could wait until the time of their building permit to
actually get their adequate public facilities. And since we are still
functioning under the old level of service, they would be issued a
level-of-service certificate for concurrency.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And that is a reasonable expectation of
anyone who owns property, whether you're an individual family,
individual homeowner, you expect certain rules to be in place; or
whether you're a developer, you expect certain rules to be in place
and be able to work with them. I think Mr. Strain had a comment.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I want to make sure we stay with this
petition. We're doing good, but we want to make sure we focus on
Bucks Run.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes. That's what I was going to
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November 1,2001
do.
There's a sentence in the Growth Management Plan consistency
summary that was provided to us, and it sparked my interest in the
sense it said, "However, all road segments within the project's radius
of development influence will operate at an acceptable level of
service at the project buildout in 2003." So I thought maybe there
was something that I didn't know about in regards to that date, 2003.
And I went to your department and pulled your long range or your
five-year plan. And the information I got on that plan dovetails with
what you just said. The construction funding for Vanderbilt Beach
Road to 951 is not even slated to be obtained until fiscal year '03, and
that's unfunded at this point. They don't know the source of funding
from what -- it's a shaded box on your report. And the same for CR-
951 from Golden Gate Boulevard to Immokalee Road. All of it,
including right-of-way and design, everything, is shown as unfunded,
and there is no construction date for funding within the next five
years. So those roads at this point are going to be like they are for a
while; is that correct?
MS. WOLFE: Yes. And if I may clarify, our five-year capital
improvement program is based off of current needs based on the --
the more realistic level-of-service tables. We did not feel it was
appropriate to define a capital improvement program that was based
on the dated tables in the Growth Management Plan. As a planning
tool, we have the ability to try and apply the most current technical
standards in establishing what projects need to be when. So the
capital improvement program is reflective of what -- our real-time
needs versus what we can apply legally from the Growth
Management Plan, which by applying the level-of-service tables from
the Growth Management Plan, the statement contained in the staff
report is correct because of the higher degree of capacity that's
allowed under the current tables.
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November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: So are you saying that neither the
improvements on Vanderbilt Road nor 951 are scheduled for as early
as 2003?
MS. WOLFE: We can go to construction if funding is found for
Vanderbilt Beach Road by 2003. From a production standpoint,
County Road 951 will not be ready to go to construction by that point
in time. We do have caveats within the Growth Management Plan
and the Land Development Code which allows a window of-- if it is
committed for construction, and albeit these are not committed for
construction. But, once again, we have to go based on the level-of-
service tables that are in the Comp -- in the Growth Management
Plan which indicates that these facilities are operating at an adequate
level of service and meets the consistency test for determination of
this application.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other comments from the board?
I just would like to say that those of you that were not here during the
intense discussions about level of service and what that meant for our
Board of County Commissioners to apply those to our various
infrastructure that we have, specifically roads, you've missed out on
an awful lot. And sometimes it's difficult to understand why a level
of service was set, say for instance, at D, and a lot of it has to do with
availability of funding and the public's willingness to pay for this
infrastructure. So we're all in this together. Any more questions of
Dawn? Mr. Bellows, any further comments you'd like to make
before we give the petitioner an opportunity to speak?
MR. BELLOWS: No other comments at this time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any questions of Mr. Bellows?
Moving right along. Petitioner, please.
MR. CUYLER: Good morning, Commissioners.
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November 1,2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Good morning.
MR. CUYLER: We do appreciate the opportunity to -- for the
record Ken Cuyler with Goodlette, Coleman & Johnson. Caught
again. We do appreciate the opportunity to speak and to present to
you our petition. I apologize to Mr. Adelstein and Mr. Midney for
not calling you. I hope you won't hold that against me. We did offer
to all the planning commissioners the opportunity to talk to you either
by phone or in person to present to you some issues we thought were
important and to listen to your issues. And, as a matter of fact, we
gave that opportunity to the adjacent neighborhood, Vanderbilt, as
well. We asked them last week if they'd like to meet to us -- meet
with us so we could explain to them some of the things that we
thought were important about our project and to hear any issues or
concerns. I know that's certainly something that the Planning
Commission has encouraged in the past, and we wanted to do that as
well. We had a meeting set up, and that meeting was canceled by the
neighbors, and we're not sure why. But for whatever it's worth, we
don't know what they're going to say today or what their issues are,
but it really doesn't matter because we have a petition to present, and
we're going to do that. With me today is Wayne Arnold with Grady
Minor, who will speak immediately after me and talk to you a little
bit about the petition; Blair Foley, who will answer any engineering
questions; and Bill Hoover, who's both owner and trustee of a portion
of the property and also with Hoover Planning and Development.
We also have Mitchell Friedman, who is with the work-force housing
group and is prepared to talk to you a little about their product, what
they do, what their history is, what they try to accomplish, and to give
you some idea of what their building product looks like.
I wasn't going to do this, but before I let Wayne come up and start
talking to you about the project, I think there's a couple important
things to keep in mind, one of which is the density bonus system in
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November 1,2001
this county was set up by the Board of County Commissioners.
Sometimes we get into these hearings and there's a lot of discussion
about I don't like additional density for this reason. Is this the best
way to promote work-force housing or affordable housing? Is this
the appropriate density bonus system that we should have?
I would suggest to you that you have a very important job in
reviewing petitions under the regulations that exist. But those policy
questions -- and I think the people in the audience need to understand
this. Those policy questions have already been answered by the
Board of County Commissioners. There is a density bonus system in
place where a developer can come to Collier County and say, "What
are your rules? What is it you want me to do?"
And they'll go to Mr. Mihalic, and he'll say, "This is the system
that we have, and you have the ability to acquire additional units per
acre if you make certain written commitments in agreement form to
Collier County." And this is the way that the Board of County
Commissioners has decided that it wants to promote a very important
issue, and that is affordable housing or work-force housing in this
county.
I would also suggest to you that Ms. Wolfe's discussion is
extremely important. I think the chairman brought out several
important points, and that is not only is it not legal, but it's not fair for
developers to come into this county, file an application, meet all the
rules and regulations, meet everything that staff suggests to them, and
then go to a higher level and have them told, "Well, the regulations
we have may not accomplish right now exactly what we want them
to. It may be a year or two before we can get to that point."
So I would suggest to you and hope that if-- the one relevant
question for Ms. Wolfe is, does this petition meet the transportation
guidelines and requirements today? And the answer to that is yes.
And if you ask her that question, she'll tell you that the answer's yes.
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November 1, 2001
yOU.
to speak with the residents?
MR. CUYLER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY:
developer?
We can't be sure what those regulations are going to be a year from
now. We don't know what they are. You don't know what they are.
If we were here a year from now or two years from now and there
were new regulations, we would meet those regulations, or we
wouldn't expect to be approved. But we have to deal under certain
guidelines, and that's what we've done.
So I -- I don't think this is a particularly complex project, but
you -- I don't envy you your decision-making requirements. I know
sometimes it's tough when 200 people are sitting in front of you. No
matter how good the project is, it puts a lot of-- a lot of pressure. But
I think when you hear this petition, that you'll find it's in compliance
with all of the county rules and regulations. And it's not just a
mediocre project. It's a good project.
So with that I'll let Mr. Arnold take the podium and give you
some idea what our project is.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Wolfley.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Ken, I may have a question for
You had mentioned that you had given an opportunity last week
Was it the residents or the
MR. CUYLER: It was the residents. We had a meeting that I
had understood -- and I can be corrected, but my understanding is
that we had a meeting set up that was going to actually be with
residents that were interested in talking to us and not necessarily
opposed to the project at that point because we didn't know. As a
matter of fact, I think Mr. Bellows will indicate prior to today there
was one letter of objection. So this is a situation where somebody
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November 1, 2001
decided it was better to come into the Planning Commission and
bring 200 people to talk to you than it was to meet with us last week
and possibly try to find out what this project was about.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So -- ladies and gentlemen, please
respect the speaker. So you're saying that it was the Vanderbilt
Country Club Homeowners Association you had the meeting with; is
that correct? Maybe someone else could clarify that.
MR. CUYLER: It was residents from Vanderbilt. I think that it
was the association, but I can't swear to that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Because under the public
participation, you would be required to in the future tell us exactly
who you met with and what the concerns were.
MR. CUYLER: I'll try to find that out in the meantime.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And, Mr. Wolfley, does that
satisfy your question?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Yes. I'd just like that
clarification.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Ken, my problem with this has
been the increase in density, and I'm trying to understand what you
had just said about -- listening to Dawn about the current standards
being applied. We've got a crisis in this county on roads. And to that
extent, we've even got a sales tax initiative going on to try to correct
it. The crisis is there because we've admitted mistakes in the way this
was -- roads were laid out or approved or projects approved on the
roads in the past. Admittedly, we're having new standards come into
play because the old standards aren't right. But you're saying that
even though we know the old standards are wrong and they aren't
correct, that we should continue to approve projects that are
overburdening the system based on those old standards?
MR. CUYLER: I'm saying not only should you, but you're legal
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November 1, 2001
-- legally required to do that. If you -- what about the next project
that comes in after us? Are you going to say no to everybody for the
next year that wants to develop on 951 ?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I think the beginning format,
Section 2 of the ULDC -- or 1.2; I'm not sure of the correct section --
says that we are supposed to be doing what's in the best interest,
public safety, and welfare for the public. (Applause)
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: And I'm not sure approving old
standards that have been acknowledged as being wrong is in the best
interest of the public. (Applause)
MR. CUYLER: I would suggest that you're not dealing with old
standards; you're dealing with today's legal standards. If-- if you
have a question as to whether you're legally required to follow today's
standards, there is an assistant county attorney sitting right there, and
I'm confident that what he'll tell you is yes. I mean, how is anybody
going to know what the rules are supposed to be in terms of
development? Do we have traffic problems? Yes. Do we have a
huge advocate for curing those? Yes. Ms. Wolfe is standing over
there.
The Board of County Commissioners knows there has to be
some cures. But if the question is -- I mean, we've heard a lot lately
about, you know, being a country of laws and rules and regulations.
That's what we are. I mean, you don't want to go down to the
supermarket and stand in line, and then they say, "Well, you know,
it's 89.50, but we decided to raise it to 150.50." I mean, you don't
change the roles when people are in the middle of their activities.
And I think it's fundamentally unfair for a developer to come in and
say, "What are the roles? All right. I will meet all of your roles" and
then get to a philosophical discussion -- and I understand it's an
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November 1,2001
important discussion, and I understand it's becoming, you know, a
very real situation. But to come to the Planning Commission and say
"I've met all your rules and regulations" and be told, "Well, our roads
are not in good shape. We're not sure exactly what the future rules
are going to be, but we have a concern right now you're going to
impact that road, and we're not going to approve your project because
of that," that's just fundamental unfairness. Nobody can operate
under that system.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: You do have a PUD that is
approved within the rules. It exists right now. MR. CUYLER: Correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Now you're tripling that or
doubling it or over doubling it. That's where my concern is. The
rules are changing, apparently.
MR. CUYLER: Right. But--
(Applause)
MR. CUYLER: I think -- you know, and I don't want to tell you
how to do your job because --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Ladies and gentlemen, please. We
need decorum.
MR. CUYLER: I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but
those types of philosophical discussions -- you can make
recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. They are
the policy makers. We're not coming in and saying, "Could we have
additional density because we want it?" What we're doing is, the
developer went to Greg Mihalic and said, "We are a developer of
work-force housing, affordable housing. We have been told your
county promotes that. Could you tell us how you promote that?"
"Yes. We promote that by increasing density." "And what do I have
to do?" "Well, you have to have a certain type of product. You have
to have certain income levels," which Greg can go through. "You
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November 1,2001
have to meet certain requirements, and then you go to the Planning
Commission. You go to the Board of County Commissioners," both
of whom are supposed to be promoting affordable housing, which we
have a huge deficiency of. I mean, that's -- another issue in the
county is, do you have enough affordable housing?
The Board of County Commissioners makes the policy decisions
of, do we have additional density? How are the roads doing? What
should the regulations for the roads be? How do we promote
affordable housing? Should it be through tax incentives? Should it
be through additional density?
And your comment about there being additional density, I just-
I would suggest to you that it -- it's not fair to say, "I don't want any
additional density," even though in general I understand what you're
saying. But if you come under a specific program to accomplish a
specific goal that the Board of County Commissioners has
established, that's not just coming in willy-nilly and asking for
additional density. There's commitments that developers make,
commitments to provide a housing type that this county needs and the
board has said it wants.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: We have a disagreement, but I
understand what you're saying.
MR. CUYLER: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Cuyler, before you leave, I think
Mr. Richardson has one quick question.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: No, not a question. I just
would like to hear from Mr. Arnold.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We're ready to go to Mr.
Arnold.
MR. ARNOLD: Thank you. Good morning. Wayne Arnold
representing Bucks Run Land Trust, Grady Minor Engineering. Mr.
Cuyler did a good job, I think, explaining where we are because it
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November 1, 2001
seems the cornerstone issue here today is regarding the affordable-
housing component of this project, which is on the eastern two-thirds
of the project, if you will, and not necessarily the church and school
proposal that sits on the Collier Boulevard frontage.
On your monitors I know Mr. Bellows has showed you the
master concept plan for the planned development. It's a fairly
straightforward -- there's an east and there's a west tract. The west
tract along 951 is where the church and school are intended to be.
The only issue that has come up that I'm aware of involving the
church is the potential interconnect that's shown next to the preserve
in about the middle of our project, that Mr. Bellows is pointing to.
That interconnect is something that we're indifferent about. We
didn't initially offer that. That was requested. We will agree to keep
it there if you wish. We will delete it if you wish. It's really a
nonissue from our perspective.
The access point to the north is a little bit more important to us
personally because there is a joint agreement to participate in
bringing a bridge across the 951 canal, a hundred-foot-wide canal
there, that will be shared with future potential development, the
landscape nursery currently and whatever else happens in the future
across that project. The bridge needs to be constructed and -- and
would be designed to be able to share limited access points to Collier
Boulevard, which I think would be to the benefit of the general
public.
The issue with respect to the affordable-housing component that
we show, I think that it's important to note from the perspective --
and you have a reduced aerial in your packet. There are essentially
two buildings at Vanderbilt Country Club that have an orientation to
the Bucks Run PUD. There's one 24-unit, three-story building that's
parallel to the property line. There's another building that sits at
approximately a 45-degree angle that has maybe one unit that could
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November 1, 2001
potentially have any view toward this project. And then there's a
small pool and the club building that sits near the property line.
But, in essence, the building at the Vanderbilt Country Club -- the
nearest building is about 110 feet from our common property line.
Vanderbilt Country Club provided a 1 O-foot wide landscape buffer
adjacent to Bucks Run PUD. We're proposing to have an 80-foot-
wide buffer between the two projects. So the nearest orientation of
buildings that you will have between the nearest three-stow building
in the Vanderbilt Country Club and the proposed maximum three-
stow building that would be associated with the work-force housing
is going to be about 190 feet minimum separation. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: 190 feet?
MR. ARNOLD: About 190 feet because of our 80-foot buffer
and their 11 O-foot setback. I think it's even more important to note
that the orientation of their building, their front door may face Bucks
Run, but at their property line you have their buffer. You have their
covered parking, a drive aisle, covered parking, and then the
buildings. Their lanais and the orientation is to the lake and the golf
course that that building also fronts on. So your amenity is not the
current vegetation at Bucks Run. Your amenity is the existing golf
course and lake system that's in the Vanderbilt Country Club.
So I think from a perspective of any physical impact or even view,
it's very limited. You have 24 units that are there, but I think when
you look at the extent of the vegetative buffer that would remain and
the separation between the like building types, I -- you know, as a
professional planner, I don't see any compatibility question
whatsoever with that situation. I don't think that anyone can make a
compatibility argument that the St. Agnes Church or Mission Church
PUD has a compatibility issue with another church and a work-force
housing project. I don't see that as being a relationship that's
incompatible at all. And, in fact, I would say that it's a very good
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November 1,2001
opportunity to have those two components side by side.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do you have a specific question, Mr.
Wolfley?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Yes. Wayne, did you-- as we,
I think, discussed a couple of days ago, did you have a plan for your
buffered area, your vegetation that you're going to put in? It sounded
like you just were going to use your -- that 190 foot and not buffer it
with vegetation.
MR. ARNOLD: Right now there is existing vegetation on our
side that we plan to retain in place. It's stated there as a landscape
buffer. That's what it's intended to be.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: What is the height of that
vegetation?
MR. ARNOLD: The height of the vegetation varies. I don't
know if Mr. Hoover has any specific photographs of it, but there's
largely pine trees and-- it's slash pine trees. They're probably -- you
know, 20 to 30 feet is typical slash pine. There's some, you know,
understory vegetation there. But it's our intent, except for the exotics
that we would be required to remove from that, that we would leave it
in place.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: So if you're on the third floor
in the Vanderbilt Country Club, those units there, those condos,
you're not going to see the view of the affordable-housing units.
MR. ARNOLD: I don't think I can tell you that you will not see
those units, but what I can tell you is that nearly a 200-foot separation
with their -- their vegetative plantings -- which are your typical Type
B buffer. It's got a row of trees 25 and 30 feet on center; and they're,
you know, planted four years ago. So they're not very mature
vegetation at this point that's in their buffer. But what I'm telling you
is we're leaving the mature vegetation intact. And, in fact, we'll be
supplementing that on site with our own required vegetative
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November 1, 2001
requirements to meet the county's landscape codes, etc. So it's
certainly less expensive for us to go ahead and leave the vegetation in
place rather than try to supplement it with other vegetation, but we
certainly will.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Wayne, you started out your
presentation with the comment that you thought the problem with this
whole thing is the affordable housing. Based on my conversations
with you yesterday, I wanted to assure you that is not my concern. I
don't care if you're putting in multifamily, high-rise luxury or you're
putting in affordable housing there. My concern is the increase in
density and the reality of that on the infrastructure for that area. I
want that clear.
(Applause)
MR. ARNOLD: I didn't mean to imply that that -- that was so
the case, but what I've heard, the focus so far has been on the fact that
it's affordable housing. And I understand your concerns about the
level of service, but as you heard Ms. Wolfe say and Mr. Cuyler
reinforced, we are consistent with the standards that are in place
today relevant to the traffic.
And I think that it's important also that we look at this in the
context of what's really happening on that Collier Boulevard corridor
and the Vanderbilt corridor and everything, really, in that eastern
Collier County area, because this is the corridor. This is where lands
are still available at 40-acre pieces of land. You don't find them on
Airport Road. You don't find them on Goodlette-Frank Road. You
find these pieces of land along Vanderbilt, Collier Boulevard, etc.
And the one incentive that we do have for bringing in the much
needed affordable housing is a density bonus. And understanding
that, we could have asked for more. We didn't. We're asking for the
number that's a marketable and very economical number for the
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November 1,2001
developer to build. And you're going to hear from them in just a few
moments to take you through what they do and who they are, and I
think that you'll be impressed with their qualifications.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Mr. Arnold, just for the
record then, I'm hearing you represent that the buffering that's going
to be provided on this project exceeds any of the other Land
Development Code requirements.
MR. ARNOLD: It certainly does. We would be required to
provide you with a 1 O-foot landscape buffer under the current code.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I have a question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abemathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: We had a discussion about
the west tract and the building of a church or child care, whatever,
and how you would determine this setoff at the four units per acre. It
was my suggestion that if you build one of those things there, that
you just concede the 60 units altogether rather than trying to say how
much of the 15 acres is attributable to the church and how much is
attributable -- is not attributable to it. Have you-all had a chance to
roll that around?
MR. ARNOLD: Well, we've talked about that. And to be very
honest with you, to give up those additional units, we would need
some representation that we're moving in a positive fashion forward
on this project relative to the balance of the project, which is
essentially the affordable-housing component. And I think if we're
looking at a positive recommendation, I think we can be in a position
to go ahead and say we can give up all of those 60 units, because
right now it's based on a ratio of acreage to units at four units per
acre, which is the density that's essentially the base density for that
property.
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November 1,2001
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: But it sort of puts the cart
before the horse, doesn't it?
MR. ARNOLD: Well, I understand what you're saying, and I --
I totally expect the church to utilize all of it. You do raise a very
practical question, when we spoke, about how you account for --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Allocate.
MR. ARNOLD: -- just what's the church property. And I went
through with you an analysis of it's parking, it's water management,
it's -- etc. And I can't tell you whether or not the church uses 10
acres, 12 acres today; but once you get into the site planning, I can
certainly tell you. You may find that when it's all said and done you
end up with 1 acre, and I don't think anybody's going to come and
want to put four units there unless, as you and I discussed, it would
be, you know, for a minister and, you know, a home minister's
residence or something. But otherwise, I think that it's something
that -- as we move forward into something, that we certainly are
going to entertain your suggestion.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MR. ARNOLD: I really don't have anything else to add relative
to the compatibility. I know we're going to hear from a lot of
speakers, and I know Mr. Cuyler indicated that we'd really welcome
the opportunity to come back and rebut or, I guess, respond to any
comments that arise from their discussions, because at this point we
don't know what they are going to say.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. So that concludes your
presentation for now?
MR. ARNOLD: It does. The Pinnacle Housing representatives
are here, and they're going to make a brief presentation for you as
well.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And then we can open up to
public speakers, additional speakers.
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November 1, 2001
Excuse me. If that's going to be something -- if you could, put
it, like, over there so that the cameras can pick it up and the audience
hopefully can see a little bit too. Right behind the attorney sort of.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Push that other chair over
in this direction. Push it this way.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: There should be a microphone over
there that you can turn on and speak from also.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: You have to look on the
monitors.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Good morning, Madam Chairman, members
of the board. My name is Mitchell Friedman. I'm a partner and
principal in Pinnacle Housing Group. I'd like to just spend a few
minutes and tell you who we are and what we do and how we believe
that the development that we propose is consistent and will be a value
added for this particular community. Pinnacle -- let me just first say
-- introduce my associate Karen Warner over there. Karen has a few
slides that will show up on the screen.
MS. WARNER: I was hoping to actually show them on the --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. You're going to have to
state your name and -- and speak a little closer to the microphone.
It's not picking you up. Maybe it's the tone.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Is that better?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Much better.
MS. WARNER: For the record, my name is Karen Warner with
Pinnacle Housing Group.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Pinnacle Housing Group is a housing
developer, multifamily-community developer, based out of Miami.
The principals -- and there's four of us -- have been involved in this
type of community development for the last 13 or 14 years, although
Pinnacle as a company has only been in business for approximately
five years. The developments that we do range from typical, single-
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November 1, 2001
family-home ownership to garden-style, suburban-style developments
-- which is similar to what we're proposing here in Collier County --
to also high-rise, 13-, 14-story structures with 4- or 5-story parking
garages. So we have the depth of experience and knowledge to be
able to develop many different types of housing and many different
types of developments.
Before I go into the specifics of Bucks Run or Pinnacle Run, let
me just kind of tell you the types of developments that we do. One of
the most important things that we do and one of the things that's
extremely important is management. We manage our properties. We
make sure that the tenants that we put into our developments are
worthy of living there. They undergo a series of background checks.
They go through an extensive interviewing process, and we're very
careful as to who we place into our facilities.
Secondly, the tenants that we work with we work with on an
everyday basis. We just don't put people in a housing development,
we put them into a community. And as a community we ensure that
they're involved in every aspect of the community. We empower
them to make sure that we're making this community the best that we
can.
Another thing that we do to ensure that this type of development
is -- remains what we say it's going to remain, is we have a very
tough standard of maintenance. We keep these facilities in the shape
that they were when they were brand-new. We also provide security.
Most of our developments, including this one over here, is going to
be a gated security that can only be accessed by guard.
We also make sure that people can't do things that none of us
would like to see in a development. For instance, we don't allow car
washing. We don't allow trucks up on blocks. We don't allow things
that would -- typically might be in a development that some of us
would find to be unsightly. We conduct ourselves in community
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spirit. We're good neighbors, and we develop communities that we
think are something that the overall community is very proud of.
Let me just take you through a few of the developments that we
have to give you an idea what we have. This is Douglas Pointe
Apartments, which is in Miami, Florida. This just won a BS -- BASF
award last year. This is 176 units, two- and three-bedroom units.
It's a hundred percent leased and everything is going very, very well.
Next. As I mentioned, we also do some home ownership. This is a
Port Royal and Las Terrazas development that we did, again down in
Miami, 40 and 28 units respectively. But I think it gives you an idea
of the scale and type and the quality of the developments that we do.
Again, you can see another development that we have. It's called
Forest Green. You see the tot lot, which all of our developments
have. Again, you see the types of developments and housing that we
do. This, again, was home ownership.
This is a development that we did of almost 450 units that is
down near the Everglades National Park. This is one-stow and two-
story developments. That has been very successful. It's been there
since 1993.
This is Pinnacle Cove. Pinnacle Cove is in Orlando, Florida,
equidistance between the theme parks and the airport. This is 420
units. This is currently under construction. We anticipate moving
our first tenants in this Thanksgiving.
This is another development called Hidden Grove. This is a
series of 200 quadraplex units that has just been completed. Tenants
will be moving in as we speak right now.
As I mentioned earlier, we also have the depth to do different
types of developments. And although it's not particularly germane
here, I just thought it was important to give you an understanding of
the types of things that we can do. This is a recently completed high-
rise in Miami one block off Biscayne Boulevard, viewing onto the
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November 1, 2001
bay. You can see it's a 13-story structure with a 5-story parking
garage.
Another high-rise that we completed approximately three years
ago is a ten-story facility which is in the heart of the central business
district of Miami.
And one last one that we'd like to show is one that we did
approximately nine years ago.
elderly units.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
It's a seven-story mid-rise of 160
I guess we have one more last.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Excuse me? Well, this one -- because it
hasn't been actually built yet. This has just started under
construction. In fact, we broke ground last week. This is 14 stories,
4-story garage, with a mixed use retail surrounding the entire
property.
So with that, that just kind of gives you an idea of the types of
developments that we do. I think you'll agree that you we -- you
know, we try to strive for excellence and we maintain excellence
throughout the property.
Let me kind of take you through Pinnacle Run as we see it right
now and as it's proposed in your application. We're proposing to do
288 units that are configured in 13 buildings, three-story buildings.
Currently -- can you hear me? As currently configured right now, we
have broken Pinnacle Run down into two different phases. Phase I is
going to be 160 units immediately over here, surrounded by a lake
with a road that circumnavigates the entire development. And as you
can see in this particular Phase I, we have seven buildings
strategically located around the property.
Phase II, which is this particular location on the map as I'm
showing, is six buildings, again three story, surrounded by two
different lakes, surrounded by the wetlands area and, again, having
ample parking to satisfy the needs of the tenants.
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November 1, 2001
The buffer that Mr. Arnold was discussing with you a few minutes
ago we highlighted over here in green. And as you can see, the
Vanderbilt development is situated over here. The whole landscape
buffer over here is all marked in green. And, as Mr. Arnold said, this
is going to be a substantial landscape buffer.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Sir, the written record
would indicate that -- that your housing is surrounded by lakes. I
don't think that's what you meant to say. The housing surrounds the
lakes.
MR. FRIEDMAN: The housing does surround the lakes.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Specifically, of the 288 units that we're
going to have, we're proposing that we have 8 one-bedroom units,
182 two-bedroom units, and 98 three-bedroom units. We intend to
have a separate maintenance facility for things that we need to make
sure that the facility is kept up in a first-class manner.
We will have a separate clubhouse, and in that particular
clubhouse we will have amenities such as community rooms, exercise
facilities, computer labs, recreational facilities, tot lots, and central
laundry facilities. I might also add that all of our facilities also give
the tenants the option to have washer and dryer hookups or washers
and dryers in each of their facilities. We will have two active and
passive recreational areas within the facility, and we believe that this
will be a self-contained facility, meaning that our tenants will be able
to -- once they come home, be able to do their living and their
recreating on property.
With that, I have no further issues, although I would like to
introduce Blair Foley.
MR. FOLEY: Good morning, Commissioners and Madam
Chairman. Blair Foley for the record. I'm representing the petitioner,
and I work for the firm of Q. Grady Minor & Associates, and I'm a
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November 1, 2001
professional engineer registered in the State of Florida. I want to be
brief. I just want to talk a little bit about the development issues of
this project, and I know that staff has received some input from the
opposition. I just wanted an opportunity just to, in advance, comment
on a few of the things.
I've been involved in civil engineering, land development in this
area, Naples specifically, for over 14 years, and I've looked at
hundreds of projects in similar size. And in my professional opinion,
this project is a very doable project. It's one that can be constructed,
from an engineering standpoint. And unlike -- or just like many other
projects, there are issues, of course, that we need to resolve. And
during our due diligence period, we've -- we've met with county staff,
and we've come up with -- with some issues that also the opposition,
perhaps, will mention as part of their-- their argument.
But I wanted to touch base, basically, on -- on two items. There
is a concern about the area immediately adjacent to the county water
plant and the well system that's in there, and there may be some
discussions about blasting. We're well aware that blasting is not
allowed in this particular area; however, it doesn't preclude the ability
to construct lakes. There are -- there are alternative methods to -- to
dig lakes. You could use a hammer with a hundred-thousand-pound
track hoe or something of the like. There -- there are ways to get that
done.
And we don't see that as -- as a burden that will prohibit the
project from becoming successful. We've included that in the pro
forma numbers, to construct the lakes such as that, and the numbers
still work pretty successfully. So we don't propose to blast and -- and
interrupt any of the -- the well fields in the area. We also had some
meetings with Collier County land development engineers to confirm
that that's a feasible alternative as providing water management
systems.
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November 1,2001
Another item I wanted to talk about is sewer. Water, of course,
is available along County Road 951 or Collier Boulevard, if you will.
Sewer, however, will be, perhaps, addressed. We -- we have met
with a consortium of developers in the immediate area, and a couple
of them are here. They represent over 160 acres in the immediate
area of Bucks Run. And we proposed and also included in our pro
forma to extend the necessary force main facilities to the north as
mandated by Collier County to connect.
And that also -- it's a fairly large number, but we also -- it's not
uncommon for developers to get together and construct their own
facilities. And we also feel that this can be done and not suffer -- the
project will not suffer any architectural elements that we've seen in
some of the opposition's writing. So, in my opinion, these issues are
pretty standard and benign as far as engineering elements go with the
project.
We will remain available for comment and, hopefully, rebuttal if
any other items come up. But it's a pretty successful looking project,
and -- and we're excited about it, and we hope that we get a favorable
recommendation from your board. With that, I'll close unless there
are any specific questions.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson first and then Mr.
Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: From your experience as a
project manager and engineer, looking at this project, I note that it's
going to be phased, Phase I and Phase II. Can you give me any sense
of the -- I know there's some marketing considerations, but some
sense of the length of time it would take for this project to become a
reality, given its approval?
MR. FOLEY: I can't really speak to that. It's -- it's specific to
be in two phases. And I do know that each phase will stand on its
own from an engineering component. As far as the marketing and--
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November 1,2001
and the marketplace, I'm going to defer to our clients, Pinnacle,
because they obviously chose this piece of property and the area that
they did due to their background information and what's available as
far as the marketplace goes. I can't speak specifically to that.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, let's set the
marketplace aside then, just from your project. Let's say you were
given the go right now. Pick a time certain. How long does it take
for this to come on-line and before we see some of the impacts on our
infrastructure?
MR. FOLEY: Okay. At an absolute minimum you're looking at
well over a year, probably, before you get the approvals and have
actual construction, I would say. Something around that is an
average time frame for Phase I. We do have to get other permits, as
you know: Site development plan approval, water management
approval, that type of activity. So, you know, an estimate would be,
perhaps, 12 months.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: That's for the actual
construction?
MR. FOLEY: No. That's for the permitability, and then the
construction would begin after that. So we're -- hard to say on the
product. I'm going to defer to Pinnacle.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Based on our experience, if we were to do
Phase I, which is 160 units, after the one year that Mr. Foley just
talked about, construction alone would take another 13 to 14 months.
So that's well over two years. And if we were to do Phase II, you're
looking at at least another year out after that, so that would really take
the entire development completion date well past '03, certainly the
last quarter of'03 or early '04.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: See, I think these facts are
very important to our understanding of your project and its impact on
the community. What we see now, of course, are roads that are
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November 1, 2001
chockablock, but we do have some hope that there's going to be some
improvements. And if we could time your product to come in when
the infrastructure is actually going to be available, I think it would
relieve everyone's mind.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Just as a comment to that, Mr.
Wolfley (sic), the transportation just acknowledged there is no funds
to put the roads in out there for even five years from now. So even
within their time frame, the roads won't be there. That's what my
concern would be. (Applause)
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just after the facts.
MR. FOLEY: Other questions?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: The lakes, are they for
aesthetics or for stormwater management?
MR. FOLEY: Sir, Mr. Abernathy, they will probably serve both
purposes.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Both?
MR. FOLEY: Certainly for water management purposes. But,
you know, a lake is a pleasing element to some of these communities,
so I would say that it would -- it would serve both purposes.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: How deep do they have to
be to take care of the runoff, the water management?
MR. FOLEY: Well, it's really a surface-area issue, as far as
storage goes. It's not really a depth; however, when you encounter
the rock-- we'll probably propose these lakes to be 12 feet in depth.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Twelve feet?
MR. FOLEY: Twelve feet. Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any other questions or
comments we want to make to the petitioners at this moment? I think
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November 1, 2001
it's time that we're going to have to take a break for the court reporter.
Mr. Cuyler go ahead.
MR. CUYLER: Let me just take two minutes, and then we'll
wrap up the petitioner's side and you can -- CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MR. CUYLER: -- proceed with public comment. A couple
questions were asked with regard to the 7-acre parcel. If the Planning
Commission agrees with us that this is an excellent project and
worthy of approval, we will -- if a church or school is built on that
parcel, we will discount and delete any residential units per acre.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's a 15 acre, isn't it, the
west?
MR. CUYLER: Yeah. That includes the 8 plus the 7. It's for
both.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay. Sorry.
MR. CUYLER: With regard to the canceled meeting that you
asked about, my secretary dealt with a secretary at Vanderbilt. The
word we got was the association was in agreement that we would
have a meeting, and the association canceled the meeting. Now, if
somebody wants to correct that, that's fine, but that's the word I got. I
called and checked that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you for clarifying that.
MR. CUYLER: And just real quickly as a final statement, I was
standing there listening to Pinnacle, and I heard somebody behind me
say as they were looking at the pictures, you know, "This is supposed
to be low-income housing." You know, I think that the point is
people have a big misperception as to what low-income housing is.
And, again, I'm going to hope Mr. Mihalic, at some point later in the
proceeding, tells you what these rents are and what we're really
talking about for affordable housing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And, Mr. Cuyler, along that line,
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November 1,2001
perception is everything, unfortunately. And I do believe that we
have a certain perception that exists now with reference to work-force
housing, affordable housing, or what someone calls low-income
housing. So hopefully we can deal with that yet today.
MR. CUYLER: Hopefully we can clear that up before the end
of the meeting.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Now, you've wrapped up
your presentation? We do need a break for the court reporter. And I
would like to ask whoever can hear me, if the fire marshal is here, if
the facilities management person is here, or if there's a deputy sheriff
here, during the break please come up to the front because I'd like to
talk to you. We're going to take a -- about a ten-minute recess.
Thank you.
(A break was held.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to
repeat something that was said earlier. With reference to the Petition
G, which was RZ-2001-AR-1143, which was a rezone for Golden
Gate Capital, Limited, that has been removed from our schedule. So
if anyone is here that came for that particular item, it will not be
heard today. So if you leave, you can give your seat up to someone
in the hall.
Another announcement is I did check with our facilities people,
and if you do not have a seat, you cannot be in the room. It is
unfortunate. It's a fire-safety issue. So we -- I was going to ask to
have one -- one level of people standing along the wall, and I cannot
allow that due to fire safety. And if we had an emergency to get out
of here, those people in the hall, please make sure you use the stairs.
The hall is probably more crowded than this room is at this point in
time.
I want to thank the audience for being so basically polite.
You've maintained yourself, and we want to continue that during the
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public comment. Please do not cheer and clap too loudly.
Expressions are fine, but I'd like you to keep it at a minimum so that
we can move along quickly. And, again, thank you for your patience
with us today.
So we are at the public comment section. Our first registered
speaker, Ms. Murray.
MS. MURRAY: Yes, Madam Chair. I have 12 registered
speakers. And could I ask the individuals in the hall to be quiet,
please, or shut the door? Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We either have to shut the door for the
hall, or those in the hall have to keep it down so we can hear, because
we can hear you. We appreciate you being there.
MS. MURRAY: One individual, Michael Fernandez, has asked
to speak twice on two different issues, I think one associated with the
housing and one associated with the church, is what he told me. I
will leave that up to you. And with that, would you also like me to
use the timer, or did you just want to let everybody know that five
minutes is the max?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have five minutes, and I'll allow a
certain amount of discretion. We would prefer that you don't keep
repeating the same thing that the previous speaker has said and that --
try to bring new facts and information. And as a reminder, you are
testifying here today, so you must give facts. That is very important
because this is a verbatim record, and you are actually providing
testimony in a public hearing. So we will have the timer, but if
you're not quite finished, it's my discretion, as the chair, to allow you
to continue.
MS. MURRAY: So you do want me to use this?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes. Go ahead and use the timer.
MS. MURRAY: I will attempt to use it. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. The first registered public
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speaker?
MS. MURRAY: Steven Hartsell.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And do spell your name for the court
reporter and identify any group that you represent or whether you
happen to be a property owner.
MR. HARTSELL: For the record, my name is Steve Hartsell.
I'm an attorney with the Pavese Law Firm. I'm here on behalf of the
Vanderbilt Country Club Community Association. With your
indulgence, Madam Chairman, there are obviously a number of folks
here from Vanderbilt. What we have attempted to do is to coordinate
a presentation that may run a bit longer than five minutes each, but
we have -- what we've tried to do is to kind of avoid a parade of 50
people up here taking their two or three or four minutes. If you
would indulge us, we would appreciate that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I appreciate that. Thank you.
MR. HARTSELL: I have probably four or five folks who are
going to speak after me. What we have done is in addition to the
speakers from Vanderbilt, the association retained Michael
Fernandez, a planner with Planning Development, Incorporated.
Mike will be speaking first. He's got some -- actually, a presentation
with regard to the application. He's got to take off. What I'm going to
do is turn it over to Mike right now, let him speak. And if I could,
then we'll introduce additional speakers from the country club, and
then I would like to have the latitude to close with some legal
arguments.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That would be fine. And Mr.
Fernandez can speak on both items that he had registered on, during
his presentation.
MR. HARTSELL: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MR. FERNANDEZ: Good morning, Commissioners. Michael
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Fernandez with Planning Development, Incorporated, for the record.
First I'd like to, on behalf of the Catholic church that owns the parcel
to the south of Bucks Run, address a singular issue, and that has to do
with the access that's being proposed as an interconnect between the
proposed Bucks Run development and the church's own parcel.
Our parcel was rezoned early last year to PUD. It includes a
50-foot buffer along our north property line that also serves as a
wildlife corridor. It's a commitment that was made to other agencies,
and we took that into account when we designed the site, including
the site circulation. And it really does not mesh with an interconnect
with the property to the north, which we had fully anticipated being a
residential project at the time. So that's the only issue that the church
wished to address, and that is the interconnect. And we'd like to see
that removed from the proposal.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're asking for the entire
interconnect to be removed?
MR. FERNANDEZ: The one that goes between the two parcels,
due to environmental and on-site circulation constraints.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: There's nothing in your
PUD that would require you to do these interconnects?
MR. FERNANDEZ: Actually, the proposal was to put the
buffer in there to provide a shelter between the two developments.
The other agencies took advantage of that wildlife corridor that
connects some vegetation that goes around the front and along the
canal. We have a 660-foot preserve, wetland, and created marsh area
in the rear of our property, and all those are connected. It also
connects the two wetland areas that you see on the Bucks Run
development that abut our property, and that provides some
continuity into a wildlife corridor, which the agencies were looking
for.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Madam Chairman?
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November 1,2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
COMMISSIONER STRAIN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN:
Yes, sir.
Could I ask a question?
You had mentioned that the
church to the south -- when was that approved? Do you know the
approximate date?
MR. FERNANDEZ: I believe it was approved in November of
'99.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Because in the same time period,
the Bucks Run original PUD was being put through. And you had
said that you didn't anticipate residential in the Bucks Run PUD, but
it does show on the original PUD that there was going to be a church
there. That's why this inter--
MR. FERNANDEZ: The original Bucks Run PUD was actually
named, if I can say it correctly, Muriel (phonetic) PUD. That was the
original PUD. It was -- subsequently they changed the name to
Bucks Run; and when they did so, they amended to provide for a
church and for a school, and that was subsequent to our application.
When we went forth, we were relying on the fact that the entire
parcel would be developed as a residential PUD.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Just so you know, the church on
the Bucks Run PUD did show up on November 23rd of 1999.
MR. FERNANDEZ: And I think the Muriel PUD was
predecessed -- preceded that by two or three years. Mr. Hoover's
here, and he could probably -- he's one of the landowners of the
Bucks Run parcel -- process that application and probably talk to that.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: My concern was simply that had
the church to the south originated about the same time as the Bucks
Run amendment that I'm speaking of, the one that does show the
church-- which it sounds like it did-- then your church would then
know that there was a church to the north, not just residential, and
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they could have allowed the interconnect.
MR. FERNANDEZ: We didn't provide for that. And, again, if
you go back and research the history of it, it was a residential
development, and it was reviewed upon at that time, and that's what
we relied upon. And that was one of the reasons for providing this
corridor, retain vegetation along that entire edge. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Continue.
MR. FERNANDEZ: I'm also representing today the Vanderbilt
Country Club. And looking at the PUDs, I wanted to bring forth a
couple points, and they have to do with the appropriateness and
compatibility of the development. We're looking at an intensification
from 4 units to 12 units an acre, which is a huge increase.
Historically staff has looked at adjacent intensities ofjust 2 or 4 units
as being significant enough to say that they're incompatible. Here
we're looking at an intensity of 12 units adjacent to a project that has
2.5 units an acre in intensity.
One of the problems that we have in addressing this -- and I
myself, as a professional -- was that we have insufficient information
to make judgments upon. Reviewing prior PUDs for affordable
housing -- and I've got lots of examples that we've collected from
staff-- their PUDs included applications that had site plans,
elevations, renderings, and a great many other exhibits that allowed a
neighborhood to make an assessment.
We've seen today pictures of elevations and of site plans, but
none of them are included as part of the PUD. We can't accept those
as being what they're proposing because we don't know that for a
fact. What we're dealing with is that drawing that's up on the board,
and that gives us a little bit of-- is a little unsettling.
The Bucks Run PUD was adopted in November of 1999, and we
note that one of the major changes in that was a reduction in the
amount of proposed preservation of wetland areas. We're seeing a
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pattern of that here. The application that's being proposed today --
and it's unfortunate that you do not have an underlined and struck-out
version, because one of the things that they have eliminated was a
development standard that said that -- in the original Muriel PUD
said 60 percent open space for the entire project. It is fully
residential. In the Bucks Run PUD that's in effect right now, it says
that 60 percent open space will be required for the residential portion
of the project.
If you'll review the current PUD that's proposed, that provision
for open space has been eliminated altogether. It's not addressed in
the PUD document at all. What is addressed is, in the PUD master
plan it says -- and it -- I assume to be a nonbinding estimated land use
breakdown which provides for 52 percent open space without
identifying its location or its distribution across the site.
We further note that the applicant has substituted a commitment
to retain 25 percent of the existing on-site vegetation with an
emphasis on largest contiguous area possible to a commitment of 5
acres of retained vegetation with a balance of the 9.75 being with an
option to develop the rest of it as landscaped areas. So what -- they're
coming back-- is they're -- we're looking at an intensification of a
project, but we're looking at a reduction in the quality of the
development standards that were proposed originally and which were
relied upon by the homeowners that now live next door. So we're
looking at more intensity, less mitigation of the impacts.
The petitioner has also eliminated a provision that required a
perimeter berm shown on the master plan to be entirely located
outside all upland and wetland preserve areas. That may not seem
overly significant to you, but as a site designer, it's very significant in
how much greenspace will actually be left after a project's completed.
I'll note that in the Exhibit B to the PUD, they're actually showing
this perimeter berm within their proposed buffer that's located on the
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east boundary.
And in regard to that buffer, their representatives have just said,
we are committed to keeping an 80-foot separation between
Vanderbilt Country Club and the closest building. But in their
document what we're seeing is that they have a 30-foot right-of-way
easement that they say may be vacated, and then it says a landscape
buffer. And all that would be required to meet that requirement with
the Collier County Land Development Code is singular trees spaced
one every 30 feet. There's no commitment to retain that vegetation
other than what you've heard verbally here today. There's nothing in
their PUD that says that they will do that.
That gives me another pause because that is another item -- and
I've got their existing master plan with me here today. In the existing
PUD that exists today, there's a commitment to keep all 50 feet of
that as retained vegetation. It was purposefully deleted for the
purpose of going forward with this amendment. So we're given a
great deal of pause when somebody says, you know, we are
providing it, but there's nothing in the document that says so, and it's
been deleted from the current existing zoning. We're wondering, as
well, if that easement gets vacated, if that 50 feet gets that much
closer to the project. Then there's a question of density.
Another item that was previously deleted from the existing PUD
stated that it be no more than 12 units per net acre on the subject
property. What we're looking at now, based on 12 units per gross
acre, could really -- could end up being more than double that or 24
units per acre. That's especially relevant when you look at the size of
the parcel they're talking about being 24 --just over 24 acres. You'll
also notice that approximately 80 percent of the wet -- of the preserve
area is located within that 24. You'll also note that they're required to
keep a 25-foot average buffer around the perimeter, adding probably
another acre of land to that area. They'll have to keep water
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management and other necessities there.
They've acknowledged that there's a prohibition for doing
blasting near the water treatment plant. There's also a Land
Development Code requirement that doesn't allow you to do one
within 350 existing structures, which the residents' homes within the
club will be in that -- within that 350 feet. That's going to increase
the site development cost of that site.
And that becomes relevant because this is an affordable-housing
community that sets an upper limit on the amount that they can
charge as far as income (sic). And what we're seeing is that there's
substantial costs that are going to be incurred in the site development
that may not have been taken into account that may also lead to
reduction in their ability to produce these kinds of developments that
they're showing us. We would have a much greater sense of-- of
comfort if we actually had some of these committed to, but there's
nothing, again, in the PUD that commits to the quality that you're
seeing here.
In the church site that we're doing just south of this parcel, the
differential between the ability to put lakes and not put lakes ended
up costing -- is going to cost approximately $200,000 of off-site
fill. On this site we could see something of that magnitude occur as
well. It's not just a prohibition in doing blasting. It also has to do
with breaking through a confining layer that's creating the wetlands.
And the wetlands that are on their property are contiguous and
connected to ours, and there's a likelihood and assumption here that
that same rock confining layer occurs on both properties.
All this gives us pause that maybe they haven't done their
homework not well enough -- not well enough to commit to a site
plan within the PUD that is generally committed to at this stage to
give people some level of comfort. And, again, I've got numerous
examples here of just that.
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And finally, when dealing with conceptual compatibility, there's
nothing that we've seen in the staff report or in the presentation by the
petitioner to indicate that the population that will utilize -- the
residents that will utilize this facility have the appropriate amenities
and resources in this area. In other words, is this an appropriate place
to put an affordable-housing development? Are there the parks that
are -- that they will utilize? Are there employment centers? Those
are valid questions.
And we're looking at a development that is committing a
hundred percent to low to very low affordable housing. That's very
different than many of the affordable-housing projects that have been
considered and approved by this board and the Board of County
Commissioners in the past, which have been mixtures of market rate
and -- market rate and low-income housing, and that's important.
Good planning practice has told us over a period of time that it's not
desirable to concentrate large areas of affordable housing together.
It's much better to integrate it with market-rate housing. That's not
what this project proposes. So whether or not it's appropriate here we
don't believe has been addressed in the application by the applicant.
To sum it up, basically there's not enough information to review here
to make good judgments on. What you're seeing here is not part of
their application. It's not part of their commitments. And we've got a
great deal of pause when we look at their project and we look at the
existing PUD today that made some pretty good commitments to
landscape buffers, to retain vegetation, to open space, and they've
reduced them in their applications. They haven't increased them.
They've increased intensity, but they've reduced them. We would
suggest to you it should be the other way around. They made those
commitments to gain the support of our community, to do four units
an acre. If they would like to increase it, the intensity, then the
mitigating factors should be increased as well. Thank you.
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November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I do have a question. You indicated
that you thought, I think, about $200,000 additional cost in fill. I
think I heard you say that as I was taking some notes. But did you do
some calculations on your additional development cost in general?
Did you have an opportunity to do that?
MR. FERNANDEZ: No, I didn't. But we're cognizant that
they're -- you know, they have a bridge to construct. They have an
entry drive to construct. Although they're talking about a consortium
to put together the sewer, that's an issue that the church tackled and
tried to put together as well. We weren't able to do it. We basically
came back and committed to only building the sanctuary, limiting it
to weekend service until that infrastructure's put in. We're willing to
commit our fair share. But all these items suggest that there's higher-
than-normal improvement costs subject to this property.
And there's a concern, again, without the lack of commit --
without -- with the lack of commitment on a site plan, on amenities,
on the architecture, that we may have to see a balancing act by the
developer subsequent and down the line to balance those items that
maybe they are unaware of or haven't taken into account fully. And I
would not necessarily expect them to at this point in time, except that
it's an affordable housing, and they're asking for this kind of density.
Usually you're not concerned about how much the guy is going to ask
for. In this case we have to be because they're -- they have an upper
limit that they can charge.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I just wanted to make sure I
was clear on that point. So you are claiming that there could be the
relationship between the additional development costs and what the
project looks like in the future, which you're indicating to us is not
committed to.
MR. FERNANDEZ: Absolutely. A specific example, one of
the easiest things for a developer to put aside would be landscaping.
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And right now, although verbally we've heard different, the only
thing that the developer would have to do on his eastern buffer is
provide one tree every 30 feet. Because it doesn't specify a Type B
buffer or a D buffer or any other LDC buffer there, it would default
to the adjacencies, which would only require a 1 O-foot buffer.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And as we go through this, Mr.
Fernandez, if some of these commitments occur that they agree that
they're going to put them in writing, you or the attorney would feel
more comfortable?
MR. FERNANDEZ: Well, I think what we're -- we're looking
for at this point is denial of the petition because it's insufficient. If
they come up or reapply and they have additional information that we
can review and rely on, then we can make a new assessment. But
right now we don't see an assessment that can be made while either
looking at their PUD document, their PUD master plan, nor
compatibility in the overall scheme of things that would warrant an
intensification of 12 units an acre adjacent to a 2 1/2 unit adjacent
project.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any questions?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just a quick question, Mr.
Fernandez.
MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Do I understand, then,
you're representing for your clients that you do not believe that the
ordinance for affordable housing can be applied to this project?
MR. FERNANDEZ: The ordinance for affordable housing, in
my understanding and review of it, is simply one of a commitment to
dollar amounts and number of units and size of the units. There's a
very limited provision to a broad-brush architectural unified style that
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has very little to do with actual conceptual drawings, as you could do
a myriad of different elevations and designs within that scope.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Mr. Fernandez, then
you're saying yes or no? I'm not sure what I heard.
MR. FERNANDEZ: I don't think that the intensification has
been substantiated as far as compatibility with -- which is being
reviewed concurrently with the PUD. I think the affordable-housing
application is -- relies on the review of this board and the Board of
County Commissioners looking at that issue of compatibility and
appropriateness.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So you're alerting us that
we should be directing this inquiry to our attorney in the final
analysis as to whether this ordinance can be applied or not.
MR. FERNANDEZ: No, sir. I think it's a judgment call by you
and the Board of County Commissioners on whether it's appropriate
or not.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I don't read the word
"appropriate" in this particular ordinance. It's -- it has some broad
parameters that they have met as they've come forward, at least that's
what we're going to try to determine. So ultimately I'll be looking to
Pat or somebody to help --
MR. FERNANDEZ: Well, aren't they two separate issues? One
has to do with the affordability. Yes, they've made the commitments.
I think your director has said they've signed off on that relative to
those financial commitments. What hasn't been reviewed and what
they're here before you -- they could put affordable housing on this
site right now. They just don't get those additional units. All we're
talking about is those additional units, those eight additional units per
acre that raises the intensity. There's nothing to prohibit them from
building below-market-rate apartments on this site right now as it
currently stands. What they're asking for is an intensification, and
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that's part of the rezoning process.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Thank you.
MS. MURRAY: The next--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Well, next speaker, but I guess Mr.
Hartsell would like a quick comment.
MR. HARTSELL: Well, yes, ma'am. I was going to -- I said
that I would call the other speakers forward so that we did that in
kind of a coordinated fashion so it didn't get -- MS. MURRAY: I have the list.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Ms. Murray has to do that, and
she has the list.
MR. HARTSELL: Okay. Just briefly with response to
Commissioner Richardson, it was a good question. I happen to have
the affordable housing section here. It's section 2.7.7.4.2, which
answers your question. Yes, the affordable-housing ordinance does
apply. It has to be applied. And the section that I just stated states
that compliance with Growth Management Plan and land
development regulations: The affordable housing density bonus shall
be available to a development only to the extent that it otherwise
complies and is consistent with the Growth Management Plan and the
land development regulations, including the procedures,
requirements, conditions, and criteria for PUDs and rezonings.
Thank you for letting me do that. And I'll sit down until my closing
comes, which is --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MR. HARTSELL: -- right after Judge Wilson.
MS. MURRAY: The next speaker is William Cooper followed
by Richard Calabrese. And, Richard, if you would line up along that
wall, please, and be ready to go after William, we'd appreciate it.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: He's the person standing in the hall.
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MR. COOPER: We'll bring him in. Good morning. I guess it is
still morning. My name is William Cooper. I am a resident of
Vanderbilt Country Club. I'm also a member of the board of
directors, although I am not representing the board of directors at this
particular meeting. I am speaking for myself as an owner. I would
like to introduce all of the owners that are here, but I'm sure that you
would appreciate that I not do that. But I would like to point out that
there are 172 present and that we also have a signed petition which
supports the presence of those here.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Why not have the folks that
are from your country club raise their hands so we can see.
MR. COOPER: Okay. Good idea. Will those raise their hands.
And the hallway.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
the hall.
We gathered there are quite a few in
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Maybe we should have
those people who aren't involved raise their hands. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: My goodness.
MR. COOPER: We also have 202 on our petition with concerns
about this particular application. There was some question raised
earlier by the petitioners as to the -- their request to meet with us
prior to this meeting. There is some confusion as to the originality of
that request. Records are not always kept in detail. I'm not sure if
they requested it, or maybe we requested it. But in any case, I am
sure that it was us who canceled it, and we did that out of respect for
them. We knew that they had a entourage of people with a lot of
background and with a lot of information, had gone to a great deal of
expense, and we appreciated that. And we did not want them to
make a presentation to just a handful of us, and the time was too short
for us to assemble the amount of people that you see here today. So
out of respect for them and nothing more, we did cancel that meeting.
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We have several speakers lined up, and I will give you a little bit of
the background on them. Mr. Calabrese is going to follow me, and
he is a resident and also has background in the real estate business.
Jack Prete will follow Richard, and his background information is a
developer of senior housing. Following Jack will be Richard Platt,
who has been associated with the airline industry. And then finally
Judge Wilson, who has legal background information and has also
been much involved in zoning requirements similar to this in the state
of Kentucky, all of whom are residents of Vanderbilt Country Club.
So at this point -- at the end I will have one further closing remark
with a request. That's after Steven gives his closing remarks. So at
this point, I am awed by your responsibilities and particularly after
having briefly read this morning "Zoning Decisions." And in reading
this I see that there are, not to mention all, probably, but 18 items that
you have to take into consideration, plus probably some that you
don't anticipate. In going through these, I find that probably 13 of
these 18 have impact upon your decision-making process. So it is my
hope that you act wisely, intelligently, and forthrightly in making a
decision concerning this application. I'd like to call on
Mr. Calabrese.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Let me ask you a question
before you leave.
MR. COOPER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: You were careful to point
out that you were not speaking for the board of Vanderbilt Country
Club --
MR. COOPER: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY:
member of it.
MR. COOPER: That's right.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY:
-- although you are a
Does the board have an
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November 1, 2001
official position as an entity, as a board?
MR. COOPER: Well, you must understand that Vanderbilt
Country Club is undergoing transition right now. While undergoing
transition the board is still controlled by the developer.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: By the developer. Okay.
MR. COOPER: And the developer is present here, but he is
going to speak for himself, not --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I got you. Okay. I
understand.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you, Mr. Cooper.
MS. MURRAY: Richard Calabrese followed by John Prete.
MR. CALABRESE: Madam Chairman, I have something to
hand out to you people. I thought I had a sufficient amount.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: If you could spell your name, please.
MR. CALABRESE: Calabrese, C-a-l-a-b-r-e-s-e, and my first
name is Richard. Good morning. I live in Vanderbilt Country Club.
I've looked through the staff report, and it seems inadequate because
it doesn't have very many details in it. So I thought I would look at
the big picture. I've made copies so that you could see what I was
talking about. Today we're looking at a development that is going to
change the character of our community. Has anybody given any
thought to the density problem because of all the building that is
being done? It's not just this one thing. If you look at the -- at what I
supplied, everything that's shaded is building that's going to come up.
At the north end we have Immokalee Road, which is always jammed
with traffic. A lot of cars and trucks and vans turn onto 951 from
about seven in the morning until ten in the morning. The traffic is
incredible going north and south. If you look at the west side of 951,
we have a Publix which will open next week and bring in more
traffic; then Pebblebrooke development with more cars; then there's a
school outlet; next, Ibis Cove development with lots of children and
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cars; then affordable housing not yet built. How many families will
this bring in and how many more cars? On the comer there's a new
shopping center and an Albertson's and, again, more automobiles.
Now you move to the east side of 951. You have a nursery; you
have Crystal Lake RV Park, a church, an academy, and more
housing; Vanderbilt has an exit and an entrance; now this
development with a church, a school, day care, and affordable
housing and, last, yet another church with schools -- with a school
and day care.
What are we doing with all of these people? What are we going
to do with all of these cars? Do we just add school buses and cars
going to the day care with the already heavy truck traffic that exists
now, or do we just say, let's see what happens? Let's not put our
children in danger before we say, "Have we overbuilt?" I ask you to
please reject this proposal. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
(Applause)
MS. MURRAY: John Prete followed by Richard Platt.
MR. PRETE: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First I'd
like to thank you for extending the courtesy to us to take us out of
order on your agenda. I know you have a busy day. I'd also like to
thank you for your special scrutiny of the issues around the traffic
congestion which already exists in our area and which would be
compounded by this project. We all use the highways, and there's
already a serious problem. Unfortunately, as we heard from your
staff, there just isn't the bucks to go around. Perhaps we're growing
faster than what we really should. Growth is a good, healthy thing.
Uncontrolled growth is a problem. It's a problem for everybody. As
I say, we all use the highways.
By way of background, I am a developer of senior housing up in
Connecticut. I'm retired now. But I've seen traffic studies by traffic
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November 1,2001
engineers, and as I look at the information that's available to us here,
it is very scanty. In fact, most of it is nonexistent.
In fact, I'll guess, since there's no way of knowing, really,
whether a traffic study by a qualified engineer was performed at all
for this property -- and considering the tremendous impact the
property will have to our area in addition to all the other yet-to-be-
built and under-construction projects right -- that one mile or so
between Vanderbilt Beach Road and Collier -- between Vanderbilt
Beach Road and Immokalee Road, we're just going to have an
enormous traffic problem, and that is what I'm here to address. That's
the key issue in my mind. Of particular concern is the existing
problem that we have on Collier Boulevard. And, as I say, these
problems would be significantly compounded if this petition is
granted.
It seems to me and to the previous speakers on our side of the
aisle here that there's scanty and very unconvincing evidence, not
only with respect to traffic, but the others that I'm not into. But
particularly with respect to traffic, which seems to have been glossed
over or glanced over, but I want to take another look at it. There are
no plans to widen 951 or Collier Boulevard in the immediate future.
There's no money. There's no nothing for five years except talk. And
having some experience in this area of government, I know that talk
is not extremely valuable in terms of practical applications. Sure we
have to talk about what needs to be done in the future, but so far
there's no bucks. And, as a matter of fact, as one of the
commissioners pointed out, there is a need urgent enough to impose a
special tax in order to address the highway problem. And here we are
adding -- well, here the developer is attempting to add more problems
to the problems that already exist that have not been addressed.
All this adds up to that stretch of highway is very likely to result in
congestion and will almost certainly result in a Condition F highway.
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November 1, 2001
And if I'm not mistaken, there's a mandated moratorium on Condition
F highways. I'm not sure whether that's state or federal. To all this
the petitioner wants to add another 120-pupil school, a church, a day-
care center, and 288 units of multifamily housing. And I'm going to
take a guess that they'll be after the 60 units that are approved on the
front 15 portion, too, because I have had no assurances that the
church is ever going to be built, at least I didn't hear it here today.
But I did hear the developer loud and clear say we're not giving up
our prerogative on those 60 units.
On the proposed development itself, the peak hour traffic is
projected to be 150 -- 115 a.m. And 133 p.m. Trips. There's no
mention whatsoever regarding the traffic generated by the proposed
church, day-care center, related housing, and school. The petitioner's
projection seems unrealistically optimistic, almost laughable. In
affordable-housing developments, there are mainly working folk with
a national average of about 1.8 vehicles per family, depending what
state you're in. They leave in the morning to go to work, and they
come back in the afternoon.
So let's see. That works out -- without the benefit of an
engineer, that works out to a maximum of 515 peak-hour trips per
day.
I don't see where the 115 came from, but perhaps your staff can
fill us in on a little bit more details on that. But in any case, 115, 133
are the trips per peak hour, and I don't read it that way. It works out
to 518 peak-hour trips per day. Even assuming that only 75 percent
of the residents go to work on any given day, it's nearly three times
the projected peak-hour trips in the proposal before you. The petition
is also completely silent on public transportation, which I thought we
wanted to make a priority in this county, the same as affordable
housing is a priority. This petition is completely silent because there
isn't going to be any. So, therefore, everybody's going in cars. Am I
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out of time? I'd like to --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Close. Go ahead.
MR. PRETE: Close up? Okay. The petition is completely
silent on this issue. To make matters worse, as our developer pointed
out, there isn't going to be any -- any egress other than an ent -- other
than Collier Boulevard itself. I wish I had more time to go into that.
But I know from personal experience just how difficult it is to get
onto Collier Boulevard from our exits and entrances, and I'm sure
everyone in this room shares the -- the knowledge of just how
dangerous it is with trucks ripping up and down at 55 miles an hour
fully loaded with fill and so forth.
This thing I want to get in. The commission staff, in
recommending this petition, states the project trips will have a
significant impact on Collier Boulevard from the project's entrance
onto Vanderbilt Beach Road. That's a quote from the proposal.
What entrance on Vanderbilt Beach Road? There's no information
from the petitioner whatsoever regarding how he plans to provide
cross access south across St. Agnes's property to Vanderbilt Beach
Road.
So all this traffic is going to go one way, right onto that busy
little two-lane highway. I think that's a critical point because you
have kids coming in and out of there, school buses and what all else,
and they're all going to come right onto that busy stretch of highway.
I'm finishing up right now, Madam Chairman.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: No. I'm not -- I'm just saying that my
-- the report in front of me does not say the project's entrance onto
Vanderbilt Beach Road. Mine says project entrance to Vanderbilt
Beach Road.
MR. PRETE: But there's access -- cross access is shown on the
-- on the proposal map as if to say there are other opportunities that
will be worked out. We know that those alternatives are impossible
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November 1,2001
-- are not possible. The -- the St. -- the Catholic church, St. Agnes,
have already indicated that they're not opposed to affordable housing.
They can't. They don't have the power to grant a right-of-way across
their property so that this petitioner can get to another entrance and
egress onto -- directly onto Vanderbilt Beach Road.
In summary -- I better get to that -- vital information from the
petitioner is vague or missing altogether. And Collier Boulevard is
already overburdened for a two-lane highway, and there's no plans
for a widening. I trust the commission will do what it's empowered
to do with a public trust. Protect our interests from inappropriate
development invasions, and please turn down this petition. Thank
yOU.
(Applause)
MS. MURRAY: Richard Platt followed by Judge chapel
Wilson.
MR. PRATT: Good morning, Commissioners. For the record,
my name is Richard Platt, and I'm a resident of Vanderbilt Country
Club. Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts on this
proposal. I'll attempt to keep my remarks short and to the point.
While these are my words, I believe they accurately reflect the
concerns of those of us at Vanderbilt Country Club and in the North
Naples community.
But first I'd like to say that we are not opposed to the proper
development of the lands that surround our community. On the
contrary, we support the proper development of the community
through a well-thought-out, well-planned project that is consistent
with the current land use and adds value to the community. Any
project that adds value to the community adds value to our
neighborhood.
All that said, judging by the number of people that are here from
Vanderbilt today, I believe it's safe to say there are serious concerns
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that the proposal on the table fails to meet those objectives.
Specifically, we are concerned the proposal has the potential of
having a dangerous and adverse effect on the area by exceeding
infrastructure capacity, increasing traffic patterns, and destroying
wildlife and wetlands.
When one looks at the proposal, while general in nature, it is
void of any real well-defined planning specifics and generates real
concerns about compatibility and consistency with existing land use
patterns. The intensity of the land use specifically stands out. This is
not about affordable housing. This is about land use density. The
proposal more than triples the existing land use patterns. Such a
project would completely change the character of the neighborhood.
It also raises real questions about the impacts on roads, schools,
recreational facilities, and, most importantly, the environment. Given
the fragile nature of our sewage and water treatment capacity, one has
to question what a project of this nature would do to existing
capability and what problems it would cause in the future. The
proposal is short, if not devoid, of addressing environmental issues.
There is considerable concern that the cost of addressing
environmental issues in this project will lead to an overall reduced
quality of the final product, meaning they put so much money
building the required lakes and buffer zones, there's not much left to
build a quality house, thereby making the project inconsistent with
the neighborhood.
In summary, as neighbors we find the proposal inadequate and
insufficient in enough detail to be able to support it. It raises many
concerns and leaves far too many questions unanswered. We are in
favor of building a better community, one we can all share in.
Unfortunately, we see no value added to the community in this
proposal, but can easily predict problems, numerous problems, that
will add burden to the taxpayers of this community and reduce the
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quality of life in our community.
I'll close it with one final thought that seems to support
Commissioner Strain's views. Responsive government listens to the
people it serves and then leads in that direction. If outdated standards
need updating to avoid the mistakes of the past, I'm confident this
board will lead in that direction. Thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
(Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
Mr. Platt--
I'm intrigued by what you had said,
and I took a few notes -- as I do when speakers are up -- to ask
additional questions. And one thought occurred to me with reference
to this particular graphic I've been handed. Could you help define for
me what you perceive as to be the neighborhood we're talking about
here? Are we talking about the neighborhood from Immokalee Road
clear down to Vanderbilt Beach? When you say "neighborhood," in
your mind what is your neighborhood?
MR. PLATT: Neighborhood has to be inclusive. It can't be
exclusive. We can't just say Vanderbilt Country Club because we are
part of the overall community there. So when we take a look at the
planning factors to be considered here, we need to take a look at the
overall infrastructure. Where are the children that live in this
proposed community going to go play? The closest recreational
facility is 3 miles away down Vanderbilt Beach Road, which is an
extremely high-traffic road. The nearest school that exists right now
is a mile and a half away. There are -- these children that are going
to live there are part of our community. We're not talking about the
golfers at Vanderbilt here. We're talking about North Naples.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I was just curious. I was trying
to get a real sense for what you perceive as to be neighborhood and
community because that is helpful. Thank you. Next speaker.
MS. MURRAY: Judge Chappell Wilson followed by Tim
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McCann.
JUDGE WILSON: Good morning, Commissioners. My name
is Chappell Wilson. And for the record I'll spell that. C-h-a-p-p-e-l-1,
last name is Wilson. And I own property at Vanderbilt Country Club.
And the address is 8450 Danbury Boulevard, Unit 202, Naples. I'm a
retired trial court judge from Kentucky, and I've chosen Vanderbilt as
my home.
The thing that I did when I retired, I looked at whether or not
I'd return back to my home, which was originally in Homestead,
Florida, but I chose not to go there but to come to Naples. And the
reason for that is Naples is a beautiful city with a lot of amenities. It
has good golf and good fishing. It has controlled, orderly growth, but
most of all it has lots of nice people.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You want to repeat that statement,
"controlled, orderly growth"? Clap for that one. You give us some--
the benefit of the doubt that we do try here, sir. Thank you.
JUDGE WILSON: And for the part that you, the commission,
plays in that controlled and orderly growth is very much appreciated
by me and from the residents who chose to come here, and for that
we say thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're welcome. We try.
JUDGE WILSON: When I retired after 21 years on the bench, I
vowed never to go back to the courtroom or go into the public arena,
but only to the golf course. And so when I did that, I came to
Vanderbilt. But I heard the complaints and the fears and the concerns
of my friends and neighbors there, and I felt like I was compelled at
least to speak up now and to voice their fears, which they won't get
the opportunity to make today.
My neighbors are concerned about a high-density development
that will impact their quality of life, and it will also impact the
property values of their property if the development is improperly
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done and approved. I understand your job. I know what it's about. I
understand the input and considerations that you will have to have in
order to make your findings, come up with your conclusions, and
then ultimately make your recommendation to the board of
commissioners.
Prior to becoming a judge, I was an attorney, and I worked in
Frankfort, Kentucky; Commonwealth of Kentucky; department of
commerce; the planning and zoning division. And in that division I
had a responsibility of drafting the new law for Kentucky, which is
KRS Chapter 100, which has the planning and zoning statute in it. I
walked that legislation through the legislature who ultimately adopted
it. I conducted public hearings much like what we see here today.
And then I had the privilege of going out into the county and having
that plan implemented by the various governments. So I understand
what goes on here.
And I -- and I understand also that it's incumbent upon the
petitioner when he comes forward asking for a rezone of a
classification to not adversely impact the comprehensive land use
plan as it exists. And I understand the obligations of the commission
to make sure that the quality of life, the existing character of the
cormnunity is not, then, detrimental to the future.
What I've heard here today and what little I have seen with the
petition gives me cause for great alarm. Primarily that is the alarm of
my neighbors and friends, many of them who are sitting here in the
audience and most of them who are standing out in the hallway. But
first of all, in my observation here today and from the documents that
I've reviewed, I've concluded that the petition is vague, it is
incomplete, and it is missing the necessary supporting
documentation.
There is no valid analysis with the traffic problems coming onto
Collier Boulevard. We hear today that there's 115 traffic trips. In
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Kentucky we compute that by taking the number of residents,
multiplying out the number of vehicles per day, movements of
ingress and egress. And if that's the formula I use there, it would
equate to almost 600 vehicle movements per day out of this -- out of
this development; 288 residents, almost two cars per resident.
Everyone goes to work. Everyone comes home. And then people go
to shop and to eat.
The incomplete description of the buffer zone also causes me a
problem. The PUD indicated 50 feet. Today for the first time I've
heard a figure of 190 feet.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's okay.
JUDGE WILSON: And I will close in about one minute.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's all right. You're doing fine.
JUDGE WILSON: The -- the problem I have with that is there's
no guarantees. There's nothing in writing. There is no showing that
the zoning change will not adversely affect the existing community,
and that's one of the findings in your statute.
It also failed to show that -- the other sites available on which
this development could be placed without a zoning change, and it's
failed to show that the existing infrastructures will support this unit.
In other words, where do the residents go to work? Where do they
shop? Where do they eat? Where do the kids go to play, go to
school, and recreate? In addition, the petition has not shown that the
developer will not advance the project in the best interest of the
existing community.
My conclusion is that the petition -- the petitioner is attempting
to build what is a needed development but only in the wrong place.
There is no justification for changing the existing character of our
community east of 951. And for all these reasons, Commissioners, I
respectfully ask that the petition be denied. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
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(Applause)
MS. MURRAY:
MR. McCANN:
Tim McCann followed by Glenn Cribbett.
Good morning. I'm Tim McCann. That's
spelled M-c-C-a-n-n. My wife, Karen, and I own a home in
Vanderbilt Country Club, a property that's adjacent to Bucks Run, as
we've heard here earlier this morning. We filed about 18 pages of
detailed written comments regarding the petition that is the subject of
this hearing. Unfortunately, because we did not learn of this petition
and hearing until a few days ago, we were unable to file those
comments until this morning, although they will be part of the record
of this proceeding, and we'd request that they be included in the
package that goes up to the commissioners. You will not have had an
opportunity to review our comments in detail prior to your decision
on the petition, so we wanted to briefly summarize our comments
with this short oral statement.
We appreciate the opportunity to address you, and we appreciate
the significant time and efforts expended by the Planning
Commission staff in preparing the documentation for the petition.
We especially want to thank Mr. Ray Bellows for the assistance that
he has given us in trying to learn about and analyze this petition.
Despite the fact that our comments are highly critical of the staff
report that recommends approval of the subject petition, we assure
you that our criticism is not directed personally at anyone on the
staff. In fact, we suspect that the myriad of deficiencies in the staff
report are a result of the insufficient information provided to the staff
by the petitioners.
The focus of our comments is straightforward. Although the
staff report recommends approval of the petition, we believe there's
an insufficient factual basis for the Planning Commission to approve
that recommendation for action by the Collier County Board of
County Commissioners. Accordingly, we respectfully request that
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November 1, 2001
the Planning Commission recommend denial of the petition and
retention of the current zoning.
In making this request, it should be noted that we do not oppose
affordable housing. We do oppose rezoning petitions that fail to
comply with all applicable Collier County legal requirements. As
demonstrated clearly in our written comments and comments of
people who have been up here before, the subject petition does not
comply with those legal requirements. And absent such compliance,
we believe the Planning Commission must deny the petition and
retain the current zoning.
For example, based upon our reading of the staff report, it
appears that appropriate evaluation of rezoning petitions must
establish a factual basis upon which the Planning Commission may
act. Although the staff report reflects substantial effort to evaluate the
petition, it appears to fall far short of the evaluation requirements
specified by the Collier County rezoning rulings.
The staff report is replete with conclusory statements that appear
to be unsupported by any underlying data or meaningful analysis of
that data. Absent any meaningful data and detailed analysis
supporting the conclusory statements, there is no means by which a
third party, such as yourselves, may objectively evaluate the
credibility of those statements. This, in turn, prevents the
development of a factual basis that is required before the Planning
Commission can act upon the staff recommendation. We believe this
failure requires that the petition be denied and that the current zoning
be retained.
I have other things to comment on, but in order to shorten this
up, I would just like to call your attention to one specific example;
and that's with respect to the staff report's Exhibit B in the rezoning
findings, and specifically it's Item No. 10. I believe you'll find it on
page 4 of Exhibit B.
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You'll see there that the entire discussion of this critical issue
which involves whether or not the proposed change will adversely
affect property values in the adjacent area is presented in one pro and
one con -- and no cons. And that one pro or advantageous statement
says, "Typically urban intensification increases the value of
contiguous underutilized land." The summary findings then discuss
the subjective nature of this determination, recognizes the importance
of zoning to property valuation, and then concludes, quote, The mere
fact that a property is given a new zoning designation may or may not
affect the value.
Well, if-- is that analysis sufficient to satisfy the Collier County
rezoning requirements? The staff report fails to address the critical
zoning issue related to property values in the adjacent area. It
purports to address this issue by discussing what happens typically
with respect to contiguous underutilized land. But the Vanderbilt
Country Club, which is adjacent to it, is not underutilized land. I'm
sorry. Do you want me to continue or--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You can continue.
MR. McCANN: I'm almost finished.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're almost done.
MR. McCANN: What is the purported project's impact on
Vanderbilt Country Club property values that is on contiguous
utilized property? The staff report is silent. It is not possible to make
any determination about this important zoning issue based on the
staff report, and this is but one example. Not only does it fail to
address the impact on contiguous utilized property, the staff report
simply concludes that zoning regulations may or may not affect
property values. Of course, any of us in this room could have made
that statement, but it does little to address the critical issue raised by
the Land Development Code regarding rezoning requirements.
Given the importance of this issue to any proposed rezoning, it is
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imperative, we believe, that the staff report provide the Planning
Commission with factual information related to property values
potentially affected by the proposed project. The failure of the staff
report to do so leaves a glaring and gaping hole in the staffs
evaluation and does not constitute the type of factual basis needed for
the Planning Commission to act. Accordingly, we believe this fatal
flaw requires the petition be denied and the current zoning retained.
In summary, we believe that these and other substantial deficiencies
identified in our written comments clearly demonstrate that the staff
report fails to provide the required factual basis supportive of the
recommendation to approve the rezoning, and we request that the
Planning Commission recommend denial of the petition and retention
of the current zoning. Thank you for your consideration. If you have
any questions, I'd be pleased to try to answer them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mrs. Young.
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: May I have a copy of the petition
to which you refer, or did you already give it to Ms. Murray? MR. McCANN: I -- of my comments or--
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: No. The entire petition with 222
signatures.
MR. McCANN:
submitted them.
MR. COOPER:
I believe someone else has collected those and
I have collected those and--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You have to be at the microphone. I
think Mr. Cooper referred to this.
MR. BELLOWS: I'll provide copies of everything that we got.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. Because I made a note myself
that we did not have a copy of it, and it hasn't gone down the dais to
look at the names and that. So, Mr. Bellows, you'll be able to get that
to us? Thank you. Because we do need that as part of the record. It's
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very helpful. And she is our secretary who's duty bound to make sure
she has a copy. Thank you.
Thank you.
Glenn Cribbett--
MR. McCANN:
MS. MURRAY:
(Applause)
MS. MURRAY:
Glenn Cribbett followed by William Saunders.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I believe Mr. Hartsell has stepped up
there for just one moment.
MR. HARTSELL: I'm not Glenn Cribbett. I did request an
opportunity to summarize, and I -- what I wanted to summarize was
the group that I was representing as opposed to the entire public. The
folks who had just spoken were part of the committee that retained
our services, so if it's --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: The next speaker is not one
of yours?
MR. HARTSELL: No.
representing him.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
He's the developer, and he's -- we're not
Okay. We will grant you that.
MR. HARTSELL: Thank you very much. For the record again,
Steve Hartsell, and we do thank you for your patience and appreciate
the time that you're taking to listen to the questions that have been
raised.
Some of the issues that you've heard from Mike Fernandez and
from the neighbors relate to the incompatibility of the intensity of a
12-unit-per-acre rental project that's next to a 2 1/2-acre (sic)
residential subdivision; the lack of infrastructure, roads and sewer
particularly, that have been proposed here. We've heard some
speculative suggestions about the possibility that roads will be
available at some point in the future or that a consortium might be put
together in order to provide the sewer that would serve this project.
But we haven't seen any evidences -- evidence that that's actually
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going to occur pursuant to this proposal.
There's a lack of any evidence that supports granting what is the
maximum bonus density that would be permissible through the
affordable-housing density bonus program-- located-- as you've seen
in your land use map, located essentially at the edge of your urban
services district-- when this proposed community particularly is
going to require special services like mass transportation. What
you've found is that we're putting -- or we're suggesting that there be
the maximum bonus density possible at the edge of the urban services
area as far as possible away from things like mass transportation and
the services that would -- that would serve these folks in this
intensive density.
Mr. Cuyler suggested that you were essentially duty bound to
approve this application for affordable housing because the
community recognizes that affordable housing is important and has
put provisions into the code that affordable-housing providers need to
meet. I would suggest to you that this application has not met all of
the requirements for affordable housing. I would respectfully
disagree with Mr. Cuyler that you are duty bound to approve the
application.
As one of the previous speakers pointed out, it's not just a matter
of filling out the request for affordable housing and wrapping
yourself in the mantle of this is a good thing for the community. You
also have to find a location that is appropriate for the increased
densities, the bonus densities that are being requested. We would
submit that at 12 units an acre, this is inconsistent with the Growth
Management Plan and the Land Development Code.
I refer you to the Growth Management Plan Future Land Use
Element in the density rating system. It talks about a base density of
four dwelling units per acre, but it does state specifically, and I quote,
within the applicable urban designated areas, a base density of four
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November 1,2001
residential dwelling units per gross acre is permitted, though not an
entitlement. The base density of-- the base level of density may be
adjusted depending upon the characteristics of the property. We
would submit to you that the project that's immediately adjacent to
2 1/2-unit-per-acre Vanderbilt Country Club has not demonstrated
that it's even entitled to four units per acre.
Now, I know the first reaction is, wait a second. It's already a
four-unit-per-acre PUD. That's true. The question then comes to
mind, what evidence has been submitted to demonstrate that the four-
unit-per-acre PUD that's already there, that's zoned, that could be
used for affordable housing, is inappropriate? What's wrong with the
density that's already there? There's been no evidence to show that.
Second, the Growth Management Plan shows that the base level
density may be adjusted depending upon the characteristics of the
property. We submit the density based on the characteristics that
have been shown, particularly with regard to the level of services that
are presently available, with regard to roads, with regard to sewer,
with regard to development costs, would really argue more for a
reduction in density more consistent with what's at Vanderbilt than it
would for a tripling of the density, as has been requested.
What about the bonus density? Under the Growth Management
Plan, again it says density bonuses are discretionary, not entitlements,
and are dependent upon meeting the criteria for each bonus provision
and compatibility with surrounding properties, as well as criteria in
the Land Development Code. I'll be relatively quick, relatively.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're an attorney. It's relative.
MR. HARTSELL: Thank you. It's important to remember--
and I appreciate the comments of the transportation department. But
it's important to remember that unlike their review of this project
where they felt that their hands were tied with regard to whether they
could object to the proposed density or to the PUD, your hands are
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not tied. And I think that's very important to remember. It's been
suggested that it's not fair to apply the new standards that are coming
down the road to a project that has been presently submitted to you
for review. I would submit to you that this isn't a question of whether
there is going to be any use of the property that's permitted; rather,
it's a question of whether you are going to take the maximum base
density that's already permitted at four units per acre and essentially
triple it at the edge of your urban services district.
That's the thing that you-all -- that's the decision you-all have to
consider today, and we would submit to you that it's not appropriate,
that there has been no evidence to show that you should, in this
location, triple that density. The neighbors understand that affordable
housing can presently be built at Bucks Run. Bucks Run wants the
maximum density but hasn't demonstrated that they've got the
evidence to support that.
As I pointed out before to Commissioner Richardson, Land
Development Code 2.7.7.4.2 requires for affordable-housing density
bonus to be granted, there must be a demonstration of compliance
with the growth management code and the land development
regulations. Looking again to the Growth Management Code Future
Land Use Element Policy 5.3 -- and I quote part of that -- discourage
unacceptable levels of urban sprawl in order to minimize the cost of
community facilities. Well, I would submit to you that what's being
requested here is specifically inconsistent with Growth Management
Policy 5.3. This is encouraging urban sprawl. It is pushing higher
densities out of the edge of your urban services area.
Future Land Use Element Policy 5.4, new development shall be
compatible with and complementary to the surrounding land uses.
Again, as you've heard from numerous speakers, there is no
compatibility between this 12-unit-per-acre project and the existing
surrounding land use of Vanderbilt at 2.5 units per acre.
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The question about the buffers, the argument has been made --
although, as Mr. Fernandez pointed out, you hear about the buffers,
but they're not required as part of the PUD ordinance or as part of the
application. That seems to have been expanded upon either today or
subsequent to the application. As all of the neighbors have had to
look at this information and review it for compatibility, they don't
have the information about the buffers. When the exotics are
removed, what's going to be out there? We hear that there's an
intention to leave the existing vegetation, the native vegetation that's
out there, but again, that's not part of the application.
Concurrency issues, generally if concurrency with regard to
roads, with regard to sewer service has not been demonstrated, how
can this project -- how can this PUD rezoning be consistent with the
Growth Management Plan?
Mr. McCann provided a very detailed review of the staff report.
I just want to summarize about five or six points that relate
specifically to the requirements that the Planning Commission has in
terms of reviewing this application. Under Land Development Code
2.7.2.5, certain findings need to be made by the Planning
Commission. Subsection 5 of that section is whether changed or
changing conditions make the passage of the proposed amendment
necessary. The staff report fails to identify any changed or changing
conditions that make the passage of the proposed amendment
necessary. These are the findings that you-all have to address.
Number 6, whether the proposed change will adversely influence
living conditions in the neighborhood. Again, the staff report failed
to meaningfully consider whether the proposed change will adversely
influence the living conditions in the neighborhood.
Number 7 -- I'm sorry. Number 10, whether the proposed change
will adversely affect property values in the adjacent area. As
Mr. McCann pointed out, the staff report again fails to address
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adequately what impact this project will have on property values in
the neighborhood.
Number 11, whether the proposed change will be a deterrent to
the improvement or development of adjacent property in accordance
with the existing regulations. Again, the staff report fails to address
whether that proposed change will be a deterrent.
Number 12, whether the proposed change will constitute a grant
of special privilege to an individual owner as contrasted with the
public welfare. Well, that's exactly what's being requested here,
triple the density for these folks compared to the rest of the folks in
the neighborhood. That's not been demonstrated as being
appropriate.
I have one jurisdictional issue which I just throw out, and that's
the question of whether there's been adequate notice of the review for
the approval of affordable-housing density bonus. It's mentioned, as
best I can tell, as part of the -- as part of the agenda, it's mentioned
that there is affordable housing in this project, but I have not seen any
notice that there is going to be an actual review of the affordable-
housing density bonus that gets reviewed or approved today.
While we are here, and obviously to the extent that we've
participated, that may waive the objection for a number of folks who
are here. The question comes to mind of whether any of the other
800 residents or other people in the neighborhood have waived their
objections or are even aware of the fact that not only is there a PUD
that's being requested increased density, but there's going to be a
review of the affordable-housing density bonuses today.
On behalf of the Vanderbilt Community Association, we submit
that the application falls far short of what's necessary to demonstrate
that they have met the requirements for affordable-housing density
bonus.
We also believe that the approval of the PUD as proposed fails
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to meet the criteria of the Land Development Code for the reasons
that I've outlined as well as those that numerous other folks have
outlined.
And, finally, we would submit to you that for the reasons that
I've outlined, it's inconsistent with the Growth Management Plan and,
for all of those reasons, should be denied. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I do have one question for you.
MR. HARTSELL: I appreciate your time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You kept using the phrase the "edge of
the urban district" and that we were -- you were implying that we're
encouraging urban sprawl here. Where do you consider the far edge
of our urban district -- urban boundary?
MR. HARTSELL: Well, looking at the land use management
plan, you've got the urban development area is the area that's shown
as yellow. And from what I can tell, this project is right next to
Vanderbilt, which is essentially at the edge of that district. When you
-- at the eastern edge of that district. It's got a strange line that -- or --
anyway, that's --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I just wanted to clarify because I didn't
think this was at the edge, and staff is discussing things over there at
the moment.
MR. HARTSELL: Certainly to the extent -- I understand that it
may not be on the very -- on the very edge between rural next to it
and this being the urban services district. But it does appear to me
that what's happened is the Vanderbilt community is essentially being
used as a buffer from your nonurban area for something that is very
intense at 12 units an acre in your urban area. We just don't think
that's appropriate to make Vanderbilt the buffer between the urban
services district and --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Because Vanderbilt is in the urban
service area.
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November 1, 2001
MR. HARTSELL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And the line is out further. I was just
wondering what you meant by "edge."
MR. HARTSELL: Well, I'm -- as we look at the blue -- the blue
arrow there --
MR. BELLOWS: For the record, Ray Bellows. This line here
is Collier Boulevard or 951. The yellow arrow, representing urban
residential, extends 1 mile east of 951, incorporates Vanderbilt
Country Club.
MR. HARTSELL: So to the extent that we are -- I will amend
my remarks. We are not actually on the edge, but we're within a mile
or so of the edge. Certainly it appears to me that we are tripling the
density out within a mile of the edge of your urban services district,
which means that all of your services are going to have to go out to
that edge. The question is, between 1-75 and this area, is there any
other need for the kinds of urban services that this level of intensity is
going to require?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I just wanted to make sure we
were clear that we do intend to have urban services within the urban
services district, and that is part of the concept. If you keep lowering
the density in an urban service area that's been agreed forever, then
we have major pressures on the rural fringe and then even further out
SO--
MR. HARTSELL: And that's a valid point. But what's
important to remember here is that we're not suggesting that you
should lower the densities within the urban services district. What's
already approved there right now is at the maximum density that's
approved. What we're suggesting to you is that this is not an
appropriate place at this time for tripling those maximum densities.
At some point in time when the roads are available, when there's
actually sewer service that's available, this PUD might be appropriate
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for that level of density. But we would certainly argue that today this
is definitely premature at very best. And it's for that reason that we
argue that it's not only premature, it's inconsistent with the
Comprehensive Plan, and it ought to be denied.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: You and a number of your
speakers have made much of the deficiencies in this PUD application.
Do you think they are remediable, curable? Could the deficiencies be
cured with a little more workmanship?
MR. HARTSELL: Well, certainly the absence of information
that has been provided could be cured by providing more
information.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MR. HARTSELL: Whether you provide more information or
not, the question is, how do you demonstrate that tripling the density
at this location is going to be appropriate today as opposed to some
point in the future? I don't know if that's --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, then you're--
MR. HARTSELL: I don't know what else they can provide.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Then you're saying that no
matter how much this application was beefed up, it would still not
pass muster.
MR. HARTSELL: I'm not sure if you beef the application up
that still is going to provide the roads, for instance, within the time
frames of this development taking place or demonstration that sewer
capacity is available or reasonably likely to be available instead of
speculative. So I--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, then why have we
spent all this time picking at these deficiencies if the long and the
short of it is that if those deficiencies were cured, you would still be
against it?
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MR. HARTSELL: It's not a question of whether we're against it
or not. It's a question of whether this application meets the
requirements of the code. And we submit to you that the application
doesn't meet the requirements of the code, that there has not been
evidence that's been submitted to you or as part of the application
process that demonstrates that this level of intensity ought to be
approved at this location.
What you've heard with regard to kind of picking at the
deficiencies is the frustration of a group of neighbors trying to figure
out why it is that there's going to be a tripling of density next door to
them. And they go and they pull the application and go through it,
and they find things, for instance, like the buffer that used to be there
when they moved in, as part of the previous PUD, has now been
removed. The specifics of the requirements, Mr. Fernandez pointed
out, have been amended. This document, for instance -- I mean, it is
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I don't want to go back
over all those deficiencies again.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We're not going to go over the
deficiencies, please.
MR. HARTSELL: You asked the question. When the
neighbors are trying to figure out what's going in next door, there's a
brand-new PUD document. It doesn't -- it's not a comparison of a
strikethrough and underline. Here are the things we're taking out;
here's the stuff we're adding. It's just a brand-new document. They
have to go through and try and figure out or find out, where's the
original? What's actually changed here? It's those kinds of things
that are frustrating to them. That's why you find a lot of picking at
the deficiencies.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: What I'm asking is, in all
candor, if all of these mechanical deficiencies in here were satisfied, I
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think your people would still be against it because it's an affordable
housing or it's too much density.
MR. HARTSELL: No. I think that it's -- I think it's important
for you to understand that this is not an argument against affordable
housing.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's an argument against
density.
MR. HARTSELL: It's an argument against tripling the density
next to their neighborhood.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, you know, we could
have gotten -- cut to the chase a long time ago, as far as I'm
concerned.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Adelstein.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Are you suggesting, though,
you and most every other speaker, that we have the authority to
change the traffic issue? Right now the law says they have the right
to build this as far as traffic is concerned. We may not agree with
that, but the point is we can't change it. And, therefore, we have to
go with what we are told. That's the law. We can't change the law.
MR. HARTSELL: Let me address that. It's a valid question,
which is really what the applicant is urging. You can't really do
anything about it. And I submit to you that you absolutely can
because you've got a responsibility to determine whether this is
compatible in this neighborhood. And I submit to you --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTE1N: Wait a minute. You're off
the subject that I'm on. I'm talking to you literally about one issue,
and that is the traffic issue. We have to live with what we are given.
We'd like to say, hey, I don't particularly like the traffic issues in my
area, either. We'd like this or that. But right now that department
said to us that this PUD absolutely meets the criteria as far as traffic
is concerned, and I don't believe this board has a right to change that
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in any manner, just including that traffic issue. I'm not discussing the
others.
MR. HARTSELL: Let me --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: But that issue cannot be
changed.
MR. HARTSELL: Let me ask -- if that were true, there would
be no need for this board. I submit to you that you do have the
responsibility to take that piece of information where the staff has
said to you, we've looked at this. It doesn't meet the new standards
that are coming through. It meets the present standards today. That's
one element of information that you need to look at. Staff is not, I
would submit, suggesting to you that this is a great development from
a traffic standpoint. They're suggesting there are problems.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Right.
MR. HARTSELL: Now, based on those problems, I believe that
it's incumbent on the board to look at this and to say from a
compatibility standpoint, there are problems associated with this level
of intensity. We shouldn't triple the intensity just because the
standards say, under the present standards, that's not a traffic issue.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: You are an attorney; am I
correct?
MR. HARTSELL:
COMMISSIONER
Yes, sir.
ADELSTEIN: And you're telling me that
this board can change existing law at their whim.
MR. HARTSELL: No, sir. I'm not telling you you can change
the law.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Well, that's --
MR. HARTSELL: I'm telling you that the law right now
requires you to take all of the information you've been given --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I am not discussing --
MR. HARTSELL: -- and make a determination.
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COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I am not discussing the other
issues. I mean, I understand what they are. I just wanted to make it
clear to you that as far as the traffic issue itself is concerned, you're
asking us to change what is now existing law.
MR. HARTSELL: I don't believe that I am. We're not asking
you to change the law. We're asking you to recognize there are
traffic problems out there. Don't approve a tripling of density when
you already recognize there are traffic problems out there, and there's
no requirement that you approve tripling of density.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: The last point I will make is
there are a great many PUDs that come before us. Anything on
Airport Road then, as far as you're concerned, should not be added
because there's already such a traffic problem there, anything else
will increase the traffic problem.
MR. HARTSELL: Tripling of the density? I would probably
argue that point where you're asking to triple the density on a place
where there's already traffic problems, yes.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: What about doubling the
density on that traffic -- again, we have a problem.
MR. HARTSELL: That's exactly the point. It's not that
affordable housing is inappropriate in Collier County. The question
is -- after you demonstrate that you meet affordable housing,
essentially, minimum thresholds, then the question is, where in
Collier County do you increase the densities? And I submit to you
you don't increase them where you already have problems.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. White, when it comes to
the statement of level of service and what we're trying to do here,
could you just give us a little guidance on the fact that -- concept of
the magic wand? We have rules. We have a time frame for the
roads. Could you just elaborate a little bit on that for our benefit
when we make the decision on criteria and for all of these people that
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have taken their time to come here and hear today?
MR. WHITE: Thank you. Assistant County Attorney Patrick
White.
I believe that Mr. Hartsell is in particular, perhaps, talking about
in LDC 27325. And in particular this is a provision that deals with
Planning Commission recommendations. He's talking about sub 3,
which talks about the conformity of the PUD with goals, objectives,
and policies of the Growth Management Plan.
And if I understand the gist of his argument, it is essentially that
he's asking you to find -- although he's used the term compatibility, I
think he's talking consistency, in my way of understanding this, in
that the project is inconsistent because the density is somehow
inappropriate. And that's where it lapses over, one, into the
compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood on the one hand; on
the other hand, he's talking about capacity in terms of concurrency.
And, now, it's obvious that you cannot be inconsistent with the
Comprehensive Plan in terms of proposing development that would
exceed the capacity at the time that development's approved. That
would be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and that would,
under this particular finding, be something that you could make a
determination it's not in conformity with.
I believe you've also, just to be balanced about this, heard staff
say essentially that it's their opinion that as to the Growth
Management Plan and as to the issue of concurrency and as it relates
to consistency, that this project, at the time of development, would
have adequate capacities such that it would be deemed concurrent
and, hence, consistent. So it's to your determination which end of the
teetertotter carries the weight.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you.
MR. HARTSELL: We would urge you that we have the heavy
end of the teetertotter.
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I would believe you would feel that
way.
How many more speakers do we have?
MS. MURRAY: Three.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have three. Okay. Because we
have to move along, and we will have an issue -- a technical issue
here by quarter after 12 when it comes to the court reporter. So
you're next.
MS. MURRAY: Glenn Cribbett followed by William Saunders.
MR. CRIBBETT: Good morning. My name is Glenn Cribbett.
I represent Worthington Communities of Naples. We are the
developer of Vanderbilt Country Club. And I believe all my minutes
have been used up, so I will try to be brief. Just trying to lighten the
affair here a little bit.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I got the humor.
MR. CRIBBETT: Nobody laughed. We certainly have a
concern because we still own quite a bit of property in Vanderbilt,
and being a developer we obviously can also see both sides of a
situation. We -- our goal is always to develop communities that are
highly marketable and ones that we can, you know, certainly deliver
on the promise. I don't know that I can say a lot of new things here
or raise a lot of new questions that haven't been said because I think
that's been very well done by -- by the folks that have been up here
previous.
We do have two concerns in a major way, and -- and number
one would be the character of the community that's proposed. And,
again, it's been said and there was some argument as to whether that
was, you know, a viable thing to point out, but that the application
was deficient in terms of exhibits and things and specifics. And
although we have been shown some things here today, certainly
without that being part of the petition, perhaps there is no guarantee
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that that's what will be delivered. In light of that, you know, a buffer
would certainly be a major consideration or a concern on our part as
to how it is buffered from-- from our existing community and
whether, again, you know, just from a compatibility standpoint,
everything, including architecture, just fits within what's existing
there.
Second to that -- or actually number one, probably, would be the
density issue and the fact that they are asking for densities that are
over five times what we've achieved at Vanderbilt and how those do,
in fact, impact the infrastructure that's in place. I'm not going to sit
here and argue from a legal standpoint. I don't know what you can or
cannot do. I think you -- in a position you are, you can make
decisions that you feel are in the best interest of the public. We have
certainly fallen victim to that on occasion when faced with similar-
type issues and -- and would always hope that the decisions are, in
fact, being made in the best interest of the public.
With regards to traffic, I'll just caution one more thing, that
because there are a lot of communities along the corridor, most of
them are new, and I don't think that corridor has really reached its full
potential. So what we do see today, that is considered extremely bad
at a lot of times, I think can potentially get worse given that no other
development comes into the corridor because, again, most of the
communities along there are very immature in their development at
this stage, and so it's easy to see.
Given that -- again, I don't have any new things to raise, but in
terms of representing Worthington Communities and our position, we
do respectfully ask that you deny the petition as it has been submitted
to you at this point in time. Thank you. (Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MS. MURRAY: William Saunders followed by Gayle Grosso,
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who's your last speaker.
MR. SAUNDERS: Good morning. My name is William
Saunders.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Good afternoon.
MR. SAUNDERS: That's S-a-u-n-d-e-r-s. I'm a resident of
Vanderbilt, 8454 Gleneagle Way. I'm here this morning because I,
like many of the people that are in this room, came to Vanderbilt
thinking we had found a way of life, a place where we were secure, a
place where we'd be looked after, a community that was an
outstanding community with lots of nice features. I can understand
Vanderbilt's concern when they have 89 more units to add traffic to
our Vanderbilt Beach Road, that are unsold at this point. I think the
basic issues that we have to contend with here are the fact that this
project is going to change the way that we at Vanderbilt can live our
lives. We're not going to have the security and the freedom that we
currently have. We don't want to have to put fences up around our
community to keep people out of our town houses and out of our
estate homes. Many of us are not here a good number of months in
the year, and it makes our homes and our properties in Vanderbilt
very, very vulnerable.
We think that placing a community of triple density right next to
what is an estate community at this point flies in the face of
everything that we thought we were buying when we came to
Vanderbilt. We feel that this board has a fiduciary responsibility to
think about that and to protect the interests of the people who have
purchased in our community.
I can assure you that if this was a little later in the season, we
would have probably had another 200 people down here today, but a
lot of our friends and a lot of our neighbors aren't here at this point.
But the ones that I've talked to are all very, very concerned about the
same things. We don't care if that property gets built on if it's built
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on in normal density under normal conditions. But to allow a tripling
of the density, I think, places a burden on us that we don't feel we
deserve.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'm going to ask a rhetorical question
to you, sir. If this triple density had teachers, policemen, sheriffs
deputies, construction workers, would you have a sense of freedom
and security lost if these rental units were handled by that type of
person.'?
MR. SAUNDERS: Well, it's been my experience -- I'm an old
builder and developer, retired. I've built thousands of houses, and
I've built many, many, many communities. And I can assure you that
I've never found the situation that you're speaking of to end up being
true. Generally what happens is that the -- the services that are
necessary are overburdened with problems, and they can't deal as
effectively as we'd like to think we could with the issues. It's nice --
it's a picture-book idea, but in reality I don't think that it works.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It seems to me that either
your candor or your lack of being in step with the rest of the people
who have professed and kept telling us that affordable housing is not
the issue -- you just said that's exactly what it is.
MR. SAUNDERS: No, I didn't say affordable housing was an
issue. What I'm talking about is density. What I'm talking about--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: No, no, no. You're talking
about building fences.
MR. SAUNDERS: Well--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY:
fences --
MR. SAUNDERS: -- we have to --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY:
MR. SAUNDERS:
You don't have to build
-- in Pelican Bay.
We have to do what we have to do to protect
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our -- our interests where we live. I'm not saying that I think that
affordable housing is the issue here. I think that this density is -- is a
big-- is a big issue.
I think in the interest of brevity and so that I don't get into
something that I'm not going to have the time to speak to, I will -- I'll
-- I will thank you for the time that you've allotted me and trust that
you will give every consideration denying this application.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MS. MURRAY: Gayle Grosso, who is your final speaker.
MS. GROSSO: Hello. I'm Gayle Grosso, G-r-o-s-s-o. I'm a
resident of Vanderbilt. And I didn't intend to speak today, so I have a
very short statement. And -- but hours ago the very first speaker who
said -- who spoke for the development and stated that it was not fair
for a developer to follow all the regulations, to jump through all the
hoops, and then be turned down, well, to me that-- it's not fair to the
residents of Vanderbilt and to the other homeowners in the area who
purchased in there after looking at the plan and looking at what was
surrounding and saying, "Yes. This is a good community. We're
going to have a church here."
South of Collier there's very large lots. There's nice homes
through there. We've got golf courses to the east of us. We've got
this community that's going to be 154 single-family homes. Now,
that's a little dense, four homes to an acre. But they're going to be
individually owned homes, and people tend to take care of homes that
they own, that they have ownership, and so this will be a good
community. I think Vanderbilt would be a good place for me to
invest and to live.
I don't like the idea of it being changed to the triple density.
I don't think that's fair. It's not what we bought. It is not the
conununity that was supposed to surround us. When you talk about
fairness, fairness is sticking to what was there, and that's just my --
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my comment, is that fair is fair, and it's not what we saw when we
bought. Thank you. (Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. I believe -- Mr. Cuyler,
I'm not sure how long you're going to take, and we need you to
summarize this.
Can you continue on? Thank you.
Go ahead. She can handle you.
MR. CUYLER: Okay. I was just going to first of all say, thank
you for your patience. I understand this has been a long hearing.
Mr. Wayne Arnold is, again, going to rebut some of the comments
that were made, and then I'm going to have, hopefully, a very brief--
and I use that in every sense of the word -- summary to wrap up.
MR. ARNOLD: Hi. Wayne Arnold representing the petitioner.
I'd like to go back over just a few of the comments that were made.
There were several references to your findings, and separately --
although a component of those findings is the issue of compatibility
that I talk about a little bit separately. First of all, let me talk a little
bit about those findings and the fact that they've referenced
deficiencies with the application.
This petition has been in the process for months. We've
submitted everything that's typically required of those applications
and more. We've worked with staff. The documents have gone
through modification. We've gotten the transportation department to
look at methodology, etc. Those issues have all been addressed to the
satisfaction of your staff and your county attorney's office. It would
not have made it to this point if it didn't. We believe, as far as we
know, we are consistent with all provisions of your plan and your
code with reference to having a complete and sufficient application.
There cannot be any question that we have enough information to
make that decision.
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One of the questions that was raised related to whether or not we
have -- you know, are there changing conditions. There certainly are
changing conditions that warrant changing the project from its
original focus that occurred many, many years ago under a zoning
change when there was little development out in this corridor,
including Vanderbilt Country Club. But this Planning Commission
approved a commercial comprehensive land use plan change for the
other side of this intersection. Now, you heard from many of the
same residents during that process where a portion of Bucks Run was
proposed to be become, really, an office-type project. They didn't
like the offices.
With the Planning Commission's discretion and our applicants
agreeing, we withdrew that component of the application and said,
"We'll come back another day. We'll withdraw our commercial
opportunity." The changing conditions are the Comprehensive Plan
amendment did not go as planned over a year ago, but you did
approve a 30-acre commercial development on the other side of the
road that is in the process of being rezoned to have a community
shopping center there. So you do have a changing condition.
You had the applicant tell you that, "Where are the schools?
Where are the facilities for the children and the people that will live
here?" Well, there are proposed to be common amenities as a part of
this project. They have a clubhouse. They have barbecue areas.
They have play land-- you know, play areas for the children. So
those amenities will be provided largely on site, like any community.
We're not a country club community, so we're not providing a golf
course as our recreational amenity.
And clearly we are looking at a different age group than you
have at Vanderbilt Country Club for the buyer or the renter of this
particular project, but that goes with any project. They're not all the
same, and that's what makes Collier County what it is. You have
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very many different projects that make up Collier County. You look
to their own community, and you look to the density. The buildings
that are immediately adjacent to our property line are 24-unit
buildings.
If I take out the area that's necessary to satisfy my parking and
my water management for only those units, I'm going to end up with
exactly the same type of net density I have for my parcel of land
because we're proposing 24- and 20-unit buildings on our property.
Mr. Hoover is putting up an aerial exhibit on that property, and it
doesn't, I don't think, highlight it extremely well, but maybe Bill can
point to the building in question that's parallel to the property line.
That's a closer view of it. And you can see that we have essentially
two buildings that are along and are parallel to that property line.
Again, that's the 11 O-foot distance from the property line that I
referenced earlier. Again, we made the commitment on the record,
and we'll be happy to amend our PUD document to put in place the
80-foot buffer requirement. That's why it was on the master plan. It
wasn't that we're trying to hide anything here. That's what was
proposed, and that's what we're willing to commit to.
Again, I want to remind you that your code's minimum
requirement for residential to residential is a 1 O-foot wide buffer.
We're providing a minimum of eight times that buffer. We're
providing like units at three-story maximum height. I don't think
there's any question that that can be a compatible relationship. If Bill
can flip back to that other aerial view --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: But before you -- stay there for a
second on that one. When you were talking about the buffer before,
you were talking about mature vegetation, and this is pretty dense
vegetation in there?
MR. ARNOLD: That's correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And that's -- the mature, dense
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vegetation you're referring to will be incorporated into this buffer.
MR. ARNOLD: That's correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You can go to another one now.
Thank you.
MR. ARNOLD: The other view that I think -- and Bill can point
to it -- within their own community, it's not an entirely three-stow,
multifamily development. It has many housing types in there from
single family to the 24-unit buildings that are nearest us. And I'm
going to argue that if it's not compatible to put a three-stow unit 200
feet away from their own three-stow units, how can they say that
they're -- they have their own internal compatibility?
And I argue because that's -- because that's the way it is
anywhere you go. You don't all have a community that's made up of
single family or just multifamily. You have a community that's made
up of many housing types, typically, and I think that's exactly what
I'm trying to point out, that compatibility relationship. If it's land use
to land use, we're really going to boil it down to residential to
residential. And when you look at it further, we're 24-unit building to
24-unit building. I don't see how we can be incompatible.
They've also said that there are deficiencies here with respect to
our Comprehensive Plan. I think you can point to at least two
locations in your staff report where staff has noted that we are
entirely consistent with the Collier County Growth Management
Plan. We're consistent with the proposed density rating system. We
don't violate your level-of-service standards for roadways. We've
gone through that analysis. We've heard Ms. Wolfe indicate that we
are consistent with the methodology that's in place today for that.
We have water and sewer availability by tying into a line that
Vanderbilt Country Club brought down from Immokalee Road, so the
sewer and water are available. We don't have a concurrency issue.
And, as you heard their own representatives indicate, concurrency is
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really determined at the time of building permit. Sure, there's an
opportunity that if things don't go as planned, we could end up not
building 288 units; we might get to the 260th unit, and the next
building you're in a moratorium condition. That's the same situation
anybody else is in in Collier County. There's absolutely no
difference. That's the way it works.
I think, again, they talked about that increasing traffic
congestion and somehow being incompatible, but the same question
would be, are you going to say no to three other projects that come in
at four units per acre, even though they've met all the methodology
tests? I don't know what the test is if we don't use the standards that
are before us. I think it's pretty clear from the staff report, when you
look at that, that the tests of compatibility, Comprehensive Plan
consistency, compliance with our standards are all in order. The
issue really should be, is this an appropriate location? And I'm going
to tell you that the conditions have changed. There's a demand for
more affordable housing in Collier County.
Your plan, when it talks about affordable housing, says you
shouldn't cluster affordable housing. And immediately people say,
well, East Naples has a lot of it. North Naples is getting its share.
You're going to have to go to Golden Gate City or up to Immokalee
Road or 3 miles west on Vanderbilt Beach Road to find another
affordable-housing project. And I think that in this particular case,
we're not clustering those. We're providing a need.
And I would challenge the argument that this is on the edge of
our Urban boundary. It's a mile inside the urban boundary and it's in
our urban services boundary. That's where development's supposed
to go. That's our incentive for providing affordable housing, a density
increase.
So with that, I'll wrap up and let Mr. Cuyler go ahead and
address --
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COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just a quick question,
Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: This is a process question.
We've heard a lot of verbal things said, commitments that you've
made and now kind of reinforced, renderings and so forth have been
made. I just want to know from staff whether or not our process
includes the inclusion, if you will, of this material as part of the
documentation that goes forward to the BCC. Because they're under
oath and, you know, for-- for one of the opposition to say -- well,
they've said it. "But it can't be true because we haven't seen it in
writing." I just wanted to make sure that if it's said, it's really part of
the record.
MR. BELLOWS: Definitely. For the record, Ray Bellows.
Collier County's initiated a process of taking over the PUD
document. And commitments made during the Planning
Commission, staff will make those insertions into the PUD
document. And it will not be up to the applicant to, hopefully, put
those in at the time of the Board of County Commissioners. We'll
ensure that it gets in at the time of the Board of County
Commissioners.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Thank you.
MR. WHITE: If I may add, Madam Chairman, specifically the
LDC in 2.7.3.3, I believe, reflects what Mr. Bellows has told you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Ray, it might be helpful to
point out to the audience here that this isn't the last step in the
process, that there's something called a site development plan that
would get into all the specifics that people have been com-- the
absence of which they've been complaining about.
MR. BELLOWS: Definitely. The -- this is the first step in a
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land development process. We're looking at Growth Management
Plan consistency requirements. To date I have not had anyone
contact me personally to come in and look at the file to see the traffic
study. There was a large traffic study. They've -- I had several
general phone calls, but no one came in to actually look at the traffic
study. Clearly it would show that we're consistent with the current
Growth Management Plan, the traffic circulation, the traffic element.
You know, staff will -- tries its best to fulfill all the analysis
requirements. We have several -- many different review agencies
that review these things and comment, and we try to summarize those
in the staff report. The staff report is not a full analysis; it's just a
summary.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. And one other comment, too,
then, from the staff standpoint is the appropriate notice. A gentleman
was talking at the break that a lot of these people didn't seem to know
what was going on. But you're satisfied from staff that you brought
with you that it is appropriate notice.
MR. BELLOWS: Yes. We're required to have a 15-day notice
requirement. That's what happened. We mailed out letters to
property owners within 300 feet of the PUD. We placed signs at the
property boundaries, all consistent with advertising requirements.
And we have a great turnout to show.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: And the affordable-
housing element was mentioned in the -- in this -- in these letters?
MR. BELLOWS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Thank you.
MR. CUYLER: Madam Chair, I'll try to be brief. Again, thank
you for your patience. You'll be happy to know I was scratching a lot
of notes off as Mr. Arnold was talking in recap.
There's been some discussion of things that weren't in the
petition. We've dealt with staff for months. We've met all the county
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requirements. We've done everything that staff has asked us to do,
both from Mr. Mihalic's point of view and Mr. Bellows' point of
view. There has been no competent substantial evidence that the
traffic is not in compliance with your regulations, and we have Ms.
Wolfe who says that it is. We have no competent substantial
evidence that the water/sewer facilities are any issue that you have to
deal with at this point. We're required to meet those when we
develop, and we understand that.
I find some of Mr. Fernandez's comments disturbing because to
not meet with the petitioner and then come in ten days later or a week
later and say they didn't -- you know, they didn't show us X
information, we would have been happy to explain that to Mr.
Fernandez. So I just don't think that's a valid argument, particularly
in light that we 'have met all the requirements.
Mr. Hartsell talked about me saying that the -- the commission is
duty bound to approve this. I did not say that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Hoover.
MR. CUYLER: Pardon me?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Hoover, please.
MR. CUYLER: I did not say that, and I would not say that.
What I was saying in my exchange with Mr. Strain was that the
philosophy of whether there should be additional density as -- as a
trade-off for affordable housing or work-force housing has already
been decided by the Board of County Commissioners. They've set up
a system. I understand you have to look at land use perspectives, and
I actually understand that. And it was really directed to something I
heard a couple people say, and that is, "This isn't about affordable
housing; this is about density." Well, you can't separate the work-
force housing from the density. They go together. In order to make a
viable project, you have to have them go together.
This is not a case of urban sprawl. That is where, as the
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chairman indicated, the policemen and the nurses and construction
workers -- you know, they're not going to live on Gulf Shore.
They're not going to live in Pine Ridge subdivision. They're going to
go where it's affordable and where they can raise their families. And
this is a location that meets all the criteria that's necessary, and it's
also -- it is growing very fast out there.
And I think one important point that I've heard that I just
absolutely disagree with is the "don't approve this at 12 units an acre
because of the roadways or because of the water and service,"
because the next three projects, whether they -- you know, you're
going to quickly add up to 12 units an acre. So if you don't vote for
this because of that reason, you practically have to decide you're not
voting for any more projects, and that's just not where we are at this
point.
I would submit to you that affordable housing, work-force
housing in this county has a track record. I hope Mr. Mihalic's going
to say a little about that. It's worked out well. It does give people a
place to affordably live and raise their family.
And in conclusion, I would suggest to you that this not only
legal -- I know we've met the legal requirements. I'm not concerned
about that. But it's fair and it's right and it's the right location. And
we would ask you to approve this petition.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Mr. Mihalic, would you
care to elaborate some on the work-force housing, affordable
housing?
MR. MIHALIC: Yes, Commissioners. I really heard a lot of
things this morning, and I guess we need to sort of step back and look
at the big picture again. And I guess the big picture is this
Comprehensive Plan has many elements. One of those elements is
the housing element. It says we're supposed to provide affordable
housing for all residents of Collier County. Unfortunately we don't.
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The State of Florida has released a study this year that says we're at
least 18,000 units deficient at this time. And last year in Collier
County we created 6400 new jobs requiring new employees, and next
year the projections are 7,000 more new jobs requiring new
employees.
And, you know, work-force housing is really a quality-of-life
issue, but not as much for the residents as for the people out here. The
quality of life to provide them with the services that they expect to
have in Collier County, that's the quality of life that work-force
housing will assist. And this developer has really stretched a long
way.
You know, we talk about density. Yes. I mean, every unit you
can use a piece of property for lowers the cost of each individual unit.
So, you know, he really needs 12 units an acre to bring down the cost
to -- about a quarter for the land cost per unit is what was originally
on this property -- or a third, I guess. That's why this developer can
offer some units -- and he's offering units as -- as low as 35 percent of
median income.
Now, let me just talk a little bit about that. The median income
right now in Collier County is $65,000 a year. The average wages in
Collier County are $28,000 a year. So obviously that 65 isn't made
up by workers. It's made up by those people that have nonwage
earnings in this county; that is, people that are coming in and moving
here with their incomes already sustained and have investments in
other nonearned income. That's going to continue.
Like I said, we expect 7,000 more jobs next year. Collier
County has not been able to meet these people's needs. And
employers see it. I'm sure they see it in the country club. They
cannot fill the jobs that they have. I know they can't because no
employer is filling all their jobs these days. It's just the way it is
throughout the market, in all industries.
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The average house -- now we're really home-ownership based,
and you know, this is a rental development, but we really want to
help people become homeowners. But one of the steps to that is
letting them live in an affordable-housing development where the
rents are reduced so they can save up for those closing costs and
down payment costs and the other costs they have and get a little bit
ahead. The average home price in Collier County at this time is
$350,000.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Average?
MR. MIHALIC: Average. The average price in the City of
Naples is over $500,000 at this time. This developer, because of
assistance with the density bonus, because of assistance in deferring
the impact fees -- which is later on -- and because of our assistance
in getting other state, local, and federal assistance for this
development, tax credits, taxes on bonds, sale loans, things like that,
IRS credits, he's going to offer some one bedrooms as low as $305
per month. Some two bedrooms will be as low as $366 a month, and
some three bedrooms will be as low as $423 a month.
You can only do that with some assistance. That will allow that
very, very low-income family to have a start. And, you know, you
had in your packets some of the rents that are -- what things cost in
the community, and the fair-market rents are at least 400 to $500 a
month higher than that. Now, the only way for a developer to do that
is through local incentives, state and federal incentives. And that's
what we are experts in the system at.
I've been here for approximately ten years now. I really thought
-- as Mr. Cuyler said, we've done a number of work-force housing
developments around the community that have simulated (sic) in
well, there really are no problems. In many cases the quality and
amenity levels are higher than lower-end condos in the same
neighborhood, and that's the reality of it. We do have transition
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programs to help people become homeowners, but that's becoming
more and more difficult. I think that it's crucial that you, the planning
commissioners, understand that for quality-of-life reasons, we really
need to approve developments like this sort.
And also, they tell me, you know, affordable housing is good,
but not in my back yard. I've been hearing that for ten years. It's not
going to change. It's not going to change at all. Employment centers
are in all areas of Collier County. We are only able to put density
bonuses in the urban area. We're hoping to change that. We're
hoping to increase density for work-force housing in the urban fringe
and possibly in the rural areas, but that's not available at this time. So
all of the affordable-housing density bonuses, all of the multifamily
must come into the urban area. And that's becoming more and more
difficult, and this is just one example of it.
Oh, okay. Mr. Cuyler wanted me to say that not all the rents
were at the low levels. This particular development will serve people
who are at 35 percent of median income, some units; some at 50
percent of median income; and some at 60 percent of median income.
Let me talk about who that is, because I think that's important. A
single individual or a family of four at 35 percent of median income,
that family will make $22,750. At 50 percent of median income,
which is the midline, they will make $32,500 family income. And at
60 percent of median income, that family will make $39,000 per year.
In the school system of Collier County right now, half of the families
have incomes of less than $30,000 a year because those families
participate in the free- and reduced-lunch programs offered by the
school system. And that is in every school in Collier County. At
least 12 percent is the minimum of every school in Collier County --
and that's Barron Collier High School, and it goes up from there --
that the kids who are already living in these neighborhoods would
qualify to live in this development. And, again, we're creating 7,000
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jobs more a year. Next year 7,0001 more jobs will be created in
Collier County. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might
have.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any questions from the
commissioners?
MR. MIHALIC: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I'd like to ask Mr. Cuyler a
question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I believe Mr. Abernathy would like to
go back to Mr. Cuyler. I'll grant that for a couple of minutes.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Ken, I'm still -- I'm sort of
Johnny One Note on this east tract, west tract. If I made a motion to
approve this petition, the PUD rezone, with a ceiling of 288 dwelling
units on the east tract leaving you the option of either building a
church or a school or four units per acre on the west tract, can you
accept that?
MR. CUYLER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MR. CUYLER: May I also make another commitment that I
meant to make in my closing statements and didn't. We will assure to
it that the closest building on our property is a hundred feet from our
property line because that's approximately what the neighboring
building is. So we will do whatever's necessary for our site plan to
orient that at least a hundred foot away from --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Madam Chairman, I've got a
question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes, Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Cuyler.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Cuyler, before you disappear--
while you're waiting --
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November 1, 2001
MR. MIHALIC: Mr. Strain, I wanted to say that you were right,
that we did drop some text style of the density bonus when it was
printed. I've looked at the original. We will correct that as it moves
forward. Thank you very much for pointing that out.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: You're welcome. I just hope that
it doesn't have a bearing on the way this board might look --
MR. MIHALIC: It has nothing --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: -- at the whole project.
MR. MIHALIC: It is nothing that the developer has to add. It
was a textural (sic) paragraph on--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It's not substantive?
MR. MIHALIC: No, not of substance.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I just wanted to clarify that.
Mr. Cuyler.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Cuyler, since you're in the
mood to make agreements or agree to things, would your -- would
your applicant agree to defer certificates of occupancy on the
residential portion of this project until the roads in that area were four
laned, meaning Collier Boulevard and Vanderbilt Beach Road to
Airport Road?
MR. CUYLER: We -- we could not do that. If you -- if you put
that in as a regulation everybody has to abide by, then any other
petition I bring in front of you -- we'll comply with the rules, but with
regard to volunteering that, no, sir, we can't do that.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I would have no objection to
putting that in, that any work in any development in that area, wait
now until those roads are up to par. (Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Before we go any further on
that particular item, Mr. White, I would think you need to clarify
from a legal standpoint how that can or cannot be done, particularly
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by this body.
MR. WHITE: Well, I was thinking in terms of job security.
There would certainly be a lot of it if that were, I believe, the practice
that were followed not only by this commission but by the board
itself. I can hear all kinds of equal protection arguments going off in
Mr. Cuyler's head. I think absent a voluntary agreement on his part
to acquiesce to that condition, it may be a difficult one to enforce.
Given that it isn't something that the staff has recommended, it would
seem to be to some degree, quote, inconsistent with our provisions in
the Comprehensive Plan and the LDC pertaining to concurrency. So
although it may be one that has appeal, I'm not sure that it's
something that we would be able to prevail upon in an appeal.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Getting close to contract
zoning, I think, if you're --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right.
MR. CUYLER: If it gives you any comfort, we obviously have
to meet concurrency in all aspects of the infrastructure at the time of
development.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair, perhaps a
middle ground, if you will, between Commissioner Strain and what
you just said, but I understand you have to take it in terms of the
applicant. As we've heard from Dawn today, the level-of-service
standards are anticipating to be changed, and I think we can rely that
within a year or so that there will be some different standards and,
presumably, tighter than we currently have. Now, given that for a
moment, you plan to phase your project, Phase I, Phase II. Perhaps I
should be asking Wayne. As your SDP comes along, would you be
having an SDP covering both phases at the same time, or would it be
one at a time? And I think you know where I'm --
MR. ARNOLD: Wayne Arnold. I understand where you're
headed, and I think at this point we're not in a position to know
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whether or not we're coming in for an SDP covering both phases or
only the single phase. And I wish I could tell you that that's, you
know, something other, but the fact is that we don't know. We may
go ahead and depending on financing, etc., they may move forward
for a portion of Phase II, even, as an extension of Phase I. I just don't
know, and I can't commit to that at this time.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, I'd like the attorney
to listen, then, to what I'm proposing. I propose that even though the
applicant has not given us definitive words on this, he has presented
that he's going to develop this in two phases, Phase I and Phase II.
And we've heard from transportation that there's going to be some
changes in the rules in that period of time, and I'd like to have our --
whatever action we take conditioned to the then conditions that
would apply at a Phase II time to at least get some assurance that --
that there's going to be some help on the way as far as capacity is
concerned.
MR. WHITE: If I understand --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Does that make any sense?
MR. WHITE: If I understand your proposed condition, it
suggests to me that the condition would be something along the lines
that Phase II would be deferred for approval until such time as -- it
could only be considered under a set of rules that have yet to be
themselves approved.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, just slightly
different. I'd say that Phase II would have the new rules apply to it,
whatever they are. Now, if no rules came along, well, they'd get
home free. But I just want to make sure that --
MR. WHITE: Well, there'd have to be some timing -- some
limit set even to consider discussing it.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, the time limit I
would set would be the time that they come in with Phase II versus
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their Phase I.
MR. WHITE: That may be well before such rules are ever in
effect. They may be challenged. They have to be, to some degree,
reviewed by the DCA since they're Comprehensive Plan
amendments. I'm thinking that an 18-month time frame may be
actually more accurate.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're saying an 18-month--
MR. WHITE: Possibly.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I didn't--
MR. WHITE: Because before they're fully adopted, I don't
know.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, the engineer has
already stated to us that it's going to be at least 12 months for them to
get through the permitting process, another X months to get to the
point where they can start construction. So we're looking like 18
months plus.
MR. WHITE: The thing to keep in mind is that applicants are
entitled to have their applications, once they're sufficient, considered
under the rules then in effect. So part of that time frame, if you will,
will be used up while their sufficient application is being reviewed
and moving towards approval.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Perhaps the applicants can
help us with this quandary.
MR. CUYLER: I don't know whether to let Dawn speak before
me or not, but I -- I think that we're obviously willing -- as I've said, I
guess, from the first words out of my mouth this morning, we'll abide
by the rules. If the new rules come into effect before we have our
second-phase site plan done, then we have to and, you know, will
adhere to those new rules. I can't tell you what the time frames are.
Obviously we would not want to commit that we apply the new rules,
you know, that aren't in effect. But once they're in effect, we're
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bound by them just like everybody else is, which I think, in part,
addresses the issues that have been raised.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I think I almost understood what you
said.
MR. CUYLER: We'll meet whatever regulations -- if the new
rules come in and we haven't done our Phase II, then we'll adhere to
the new rules.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And, Dawn, do you want to --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Better define what "done"
is.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes, you better.
(Several speakers speaking at once.)
MR. CUYLER: In effect, site--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: SDP is going to be the
trigger?
MS. WOLFE: We are anticipating, with the changes to the
Land Development Code, that the adequate public facilities will be
determined at -- at site development plan stage rather than being
issued with building permits because it's kind of late to be making
that determination when people are going in, pulling their building
permits. They've put a lot of extra time and effort into it. Zoning is a
time at which you make some consistency determinations; however,
that doesn't guarantee you absolute rights that you're going to get
your adequate public facilities certificate in order to move forward.
We are moving to change that so it's not at building permit, but it's no
later than site development plan.
One thing that is currently already in place is that site
development plans, if they have a significant amount of traffic --
that's a thousand vehicles per day or 100 vehicles in the peak hour,
peak season -- are required to do a more detailed traffic assessment.
And through that process when they submit their SDP, it shows that
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we, at a minimum, need them from their entrance to Vanderbilt to
have four lanes out there in order to maintain acceptable operations.
That would be a condition of their SDP. Those mechanisms are
already in place in the Land Development Code but don't come into
play until we know specifically what is requested. The zoning allows
us somewhat more general.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I thought the zoning was
the point at which those determinations were made, not the SDP.
MS. WOLFE: No. And, for example, under commercial zoning
we indicate they can have up to a certain square footage, but we don't
know exactly what it is that they may be putting in. For instance, a
McDonald's has a higher trip-generation rate than sit-down
restaurants do, and they have to be evaluated differently.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I got you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any other questions,
comments? Ms. Murphy (sic).
MS. MURRAY: Susan Murray for the record. I would just -- it
looks like you're getting ready to take a vote. Just --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: We haven't closed the
public hearing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We haven't closed the public hearing.
MS. MURRAY: I'm sorry.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We just want to make sure everything
gets on the record.
MS. MURRAY: When and if you're ready to take a vote, I just
need you-all to be sure -- if you're voting against the project, you
need to clearly state why you oppose the project. If it's consistency,
problem with the Growth Management Plan, I'd appreciate that you
elaborate a little bit as to why you feel it's inconsistent, which
element you feel it's inconsistent with. We need to convey that to the
Board of County Commissioners. As well as it is part of the record,
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and it is part of your requirements as a board to elaborate on those
findings. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Bellows, you're standing there.
Would you like to make a couple more comments?
MR. BELLOWS: Just a --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Quick comment and then we'll have to
make a quick break.
MR. BELLOWS: Just that when you do make your motion that
-- and if it is for approval, that you stipulate again the additional --
the additions you want to be made to the PUD document.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I couldn't hear that.
MR. BELLOWS: Any additional stipulations or conditions of
approval that this Planning Commission would like to see added to
the PUD document, I'd like it restated. A lot of things have been
promised here, and I just want to be clear on what the applicants need
to--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. If I close this public hearing, do
you have enough tape to do that?
Okay. No further comments? I close the public hearing.
Now, what's the pleasure of the board, but we will have to watch the
court reporter to get some more paper in here and take a short break.
What's the pleasure of the board? Public hearing's closed.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I'd like to have--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Madam Chairman, I'll step
into the breach, I guess, and make a motion to approve the PUD
amendment, whatever -- is it an amendment or a -- recommendation
of approval of the Petition PUDA-01-AR-834 subject to the
following -- well, whatever staff stipulations there are; plus, on behalf
of this commission, that the east tract be limited to 288 dwelling
units; that the 60 units attributable to the west tract either are forfeited
as -- as housing units if church, child care, or school are built there,
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or they can be built at the rate of four dwelling units per acre in the
west tract. Further condition, that at the -- that the petitioner agrees
that at the time of submission of a site development plan for the
second phase, he will be bound by code requirements in existence at
that time.
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I have a motion by Mr. Abernathy, a
second by Mr. Budd to approve this particular PUD amendment
document, being amending the Bucks Run with the three specific
items outlined.
MR. WHITE: Madam Chairman, I just want to make sure that
we have on the record that the motion would include, if you will, by
the inclusion of the application for the bonus density, a, quote,
recommendation on that as well.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Was that not covered in --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I thought it was implicit,
but I'll make it express.
MR. WHITE: Thankyou.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Explicit. Okay. The bonus density for
affordable housing.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair, discussion?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I was just going to say, what
discussion do we have, and do we have to change tape? We're going
to take just a two-minute break here. Don't move. (A discussion was held off the record.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We're ready. Okay. Mr. Richardson,
you have the floor.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just in terms of the motion
-- motioner and -- I would also like to see staff review the transcript
for any other commitments that the developer has made to make sure
that they are appropriately reflected.
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COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I'll accept that. I'd like to
just make a couple of comments about this. I'll be very brief. A lot
of people have disavowed that this has anything to do with affordable
housing. Obviously it has everything to do with affordable housing
because were it not for the affordable-housing density bonus, we
wouldn't be here. You can't build this many units on that tract of just
ordinary housing. So it's -- affordable housing is warp and woof of
this whole thing.
And I don't think -- it's not in the record, or maybe it's inferable
from what Mr. Mihalic said, but it's a fact of life that we have a
tremendous deficit of affordable housing. All you need to do is drive
up from here to the airport in the morning and see that you're sort of a
lone ranger going north, and there are hundreds and hundreds of cars
coming south containing people who work here but can't afford to
live here. So I think we need to construe these rules in a liberal way
to accomplish a goal that's been stated by the county commission and
one which I wholeheartedly support, and that is to increase our
housing stock of affordable housing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain, you go first in your
discussion.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Thank you. In hearing all this
discussion today -- and it's something that I did say to the applicant
yesterday -- I thought their PUD was equally vague, as some people
have expressed. I also believe it to be incomplete, and the documents
that have been presented to us to make our decision on has been --
have been acknowledged as incomplete. Those same documents
today have been acknowledged to be inaccurate. I don't believe the
density is supported by Division 1.4 of the ULDC and Section 2.1.2
of the ULDC. And also, we've received something passed amongst us
that says "For the Record." If this is for the record today, it's 18
pages we have not had time to digest.
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So those are my concerns that this condition -- I shouldn't say
condition of approval. Those are my concerns against approval of
this particular amendment. (Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Midney.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: I really respect and appreciate all
the hundreds of people who have come out here. I have a different
perspective from you-all. I've lived and worked in Immokalee for the
last 17 years, and on a daily basis I spend time with the kind of
people who would be moving to Bucks Run if it's approved.
There's hundreds of people who are here, but there's hundreds of
people who are not here, and those are the working families, the
husbands, the wives, and the children. I think the tone of this
meeting would be vastly different if there were 50 percent of the
people in here children. And even though they're not here in this
room, I think that the commission should take their desires into
effect, as we're taking your desires also into effect.
These people are going to be of different age from most of the
audience, different race, different ethnic background, as well. The
families that we're talking about, many of them live in Immokalee,
and they face an hour or an hour and a half commute every day to go
to and from work because there's a lack of affordable decent housing
in the Naples area. And I know many of these families. Immokalee
has become a bedroom community for Naples. The people who live
there, most -- many of them work in the coastal areas. And, in effect,
what we have in this county is segregation of the people who are
working versus the people who are living in a different part of the
county entirely. And I wonder, do we really want that? Do we want
our community to be that segregated?
In just the three meetings that I've attended here, we have
approved hundreds of housing units on these same crowded roads
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that we're talking about, but there's been very little public comment
against the approval of those units. Is it fair for people to want a
willing labor force to work on the golf courses, in the restaurants, in
the hospitals, maintaining the yards, but to want those people to
remain distant from their own neighborhoods and schools?
I personally know many of the families in Immokalee who have
moved up from dilapidated, overcrowded housing into better
affordable housing, some of the things that have been constructed,
some in Immokalee and some in other places. And I can tell you it's
good for the parents, and it's good for the children to have a better
place to live. And it's also good for the whole community because
when one part of the community gets an improvement in their
standard of life, it's good for everybody. Affordable housing is
attractive and it's clean. It allows the parents to feel safe when they
go to work and for the kids to have a better place to come home to.
This board has to respect the desires of the people that are present,
but we also have to think about what's best for the county as a whole.
And there are many people who are not represented because they're
not well organized, and I'm talking about the working families and
the children. I work in a medical center in Immokalee that serves
many of the people -- the type of people who might move to Bucks
Run, and I've had times when I've been able to tell people who didn't
have a place to live, "Hey, you can go over to Sanders Pines" or "You
can go over to Farm Workers Village." And it feels good to be able
to give them that kind of an alternative that I know will greatly
improve their quality of life.
Just one more thing. About the traffic, if the work force is
closer to their place of work, this will take a lot of pressure off the
main traffic arteries. So although there will be more congestion in
the immediate area, there'll also be somewhat compensating release
of some of the traffic where people are having to drive long distances
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on the main arteries.
And someone else made the point about the parks, that there
wouldn't be enough parks in this area. A lot of these places where the
people are living now they don't have parks either that are close by.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other comments from
commissioners here? Mr. Wolfley.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Although I may not be as
lengthy or eloquent as my two bookends, you know, we do have
some affordable housing going in across the street, approximately
200 units. I just can't help but feel that this is premature. It just --
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I -- I just feel that-- there was
a discussion about CO'ing when this thing got four laned. I would be
in full approval of that. And I'm afraid I just can't support this
particular project at this time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson? Okay. Being no
further discussion, I'll call the question. All those in favor of
approving the petition as outlined with the stipulations and the
density bonus, the various items that have been clearly stated on the
record, say aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Aye.
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Aye.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Aye.
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COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. The motion carries 7-2.
Thank you very much for your time and effort here today. We want
to take a brief recess to break. Your next action will be before the
Board of County Commissioners, and I would strongly recommend
that you meet with the developer and his representatives. Thank you
again for your time and enthusiasm.
(A discussion was held off the record.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'd like to bring the meeting back to
order for just a couple minutes here.
MR. WHITE: Ladies and gentlemen, order, please.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. What is the pleasure of the
board up here? We have a couple more items yet on our agenda. A
couple of them appear to be long, and I think we're going to probably
have to break for lunch. So unless there's some real compelling
reason not to break for lunch, I believe we need to do that.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Are you buying?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: No.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Mass exodus to the
Subway. Two o'clock?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'd say we can come back here right at
two o'clock; is that fair? Okay. We are in recess for lunch. Thank
you very much. Be back here at two o'clock.
(A lunch break was held from 1:03 p.m. To 2:01 p.m.)
(The proceedings recommenced with Commissioner Young not
present.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We are back in session again
for the Collier County Planning Commission. I believe we are on
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Variance VA-2001-AR-1295, a 3-foot variance with reference to the
Collier County wastewater facility. All those wishing to give
testimony today please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in
by the court reporter.
(The speakers were sworn.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Bellows.
MR. BELLOWS: For the record, Ray Bellows. Before I get
into the presentation, I'd just like to make a correction on the agenda
and the resolution that's attached to your staff report. The variance in
question has been changed to a 3-foot variance instead of a 7-foot
variance.
Originally the application when submitted, based on a
conversation in the preapplication, made a misunderstanding that
there may have been an after-the-fact variance also included in this;
however, that's not necessary. The property is a side yard setback, so
no other setback variances are required. So I want to just make it
clear that we're requesting a 3-foot variance from the required 30-foot
side yard setback to 27 feet, and that's what your staff report reflects
currently. And I have -- based on that change in the resolution, the
attached conditions of approval have been modified to reflect that.
As you may recall, this is the Collier County wastewater reclamation
facility. The conditional use was approved just last month for this
site to allow for an expansion from 8 million gallons a day to 16.
This petition is a result of that approved petition to allow for an
expansion. This is a proposed sewage holding tank, sludge holding
tank, No. 2. And, as you can see on the conceptual site plan, this is
Warren Street, the entrance into the site. You come in, there's an
existing sludge holding tank. The proposed addition comes out to
this point. Due to the location of existing structures, it's kind of
forced into the side yard setback 3 feet, thereby request -- the
applicant is requesting a 3-foot variance.
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The review criteria contained in your staff report, I think, is
pretty specific in that there is some unusual circumstances. We have
a county need to provide this use. The need to provide this additional
capacity necessitates the expansion of the sludge holding tank. The
only place to put it is -- will result in this encroachment. We can't
make the tank smaller in order to make the capacity of the rest of the
system work properly. Staff has not received any letters of objection
for this variance. And I'd be happy to answer any questions.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I was just curious that you did any
calculations on the -- a mathematical calculation with reference to the
loss of this 3-foot variance and the size of the tank. I mean, I'm just
curious. Maybe the petitioner can answer that, because you're saying
that you can't do it for the --
MR. BELLOWS: That was just the information that I had
received. I'm not --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. All right. And I think someone
else has a couple other questions. Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Did I understand you to say
that the petition -- I mean the resolution has now been changed to
substitute 3 for 7 and 27 for 23? MR. BELLOWS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That was something else I had. Do we
have any other questions of staff?.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: On this latest condition
that you just passed out, Ray, it said any other encroachments will
require a separate variance. I guess that goes almost without saying.
MR. BELLOWS: That's just --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Are you telegraphing that
there are some other--
MR. BELLOWS: No. That's standard. We put it in all
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variances. It's just an assurance that there are not -- if they do depict
something different on the site plan, that this is not an approval for
that.
(Commissioner Young entered the boardroom.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions? I'd like to hear
from the petitioner.
MR. DUANE: For the record, Robert Duane. I have here today
Thomas Wildes (sic), the operations director for the public utilities
division. I also have Dr. Jerry Taricska from Hole Montes &
Associates. He's the designing -- one of the designing engineers on
the project. He will be happy, probably, Madam Chairman, to
address your question better than I can. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
MR. DUANE: Let me just do one little housekeeping matter
here. First, Mr. Bellows --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Duane, would you pull that down
just a little?
MR. DUANE: Yes, I will.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're not picking up quite enough.
Thank you.
MR. DUANE: We're deleting Item B on the conditions of
approval.
MR. BELLOWS: That's what I handed out to them.
MR. DUANE: Okay. Very good. Thank you. I have a number
of exhibits and graphics I can go through, but I think Ray has pretty
much covered it. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may
have.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I did want to say that, having read this
staff review, if I voted against this, I'd be voting against motherhood,
apple pie, America, and sludge. You truly were very creative in the
choice of the words and all that were here. So it was, like, heavens,
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you know. I don't really support variances too often, and I certainly
don't want to create a problem that -- Collier County having to pay
more money of our taxpayers' dollars because we're going to go from
8 million gallons a day to 16 million at this facility. But truly the
verbiage here really made me wonder if I could say anything
negative.
I did want to ask just one little question. The other ones were
answered. Who actually owns the Royal Palm Golf Course at Lely?
What homeowner association has that? It certainly wasn't obvious
from all the other item -- people listed here who that belonged to, and
that's their maintenance facility. There's -- somebody has to be in
charge of it.
MR. BELLOWS: Yeah. That's the adjacent property owner.
MR. DUANE: We notified the Fairway Villas Homeowners
Association, the Tanglewood 1 Homeowners Association, the Lely
Club Property Owners Association, the Lely Civic Association. And
we've had ongoing discussions with them through the history of the
expansion of this plant letting them know as our plans move forward,
so they were provided a notice and copy of this petition.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's why I was just curious as to
really which one of those groups spoke for the Royal Palm Golf
Course. And I was not clear on that, and apparently it's not readily
clear to you either.
MR. DUANE: I -- other than the four associations we noticed,
I'm not sure I can answer your question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It's probably not really totally relevant,
but I just wanted to make sure that we didn't overlook a particular
association or some group that wasn't making themselves readily
known to you-all. But when it comes to the sewer treatment plants
and sludge facilities, they usually make themselves known.
MR. BELLOWS: Yes. And all property owners within 300
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feet, including those property owners associations, would have been
notified anyways through our advertising process. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you.
MR. WIDES: Commissioners, just for the record, Tom Wides
from public utilities. We have had a series of ongoing meetings, as
Bob has mentioned, with the homeowners. And I believe it's the Lely
Golf Community that, in fact, owns that facility, and we have had
discussions with those folks.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you. And I did have the
question about a mathematical calculation on the size of the tank
versus if we didn't give you this variation. What would we lose?
MR. TARICSKA: Good afternoon. My name is Jerry Taricska
with Hole Montes. No calculations -- I haven't done any calculations
to determine if the volume -- how much volume would be lost. But
what we'd probably want to look at is not -- it's the shape that was
presented in the first design and makes this shape important for the
second design. The rectangular shape of this tank here is -- what we
do in this -- in this tank here, we aerate the sludge in order to keep it
from settling out.
So if we were to have to cut 3 feet off here and -- or try to
change the shape over here to make it fit, then the effectiveness of the
aeration wouldn't be as good. So it would suit the operators better if
we didn't have a strange shape here. We could try to cut it off some
more and reduce the volume, but then we would have to redesign the
aeration part of it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And that would affect whether or not
we had-- could expand to 16 million --
MR. TARICSKA: It wouldn't give us as -- some would say as
much horsepower here to handle this.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So to speak.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So to speak. Okay. Any other
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questions?
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Yeah. Is there any
anticipated other variances going to be required?
MR. DUANE: No, there are not, sir.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Any other--
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: There's no traffic impact, so I
don't have a question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And please do move your microphone
towards you now. Thank you.
Okay. Do we have any registered public speakers? MS. MURRAY: No registered speakers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. With no registered public
speakers, I close the public hearing.
What's the pleasure of the board? Someone make a motion, please.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I make a motion that we approve
Petition
No. VA-01-AR-1295. COMMISSIONER BUDD: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mr. Strain and a
second by Mr. Budd for approval of this petition. Do we have any
discussion?
Hearing no discussion, I call the question. All those in favor say
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Thank you.
Okay. We are on PUD-2001-AR-881, a Salvation Army PUD
amendment.
All those wishing to give testimony today please stand, raise
your right hand, and be sworn in by the court reporter.
Page 13 8
November 1,2001
(The speakers were sworn.)
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners.
Chahram Badamtchian from planning services staff. This is a PUD
amendment for PUD -- as we call it, Salvation Army PUD located on
Airport Road, comer of Airport and Estey. What they are doing is
they are -- they have purchased 0.73 acres of land adjacent to the
property there, and they're adding it to the PUD, which is basically
somewhere in here. It's a small strip of land, and they are not
proposing any new uses for that land. It's just being added to the
PUD. That's change number one.
Change number two, the PUD has this commercial tract along
Airport Road which is 0.55 acres, which used to be C-5, then it was
rezoned to PUD to allow for a thrift store. Now both sides of this
property is developed with car dealerships, and they are amending the
PUD to allow one additional use, which would be car sales and
display. They have a lease agreement with Morande Kia to take over
this half-an-acre site and add to the dealership. Those are the two
changes to the PUD.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: What's in that little slot
there now? Is that a car rental place?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: In here?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: On Airport.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No, sir. There's nothing. It's --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: You said there's car
dealerships on both sides.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: On both sides of it, and this --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, who does -- the car
rental, who's property is that on?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The car -- okay. There is a car rental
place -- there's a car dealership in here and a small building there
with a car rental place. And, again, most of it is car dealership.
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November 1,2001
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: And the piece on Airport is
vacant?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The piece on Airport Road is vacant. I
have a picture --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: That's pretty vacant.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: -- which will show the property is
between this fence line here and this fence line here. As you can see,
there are a few cars parked, but it's supposed to be a vacant piece of
land. I have another picture which would show basically the property
is between this fence line and this fence line here. This is the -- this
is the land in question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any further questions of
staff?.
Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes. In your report, Chahram,
you mentioned that they are not proposing any new uses for the
additional parcel.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: The additional parcel is currently
zoned as RMF-6.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: It is zoned RMF-6, and it's a small --
basically it's a small piece located right there.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: On their site plan, they reference
that, and I'm trying to find -- reference that area now as being
residential, slash, community facility areas. Is that correct?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They are calling it residential
community facilities. They have developed some housing units for--
I believe it's for unwed mothers or something like that, and they are
planning to build a chapel.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Well, that's kind of where I'm
heading. If the -- if they say in the statement that they're not planning
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to change any of the uses or add -- not proposing any new uses for
the additional parcel -- the additional parcel is currently zoned
residential -- and then they change it to the PUD reference as a
residential community facility, under those permitted uses, they could
put multifamily dwellings, adult day-care centers, child day-care
centers, noncommercial recreational facilities, community centers,
churches, chapels, houses of worship, caretakers residence. And I'm
just wondering if it wasn't -- how it was advertised. Are we doing a
rezone here? I mean --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: We are doing PUD to PUD.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Right. So has it--
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Basically--
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Does the neighborhood realize
the potential that could be on that parcel?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: We basically advertised as a rezone
from PUD and RMF-6 to PUD for the Salvation Army. And I talked
to some of the neighbors around it. They know. And what I meant
by they are not proposing any new use for that, I meant any
additional use that wouldn't be in the PUD already.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. And has there been any
objections from anybody in the neighborhood? DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes, Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Chahram, the .55 acres
that's currently a commercial strip, is that a functioning business right
now?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No. It's a vacant piece of property
right now.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Is this proposal, then, to
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take that property in addition to this .73 acres of the car dealership
and make it all car dealership?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No, sir. The car dealership's going to
be just on this comer here, and the additional land they are adding is
in here, to the current location.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So the .73 is the one you
pointed to first?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: .03 (sic) is in here on Estey on the west
side of the property, northwest. And the car dealership is on the
southeast side of the property.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: But I understand you to
say that the .73 is going to be made -- or has currently -- is going to
have an arrangement with Kia to continue to function as a car
dealership?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: .55 is the lease agreement function as a
car lot.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Okay. I've got them
backwards. What this is leading my question to -- and perhaps it'll go
to the applicant. This is Salvation Army. They are a tax exempt
organization, 5013-C, etc. Is it your understanding that they intend to
take a piece of property that's in Collier County that's presently
commercial and convert it into -- and continue it as commercial but
take it out of our tax base as a result of their--
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: That -- there are court cases, actually,
that a tax-exempt charitable organization, when they have a property,
if they use it for charitable uses, it's tax-exempt. And once they have
a commercial enterprise, it's no longer a tax-exempt property.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: It is no longer a --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Is no longer a tax-exempt property.
There are churches which own office buildings and shopping -- strip
plazas, and those cannot be claimed as tax-exempt properties because
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November 1,2001
they are income-generating properties.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So I should have no
concerns that this is going to be taken off the tax rolls as a
continuous --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No. You--
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: -- commercial operation.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I believe you should have no concerns.
And I didn't mention this in my staff report because it's not a land use
issue, it's a tax issue.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, I could generalize
that it has something to do with the welfare of the community by
taking money away from our tax base, but that may be a stretch. But
perhaps the applicant can speak to this.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Right now it is part of the Salvation
Army, so right now it is a tax-exempt property. By building a
commercial enterprise on that property, it's going to be back on the
tax roll.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Okay. And we will have
that as a commitment?
MR. HOOVER: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Bill Hoover
representing the petitioners. If I recall -- I believe you guys are
heading in the right direction, and I think the agreement in the lease is
that if-- this was intended for a Salvation Army thrift store, which
they -- which they've never built. And it's sort of like cutting in
between the two Morande car dealerships, and they're tight on room.
So they basically just want to put cars over there, new vehicles for
sale, and that may well put that back on the tax base where it's a
taxable thing. And if I remember right, they told me that if that
happened, Morande Kia would pay the extra in the rent.
MR. WHITE: Madam Chairman, if I may.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
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MR. WHITE: Assistant County Attorney Patrick White. The
purview of that decision-making is with the tax collector's office and
it's based upon what happens on January 1 of any particular year and
the use that's made of that property according to the statutory criterias
evaluated, for the large part, by the property appraiser's office.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It's not something --
MR. WHITE: I think it's something --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- we can ask for a commitment.
MR. WHITE: You can certainly ask questions about it and
entertain a discussion on it, but I'm not sure that it's a proper basis for
decision-making one way or the other, but we're certainly glad to
provide the information.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: But if the applicant
volunteers that -- the information to us, that's helpful to us in a
general community sense.
MR. WHITE: Whether they volunteer it or not, I think you have
the right to ask for it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Any other questions right now?
Chahram, I would like to point out on page 3 of our staff report under
the utility and water management section, before this goes forward to
the Board of County Commissioners in whatever form, please
double-check the citation for the Collier County ordinance for water
and sewer, how -- if that's a current number. I think it's way out of
date, and it's part of the programming that's in somebody's word
processing machine or computer that hasn't been changed. So please
make a note of that.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I'll double-check.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Okay. Do we have a
presentation?
MR. HOOVER: Bill Hoover, Hoover Planning again. The -- I
can tell you what they plan on doing on the new piece of land.
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November 1,2001
They've -- already have an engineer under contract and a architect.
They're putting a chapel up there, so that's the only intended use, as
far as I know, for the new piece of land. And you probably know
most of the Salvation Army's built out. So we've got essentially two
pieces of land left here, and one would have a chapel, and the other
would have new vehicles for sale.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Did we have any other questions?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: One of them's going off the
tax roll, or the chapel is, and the other one's coming on.
MR. HOOVER: Yeah. They just -- because I think it had a
duplex on there which was not very nice. I'm not sure if they got that
down or they're going to be taking it down very shortly.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any further questions? Do we have
any registered public speakers?
MS. MURRAY: No registered speakers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: With no registered public speakers, I
close the public hearing.
What is the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I make a motion we approve
PUD-2001-AR-881.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Second.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We have a motion by Mr.
Strain and a second by Mr. Adelman (sic) to approve this petition.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Quick comment. My
approval -- my statement of approval is based on the representations
that have been made by the applicant and by staff.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And I was going to say, do we
have any -- we have a motion and a second on the floor. Do we have
any discussion? That was the discussion. Anyone else care to add
their comments?
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November 1,2001
Okay.
those in favor say aye.
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
(No response.)
Hearing no further discussion, I call the question. All
Those opposed, same sign.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Thank you.
All right. We are at PUDA-2001-AR-1404, an amendment to the
Silver Lakes PUD.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Disclosures?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I haven't sworn anybody in. One
second. All those wishing to speak today and provide testimony
please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in by the court
reporter.
(The speakers were sworn.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I believe it's necessary to have
some disclosures.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes. I met with the
representatives of some of the homeowners, Mr. Belanger, and then
Attorney Tony Pires. We discussed some -- they discussed some of
their concerns with the proposal here today.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I had a telephone call from
Mr. Pires relative to this application.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I had a meeting with Mr. Joe Belanger
and Mr. Tony Pires at their office, and we discussed a variety of
issues, some of which I had brought up myself. And just for the
record, Mr. Belanger is a property owner, member of the
homeowners association board. And he's also the cochair of the
transition committee, so he had a lot of interest in exactly what was
going on. And Mr. Pires is the attorney for the homeowners
association.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I had a discussion with the
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November 1,2001
same two individuals.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: No further disclosures? Okay. There
was something I was going to ask. All right. Chahram.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners.
Chahram Badamtchian from planning services staff. This is a PUD
amendment to the Silver Lake PUD. Basically what they are trying
to do is -- this is the extent of the changes. They have a park and
travel trailer area which was 26 acres. They are reducing it to 24.
They have a residential area which is staying the same, a
conservation area -- I'm sorry -- recreation area changing from 97
acres to 78 acres; conservation area increasing from 3 acres to 26
acres; and the buffer area, reduce it from 5 to 3 acres. This is the
extent of the changes to the PUD document.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And these are after-the-fact changes?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Some of them are, yes. I will explain
them. This is the existing PUD document, PUD master plan. As you
can see, they have a preserve shown here, small preserve shown here.
And they have a residential tract -- actually, it is a travel trailer tract,
TTV tract, in here. What they have done, they built a golf course
over most of these areas, and they have -- building department has
also issued a permit for a person to build a -- what's called a
residential unit on the TTR-- TT -- TTRV tract somewhere in here.
Basically I show it to you in here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. Did you say there's a
building permit issued?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Issued and -- yes. So the extent of
changes are change this small tract in here from TTRV to residential;
make this as a recreational tract -- since they already built a golf
course, make this recreational tract. The golf course is already there.
And in exchange this top portion -- this large tract here was shown as
recreational tract. They are making most of it conservation. They are
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November 1,2001
keeping around 8 acres of it as recreational tract. Most of it is
common conservation tract.
The way this happened was a few years ago we did not have
SDP requirements for golf courses. They just did construction plans,
so the planning department did not get involved with the construction
of golf courses at that time. Since the Deltona line is somewhere in
here -- that's the Deltona line, and our environmentalist was
supposed to be here to explain to you what that means. If you have a
question, he'll be here shortly. He's here.
And the permitting agencies, Army Corps of Engineers and
South Florida Water Management District, they did not claim any
jurisdiction over preserve areas south of the line. So that's why they
have the supplement south of the line. South of the Deltona line they
did not claim jurisdiction over wetlands, and wetlands could be
removed. That was a supplement done by the original developers,
Deltona and Army Corps and South Florida Water Management
District. So, therefore, Army Corps and water management district,
they did not have any jurisdiction over-- they didn't claim
jurisdiction over these two preserves that were shown on the master
plan, and that's how they were able to basically build a golf course on
the preserve.
Now, they've -- they have removed some lots from here. They
want to put them over here. They are not increasing the number of
lots. They are just relocating them. A portion of these lots, they will
be north of the Deltona line; therefore, Army Corps claims
jurisdiction over that land. And it's my understanding that in
exchange for that, Army Corps basically asked to have a preserve or
conservation area over this portion of the PUD.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do they have that permit yet? That's
one of my questions I hope you're going to address very specifically,
in the last e-mail I sent you.
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November 1,2001
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Yeah. I have the -- they don't have the
permit as of yet. They will -- I talked to Dwight Nadeau yesterday
after I received your e-mail, and according to what he told me, the
permit will be issued shortly. It's imminent, but they don't have it as
of yet.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I have your questions here. I was
going to go over them. This project was reviewed by the
Environmental Advisory Council, and they unanimously
recommended approval since this area was within the Deltona
supplement and they are adding acres of preserve to the PUD.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. Did you say because this
area -- and you just pointed down here -- was in the Deltona
settlement area?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
area, yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
This is within the Deltona settlement
I thought you just said it wasn't.
No. Anything north of this line is not.
Any -- everything south of it is.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You had me going in the
wrong --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's the exact opposite of
what you just said.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- direction. You had me going the
wrong direction, Chahram. Apparently I was not listening close
enough.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: No. You heard right.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. So you have now --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: You heard what he said.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You have just now said that --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: This is within the Deltona settlement
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November 1,2001
area. The Deltona settlement line is somewhere in here. Anything
south of it is part of the Deltona settlement; anything north is not.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
your earlier presentation.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
page, on the same drawing.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
Okay. And that's not what you said in
I'm sorry.
Okay. Now I'm at least on the same
Okay. The EAC reviewed this, and
they unanimously recommended approval. However, the EAC was
advertised under PDR and not a PDA. So to make records clean, we
decided to go back to the EAC, which they're going to hear it next
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
And that's the only reason that --
That's the only reason. Basically our
staff report is going to be the same. Exhibits are the same.
Everything is the same. The only changes basically are these four
numbers. And we told them about these numbers, and we showed
them the map, and they unanimously recommended approval.
And you had a question about lot sale status. He's going to address
that. And you also had a question about the storage area. This PUD
master plan has a note here in storage area. Storage is basically
permitted as accessory use -- not as a permitted use, as a accessory
use to the PUD -- throughout the entire recreation area. And --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. Let me read the question
just so everybody knows what you're talking about. My Item No. 2
was as far as the executive summary, the storage issue, why was there
no mention of the issue of relocation of the storage site on the 40-acre
tract in the executive summary? It appears to be a major issue to the
property owners, which came up in my meeting. Moving the main
location from the back of the property to the front of the project
seems significant to me. And that's why I wanted to clarify. Why --
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why did -- why did I have to go to a meeting to find out about the
significant storage issue and not-- did not find it in my packet?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: It may be significant to some people,
but storage is permitted throughout the cons -- recreation area.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So anyplace --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Anyplace within the recreation area
they are permitted to have storage.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: By whom?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: By the PUD document. The PUD
document says accessory uses within this area. Within the
conservation -- within the recreation area, one of the accessory uses is
storage to be used as an accessory use to the permitted uses within
the park.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Like we learned on a PUD that
came in here a couple of weeks ago, when there's a change to a site
plan that affects the people there -- I think it was the Marco Shores
PUD. When you're moving an area like a storage area from out of
view, where it is now, to a place that's blatantly in view of residential
people that are living there, that's a significant change. Why wouldn't
it have been mentioned and brought to our attention? Because, I
mean, it is a -- it is quite a deviance from what they're showing here.
I mean, they're showing a lake now.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Master plan -- it is not a site
development plan. It's not a site plan. Master plan is more or less a
conceptual plan.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: But Marco Shores had to bring
theirs in for a change two or three weeks ago, and the same kind of
thing here.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They -- if they had an area in the PUD
document that said this is the area you're going to have the storage
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and they are moving that tract, yes. But the PUD document says --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: But it shows --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: -- within the con-- within the
recreation area.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: But it shows the storage on the
graphic master plan, and that's the plan that this board says was the
relevant document in the other case. I don't know why it wouldn't be
in this case. If the storage area on this one is shown graphically as an
exhibit and attachment in that northeast comer and it's no longer
going to be there, that seems to be a significant impact on the
residential people living there.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
comment.
I believe Ms. Murray would like to
MS. MURRAY: I'm sorry. I think probably it was just a
miscommunication or misunderstanding in terms of-- our
interpretation of it was that the storage area was to be located
anywhere within the recreational area, and that probably just wasn't
made clear on the master plan and the old PUD document, as it was
written. We try to write them a little bit more clearly and better these
days. And unfortunately, I guess it wasn't clear to the residents, and
staff didn't think it was a significant impact in the terms of our
understanding of that. And, you know, it's -- it's brought forward
now. And I think we just need to, you know, go ahead and move
forward with the understanding that the storage area is going to be
relocated.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
they had to move the storage.
Basically by making this conservation,
And the storage area, according to the
PUD document, could have been anywhere within the -- within that
recreational tract.
Staff received several letters of objection from neighbors - from
people living within the PUD. And the main question they bring up
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is that this commercial storage or commercial ministorage
development -- which the PUD does not allow that. It is not a
commercial PUD. It is basically RV park. And this is not a
commercial tract. This tract is a recreational tract within that RV
park. So whatever uses they have in here must be accessory to the
park.
They cannot have uses that are open to the general public. It's
reserved to the people who reside in the park, basically tenants of the
park and lot owners of the park. They have the right to use it, and
nobody from the outside. And that -- I believe there -- there was this
rumor that a miniwarehouse is going to be built and it's going to be
somehow open to the general public. And that's what started this --
opposition letters that I received, because they all mentioned the
exact same thing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I haven't quite finished all my
questions, but Mr. Adelstein, I'll defer to you.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I'm confused. You got
conservation area, and you got -- you talk about recreation area. Are
you talking about them being the same place?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No, sir. From here to here is
conservation. From here to here is recreation.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Okay.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: New proposal?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: This is the new proposed master plan.
Under the old master plan, the entire tract was recreational. They had
no conservation here.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I'm with you now. Thank
yOU.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
was the ownership disclosure and clarification.
You're welcome.
Okay. And one of the other questions
Who are the
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owners --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
anticipate your answer before
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
They are--
-- of the property and -- Chahram.
I'm sorry.
I'm going to say it one time. Do not
we finish the questions.
Sorry.
As I was saying, who are the owners of
the property; and are there more than two of them, as listed in the
documents; and are these persons all officers of Conquest
Development USA, L.C., the entity listed as owner?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: According to the notarized affidavit I
have received, there are only two owners. And I talked to them, and
they confirmed that yes, there are only two.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You've answered my second
question on the storage. The permit issue, what are the status of the
state and federal permits, and are they issued, and what are the
effective dates? Can you answer that, or do we have to wait for the
petitioner?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I think Dwight can answer that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We'll wait for him. And then
the Item No. 4 was reality versus compliance. Clarify the statement
in our executive packet. This amendment is intended to make the
PUD document and master plan to agree with the improvement on
the ground, end of quote. Does this mean that the reality on the
ground does not comply with the PUD document; and if so, how
many items are not in compliance with the legal PUD requirements
for the project? Are these inconsistencies subject to code
enforcement action?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Okay. The PUD master plan, as I told
you, showed preserve in here, preserve, and in reality there's a golf
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course.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
Okay.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
So it's a preserve versus a golf course.
And also showed a residential area
here, road going to the cul-de-sac there. And in reality there's also a
golf course there. Part of the golf course is there. So -- and, as I said,
one permit was issued in error by the building department, which was
built, and this minor change is going to take care of it. And beside
that, I think everything else is according to the master plan.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And are any of these inconsistencies
subject to code enforcement action?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No. Because, as I told you, at the time
they built the golf course, we did not require site development plan
for golf course; therefore, staff did not review the construction of the
golf course, planning staff. And since 1996 or '97, I believe, we are
requiring all golf courses to go through site development plan.
Before that they were exempt from it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And how do you exempt a golf course
when you actually have a PUD document that you would think from
a master plan someone designing it would know where to put that
golf course? I'm missing something, if there's some relationship
between some degree of review and SDP for a golf course versus
someone who understands what the document represents.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I believe what they did, they went to
the agencies, state and federal agencies, and they were told that since
this is within the Deltona area, they don't claim any jurisdiction over
wetlands or preserve area, and that's how they were able to clear most
of it. And basically they moved some dirt, and they made it into a
golf course.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I guess that they would not claim
any jurisdiction over our PUD document either, would they, the
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federal or state?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: No. PUD document they -- they don't
really look at it, I believe.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Apparently. And I guess one of my
last questions -- actually, there were two, and Mr. Nadeau's going to
answer the question on the lot sales and why the information seems
so out of date. The other one was, as far as the application, my
question is please clarify why four phases only have preliminary
acceptance and what specific tasks or events must be accomplished or
occur to receive final acceptance for those. Can you number them or
tell me why --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Yeah. I had a discussion with John
Houldsworth about that. It appears that the inspectors went there,
and they had some problem, minor problem, with the catch basins
and the way they were built, and they are fixing the problems. And
according to John, it was not a major thing. It was just minor
mistakes, and they were in the process of fixing it, and they should
get the final acceptance soon.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So we're only talking about improperly
constructed catch basins that holds up four different final approvals?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
been going on?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
That's what I was told yesterday.
And do you know how long this has
I don't know.
Don't know. Maybe the petitioner
could help on that one. That's the end of my questions. Mr. Midney.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: I have to leave.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You have to leave. Okay. We do have
a quorum still. Thank you. Let the record reflect that Mr. --
Commissioner Midney has departed. Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I've got some questions, Madam
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Chairman.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Just a quick question.
Staff is kind of caught in a time warp on this particular application.
And I would expect that if we had a similar set of circumstances in
the current time frame, we would have a series of either variances or
new PUDs or code enforcement actions. But because of the history
of this, we just have to try to catch up with where we are.
The facts are that we have people that are living there, and they're
feeling impacts by whatever it is that the applicant is now wanting to
do. And one of the sore points seems to be this storage area moved
because of its isolation now and closer proximity to the people, were
it to be moved. Can you describe to me what the storage area is for,
what it -- function it performs in this PUD? DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Sure.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a request from the audience
to speak more directly into your microphones for everyone to be able
to pick it up.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Under Section 5 of the PUD document,
commons, slash, recreation area, under accessory uses it says
customary accessory uses or structures incidental to recreational areas
and, comma, or facilities including of-- including structures
constructed for purposes of maintenance, comma, storage, including
RV storage, comma, recreation or shelter, with appropriate screen
and landscaping. That's all it says.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So the answer to my
question is that that's what it's currently being used for, or is this an
intended future use?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: This is what they can use it for.
Basically they can only use it for RV storage and storage incidental to
recreational areas and facilities.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I haven't been out there.
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Can you describe to me what size building this is? Is it a three-stow
building, one-stow building? What is it?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They don't have any rec -- any
buildings there.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, it talks about
structures, so I just need some guidance as to what it is we're talking
about here.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Okay. The PUD document talks about
structures. They basically -- they can have a maximum of 15-foot
high structure.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
there now.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
But you're saying there's no structure
There's no structure there. This area
was -- under the old master plan, was supposed to be a lake. But the
conservation area -- basically most of it is being used for
conservation. This smaller recreation area, that's all that's left.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I do believe Mr. Strain has another
question or two of staff.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes. I'm trying to figure out
where to begin. In the lower left-hand comer of the revised master
plan, you're showing a water feature in Tract CR. There's, I believe,
a storage area there right now; is that not correct? I drove by there
yesterday, and it looked like there was a storage area there, and I'm
wondering why it isn't now shown on this plan. Is that another
omission on the part of the applicant or -- not a building. It's a
fenced-in yard.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The storage area in here?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Yes. Down in that lower left-
hand comer, there's a bunch of trailers and a fenced area that looks
like it's being used for storage. And I am just wondering why that's
not brought up today, as well, as another change. But, I mean, if you
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don't know about it, Chahram, I understand that. You're certainly --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I don't recall seeing that. But the PUD
document allows storage areas within the recreation tract, and this is
a recreation tract.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. They wouldn't of-- okay.
I'm just-- they showed the storage area in the previous PUD
document with a specific location, and I was wondering if one -- they
should have shown it on the revision.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: On the revision there are no storage
areas shown.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: And to back up into a further
discussion on the preserve area, you had mentioned that because of
the Deltona settlement agreement, that the Army Corps of Engineers
and South Florida really didn't -- weren't too concerned about those
areas. And I understand that. I've worked with the Deltona
agreement for six years now.
But in their PUD they specifically address those preserve areas
as being preserve areas, and the PUD is their -- the applicant's
agreement with Collier County. And I understand why the Corps
wouldn't care and why South Florida wouldn't care. But it seems to
me if they're in violation of their PUD, then they would have known
that when they applied for the permit to build a golf course there.
Anybody that owns property knows very well if a preserve area is on
their property because it's virtually useless to them. And it seems to
me that we ought to -- code enforcement ought to be -- at least be
looking into this in regards to the way the PUD's formatted for that
area.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The thing is since we didn't review a
site development plan, we didn't know, planning services didn't
know. They brought this up with us saying that "We built a golf
course here and this is preserve, so I'm trying to amend the PUD to
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accommodate that change." That's why we did not start the code
enforcement case. However, should this PUD be turned down, this
request, then we have to start code enforcement case and make sure
that they comply with the approved PUD master plan.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: The PUD that they -- that is
approved for the project currently references that the project shall be
platted in accordance with the subdivision regulations in tracts as
shown on the PUD tract map. They further go into saying that an
SNP will be required over the entire PUD and must be submitted for
approval in accordance with county subdivision regulations. So
when these lots and the roads and everything in there were put in for
their construction plans, wasn't-- was an SNP over the entire site
submitted then; and did that SNP, do we know, show these preserve
areas?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: There is an SNP --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Could you please use the
microphone? I'm having a terrible time hearing you.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I'm sorry. I was looking at the map.
There is an SNP. But, as I said, this predates most of us, and I
couldn't figure out how these things happened, but they happened.
They are--
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: You know, and I'm certainly not
blaming you, Chahram. I'm just trying to find answers. I'm -- I'm
puzzled as to how this got this far like it is. That's the point of my
questioning, is trying to figure out if there's more out there that I --
that might help clarify it.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I tried to investigate, but I went to our
records and trying to see what happened. I just couldn't come up
with a good answer. Things happened in the past, and that's all I can
say.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. Thank you.
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions at this moment of
Mr. -- or Dr. Badamtchian? I believe petitioner has a few things
you'd like to enlighten us on.
MR. NADEAU: Yes. Good morning (sic), Commissioners.
For the record, my name is Dwight Nadeau, RWA.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You're going to have to get right into
that microphone. It's not picking up well.
MR. NADEAU: Good morning (sic), Commissioners. For the
record, my name is Dwight Nadeau, RWA, representing the applicant
in this Petition PUDA-2001-AR-1404, Silver Lakes. With your
indulgence I'm going to make a short presentation, and then there is
going to be a -- a presentation by our environmental consultant that
will explain the Deltona settlement agreement area as well as the
permitting endeavors north of that settlement agreement area, and
then Mr. Cuyler will stand up and address some issues as well.
The proposed amendment, as Dr. Badamtchian described, is that
we're going to increase the conservation tract from 3 acres to 26 acres
and reduce the development area by 2 acres, redesignate some RV
development area to recreational residence or residential, and the net
result is an increase of 2 acres of open space over the entire site.
Now, the PUD document does need-- have to be amended because
the land use table within it would not accurately reflect the new PUD
master plan, should it be approved. This is the reason for the change
in the actual application.
The original application that was submitted in February -- it was
subsequently revised in, I believe, it was September -- September for
-- to include the one page of the PUD document. There are no --
there is no intention of increasing any of the dwelling units within the
develop -- within the project. And, again, it is -- the reason for the
request is to update the PUD master plan to reflect the existing seven
phases of development as constructed on the property. Also, the
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proposed changes will allow the final phase of the project to be
developed.
Are there compliance issues? Yes, there are. The reason for
those compliance issues we don't know. The project is ten years old.
The review procedures were different, and they evolved based on the
politics of the day. And I can tell you that rather than focusing on
culpability of who did this, maybe we should focus on the resolution
of it so the residents of the park can enjoy the lifestyle that they're
accustomed to in the park right now rather than going through a
potential compliance issue, which I don't think that any of the people
in the room want to see.
Now, is there opposition to this request? Yes, there is. I think
there is. But if I can quote from a letter that may be read into the
record tonight -- or today -- and this -- this is coming from
Mr. Belanger and Mr. Dechelis (phonetic), who are the cochairman
and chairman of the Silver Lakes Ad Hoc Transition Group. And I'm
not going to read it entirely out of context. I'm going to read it --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Let's hope not.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Just a little bit.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Just a little out of context.
MR. NADEAU: Actually, the members and the residents of the
transition group do not oppose the concept of what Conquest is
applying for; however, we take a position of looking down the road
to see what effects will come about from these changes. That's a
valid concern, and we support that concern.
The developer, should he choose to put a nonresidential storage
opportunity in the western portion of the site as proposed to both the
water management district and the Army Corps of Engineers --
currently there are no plans that have been submitted to Collier
County for a site development plan -- that would be a surface RV
storage area that primarily will be grassed. There will be
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approximately a 5,000-square-foot maintenance building where there
will be some impervious surface for parking.
I am authorized to commit to any reasonable buffering, setback
requirement that the residents may desire, that you may desire. And,
really, with that, I don't believe that there's any significant issues.
Yes. We do have a tier of lots -- if I may. Yes, we do have a tier of
lots that were the RV lots that -- with the consideration of the
residents, potentially during the construction of Phase II-C and Phase
II-D and F, they were feeling that maybe we should move these tiers
of lots.
And our Fairway No. 2 would be a little bit wider, and there
wouldn't be a safety issue, because it is a fairly narrow, nine-hole,
chip-and-putt course. The first two, the 1 and 9, were constructed in
the first phase in the commons/recreation area. As you can see, the
brown is the commons/recreation area throughout the project by
which those common uses, water management uses for lakes,
recreational facilities, recreational facilities, the clubhouse, the
hurricane shelter. It's all constructed in the commons/recreation area.
So they decided we'll pick up those lots, and we'll go ahead and show
the county a final phase. And I believe it was Phase II-E where these
lots would be going. And that infrastructure to support those lots
would fall below the Deltona settlement agreement line, and permits
wouldn't be available. The county does have documentation of those
lots being proposed into the commons/recreation area. We
understood that we needed to amend the PUD document to reflect
that the lots would go up in here, and we needed to have our South
Florida permit documents as well as an Army Corps authorization to
construct the two-thirds of the lots, put the pads in for the RVs.
We're taking 3 acres of conservation area, preserve area, that was not
jurisdictional to Collier County, South Florida, or the Corps at the
time of construction. I cannot tell you why the administrative
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procedures at the time didn't reflect construction plans being in areas
not designated for commons/recreation use. But the residents do
enjoy that golf course, and they want to continue to enjoy that golf
course. So some people may agree with me, but I feel like I'm on
their side. I want to help them. I will -- I'm authorized to allow this
Planning Commission to provide for some reasonable setbacks,
buffering should a storage -- RV storage facility and a small
maintenance building for the park to be located in the westerly
portion of the property.
Now I'd like to let Mr. Butler explain a little bit about the
Deltona settlement, what the status of the permits are, what the
mitigation costs are going to be, those sorts of things.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I just wanted to ask you if you
agree that it's only a matter of incorrectly constructed catch basins
that have kept the final acceptance for those four phases. You don't
have that?
MR. NADEAU: Yes. I do have an engineer from McAnly
Engineering who is the engineer for the property, and he tells me it is
only the water management holdup for the final acceptance of those
referenced phases.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And just out of curiosity, does he
know how long the time frame has been that this has been going on?
You're going to have to come to the microphone and state your name,
please.
MR. PARKER: Yes, ma'am. My name is Shane Parker with
McAnly Engineering. I'm an engineer on this project. I took over in
the middle of the project, and I do know that the Phases D, -- B, D, E,
and F are the last phases to get final subdivision acceptance. They
have worked in the process, and they do have final water and sewer
approval from the county.
And they've been working in between construction of the other
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phases and during the off-season when most of the residents are gone,
trying to fix the boxes. I do know the boxes -- we have narrowed the
punch list down to particularly B, D, and E, and we just got a few
boxes to check. And if everything's good, then we'll be performing
an inspection next week. And then if everything goes good, we'll be
writing a letter to the county requesting an inspection. And then it'll
be up to the county to inspect.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And it's been going on for just how
long, out of curiosity?
MR. PARKER: I'd say about a year and a half.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Year and a half.
MR. PARKER: But, now, that's only for some of the older
phases, like D. And then E came along later, and then F was about a
year ago that it got its preliminary subdivision acceptance.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's going to satisfy me, as an
underground utility contractor, for the moment. I just -- thank you.
That's all we need to beat that one up on for now.
MR. BUTLER: Good afternoon. Ian Butler with Butler
Environmental. I am an environmental consultant for the applicant.
The status of the South Florida Water Management District and
Corps of Engineers' permits, we've been in permitting for the better
portion of a year. The public notice for the Corps of Engineers
should go out next week, meaning that they have a complete file,
they're satisfied with proposed mitigation, the proposed site plan.
We had a meeting with the water management district last week also.
They have a submittal from me they need to review. It's my
understanding, though, that any items that are left are small. The
mitigation numbers, verbally at that meeting and in subsequent phone
calls, have been agreed to. It's just a matter of paperwork, from what
I understand.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And are these almost-ready permits
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dictating to the property owner where the storage facility goes?
MR. BUTLER: Yes. The first-- the initial application to both
agencies represented the storage unit on the west -- excuse me -- on
the east side, which is where -- right there. After further review the
district required -- or suggested that we move it to the west because it
would allow for a larger, more contiguous wetland area and that the
eastern portion of the proposed 40-acre site isn't -- is a higher quality
wetland than which is on the west. So as a result of that suggestion,
we moved it to the west.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Is there -- Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: You mitigated the wetlands in the
west; is that correct?
MR. BUTLER: That's correct. And in addition, the layout that
you see right now, the site has -- or the 8-acre commercial area is
actually smaller now. The agencies required a buffer along the
northern strip in an attempt to eliminate secondary and cumulative
impacts to off-site wetlands. So after we submitted everything to
EAC, that development pot has actually shrank.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: So you have been allowed to do
mitigation.
MR. BUTLER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: That you're acknowledging.
Okay. On the right side of the site plan where the storage area used
to be and where there currently is a bunch of piled up concrete and
disturbed areas that seems to be more important as a wetlands than
the left side that is undisturbed, you're adding Tract A, which is
homes that currently do not exist. If you were to put that tract there
and the storage area was behind those homes, I would assume that
would be detrimental to the sales of that development. So you're
moving the storage area to the west, putting it in front of existing
homes that you've -- that have already been sold. Is that what is
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happening? And maybe you're not the right person, but maybe Mr.
Nadeau can address that.
MR. BUTLER: That would be a -- yeah. That would not be
me. The environmental -- the environmental criteria are what moved
the storage area from the east end to the west end.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: But you did it so you could
mitigate. So if you mitigate on the left, you can mitigate on the right.
I mean, you can mitigate either way.
MR. BUTLER: Again, it was merely an environmental issue to
move it to the west. Existing homes and lots weren't part of the
criteria for where it should be located.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Nadeau, do you have an
answer to that question that I asked about why you would put the
storage area in front of existing homes when you have undeveloped
and unbuilt homes on the right side where the existing area is, and
those people buying there would know what they're buying in front
of?.
MR. NADEAU: The answer to that question truly is
environmental. We were proposing to have storage on the east of the
site, the initial application. However, as a result of a district request
for additional information, they mandated that if there were going to
be any impacts to that wetland, that 37-acre-ish wetland lying north
of the Deltona settlement agreement line, that it would be more
appropriate in the impacted areas along the western boundary of the
property associated with 951. It was not a planning decision. It was
an environmental decision.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: When you approached those
agencies about this, did you tell them that you already had disturbed
the area on the right substantially?
MR. NADEAU: I was not involved with the permitting, so I
would have to defer to the environmental consultant.
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MR. BUTLER: Ian Butler again. Would you please repeat.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: When you approached the
agencies and they made an evaluation on where the most -- best
wetlands were, did you tell them that the wetlands on the east side of
the property were filled with concrete and chunks and disturbed
properties and bush-hogged or bulldozed? Did they know that? I
mean, because --
MR. BUTLER: To the -- to the best of my knowledge, I don't
know the significant -- or how large that area is. I do know and they
are aware that there is piled up concrete and that there is some
machinery that is parked there at certain times. Again, they're
looking at the overall aspect of this, the entire site. The west -- a
good majority of the west half of the proposed project site is old ag
land that has a series of furrows, and the vegetation is not native.
There's a lot of melaleuca. There's a lot of primrose willow in there.
As a result of a water management and Corps permit, the remaining
conservation area, including the disturbed area you're talking about,
will be in a conservation easement and -- which will be under the cri
-- success criteria for either restoration planting, bringing it back to
what it was prior to ...
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Did we ever clarify how large this
concrete and -- this supposedly very valuable wetlands that's got
concrete and things parked on it now, somebody made a decision that
that was more valuable than the ag furrows up front. Is that what
you're telling us, from South Florida Water Management? MR. BUTLER: Yes. That's correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And how big of a -- an area is this?
We're talking about disturbed wetlands that are prime quality.
MR. BUTLER: To my understanding -- and the last time that I
had seen that area it was -- there had been no clearing conducted. It
was a matter of a couple vehicles being parked and some -- again,
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some concrete being stacked there. It was not -- there was no
excavation. There was no trees being -- that were knocked down to
my knowledge.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And how long ago was that?
MR. BUTLER: Six, eight months ago.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Do we have any other questions
at this moment?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I was going to ask --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Oh, Mr. Abernathy. Go for it.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: South Water-- Southwest
-- South Florida Water Management District, do they mandate what
you have to preserve and what -- what you can put your recreation
on, or do they -- somebody used the term "suggest." Do they have
the authority to absolutely mandate it?
MR. BUTLER: Well, they -- they don't have the authority to
mandate where you put it, but they have the authority not to grant
your permit based on what you're proposing.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: That would be pretty close
to mandating.
MR. BUTLER: As close as you can get. Right. Yes.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes, Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: The tract that you've
referred to on the top left, the tract, I guess, shown as CR. I've heard
it referred to in two different ways. It's recreational on the master
plan, yet I've heard the environmentalist talk about it as being
commercial.
MR. NADEAU: No, no, no. It's not commercial. It's
commons/recreation. It's common areas where infrastructural
improvements, where recreational facilities, where these ancillary-
type uses to the park may be developed, commons/recreation. CO
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tract, conservation or preserve. AR is the residential, and Tract A is
the RV lots.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So his reference to it as
being commercial was just a misstatement relative to the --
MR. NADEAU: Yes. You can call it a misstatement.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I don't want to call it
anything. I want you to tell me what it's -- how it's going to function.
MR. BUTLER: If that was what I -- what I stated, it was a
misstatement. I was not referring to it as commercial.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I make them all the time.
Mr. Nadeau, would you just flesh out a little bit for us what your
plans are for that site? I know you've talked about a building for
maintenance and some RVs. But I'm -- I'm really interested how it's
going to function in this community. Are only the people that live
there going to have access to this because it's part of this PUD, or is it
going to be an off-site, commercial operation or what?
MR. NADEAU: The PUD provides for accessory uses for the
exclusive use of the residents of the park. There are ancillary
commercial uses that are permitted both in your Land Development
Code as well as in this PUD. There are no current plans to submit a
storage facility to Collier County for site development plan review.
However, there is intent shown by virtue of the fact that a storage
facility was identified on the district and Corps permits that were
applied for to allow the final phase of development of the lots.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So you don't really know
right now what's going to happen or --
MR. NADEAU: Well, I believe that it's pretty much up to the
approval of this PUD -- this PUD amendment. I cannot get in the
mind of my developer. I do know -- I have been told -- there are no
immediate plans to submit something to Collier County for site
development plan review.
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November 1,2001
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: However, if something
were submitted, it would be covered under this revised PUD.
MR. NADEAU: Yes, sir. It would.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So --
MR. NADEAU: And it is currently permitted there now
because it's commons/recreation designation now. And I believe
there was a comment made -- access will only be taken off of Silver
Lakes Boulevard. There will not be secondary access off of Collier
Boulevard. Yes, it is accessory to the development.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abemathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: How do you tell one group
of permitting authorities one thing and another group another thing?
In other words, if you've got a building -- a 5,000-square-foot
building that you've told the water management district about and the
Corps of Engineers about, why do you not tell the county?
MR. NADEAU: Because we haven't submitted for our site
development plan. That's really the only time the county would find
out about it, although it was depicted in the environmental impact
statement attendant to this petition.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And then we just don't see anything in
it-- in our executive summary. Okay.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I questioned that. The answer they
gave me is when you go to the permitting agencies, they want to see
the highest impact that you can have on that property, and that's why
they showed that. They told me they have no intention of building
what was shown. It was, like, in excess of what they will be building,
if any, and that was just to show them the maximum impact that they
may have on that parcel.
MR. NADEAU: And if I just might correct Dr. Badamtchian,
it's not a matter of intent. There was intent to build storage there.
We had to show that rather than -- future phase there is an intent to
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build a storage facility. Whether or not it actually is constructed, I
believe, is up to the developer and the results of this public hearing as
well as the Board of County Commissioners' public hearing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Is this recreation area that's
an ancillary use to the park, is it accessible from inside the park?
MR. NADEAU: It is accessible via pedestrian ways. As far as
vehicular access, no. There is a water managements berm that
separates those lands to the north of the Deltona settlement agreement
so that those historical waters just stay on the north side of the park.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: How do you get vehicles in
there?
MR. NADEAU: We don't have any access to -- no vehicular
access at all currently into lands north, that 40 acres -- that 37 acres
north of the settlement agreement line.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I thought it was for storage
of RVs.
MR. NADEAU: No. We -- well, it could be for storage, but we
are not proposing to submit anything to Collier County for --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: For a building or for
storage.
MR. NADEAU: Currently not. But if there were -- if there
were going to be storage proposed, it would be accessed potentially
off of Silver Lakes Boulevard in some location within this area.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Outside the gate?
MR. NADEAU: No.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Inside the gate.
MR. NADEAU: Inside the gate, because it is for the exclusive
use of the residents and guests of the park.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Nadeau, before you depart and we
start listening to other -- the public comment, the one last question on
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my e-mail I was trying to get details for, it seemed odd to me that you
submit a document on the 31 st of August with information on the lot
sales and who owned and that type of a thing from the developer as
of the 22nd of February, and I was looking for a little update on how
many people owned the lots at this point. That was one of your items
listed in--
MR. NADEAU: Yes, it was. After Mr. Cuyler speaks, I will
talk with the developer. I can tell you that when I made the
application back in February, this PUD monitoring report information
was available to me. So I just transferred that existing information
into the application for this PUD amendment. So the information
from the PUD monitoring report was imported into the application
itself.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: In August?
MR. NADEAU: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: In August. Okay. All right. That
clarifies part of that. So I would like to have some clue of where we
are.
MR. NADEAU: I will check with him right now. Mr. Cuyler
would like to make a few comments.
MR. CUYLER: Good afternoon. For the record, Ken Cuyler. I
first of all want to make it clear for the record that I normally don't
travel with crowds. I just -- it just happens to be one of those days.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It's the first day in November, and they
are here for you.
MR. CUYLER: I've been retained -- was retained rather
recently to address any legal issues with regard to this petition. I've
gone over it, and frankly, I don't see any legal issues at this point.
Primarily it's environmental and planning in nature. I have advised
boards in the past sometimes when I get asked questions, the best
answer is we are where we are. And with regard to the compliance
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issue, I'm sure there's a number of people that perhaps wish things
had been done differently in the past, but we are where we are.
And if you look at what would be necessary for compliance if there
were an enforcement action, for example, I don't think the residents
would be happy with what the developer would have to do in terms
of going back to what was there. So it's something that perhaps didn't
work out as well as it could have, but we're -- sometimes we're just
left with those situations.
With regard to the storage, it's environmentally driven. I know a
number of you, Mr. Strain in particular, deals with agencies
constantly. A number of you do development. And when the
agencies tell you what they want, you tend to listen. So I think that
"mandate" perhaps isn't the exact word, but it probably is pretty
close.
I will reserve any other comments. I understand that an attorney
will speak to you on this issue. If anything comes up, I'd like to
reserve some time to address those if you wish me to.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. And just -- just for your
understanding, Mr. Cuyler, when I read the executive report and it
outlines five different things that this PUD amendment is going to
take care of us (sic) for here today and it clearly states that the
changes are related to environmental permitting requirements and I
don't have anyplace where I can find those environmental permitting
requirements -- there's no information in here to tell me what it was
that required that -- and then I go to a meeting and discover that the
homeowners are somewhat upset over the issue of the storage and
that's not in my document either, it's difficult for me, as a reasonable
planning commissioner, to make decisions on what's presented to me.
That seems to be inadequate. And we went through that earlier
today, but this is very clear that it -- it's just not here.
MR. CUYLER: Yes, ma'am. I hope some of that has been
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filled in. And if we can add anything to it, of course, we would like to
do that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. And I do believe that some of
the -- perhaps some of the people that are here will be able to clarify
for us what's actually on the ground out there with reference to the
wetlands and that type of a thing if-- since I haven't taken an
opportunity to go out and look at it.
MR. CUYLER: Yes, ma'am. We're interested in-- in them
articulating what their concerns are, too, so we can address those as
well.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Because I think we do have a number
of areas of agreement here for this. But when someone says it's our
intention to do X and Y and then it was the intention of the PUD
documents to do very certain things and obviously the master plan
was not followed, there was a major intention there. So I want to
make sure that we have an opportunity to protect what the document
says, what we're asking it to be changed, and what the property
owners have every reasonable expectation at this point.
MR. CUYLER: Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
MR. NADEAU: And in response to your request regarding the
number of lots that remain to be constructed, it is only those 38 lots
that are requested to be above the settlement agreement line now.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And so every -- all of the lots have
been purchased, and it's just a matter of constructing?
MR. NADEAU: I cannot say that all of these lots have contracts
on them. I don't know that. But these are the only remaining lots that
are to be constructed. I believe that there are contracts or sales that
are throughout the phase, and it is probably one of the last phases,
that being Phase II-F or something possibly in Phase II-E. But the
only lots remaining to be constructed are the 38.
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And that makes sense. But I
guess the sentence that we were all looking at at one point in time
was the word that the travel trailer park lots had been sold and so
much number had been sold, and that was the information you had
given us in February. And I thought it was useful to have an idea as
of today, or at least the end of August, how many of these people
really own here, and are we talking about just a few things that need
to be sold again. Because you've got a lot of homeowners then or
property owners that are interested.
MR. NADEAU: I'm going to send my client out to the hallway
and probably put him on a cell phone and see if he can get some
information out of the park, because we don't have that information
available.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And that's what I'm looking for. How
many homeowners are we affecting or how many property owners
are we affecting at this point in time? And this is really outdated
information. Thank you.
MR. NADEAU: I -- I will say that we do have 53 letters or
signatures of support for our proposal, and I'd like to offer them to
the commission as well as the clerk or Susan.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MR. NADEAU: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I think it's time to have
registered speakers.
MS. MURRAY: Yes, Madam Chair. We have five registered
speakers. The first one is Anthony Pires followed by Joe Belanger.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: While you're coming forward, Mr.
Pires, you should probably wear a big symbol of the Naples Pier on
you, and your name would get pronounced forever on out correctly.
MR. PIRES: For the record, Tony Naples Pires. Tony Pires, P-
i-r-e-s. I know Barbara, and I'll try to talk slowly, Barbara.
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THE COURT REPORTER: Thank you.
MR. PIRES: Or else I would get rubber bands or other devices
thrown at me. Court reporters have been known to do that.
Madam Chairman, members of the Planning Commission, you've
listened very intently to the presentation by the applicant and his
representatives in this particular issue. I may ask the indulgence of
the chair and the Planning Commission to go beyond the normal five
minutes only because I think a number of the factual issues you have
raised can be addressed by myself and Joseph Belanger. And in this
particular instance, I'm representing Joseph Belanger; and in this
particular instance, Joseph Belanger is a property owner within Silver
Lakes RV Park.
Now, in this case I think this Planning Commission is always
driven by facts. What are the facts? Do we have the most pertinent,
relevant facts applicable to a particular issue? In order to do that,
normally you would have a number of speakers present their
particular knowledge of the facts. And I think it's also a hallmark of
this particular Planning Commission that you look for public input.
And I believe any attempt to prevent relevant facts from being
provided to this board does a disservice to the commission; does a
disservice to the Board of County Commissioners, to whom you
make recommendations and advisory decisions; and to the public as a
whole.
And your query is, why am I saying that? The reason why is I
have a letter from Ken Cuyler I received yesterday at quarter to five
via facsimile that basically says if anybody in this park is up there
and objects to this petition, we're going to sue the tar out of you guys.
I quote -- he quotes a section of some covenants and private
contractual agreements allegedly in the deed restrictions and in the
covenants applicable to Silver Lakes. I have copies for the record.
(As read): "Accordingly," says Mr. Cuyler, "any of your clients
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that accepted a deed within the Silver Lakes development voluntarily
submitted themselves to this provision. Accordingly, the developer
hereby demands evidence of your client's consent, in writing, to the
Developer's Petition PUD-2001-AR-1404 as required by Section
13.06 of the Declaration. Be advised that if any such property owner
fails to provide consent, in writing, such person is in violation of the
Declaration and covenants. Further, if any such property owner, or
anyone on their behalf, formally or informally objects to the
Developer's petition, after they have contractually obligated
themselves to consent to such petition, they will be considered in
violation."
The last sentence of the letter, "Be advised" --"Please be
advised, however, that the Developer reserves all rights to pursue all
available remedies, including damages, against any property owner
who violates these contractual obligations. Be advised further that
damages, in this case, would be -- entail extremely significant
monetary damages." I can tell you there are a significant number of
the residents of Silver Lakes here today, and property owners, in
attendance. I'll make a copy of this for the -- if I may.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. Would you have -- the property
owners please raise your hands. I want to see -- and you-all sat
through Bucks Run.
MR. PIRES: And, as I mentioned, I'm representing --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We could have put one of you on one
side and put out in the hall -- okay. Thank you.
MR. PIRES: As I mentioned to you, I'm representing Mr.
Belanger, and he will be providing some additional facts. We'll try
not to be redundant, repetitive, or reiterate things. And he's doing so
at great risk to liability -- potential liability. We think that this is an
-- is offensive to what this Planning Commission tries to achieve.
And I think from the issue of facts, the most amazing aspect of this
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whole application is as to the facts. The fact that they wish to make a
change to correct the situation in the southern end about those lots,
we are in agreement. There's no problem with that. The fact --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Go slowly. I'm going to write this
down.
MR. PIRES: This proposed change is -- represents the lifestyle
that they have been accustomed to, as Mr. Nadeau mentioned,
because the golf course and the golf course holes are in this area. So
to place these lots that were initially planned to be here (indicating),
up here (indicating), is no problem. To correct the issue with regards
to a golf course being in these preserve areas, which is the lifestyle,
to paraphrase Mr. Nadeau, to which they have become accustomed, is
no problem here and here. To correct the issue with regards to the
lots and trailers in this area -- because that permit that was issued and
that needs to be corrected in this area -- is no problem. A couple
issues where there might be problems -- and, again, I think it's
important for facts to be known to this Planning Commission. And
I'll treat it as facts. I'm not going to treat this as objection for fear that
Mr. Cuyler may sue my client. Fact, the site plan, master plan, shows
storage area. Fact, the master plan shows a lake. Fact, the PUD in
Section 2.3(A), project plan and land use tracts, the project master
plan, including layout of streets and general depiction of land use, is
illustrated graphically by Exhibit A, PUD master development plan.
Section 2.3(B), areas illustrated as lakes by Exhibit A shall be
constructed lakes or, upon approval, parts thereof-- if I may, with
your indulgence.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You may. Unfortunately, it's going to
beep at you until she pushes the button. Continue
(A discussion was held off the record.)
MR. PIRES: 2.3(B), areas illustrated as lakes by Exhibit A shall
be constructed lakes or, upon approval, parts thereof may be
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constructed as shallow, intermittent wet and dry depressions for water
retention purposes. Such areas, lakes, and intermittent wet and dry
areas shall be in the same general configuration and contain the same
general acreage as shown by Exhibit A and Exhibit B. Where does
the developer propose to put a storage area? Lake (indicating), which
would violate, I would contend, the fact-- the provision of 2.3(A)
and 2.3(B) of the master plan.
Now, the developer has taken various positions with regards to
what is intended and not, and I think you've heard some of that
twisting during some of the presentations. I have some materials I'd
like to make part of the record that, again, are facts.
The applicant has stated in his petition as part of the rationale, in
a correspondence from Dwight Nadeau -- which is the cover sheet on
this package -- of August 27th, 2001 -- and I've underlined it for
assistance -- "The purpose for this amendment is merely to depict the
current development pattern as it has been permitted through its
seven platted phases" -- which is correct -- "and to reflect the
intended last phase of development as it has been permitted" -- past
tense, existing tense -- "with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the South Florida Water Management District," not a fact.
Right after that are the existing site plans and then an e-mail
from the staff of South Florida of October 9th (sic) where I inquired
as to the status of the South Florida permit. October 19th, status:
Under review. Mr. Butler, who's the biologist for the developer,
advised that there was a recent meeting with South Florida. That's
correct. That was October 25th, status: Under review. Army Corps
-- I have an e-mail from Army Corps. As to status, no permit has
been issued. Again, Mr. Butler was correct -- or Mr. Nadeau -- with
regards to that. They're planning on posting a 30-day public notice
clock next week.
No permit is issued, in other words, for Army Corps or South
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Florida, contrary to a two-month-old representation in the PUD
submittal. Unfortunately, this representation was carried through in
the staff reports, including that of the EAC.
Okay. Slow down. Thank you. Thank you for not throwing
any rubber bands at me, Barbara. I appreciate that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: She can't type that fast to throw and
type.
MR. PIRES: Additionally, from a standpoint of fact, if you go
through -- once again, what are the facts? October 3rd letter from
Tim Hains, who's an attorney for the developer, to Joe Stewart is in
line with what Mr. Nadeau was saying, that "my client advises us
they have no present plans to build the storage facility." "Since there
are no plans to build, there is no decision as to where the facility will
be located." "However, there are no plans to request a building
permit."
Then I've also attached correspondence to South Florida of
October 5th from lan Butler, the biologist, that says please see the
enclosed drawing and PUD documents for more details as to the
location and size of the storage area. This is the storage facility that
is proposed in this area, which is designated "lake" under the master
plan. And if you recall the language in 2.3(B), that's to be a lake for
intermittent shallow area.
I would submit to you that's (indicating) pretty detailed for a
storage facility that's not proposed or planned. That is the area --
5,000-square-foot building, 201 spaces submitted to South Florida on
October 5th as to what is proposed. Now, I don't know how accurate
they're being with South Florida because I think Mr. Nadeau said,
well, we tell them, and we actually don't mean it. But that was
submitted on October 5th, and South Florida has the stamp on that
particular document.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Now, would you say that that's an
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intent?
MR. PIRES: I'm sorry?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Would you call that drawing an intent
to do something?
MR. PIRES: Absolutely. And, once again, that's an area where
the lakes are. What I also find interesting is the representation -- if I
can use the visualizer and stand over here for a moment.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Remember, you don't have to talk fast.
We'll give you time. Not walk, I said talk.
MR. PIRES: The applicant has indicated that the higher quality
wetlands are in the eastern area. The applicant, upon inquiry, I think
by Mr. Strain and others, was asked, what is in the area that was
designated as storage? This is the -- again, the higher quality
wetlands as represented by the applicant. And in the higher quality
on the visualizer -- do you have it? Thank you, Chahram. That's in
the higher quality wetlands. These were taken two days ago on
October 30th.
Here's another photograph, and you can see the water standing.
This is two days ago. And obviously some vegetation has been
removed. This is another photograph taken October 30th of the area
that is generally indicated as storage area on the original PUD master
plan.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do you have any idea, Mr. Pires, about
the square footage that we're talking about here, how large of an
area?
MR. PIRES: No, I do not. Mr. Belanger may have some more,
and he may also have other indication as to how long it has been
there.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And how --
MR. PIRES: Also, there is a-- it looks like a diesel storage tank
of about a thousand gallons in that same area. These are all being
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made part of the record. Again, the diesel storage area, and you can
see the project to the east. And this is taken to the north showing
some of the vegetation in the area. But, again, this is in the area that
is indicated as being storage area, and it's been there at least two
years. There's a dirt road going to that.
MR. WHITE: Not to interrupt Mr. Pires' presentation,
Commissioner, but--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Oh, there you are.
MR. WHITE: Here I am. I'd ask that if he can, proffer who
took those photographs, whether they fairly and accurately depict --
MR. PIRES: Yes, sir. I will.
MR. WHITE: -- etc., so that if they're becoming part of the
record, that they be admitted as evidence, if you will.
MR. PIRES: Mr. Belanger will testify that he took these
photographs on October 30th, and he will testify that they fairly and
accurately depict what they purport to represent.
And so I think with regards to this particular application, this
board is asking for facts. This board is asking for candor. The facts
are that -- what the remedial actions that are requested by the PUD
amendment were. They maintain, again, what the community has
been accustomed to as far as the amenities.
The issue with regards to the storage area, again, the storage
area is depicted on the PUD master plan in the northeast area. It's
been utilized as such. The -- there are lots in the northwest area that
currently is designated as lake. That's where the proposed storage
area is currently desired to be located in. There are lots there. Those
people will also be here today. And they are, once again, coming
here to exercise their rights, even though there is that correspondence
from the developer saying don't you dare talk about this. We think
this board needs to have all the facts. It's not an issue where they're
opposing the developer, even though there may be a desire by the
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developer to have an all-or-nothing opposition. If the developer was
truly candid with wanting to take the remedial action necessary, all of
the items requested in this amendment would be appropriate except
for that one wherein this proposal to put a storage facility in the
western side.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So, Mr. Pires, are you saying, then,
that you agree with, I guess, each of the items you listed as fact
except for the change for the storage facility? MR. PIRES: That's correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And that's the only thing that you're
suggesting that your client is majorly concerned about?
MR. PIRES: That's correct. And if Mr. Cuyler thought there
were no significant issues, I wonder why he dropped that hammer on
me yesterday at quarter after five.
MR. CUYLER: I'll be happy to explain that when I --
MR. PIRES: One of the questions -- in response to the
questions you were asking about the infrastructure, the Phase B, D, E,
and F plats, Phase B plat was recorded in September of'95.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me?
MR. PIRES: The Phase B plat--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: '95?
MR. PIRES: Phase II-B plat was recorded September of'95.
The Phase II-D plat was recorded November of'96, I believe, and II-
F, November of'99. Those are the ones, I think, indicated as having
preliminary acceptance.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I think your photo showed
possibly a leftover manhole structure, and a couple of those items on
there to me looked like they could be leftover catch basin parts.
MR. PIRES: I may characterize them as debris being stored in a
wetlands area.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It would look like it's debris being
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stored.
MR. PIRES: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for your
consideration, indulgence. And we ask that you make a
recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
MR. PIRES: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
I think Mr. Richardson would like to--
-- ask you a question.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Thank you, Mr. Pires.
I'm, frankly, not interested in cat fights between two lawyers, okay,
so just to get that on the record. Let me see if I can characterize your
position, because I'm not sure it came across to me properly, and you
can correct me.
You like the changes that have already been made which were in
violation of the original master plan but that this action would --
would legitimize, but you want to retain the portion of the old master
plan that has not yet been constructed, meaning the lake. You'd like
to have the lake there because it's called for, and you'd like the
storage area to stay where it is as it's shown. And I guess -- though I
don't know that I've heard you mention it -- that you would not like to
have the tract on the upper left-hand side brought into the picture.
MR. PIRES: For clarification, as indicated, the improvements
that were made -- you know, the golf course, which is over some of
the lots, the people -- that's in place. The people have become
accustomed to that, and they've purchased with those in place. They
purchased with this shown on the site plan, but they purchased with
this in place.
And they have no objection to these lots basically being relocated up
to here.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Okay.
MR. PIRES: There's no problem with that. And the golf course
was built-- this was to be a preserve, and that's in place, and that's on
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the ground, and that's acceptable. But they also bought with the
storage area in this area. And they don't need-- necessarily need to
have that lake there, but not the storage area in this location.
And for clarification also -- I'm not sure if it was clear - the access to
the storage area is before the gate. It is not after the gate. It is before
the gate. I'm not sure if Mr. Nadeau accurately or succinctly
addressed that issue.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Inside the gate.
MR. PIRES: No. Outside the gate.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: They said-- Mr. Nadeau
said just the opposite.
MR. PIRES: I believe you'll hear from Mr. Belanger it's in this
area. In this area there's a lift station right here, I believe -- and Mr.
Belanger can address that -- and a panel controlling the irrigation
system, which is after the gate. This is the -- where we believe the
proposed entry is. It's just before the gate or outside the gate.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: West of the gate.
MR. PIRES: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So what is your bottom line, Mr. Pires,
at this point? What are you seeking from us today or a remedy or --
MR. PIRES: From Mr. Belanger's perspective -- because, once
again, I'm representing him in this issue today because of the threat;
he's willing to take that risk -- is that the petition as submitted with --
be recommended for approval to the Board of County Commissioners
with the exception that this Tract CR be over in this area and that
there (indicating) to here (indicating) be conservation.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
MR. PIRES: That would allow the storage to be in this location
on the eastern side as originally depicted on the master plan.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, you sort of put him
between the rock and the hard place if the South Florida Water
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Management District won't let him put the storage there.
MR. PIRES: We'll work with South Florida and Army Corps
and -- to assist them in that particular endeavor to --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Enlighten them or--
MR. PIRES: No. Assist them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: One at a time.
MR. PIRES: One other interesting aspect, as Mr. -- Dr.
Badamtchian indicated, EAC is hearing this again next Wednesday.
We've had a biological report prepared since the time -- we weren't
part of the August 7th because we were not notified of the August 7th
EAC, even though we had been involved with staff and the
developer.
And I don't know if the EAC's recommendation will be the same
as last time. It may, and it may not be, based upon the data and the
report that we have from the biologist that the property owners have
retained.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Pires, what does your
biological statement say about those wetlands?
MR. PIRES: Well, the statement says that -- first of all, that the
data site utilized -- with regards to the hydrology, may need to have
new hydrology tests done because of the water table pipes in that
area; that the quality of the wetlands is equal on either side, basically.
The biologist recommends that the area of impact not be 8 acres, but
be 3 acres and that it be located in the eastern portion.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Thank you.
MR. PIRES: Thank you very kindly.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
(Applause)
MS. MURRAY: Joe Belanger followed by Joe Stewart.
MR. BELANGER: Good afternoon. My name is Joe Belanger.
I'm on the board of directors for the Silver Lakes POA. I'm also
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elected as the cochair of the ad hoc transition committee as a voice of
the homeowners of Silver Lakes. I stand here today under threat of
law -- of a lawsuit, and I open my arms to that lawsuit and welcome
and remind the lawyer that they can't get blood out of a stone,
because I have nothing.
The people in the park have been -- have not opposed the
changes proposed on the PUD plan except for the location of the
storage area. Every one of us in the park from day one -- and I've
been there since 1993. When we bought in, we were told we would
have a nine-hole executive golf course. Today their fliers still
advertise a nine-hole executive golf course. We were told that this
was going to be nature trails and nature walks with a -- with possibly
a lake. We find out today they want to put in an 8-acre storage area.
And if you look at this, I looked at one thing, and that's a commercial
storage area.
Now, we don't have any objections if they were to put the
storage area where it is originally depicted, here, on the original PUD
map. They already have an entrance into that area, as you're seeing
by the pictures depicted by Tony Pires. Okay. They have that
entrance there. It's a fenced-in area already. It's just below the lots.
The lots start a little ways above that, that entrance.
And we feel that it would be a lot more honest to the people
coming in our lovely community -- and we do have a lovely
community, and we have some of the best people in the world in that
community, and I can answer to that on a personal note. I feel that it
would be a lot better if the developer was -- was to put the storage
area where it was originally designed. And then when he sells his
lots, at least the incoming people would know what they're buying
into. We knew what we were buying into, and we don't like to have
it changed.
Now, we've worked with the developer since January, since
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February. We've tried to come to compromises with the developer at
several meetings -- Mr. Chahram (sic) was part of that meeting -- one
of those meetings -- to no avail. They want -- they want everything
or nothing at all. I asked the developer the other day at a meeting he
held with the homeowners if the ruling came down that he could have
everything except for the storage area in the west portion of that
grounds, would that be acceptable to him, and he said, "No. I'll
withdraw my petition."
I don't -- well, that's -- and I think had we not received that fax
last night -- because I held a meeting with my people last night and
asked them not to get up, not to submit their names, and let I (sic)
take the -- the blunt (sic) of that fax as a lawsuit. They don't need
that stuff at this point in time. I think had they -- had that fax not
come in last night, you would have had them lined up knee-deep in
the halls ready to speak and saying the same thing as I am saying
right now. I thank you for your time.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I think we have a question.
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Question, please. I'm just
curious.
I'm not sure nothing at all would be such a bad resolution of this.
What am I missing?
MR. BELANGER: Well --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: You said -- you're
representing that you've been told that they might withdraw the
application. That would mean that all of the amenities that are there
would continue to be there. The only thing that would be missing
would be moving that
Tract A up for the pads up on the north side, but the rest of it
would remain open just the way you've got it, you know, nature trails,
so forth.
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November 1, 2001
MR. BELANGER: Well, I think we have to cross that bridge
when we get to it. Right now we're not at that bridge, and personally
I feel it would be a foolish move on a developer to tear up a nine-hole
executive golf course. It would deter -- deter the fact -- the -- the
-- the selling point of the park, and I would -- I would probably
assume that a lot of us would move out of that park and -- and -- or
file a lawsuit on fraudulent inducement of sales.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: But perhaps you're
misunderstanding me. I didn't mean that we'd go back to some sort of
enforcement action. I would just say that whatever -- as somebody
has mentioned, whatever is -- has happened has already happened. If
we left it the way it is -- I'm not talking about going and tearing
anything out. Left the way it is, it seems to me you've accomplished
most of what you desire, that is no new storage area up in the front
left and the storage area where it is. The only question would be
about the location of that Tract A pads.
MR. BELANGER: If-- if you were to rule that the developer
could have everything that he is asking for except for the location of
the storage area, which we would like to see in the east track (sic) and
not the west track where they propose to put it, that would be
acceptable to every one of the homeowners in this park.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Thank you.
MR. BELANGER: Any other questions?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I just want to make sure that it is
your --
MR. BELANGER: I knew there was coming one.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- to make sure that it is your
testimony that you've been told that the developer would tear out the
golf course?
MR. BELANGER: I believe that most of the people in this
room that were present at that homeowners' meeting when I put my
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arm around the gentleman and asked him clearly, Ted, would you
accept a ruling of a partial settlement without the -- without the --
without the storage area, could you accept that? He said, "Definitely
no.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So he would not accept it, but did he
go on to say that he would attempt to --
MR. BELANGER: He would withdraw his petition.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Just withdraw his petition. So we don't
have testimony that says he's going to tear out anything.
MR. BELANGER: He has made -- let me clarify something. In
a lot of the meetings that we talked to -- homeowners' meetings,
okay, and board meetings, he kept telling us that that 40 acres is his
40 acres. Okay? That's his 40 acres. And if we want to do anything
with the 40 acres, that we have to purchase it for $2.2 million. He
does not agree that that 40-acre track belongs to the density of the
park. All right? Now, in discussion with that, he has told us that if
he cannot put a storage area in that area, he's going to come back and
tear out -- in a letter that he wrote to the homeowners, he stated that
he would be forced by you people, by the Planning Commission, to
tear out the golf course and revert back to a putt-putt golf course.
That's in writing.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'm not sure that that's what we would
be looking to do.
MR. BELANGER: I -- I didn't say you were. I said that's what
he said.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I think Mr. Adelstein --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: He -- he answered the
question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Answered the question. Dr.
Badamtchian, do you have some other clarification from staffs point?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: When I started my presentation, you
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asked the question about the enforcement, if we have a code
enforcement case on this. And it's going to be up to the code -- code
compliance department, code enforcement department, to decide
what they want to do. I -- it's possible that they could take
enforcement action and require them to comply with the PUD master
plan as it's approved today.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: But couldn't one of the actions it
would take is to say let's sit down and work out what is reality and
not reality and resolve it, kind of like we're doing here today? That
was the impression that I got from the executive staff summary that
was written.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The owner of the property must agree
to that. We cannot force that -- we have an approved master plan,
and they have not built according to the master plan. It's like having
a building permit and not building according to the building permit.
So either they amend the master plan, or they comply with the master
plan. And as long as the developer of the property doesn't ask to
change those things to what's on the -- on the ground, the
development's in violation, and code enforcement action may be
taken.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. But wouldn't there be some
connection or relationship to the number of lots that have been sold,
that there are now individual property owners and that, perhaps, the
developer doesn't have full control anymore? Isn't there a
relationship? Maybe I'm missing something.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: County attorney can answer this
question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. White, that goes to why I was
asking what the current ownership matrix is of this particular PUD,
because if we get into this horrendous, antagonistic battle of what is
and isn't and what did or didn't happen, isn't there some responsibility
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that the property owners have, now that they're owners, to help
resolve this issue?
MR. WHITE: I believe you're suggesting that they may need to
be added, if you will, as coapplicants?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'm really not sure. I don't quite
understand how the developer can be this adamant about ripping out
something because he's got a problem but that we have agreement on,
what, four out of five issues here. And is there not some relationship
to the number of people that actually own now and have
responsibility, or is it totally under -- the PUD totally under the
developer still?
MR. WHITE: One of the hallmarks of PUDs, of course, is
unified control. But I think when you get to an amendment like this,
it may, indeed, be an issue that needs to be addressed by the
applicant. I don't know that it was something that staff analyzed or
not. I can't give you a simple legal answer.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Can't give me a legal answer. So when
it comes to the developer, obviously he applied because he wanted to
make some changes. He wanted to comply with what the reality on
the ground is. And the homeowners went along with him, but there
seems to be a major difference of issue. If--
MR. WHITE: I'm not sure how the, quote, lots are owned, if it's
in fee simple, if they've received warranty deeds. There's -- what I'm
saying is there's no simple legal answer because there's a lot of
factual issues out here that I have no information about.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I guess maybe -- that was one
of the reasons that I definitely wanted to know how many people
actually owned. And do they have some stake in their community,
then, that they have to be responsible for what the finish of this PUD
is?
MR. BELANGER: Madam Chairman?
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
MR. BELANGER: The figures that you asked for from Mr.
Nadeau earlier I just gave to Mr. Nadeau. He has those figures of
how many lots have been sold in the park.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And then that might help me
ask the question again.
MR. BELANGER: I believe we're at approximately 87 percent.
George, correct me. About 87 percent ownership.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. And so Mr. --
MR. WHITE: There may be aspects in there or restrictive
covenants, for example. I mean, there's obviously one provision in
there that seems to be pretty draconian in terms of-- but those are the
conditions under which those folks bought. And there may be other
ones in the restrictive covenants, for example, that say that they will
not object or that they will agree to go forward with any application.
And that may be, indeed, the very provision that Mr. Pires was
making reference to in the letter from Mr. Cuyler. So, you know, like
I said a moment ago, there are a number of facts out there that make
it difficult to give you a simple legal answer.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And from a factual standpoint, we
don't have control over those deed restrictions. MR. WHITE: Well--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's not part of what we get to hear
here today or rule on.
MR. WHITE: Typically the government's not afforded a right
of enforcement for those types of restrictive covenants. As a matter
of fact, our Land Development Code typically indicates, as do many
others, that there is no right of enforcement under the deed
restrictions unless it's expressly granted.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Wow. Do we have any other questions
here?
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I think we have additional speakers.
MS. MURRAY: The next speaker is Jerry Strauss --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you, Mr. Belanger.
MS. MURRAY: -- followed by Joe Stewart.
MR. PIRES: Madam Chair, if I may just speak with Mr.
Belanger. I don't know if Mr. White wants Mr. Belanger personally
to verify the photographs or--
MR. CUYLER: We'll stipulate to that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Thank you.
MR. STRAUSS: Madam Chairman, my name is Jerry -- it's
Jerome M., really, but I go by Jerry-- Jerry Strauss. It's S-t-r-a-u-s-s.
My wife would have been here. She had to leave to -- I'd like for her
to be here because we both moved down to paradise together from
Indiana in 1995 when we bought our property at Silver Lakes. And
on the little brochure that they handed out to share a dream with
them, and that was what we were going to do, is share a dream. And
we bought -- and I can show you where -- on this map where we live.
We live right -- right in here, right about the end of this Tract CR,
this point.
And we bought -- actually bought three lots. We bought three
lots. We bought those from the developer. And we also bought a
home from the developer because the developer sells homes, and we
bought the concrete pad and all the rest that was built by the
developer. And all of this was very important to us for the privacy
that was afforded us by that 40 acres that was behind us. And were it
not for the representation to us that that would be a nature preserve,
wetlands, walking paths, we wouldn't have bought there. Those are
facts. That's why we bought there.
Now, there are others in this audience that bought there, our
neighbors, for the very same reasons and would testify just exactly as
I had testified if it were not for Mr. Cuyler's letter last evening,
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because they were prepared to do that. And I can tell you -- I could
give you the names of those persons. I'm hesitant to do that. And I
could tell you there are at least -- almost every neighbor of mine,
almost every one except one I can think of down that strip, bought on
that representation, that there would be nothing built, that that would
be a wetland. There was a wetland, that there would be nature trails,
and so on.
And one of the other things I -- Mr. Pires asked me to bring to
your attention is that in Conquest's recent letter to the -- and this was
dated, I guess, the -- let me get the day of this letter. This is
something that was sent out by Conquest to all the owners of the
park. This was sent out by Mr. Bridgett.
He states this, and I quote: It has been suggested by members of
the Collier -- now, remember this was sent out by the Conquest -- by
Conquest, and with this letter was a form for everyone to sign
showing that they had no objections to the petition before this group.
It has -- quote, it has been suggested by members of the county --
Collier County planning staff that if the PUD amendment, paren, map
change, is not approved, they would have no alternative other than to
enforce the original map, end quote.
Now, we bought on the representation -- we're not golfers, but I
love being in that park, and I love the fact that it has a golf course.
And these other people bought on a representation that there would
be a nine-hole executive golf course, and that is still being handed out
today, this very day. This is an enormous threat to these individuals.
And when they received this letter, everyone was panicked. We've
been panicked about this development behind us. They're panicked
about the golf course.
But all of us are ready to accept every part of the petition that's
before you except the only thing we ask is that that piece of
development that is in the west, the storage area, be moved back to
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the back in the right area where it was originally, PUD, on the east
half-- east side of the property where it's originally placed. And
that's the only request. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
(Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: No questions of this gentleman? We
have another registered speaker.
MS. MURRAY: Joe Stewart followed by Robert Murrell. And
that's your last speaker.
MR. STEWART: Good afternoon, Madam Chairman. It's been
a long day. I'll be brief. I promise. My name is Joe Stewart. I
represent Mr. Jerry Krauss (sic). Mr. Krauss indicated on the map
where he -- where his current home is. And what he didn't tell you is
that when he bought his property, he had -- he didn't tell you he was a
lawyer, and he had included in his contract a specific provision that
said the storage area would not be moved from its current location,
which would adversely affect his property.
I corresponded with the developer on this very point sometime
in September, and I got an interesting response from them. The
response is included in the materials provided to you by Mr. Pires.
And I know this board is not interested in -- it's a letter dated October
3rd.
And I know the board's not interested in cat fights between
lawyers, but I'm sure that the board is interested in the applicant's
being truthful with this board.
I wrote down, I believe, verbatim what Mr. Nadeau said, which
was there is an intent to build this storage facility. Now, reading
from this letter from the developer's lawyer dated October 3rd, I see
in three places where they indicated there is no intent. Of course, if
there was -- if there is no intent to construct a facility, one wonders
why it is that they're requesting a change. But verbatim from the
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letter, my client advises us they have no present plans to build a
storage facility. Another quote, since there are no plans to build,
there is no decision as to where the facility would be located.
Another quote, however, there are no plans to request a building
permit.
We received another letter from the developer's lawyer and --
(Unidentified speaker with inaudible question.)
MR. STEWART: Certainly. It's in the materials. October 3rd.
Is it -- did you-all find it in your package? Because if not, I have it
here.
(Several speakers speaking inaudibly.)
MR. STRAIN: It's not the same lawyer that's sitting here in the
audience; is that what you're getting at, Ken? MR. CUYLER: Correct.
MR. STEWART: Okay. Well, then I'd like to address a quote
from the developer's lawyer who is in the audience. I also wrote
down what he told you folks. Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Before you go any further, we're
talking about an October 3rd letter signed by a Timothy Hains of
Quarles & Brady?
MR. STEWART: Yes, ma'am.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I just wanted to make sure we
were looking at the right letter.
MR. STEWART: It should-- those quotations should be
underlined. Okay. Moving on to the current representation, what Mr.
Cuyler told you-- and I believe I wrote this down correctly -- is,
quote, we are interested in the residents articulating what their
concerns are. Now, to me that seems to be absolutely contrary to the
attempt to chill statements by the residents before this board.
Now, there was a-- there was a discussion of this draconian
covenant that was pointed out the last -- in this correspondence. I
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question truly whether the developer included that covenant in there
as some type of an escape hatch which would allow it to make
whatever type of representations orally or in contracts concerning the
development of this property, and then later on do an about-face and
rely on that provision.
Quite the contrary. Most of the times when courts look at
provisions like that, they try to enforce provisions so that they make
sense. And the only way that I can make that provision make sense is
that, sure, the residents would agree to representations -- to requests
by the developer for zoning changes, like most of the zoning changes
they've requested, as long as they are not contrary to specific
representations they've made by the developer's sales representation
-- representatives and in the written documents.
Any questions? Those are all the comments that I had. Thank
you very much.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Do we have another
registered speaker?
MS. MURRAY: Robert Murrell is your last speaker.
MR. MURRELL: My name is Robert Murrell. I'm with
Samouce, Murrell & Francoeur. We also represent Mr. Belanger
today as well as representing the ad hoc committee for the issues.
Most of the issues have already been discussed, and obviously I won't
go back over those. I would like to add one additional comment that
-- Mr. Strauss had read from the letter from Mr. Bridgett from
Conquest Development, and I'd like to complete that paragraph. And
it was in terms of where -- when he suggested that it was the planning
staff-- that the PUD amendment change, if not approved, they would
have no alternative other than to enforce the original map.
And it continues, if this happened, we would be required to
recreate conserva -- recreate conservation areas, eliminate golf holes,
and construct the last lots where originally planned. This would
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destroy the golf course. As developers of Silver Lakes RV Resort
and Golf Club, we do not want this to happen. So we have here a
representation from the developer that he, too, doesn't want this to
occur; and yet we also have the threats that have been made that if the
approval isn't granted to everything, that it will be removed. Again,
Mr. Belanger has indicated his desire that all the items be approved
except for the movement of the storage facility.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I want to make sure, you are an
attorney; right?
MR. MURRELL: I am an attorney. I am counsel for--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I just want to ask you a basic
question. As the chairman of the Planning Commission, I don't really
think that I have a category of responsibility called therapist, but
there sounds from the testimony here today that we have some huge
animosity occurring in this particular development. We, as
commissioners, have enough information to make a motion to
determine what we're going to do with what we accept. And I hear
you say that there's only one big issue, which is the storage, the two
tracts switching--
MR. MURRELL: Correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- and that there seems to be no way to
discuss this and come to a conclusion. I mean, we could say, as a
Planning Commission, that, gee, thanks for all the testimony. This
looks good. We have this one issue. But there's the aspect of the
environmental permitting agencies saying something different--
MR. MURRELL: Correct.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- which would create a problem. But
you, as an attorney, can you act as a therapist, provide some sort of
way to come to a reasonable conclusion here?
MR. MURRELL: We -- we have certainly tried to do that.
We've tried in the past and have, from almost the beginning when
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these things were presented to the ad hoc committee and to the unit
owners at Silver Lakes, indicated immediately to the developer that
we'd approve everything except the storage facility, and we'd, you
know, like to work on trying to get the storage facility moved to the
east side and that we were available and would be ready, willing, and
able to work with the -- the agencies in terms of whatever we could
do to try to convince the agencies that the best place to go would be
on the east side.
There are -- there are additional factors in play. Every week
more factors come into play. There's already a community, as we've
seen in the pictures, on the east side of-- of that area as well. So, I
mean, the community comes back to it as well as -- you know, the
acreage north of the 40 acres is also, you know, probably going to be
developed reasonably soon. So, I mean, it's not like we're going to
have a wetlands that's going to extend forever and forever. But, you
know, we stand ready, willing, and able today to work with the
developer in trying to bring that about.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: See, I've been on this board for two
years. Normally when we reach a position like this, they're --
everybody's willing to cooperate. That's partly why we have a public
participation element now. And people are afraid to speak up, but
we've got a lot of facts in front of us that -- I know where I'm heading
toward, but I'm not sure that's going to solve the problems here. I'm
really not.
Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Mr. Stewart (sic), as I
recall, there was testimony that that preserve area is north of the
Deltona line; is that -- do you agree with that?
MR. MURRELL: Most of that is north of the Deltona line,
that's correct.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, why did the south
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water -- why are these jurisdictional -- we were told that they did not
exercise jurisdiction over things south of the line. Well, why didn't
they exercise jurisdiction over the area north of the line back when
this whole development started? Do you know?
MR. MURRELL: I do not know that. I wasn't involved in the
process.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Did the original PUD have
this storage area in the eastern area?
MR. MURRELL: Yes, sir, it did.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Had a storage area?
MR. MURRELL: Well, it's just a -- it was a small square area
right there.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: All right. Now, can the
South Florida Water Management District -- that was in the original
PUD. Can the South Florida Water Management District -- and, Mr.
White, I'd like your input on this as well. Can they come along and
say you've got to move it out of there?
MR. MURRELL: I think it's more -- I would agree with what
Mr. Nadeau said before. I think it's more of they may not permit you
to place it where you would like to place it.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's already there. It's been
there.
MR. MURRELL: Well, no, sir. I don't think it -- I think as to
South Florida, it is -- I don't know that it is there, and I think that's
one of the issues. I think the petitioner could probably --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's not a storage area. It's
just a junk pile. Is that -- is there is a difference?
MR. MURRELL: Yeah. It's -- it's marked on the PUD as a
storage area. I think, again, it's part of the cross matters that we have
between the different governmental agencies. It's shown on the PUD
as being the storage area, but I don't -- I do not believe that South
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Florida ever granted or has given permission for a permit for a
storage area to be at that spot.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, why ask the South
Florida Water Management District? If-- if you're content to leave it
in the eastern area, what are you asking them for? What are they
being asked to do? They're being asked to move it down to the west.
MR. MURRELL: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: To sanction that.
MR. MURRELL: That's correct. And we would like to go back
in with the developer to ask South Florida to move it to the east -- or
to leave it.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Leave it in the east.
MR. MURRELL: To leave it in the -- to leave it right where --
where it is and where it's being used. That's correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Abemathy, at the time a PUD
is submitted, South Florida usually isn't involved in any review. So
the PUD could show anything it wanted to, subject to South Florida's
final review when they go in for a building permit. When they go in
for an SDP at the county, the staff at the county at some point would
ask for their South Florida permit now that they've actually applied to
do something, and that's when it would show up. The debris that's
out there I don't believe was ever applied to be there. I think it just --
it just is there. I don't think --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It's just there.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Right. I think that may be where
the confusion is.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. White, do you have a comment on
Mr. Abemathy's?
MR. WHITE: I believe you've reached the correct analysis and
conclusion.
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Richardson.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair, a light bulb
has kind of turned on for me about this. I've been trying to figure out
why there's such an arbitrary and capricious position being taken by
the applicant -- that's my assessment -- and the only answer I can
come up with is that it must be big bucks in putting it -- this area over
on the --
(Applause)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Cuyler.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Let me finish. If this is
truly a dollar issue, then it seems to me we might have some grounds
for you to negotiate, to work out some sort of financial arrangement
that would resolve this issue. I mean, if just moving things around
isn't -- I don't -- from what I'm gathering, is not going to solve this
problem because the applicant, as I'm reading it, the testimony, is
intent on making some dollars out of a new use in this area. And
perhaps there could be something the homeowners could work out
that would offset that financial loss to him and leave things the way
they are.
MR. MURRELL: That has certainly been our concern. I mean,
we've had two major concerns. Number one was since it is an
accessory use, we felt like what better accessory use than when it --
where it was originally planned, where the road was cut for it, and
where it was set. We also became very concerned as -- as the -- as it
appeared that the entranceway into this accessory use is going to be
outside the gate, and certainly that led to our concerns and, I think,
the letters that the staff has received in regards to it being a
commercial activity.
You know, you put everything together-- number one, moving
it; number two, the fact that we agree to everything else in the
amendment, and you add that with it being an entrance outside of the
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gate -- and it doesn't really appear to be an accessory use. And then
that's going to be simply a code enforcement nightmare, potentially,
down the road. But I think-- I think you've hit it exactly.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mr. Wolfley, did you have a
question for him or --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Well--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Because I want to get Mr. Cuyler back
up here and ask him a couple questions.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: That's where I really have a
question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
MR. MURRELL: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Do -- we have no further
registered speakers?
MS. MURRAY: No.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Cuyler, you may have some
comments to make --
MR. CUYLER: I do.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- but I certainly have a question or
two. Why don't you make a comment or two, and you may assuage
some of my concerns. And if not, I'll ask you my questions.
MR. CUYLER: Okay. Mr. Pires didn't point out -- if-- if I, as
an attorney, have been accused of writing a -- what has been
perceived to be a threatening letter--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Draconian.
MR. CUYLER: -- a draconian threatening letter, I don't have
the opportunity to do that very often. I'm not a litigator. But, yeah, I
-- I wrote a letter. I -- last time I looked, I had a client to represent,
and my client's getting a little tired of some of the rumors that have
been floating around. And one thing Mr. Pires didn't point out -- and
I put in my letter, first of all, that CCPC doesn't have jurisdiction of
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deed restrictions. It's not an issue that I was going to raise at CCPC.
And secondly, we knew that public participation was important.
We normally welcome comments of the public, but it's possible to
contract your right to speak away. For example, if you sign a
nondisclosure agreement and you contract with someone on a
nondisclosure agreement and then you stand up at the podium and
say "I have a constitutional right to say anything I want to say," then
go get a lawyer, because you're going to get sued.
Under these circumstances there is a provision in the deed
restrictions, and it says -- and if the attorneys -- if Mr. Stewart doesn't
think it's viable, then, you know, tell him to advise the people to
stand up and talk. But there's a provision in the deed restriction that
says by acceptance of this deed, the -- you are on notice that the
developer may be making changes to his plans; and if we ask you to
consent to those, you will do it. So I sent a letter saying that, you
know, that provision exists. I told Mr. Pires in my letter I wasn't
going to raise it at the CCPC. As Mr. Stewart said, I said I was ready
to hear what the comments were. I saw Mr. Pires sitting out there. I
knew they were going to be talking. So, you know, I was interested
in what they are saying.
Let me also say that Mr. Pires indicated I said there were no
issues. I didn't say there were no issues. I said there were no legal
issues. And, as you have seen, there are no legal issues. And, as a
matter of fact, as the chairman's pointed out, 80 percent of this has
been agreed to, and we knew that there were no issues for most of
this. It has turned out to be the -- the storage that -- that is the issue.
With that, I'll answer any questions that you have.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Well, then, may I ask you my therapy
question?
MR. CUYLER: Sure.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I pretty clearly see that 80 percent of
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this is agreed to. What is it that is keeping your client and you,
representing him, from saying yes? Look at all these people that own
property here which, you know, they're here, and they have an
interest. Sure, they have a deed restriction, but what is the key
element that says you don't want to negotiate or give this up? I -- can
I understand that? Do we have a therapy here? Because, I mean, I
think I know what I'd like to see a motion come through, but where
are we?
MR. CUYLER: Let me say this, and then I'll let Mr. Nadeau
address it. But let me put it the way that I would. In order to cure
those elements that we've discussed have been agreed to, that is those
things that were not in compliance with the PUD -- there are certain
ratios of land uses on that map, and the ultimate end to those has to
be certain percentages.
What the developer basically has been forced to do -- although
he could have built the storage area, under the PUD, anywhere in that
area tomorrow, subject to permitting. The county could not stop him
from putting that anywhere he wanted to at the top of that diagram.
That would be a jurisdictional issue in terms -- that's my
understanding. Somebody can correct me if they're (sic) wrong, but
he could do it today, any time. But he's been forced into designating
or limiting the area within which he can build it because the
conservation area that's now shown is the makeup for those other
areas that are no longer preserve and on the map.
Now, that -- in answer to your question, why has he designated
those 8 acres instead of the other 8 acres, there's two answers, one of
which is the jurisdictional agencies have indicated they want to see it
at that end; and the second answer is he's the client, and that's what he
decided to do. And, you know, in terms of anything beyond that, I
don't have an answer. But I'll be happy to have Mr. Nadeau stand up,
and he may have some additional comments for you.
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Ken.
MR. CUYLER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I guess the essence of
what's being said here is that there never was an established storage
area at the east. There was some dropping of stuff there, but -- but in
order to have had a storage area there, they would have had to go
through some permitting, would they not?
MR. CUYLER: Correct. And remember, what we're talking
about is -- I mean, Mr. Pires made a big deal of-- of the diagram.
That's what you're talking about with some kind of storage area. I
mean, you'll have slots, and they go -- trailers go in there or rec
vehicles. And, I mean, the fact that somebody dumped some
concrete and --
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Slag pile.
MR. CUYLER: Right. I mean, that's -- it may be referred to as
a storage area, but it's not what we're talking about.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Nobody was storing
anything there.
MR. CUYLER: No.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: But isn't this on a master plan, and
that's usually something that we and other people can rely upon?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: It was never --
MR. CUYLER: Yes and no. The answer is it may be on a
master plan. But there's specific language in the PUD -- and it's in
most of the PUDs that you look at, and you've probably all seen that
language and are familiar with it -- that says this is a conceptual
drawing.
The developer's not bound to it, and you know, it may go there
or it may not go there. It will be in general conformance with that
master plan, but that's not a site plan.
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COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I think the master plan is an
exhibit, an exhibit that was approved at the time this PUD went
through. Just--
MR. CUYLER: Correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I keep --
MR. CUYLER: It is.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I keep going back to this same
meeting we had with a different client -- or a different applicant a few
weeks ago who argued just the opposite, successfully, of what you're
saying, that the master plan locks everything in. You're here saying it
doesn't. And--
MR. CUYLER: Well, it--
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: -- I'll be curious to see what the
county attorney thinks of it.
MR. CUYLER: Frankly--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I would too.
MR. CUYLER: Just my comment, it does and it doesn't. I
mean, it-- it locks --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Now, that's a clear answer, Mr. Cuyler.
Thank you for that --
MR. CUYLER: I tell you what.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- elaboration.
MR. CUYLER: I served for (sic) county attorney for ten years.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Even if you did--
MR. CUYLER: I can tell you it does and it doesn't. I mean, it
does in a sense.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN:
county attorney as well, Mr. Pires.
you --
MR. CUYLER:
attorney.
I think your competitor was a -- a
So I think between the two of
I think he was only an assistant county
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CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: You've all been trained through the
same system here. But I think -- were we not talking about the
Marco Shores and that master plan, and we --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Do you remember that
discussion?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- went through -- I mean, we were so
careful about getting some little -- the language on the master plan
when you don't normally put language on a master plan. And we
were being represented that what was here was -- you could rely upon
it, and they were here to change that PUD master plan versus the
PUD document that had all the text. So I'm -- I'm having a little
trouble with this, more than I should.
MR. CUYLER: A lot of times you've seen master plans that
have different variations in specificity, but a lot of times you'll just
have tracts of land that have residential, commercial. And when you
come in to develop that, as you know, you -- there's usually language
in there that says if we have to move the roads a little, if we have to
rearrange things -- you know that you're generally approving X
number of units. You know that you're generally approving a certain
size piece of property with certain uses that's going to interact in a
certain way, and there's traffic that's going to operate in a certain
way.
But when you talk about a storage area for a recreational vehicle
park, it's something that's usually not high on the radar of what a
county commission would be worried about or a planning
commission would be worried about, and that's usually left within the
development. In this case because of a number of things that have
happened, it's -- it's become an issue for you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: But I would suggest to you it would be
high on the radar of all those people who have in good faith
purchased out there and are sitting here today talking -- or not being
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able to talk to us because of some draconian approach to deed
restrictions, that they have some expectation to rely upon what this
legal document is. And I, as a planning commissioner, should have
some expectation that changing this one item from the front to the --
excuse me -- the back to the front, that's pretty significant. And that's
not just like moving something around a little bit. That's pretty
significant. And I think Mr. Adelstein has a --
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: One more question. Are you
-- are you saying you have no knowledge whatsoever of this
developer making a -- a separate commercial enterprise out of a
storage building off site at that property?
MR. CUYLER: I have no knowledge of that whatsoever. And
let me tell you something else. I have no knowledge of what Mr.
Stewart indicated. And I'm not saying he's -- he's not correct. That
was a correspondence that went back and forth between the real
estate attorney for the developer, but I had no knowledge of that.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'm sorry. We have Mr. Wolfley. I'm
somewhat baffled here. Go ahead. Mr. Wolfley first and then Mr.
Strain.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: May I ask a -- you were -- I
think -- for one, how many units are in Silver Lakes?
MR. NADEAU: We have 400 RV units and 160 recreational
residences. And to continue, if I may, to respond to Chairperson
Rautio's request, we have 160 recreational residences. 144 have been
sold; 16 are left to be sold. There are 400 TTRV lots; 357 of them
are sold; 43 are left to be sold. And of the 38 that are remaining, they
are also included within that 43, within the 43 RV lots that remain to
be sold.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So we have a lot of property owners
that are almost ready to take over a homeowners association. And if
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the developer and the property owners were talking to each other, we
probably wouldn't be here so long today. MR. NADEAU: Possibly.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Because they must have some rights as
-- as owners in this particular PUD that they bought into. But thank
you. That clarifies quite a bit for me. I appreciate that additional
information.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Madam Chairman.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Go right ahead.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Can I just finish?
MR. NADEAU: Commissioner Wolfley, would you like to
continue?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Yes. You were asked-- well,
for one, Tract CR, that is to be used for what, one more time?
MR. NADEAU: I will read directly from the PUD document --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Please.
MR. NADEAU: -- if I may. The purposes of this section is to
set forth a development plan and development standard for the areas
designated as CR, commons/recreation, on Exhibit B. The primary
function and purpose of this tract will be to provide access and
aesthetic -- aesthetically pleasing open areas, passive/active
recreational areas, hurricane evacuation shelter facilities for
recreational/residential uses, and areas intended for-- to satisfy the
residents' basic needs for a quality recreational opportunity. Any
recreational, social, administrative, or maintenance facilities which
may be indicated on the PUD master plan, Exhibit A, shall be
considered conceptual, and a placement of such facilities as may be
indicated on the PUD master plan shall be considered nonbinding.
Except in those areas to be used for water impoundment and principal
or accessory use areas, all natural trees and other vegetation, as
practicable, shall be protected and preserved.
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COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Okay. And then you were
asked, were you aware of this plan that's on top of your two plans,
this -- this thing for the storage facility, this design?
MR. NADEAU: I was aware that there was a plan submitted to
the permitting agencies.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Okay.
MR. NADEAU: I was privy only to it through the EIS
document.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Okay. I believe you were
asked a question of where the entry of that was going to be -- MR. NADEAU: That is correct.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: -- and if it was off Silver Lakes
Boulevard.
MR. NADEAU: That is correct. Having no knowledge of
where the access point is shown on this -- I see an access point shown
on the plan, but I did not have any knowledge of the relationship of
that access point with the gate.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: That it was actually outside the
gate.
MR. NADEAU: That it was actually outside the gate. So I will
accept responsibility for not knowing that information.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Okay. It just tells me that it's
really not for the residents, is what it looks like. (Applause)
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I mean, I felt-- I felt like all
the way along here that we were being led down a path, and then all
of a sudden, it got right out from under us and saying wait. But all
the consultants said one thing, and now some facts show another
thing. And that kind of makes me feel, I don't know, abused.
MR. NADEAU: Well, I have talked with the developer, and the
developer said that the access point -- if the gate needs to be moved,
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the gate will be moved. It'll be -- this is for the exclusive uses -- use
of the residents at the park. It says it in the PUD document.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: One more question. How
many sites in this storage -- how many areas for parking and things
are in there? Can you tell the --
MR. NADEAU: The plan says a total of 201 open storage
parking spaces.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: 201.
MR. NADEAU: Yes.
MR. CUYLER: Is it clear that the PUD requires it to be
accessory to the development? It cannot legally be used for
commercial use unless the petition -- a petitioner comes in under a
separate petition to the Planning Commission and the Board of
County Commissioners to allow it to be used as a commercial use.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Unless they come in to ask for it.
That's what you're saying.
MR. CUYLER: Unless they come into the Planning
Commission and the Board of County Commission -- well, I don't
think any of us can represent what the future's going to be, but the
question is, is that being used -- is there any way that can be used for
a commercial use? And the answer's no.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Then what are we doing here, Mr.
Cuyler?
MR. CUYLER: What we're doing here is that the developer --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That was a rhetorical.
MR. CUYLER: Oh.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I'm sorry. I'm losing my sense of
humor. I believe Mr. Strain has a couple of comments, and he may
need Mr. Cuyler, and he may need Mr. Nadeau.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Mr. Nadeau, can you tell me how
much land is north -- in acreage -- north of the Deltona settlement
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line?
MR. NADEAU: Yes. It is 37.31 acres.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. And your PUD is 146
acres, is it not?
MR. NADEAU: That is correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Twenty-five percent of the PUD
is 37 acres. And you brought up the PUD, so why don't we mm to
page 8-10, Item J. Prior to final site development construction plan
approval, demonstrate that 25 percent of the viable, naturally
functioning native vegetation on site will be retained. MR. NADEAU: Yes.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Now, if you take 8 acres out of
there for a storage area, how are you going to retain 25 percent of that
site?
MR. NADEAU: There's other areas on the property where --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Well, you've already filled them
with a golf course. That -- that would not be naturally functioning,
native vegetation.
MR. NADEAU: Not -- I won't take exception with your
comment, Commissioner Strain, but there are areas on the property
that are allowed and are vegetated with native vegetation. And the
provisions of the Land Development Code provide for the planting of
native vegetation to comply with that requirement.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: So you've got viable, naturally
functioning native vegetation that isn't in that green area that's on that
plan; is that right?
MR. NADEAU: Yes, that is correct.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Also, on that same page I, the
project's plan is to be brought to the attention of the Rookery Bay
Aquatic Preserve manager for review. Have any of these changes
been signed off by them?
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November 1,2001
MR. NADEAU: The -- under the original Deltona settlement
agreement, the Rookery Bay National Estuary and Research Reserve
was signatory to that agreement; however, they were to be noticed of
all development in the area of Deltona settlement agreement. A letter
was provided, and there was no response. However, I do not have the
documentation at hand with me. They are in the offices of McAnly
Engineering. But I did send the letter, yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions? I think we have
a staff person here who I do not recognize, so please clarify. And are
you trying to answer some environmental aspects?
MR. LENBERGER: Yeah. I can answer two of those
questions. Stephen Lenberger, environmental specialist for planning
services. As far as the preservation requirement, 25 percent, that
would only pertain to the section of the PUD outside the Deltona
settlement area.
MR. NADEAU: Thank you, Steve.
MR. LENBERGER: And the figures here --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. Previously it was 60
percent and then -- now it's 25? Is that your understanding, open
space?
MR. LENBERGER: It's -- I'm not talking about the open space;
I'm talking about the native vegetation preservation requirement.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Native preservation.
MR. LENBERGER: And according to what they have
submitted, 69.5 percent of the native vegetation on the northern
portion of the property outside the Deltona settlement will be
preserved, so that exceeds the preservation requirement of 25 percent.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Just out of curiosity, how do we
know that that justifies the area outside the Deltona settlement
agreement? I mean, I understand what the agreement says, but the
PUD didn't-- didn't specify that.
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MR. LENBERGER: Right. Those are -- we've had
interpretations from the planning services director in the past that the
preservation requirement for lands identified as developable in the
Deltona settlement have been already mitigated for because there's a
lot of preserve areas within the Deltona settlement area.
Okay. You asked a question about Rookery Bay. Rookery Bay
has been given a number of the plats when they came in for those
different portions of the property. I think it's subsequently notified
me that they had no further comments to issue over this project. We
have not --
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Have they -- do they know about
the current changes being --
MR. LENBERGER: No, they do not.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: They do not. Okay.
MR. NADEAU: If I may continue, there were still a couple
questions that were outstanding. It appears by those pictures that
there are construction debris in the northeast comer of the project
site. I don't know -- I have not seen this debris, and without a clear
delineation of where that settlement agreement line might be -- I don't
believe that the line is staked -- that debris could be north of the
settlement agreement line, which will be remediated under the
permits that Butler Environmental are pursuing, but it also could be
south of the line. I don't know where that debris is.
And then finally, in addition to preserving the 30-plus acres --
excuse me -- about 28 acres of those lands north of the settlement
agreement line, the applicant is also going to have to pay -- this is
verbal right now from the agencies -- an additional $330,000 for
mitigation credits to allow the development, as proposed, for the final
phase. Yes, there was a lake shown on there, but the original
developers, Misty Harbor, who did -- who did the original PUD, they
approached the agencies, and they were told categorically you will
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not get a permit for that lake there.
Now, as far as conciliatory response to the potential storage
facility being located on that approximate 8 acres -- because there
have already been a request by the agencies to have an additional
50 foot of continuous -- contiguous conservation easement for this
permit to be successful. That has no effect on this plan. We can
create a conservation easement over this tract, CR, and be recorded,
and you wouldn't be able to put any of the commons/recreation uses
in there.
If Mr. Strauss is -- his lots are in this area in here, I believe he
indicated. We would be more than happy, then, to provide at least 25
feet of additional setback for the grassed parking area. And if he
wishes, we would put up some visual barrier, whether it be some type
of landscaping, whether it be a concrete fence, wood fence. I don't
know exactly what it would be, but our petitioner is willing to work
with the park. They -- they asked for the storage. And we tried to
put it on the east, but the agencies are telling us it's got to go on the
west.
Now, if-- there might -- you might be able to get a permit, but
there may be -- to put the storage on the east, but it's going to
certainly cost a great deal more money to put it over there. Why not
spend some money and buffer not only Mr. Strauss's lots, but
anybody's units that are there now? If I were to offer a 25-foot
setback from the Delt -- from the berm area, would that be acceptable
to this commission?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Dwight, I'm still troubled
over this storage area question. When did people start asking for a
storage area? How long ago?
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Excuse me. Could we -- do you still
have tape, Barbara? Do you still have tape?
MR. NADEAU: I'm getting an indication that it was
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approximately five years ago.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Has that eastern -- has that
eastern area that was marked for storage on the original PUD ever
served as a storage area? And by asking that, I don't think piling
some slabs and some odds and ends -- it's certainly not land -- not
residents' storage, if it's storage at all. Has it ever been used for
storage?
MR. NADEAU: To my knowledge, no. And I think I'm getting
confirmation from some of the folks in the audience.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, that's fairly critical to
me. You're not -- you're not moving a storage area. You're
establishing a de facto storage area for the first time.
MR. NADEAU: That is correct. However, there is some
maintenance opportunities that are being utilized in the
commons/recreation area in the southwest corner of the property.
There are some RVs stored there.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay. That doesn't
change?
MR. NADEAU: Well, if we get it up there, we probably would
move those units up into the -- up into the northwest--
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Okay.
MR. NADEAU: -- probably.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We're running into a technical
problem here, and she hasn't had a break for over two hours and 45
minutes. So are we through with talking to Mr. Nadeau at the
moment? I think Mr. Pires wanted to make a comment. Are we
through with Mr. Nadeau for now before we close this public
hearing? Go ahead Mr. Pires.
MR. PIRES: Madam Chairman, I'll be brief. Just one minute, if
I may. As to the storage areas, there are areas in the southwest area --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay.
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November 1, 2001
MR. PIRES: -- down in here currently being utilized for
storage.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Stop. Do you have any paper left,
Barbara?
(A discussion was held off the record.)
MR. PIRES: I will be one minute.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you.
MR. PIRES: There's a storage area where RVs are stored at this
area right now, and it -- by the clubhouse. Also, what I find
interesting is that we've had months, months, months of opportunities
for meetings, including we had a meeting with county staff. Now all
of a sudden they're trying to come to the table with issues that could
be discussed more appropriately in those settings as opposed to trying
to shove this down our throats. And as to the entry being before the
gate, Mr. Nadeau knew that in July when we had the meeting because
we expressed that as a concern.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. I think we're going to have to
call a short recess here. We have no paper. We're going to take a
five-minute recess.
(A break was held.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We are back in session again. I
think we finished up with the last registered speaker. We finished up
with the last questions. Are there any other comments or questions
from anyone who would come up from the public or the petitioner,
from any planning commissioner?
Do you feel comfortable with me closing the public hearing?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Having no further speakers, we
close the public hearing.
What's the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Madam Chair, I think
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we've heard a good deal of information, some of it a little confusing,
but I think some good things have surfaced as a result of the dialogue
between the applicant's representatives and the other parties. I think
there's a real opportunity for the parties to get together now,
particularly as it relates to the -- one of the latest proffers which has
to do with the buffering between the proposed area for the storage
and the rest the -- the rest of the community. I don't think that's been
sufficiently explored to see if it could be worked out and be
satisfactory to all parties.
So I would offer a motion to continue this hearing until a date
certain to be advised by staff so that the -- to give the parties an
opportunity to resolve that remaining issue. So instead of having it
80 percent complete, we could have it a hundred percent complete.
So I offer that motion.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have a second for--
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mr. Richardson
and a second by Mrs. Young to continue this petition to a date certain
with information provided by staff for that date.
MS. MURRAY: It's just a reasonable amount of time for the
parties to get together. You know, we --
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Four weeks.
MS. MURRAY: Four weeks is acceptable to us. If we go
beyond that, beyond five, then we have to readvertise, and there's a
problem with that.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: It would be 30 days.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Where would the four weeks -- what --
the calendar is buried.
MS. MURRAY: That would be your first meeting is December,
and I'm not sure of the exact date.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: The 6th of December would be our
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first meeting. We don't have one of our informational meetings on
that date?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: That's greater than 30 days.
MS. MURRAY: As long as it's not beyond five weeks, we're --
we're okay, so that should work. And we still have room on our
agenda for that, so we can do that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That's just five weeks.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: It is five weeks to the day.
MS. MURRAY: Five weeks and one day?
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: To the day.
MS. MURRAY: To the day. Then that's acceptable.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: So staff doesn't oppose the
motion?
MS. MURRAY: No.
MR. WHITE: I -- I don't believe the staff has the opportunity to
do so.
MS. MURRAY: Thanks for asking, though.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: When is it scheduled to go
before the county commission?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: It's scheduled to go end of November,
right after Thanksgiving week, the 27th, I believe, it is. But --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
the board in December.
29th.
29th?
No. Excuse me. 27th. I'm sorry.
27th. But that's fine. We can take it to
MR. WHITE: Is it on the agenda for the 27th yet? Has it been
placed on the--
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: It is, but it hasn't been advertised.
MR. WHITE: Very good.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: So we have a motion and a second on
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the floor. Is there any further discussion about this continuation?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Yes. I'm opposed to it. I
would hope they would work out their differences between here and
the -- and the Board of County Commissioners, whichever way we
signal our feelings on it.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I'd kind of rather finish the
job, just continue it to get it done, if we can get it done here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other further comments?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I'm -- if there's a possibility of it
working out to the benefit of those homeowners, I'm in favor of that.
If there's not going to be any movement on the part of the applicant,
then I would have no reason to go forward. But, I mean, right now
there's -- maybe there's some possibility the applicant would consider
moving that area.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Well, this applicant does
not exude the milk of human kindness by the (inaudible) every vein,
so it would seem to me the prospect of looking down the barrel at the
county commission and having gone through what he's heard today
would be a more substantial impetus than coming back and retreading
the whole thing with us again. That's just where I --
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Mr. Abernathy, they can
get hurt even with a BB gun, though, so that's what -- about what I'm
offering there.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I think we should go ahead
and just vote on it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We're -- I'm going to call the
question. No further comments?
All those in favor of a continuation of this petition for Silver
Lakes to a date certain, being the 6th of December, say aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Aye.
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November 1, 2001
COMMISSIONER BUDD: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Aye.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Aye.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed?
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have one dissenting vote, Mr.
Abemathy. Motion carries. It's continued to date certain September
-- excuse me -- December 6th. Please get together and talk to each
other and come back. Thank you.
(A discussion was held off the record.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. If you'd clear the room quietly,
we still have agenda items here to consider. And the hour is getting
late, and it's into the dinner hour. So we are now on -- Item G was
continued, so it's H, CU-2001-AR-371 which is a conditional use, I
think, 'T' or "L" in a zoning --"A" zoning district. All those wishing
to hear -- all those wishing to give testimony today please stand, raise
your right hand, and be sworn in by the court reporter. (The speakers were sworn.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. Dr. Badamtchian, you're
ape
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. This
is a conditional use for an earth mining activity to be located at the
comer of King Avenue. Known also as Brantley Boulevard, and
Garland Road, approximately 2 miles east of 951, 951 being here,
and it's almost 2 miles east of 951. There is a major golf course,
Hideout golf course, in here. And basically what in here they are
trying to do -- they have 20 acres, a little bit more than 20 acres, and
they are trying to dig a lake slightly under 3 -- 13 acres for a private
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November 1,2001
fishing lake.
And basically -- in my staff report, unfortunately I made a
mistake of saying the access will be provided via Friendship Lane. I
should have said via Brantley Boulevard. Page 2 of my staff report
there's a typo. It is agricultural surrounded by agricultural. The only
minor issue -- the only problem or issue is that they have to haul the
dirt off site to Brantley Boulevard, to 23rd Street Southwest, all the
way to White Boulevard, and from there to 951. That's the only issue
that staff can see.
Beside that, staff recommended that no blasting be allowed.
However, applicants are requesting blasting, and our code says if you
are within 250 feet of a house, you cannot do blasting. So they are
coming off the map that shows where they can blast. They are two or
three homes within the -- like, the neighboring properties, on
neighboring properties, and they have come off the map that shows
the areas that they can blast and they cannot.
And I believe yesterday they had a meeting with the neighbors,
and they explained that to them. And they agreed that they will be
allowed to blast for three weeks only, and that's going to be the extent
of blasting. And basically the off-site removal of dirt will take
approximately a year. After that it will become a private lake for
fishing purposes.
They are in compliance with the requirements of the Growth
Management Plan since earth mining activity was exempted from the
final order, and they are in compliance with all other requirements of
the Growth Management Plan. Staff recommends approval subject to
staff stipulations. We also recently adopted a -- new excavation
requirements, the criteria. They are bound by that. They will comply
with it. And I can add another stipulation to say that they have to
comply with that requirement, but I don't think it's really needed
because it's the code, and they have to comply with it.
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November 1, 2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Chahram, then your Exhibit C, page 1
of 3 on the conditions of approval for this, one of the items, I think
it's 3 -- yes -- talks about the hours of operation 7 a.m. To 6 p.m.
Monday through Saturday. Did we not change that to 7 a.m. To 5
p.m. And Monday through Friday in the new ordinance? So that's --
that right there has to be changed.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: We -- we change it. These were
written a few weeks ago. I change it to comply with the requirements
of that ordinance.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
So you would change that specifically?
I will change it, of course.
Okay. And then the question there is
No. 4, this conditional use shall expire 18 months after the date of
issuance of the clearing permit, and you're talking about a 12-month
operation. I'm not sure I understand the relationship between the 18
and the 12 months.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They are saying they're going to do it
in 12 months, and what we are proposing, to give them a window of
18 months to finish it. In case they are not done within 12 months,
not to come back here, ask for an extension. So we are asking them
to finish it in a maximum of 18 months.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: But you say that's a stipulation, to limit
this activity to 12 months during -- in the -- on page 4 of our
executive summary, so I thought that we need to clarify whether it's a
specific stipulation and then an expiration. Is there some difference
because of the language? I just want to make sure we're clear on this.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: The applicant in his response, by
the way, is saying he only needs six months.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They said they need only six months.
But I was reviewing a traffic study, and in the traffic study, they are
saying 12 months.
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November 1,2001
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Well, then how can you have one
stipulation that says 12 months, and then in the back over here you're
giving them 18 months to expire the permit; is that correct?
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: It -- let me -- I'm sorry. It should say
18 months.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
DR. BADAMTCHIAN:
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
On page 4 of the --
Page 4 should say 18 months.
Okay. I'm not sure I accept that, but at
least we'll get those hours of operation and days of operation
corrected.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: We'll fix that. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any other questions of
Dr. Badamtchian? Mrs. Young.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Well, I'd just like to follow up on
what the chairman said. If they say it can be done in 6 months and
you have stipulated 12 months, why are we then advancing it to 18
months? Why not just stop at 127
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: I was worried that they may have
problem with permitting and -- which may delay things. We may
have, I don't know, hurricane, something that may delay. I just
wanted to give them six months to make sure that we are not going to
have problems in the future and we don't have to come back and ask
for a six-month extension.
MS. MURRAY: Madam Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
MS. MURRAY: That's up to you-all. I mean, you can certainly
recommend something different. If you feel that 18 months is too
long and you are more comfortable with 12 and you can state your
reasons why, you're certainly able to do that, and we will convey that
to the Board of County Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We'll ask that of the petitioner.
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November 1,2001
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: They're saying 12 months is okay, so
we'll change this to 12.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You think 12 months is okay.
State your name for the record, please.
MR. ROBAU: Yes. My name is Emilio Robau, and I'm with
RWA. I'm one of the principals in the firm. And, sure, 12 months, I
think, was our original thought on this anyways. It can be done
quicker. It can be done in three months to a six-month period. But,
you know, 12 months give us -- gives us a little bit of flexibility
depending on market conditions, etc. There is a good need for fill
dirt, so we'll hopefully be able to get rid of it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And you're familiar with the hours of
operation and that type of thing -- MR. ROBAU: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: -- in the new ordinance.
MR. ROBAU: Yeah. And that can go on a little bit more. I just
read the ordinance, as a matter of fact, the night before last. And --
and I did not catch what you had caught, Ms. Rautio, you know, with
regard to that, but we're okay. We want to build a fishing lake,
essentially. And, you know, we want to be, you know, good
neighbors, as I think Hideout has been with the neighborhood out
there, and we want to mitigate any impacts that we have. If you'd
like, I could just give you a quick presentation.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That would be fine. Then we have a
public speaker.
MR. ROBAU: Right. As I said, my name is Emilio Robau.
I've been representing Hideout Golf Club since the -- beginning the
course about four years ago. At that time they had bought some other
properties surrounding this area in order to buffer the course and in
order to provide some red cockaded woodpecker habitat, which they
purchased as part of their permitting process. And part of that
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November 1, 2001
process -- some of the buffer land that they purchased they wanted to
build a fishing lake on.
And this is truly a fishing lake. This is not-- it comes under the
procedure of getting a conditional use and a -- you know, a
commercial mining operation because we have to get rid of the dirt
because as you see up here -- I think it's outlined. What we want to
leave is we want to leave the lake in an undulation -- undulating
fashion with all the native vegetation around it and all the trees.
It truly was -- there's a select membership group over there that
likes to go fishing. They would basically walk from the course to the
fishing lake. These individuals have apparently done this in other
areas of the country, and this is going to be a rather sophisticated
operation. They're going to stock the lake. There's going to be
aerators and so on and so forth.
Another reason that I had to go to commercial excavation is I
had to go 20 feet because apparently the fish like a deep hole
somewhere in the lake. And so there's -- it's going to have a lot of
littoral zones. It's going to have shelter for the fish, and we've got to
have a deep hole. And so because we didn't want to keep the dirt on
site because, as you see, it would -- to stockpile the amount of
material that would come out of there, we had to get rid of it.
And because we wanted to go 20 feet to get into a hole for the
fish, we -- we're into the, you know, commercial mining excavation,
which is really not the intent. I mean, after you pay the impact fees
and the contractor excavates, and you know, you do the blasting
required and so on and so forth, you know, it's not such a profitable
venture when you're talking about a very small operation like that.
The economy of scale that kicks in when you do real mining
operations isn't there.
So the real intent of this, I want to reiterate, is a fishing lake.
And, quite frankly, when I started this, it sounded really simple. But
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November 1,2001
almost a year later, red cockaded woodpecker reports, environmental
analysis, and so on and so forth, this has become quite a complicated
process. And I hope this is coming into the conclusion of it.
And I'm not going to waste a whole bunch more time, but I'd
like to go over a couple things just to get it on the record. The
property, as well as all properties abutting the subject property, are in
the agricultural zoning district. As Chahram has said, this is
consistent with the Growth Management Plan and, you know, all the
other activities that have been occurring in this part of the county.
The reason we need it to be a commercial is because we need to get
the material off site. We need to go 20 feet in the holes.
Ingress and egress from the site will be off Brantley Boulevard,
then 23rd Street Southwest, and down to White, then down 951.
We'll get rid of the fill as close as possible to the site as we can. It's
in our best interest. A year is fine. That's what we originally -- in
our preapplication meeting when we met with Ron Nino, who was
originally assigned to this project, he said that a year would be
something that we should do, and we agreed with him at that point.
Operating hours, we're going to do whatever is consistent with the --
with the ordinances in effect. That's fine too.
And the one thing that -- I had a public meeting, I guess, with
the -- even though we didn't have to, we had a public meeting with
the neighbors. I think one of the neighbors is here to express some
concerns about blasting. I don't want to steal the winds from her sail,
but we had a public meeting on Tuesday night. The blaster was
there. I was there. Moe Kent, the owner's representative -- he's the
managing partner of the golf course -- was there, and we had, I don't
know, about maybe 16 or so people, more or less.
And we tried to explain to them the process: That we would
clear, the blasting operations would take about three weeks. Beyond
that, that we were going to -- we explained to them the truck traffic
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November 1, 2001
that would occur and so on and so forth. I think we stated to them --
we didn't want to sugarcoat it, you know -- that the blasting for a
three-week period might be a hearing nuisance and that kind o_f thing.
The truck traffic would be there. But after a period of a year, what
they would be left with at the end of the day was basically a -- a
fishing lake. I think there's a caretaker residence that will be on
there, and that's the most. And it'll be left as you see it up there, ail
the surrounding property and native vegetation that we own, and that
we would -- you know, we'd leave the trees and so on and so forth.
They asked a couple of things. They're concerned, so I just
wanted to make sure that, you know, I told you everything they told
us. They wanted to know if there was any impacts on the wells, and
20 feet is not deep enough in that area -- I've looked at the soils
report. I was part of the other development. We had a hydrological
report on that. That's not deep enough to get into the lower Tamiami
Aquifer, which is about 55 or 60 feet deep.
They were concerned about the truck traffic and, you know,
rightfully so. And we told them -- they were concerned not only
about the volume, but they were concerned about the speed. And I
think as the meeting progressed, their concern turned more towards
the speed of the trucks and the children in the area and so on and so
forth. The good thing about this, it's a -- we're going to have one
contractor actually build this, and I think they're going to use it for
other of their projects within a certain radius of-- of the project. I'm
not sure exactly where the dirt's going. I provided an exhibit to
transportation giving a potential of the dirt going all the way to the
county line and all the way down to 951, I believe.
But we tried to mitigate some of that concern by telling them
that we would really bandy that the contractor kept really close tabs
on the speed and the operating of the trucks. And I think to a certain
extent, you can tell a truck, you know, if you're -- if you're caught,
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you won't come back here again, speeding. And we also told them
that we would be notifying the sheriffs department to try to get some
increased patrols during the initial part of the excavation, which kind
of conditions people to slow down. And then thereafter if we need to
-- you know, because once the sheriffs department is out there with
the blow dryer pointing at you, people have a tendency to start, you
know, slowing down. And if that wanes, you know, you get them out
there again, and that's how you do that, plus constant monitoring by
the contractor.
We also agreed to clear a small area on the comer of Garland
and Brantley that would provide a little bit better sight distance,
which they wanted. Blasting became -- was -- we had a lot of
conversation about blasting. The blasting contractor went over, you
know, the blasting ordinances and a whole bunch of science and
square root-type equations about how far they needed to be away.
And I'm not sure, you know, honestly speaking, that we alleviated --
you know, everybody's happy that it's going to be blasting next to
their home -- actually 350 feet or so away in accordance with the
ordinance.
But we did take the opportunity to explain to them that there's
preblast surveys and that the county comes out and monitors and that,
you know, if any of-- any damage is proven, that the contractor's
liable for that. We really need to blast. This becomes extremely
uneconomical if we can't blast. The rock there varies in 2 to 4 feet,
and we have areas in the lake which we're going to designate as no
blast zones in order to keep our buffer from the adjacent properties.
So really we agree with everything that staff has written in the
staff report, the standard transportation stipulations, the impact fees,
and you know, all those things. The one thing that we really would
like to have is the ability to blast. And we talked to the neighbors.
We tried to explain to them what-- you know, what blasting is about.
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It's done pretty commonly throughout the county. We're not asking
for anything else here on this agriculturally zoned property that your
ordinance already allow (sic). I think Chahram was really cautious in
putting that stipulation in.
And we went out and tried to meet with the property owners to
get them to allow us to blast. And I think at the end of the meeting
the conclusions were that -- and I'm sure we'll have some more
comment, but that the conclusions, at least the way I saw them, was
that yes, it was going to be a nuisance. We were going to have a pit
operating out there for a period of a year. But the neighbors have
seen the property increase in value due to Hideout, and they were
relatively happy with the kind of relationships they've developed over
the past three or four years, and they want to continue that in the
future.
So that's really all that I have as part of my public presentation.
And I've given Chahram a memorandum of the meeting, and I'm
going to send it to all the people that attended. I don't think I've left
anything else. If there's any questions, please feel free.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I just have a quick one. This is
a -- a golf course with no -- no homes and --
MR. ROBAU: No. This property -- actually the golf course is
separated from this property. Here's the course.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Right.
MR. ROBAU: Here's the property.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Okay.
MR. ROBAU: They own parcels around here. I can't quite
show you which ones. I'm not quite sure. They've been purchasing
them over the past four years. And this is the property that we're
talking about, so they would walk here to here.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: They would get done playing
18 holes and then walk over and fish, so this is for them, for the -- the
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equity owners only?
MR. ROBAU: Well, it's -- the petition's in the name of Hideout
Golf, Limited, but I believe that there's only three or four individuals.
Maybe other owners would go out there, but I know there's three or
four that are really interested in this. I don't know how to answer that
beyond that.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: So these guys just want to get
together and build their own fishing hole.
MR. ROBAU: Just -- just like they wanted to get together and
build their own golf course.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I think they want to dig their own
fishing hole.
MR. ROBAU: And stock it and put the aerators in it and, you
know, feeding stations and so on and so forth. CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Strain.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I have one question based on
something you started out --
MR. ROBAU: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: -- in your discussion. You said
that there were going to be numerous members of the golf club
possibly wanting to fish there. The application that you submitted
says the owner of the subject property wishes to develop a private,
12-acre fishing lake on site for the enjoyment of his family. The lake
will be private and not open to the public. Are you saying that's not
exactly the way it is?
MR. ROBAU: Well, the way I understand it is a private facility.
I don't know honestly if they're going to open it up to 250 members
of that private course. I think that it is two or three individuals and
their families who desire to do this.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: In your application it was very
specific, the enjoyment of his family. And that, to me and maybe to
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the rest of the members here, reads a very low profile.
MR. ROBAU: It is. And I believe there's one and -- two
individuals, and they're listed right under Hideout Golf Club,
Limited. Those three individuals, I think, are the ones.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: So we're -- our approval of this
then, in your mind, would not signify this gentleman and his family
or this lady and her family. It would be any number of people.
MR. WHITE: Madam Chairman, if I may.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Yes.
MR. WHITE: It seems to me that the petition is one for a
conditional use for earth mining. And what the, quote, unquote, long
term or permanent use is may be something that's allowed in the
zoning district. I'm not sure we've broached that issue as part of what
the staffs presentation has been. And -- and if we need to in order to
address Commissioner Strain's concern, then we ought to. But I'm
just trying to keep the discussion confined to the actual application.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: Okay. I understand what you're
saying. But I'm wondering if we knowingly now have been told that
this is going to be used for a specific use after it's dug and it's being
dug for that use, is that something we should be considering?
MR. WHITE: I don't believe so. The only thing I believe that's
before you today is the petition for the conditional use to do the earth
mining. I don't believe that the, quote, subsequent use is one that's
either impermissible or anything like that in the zoning district.
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: If it wasn't in the package, I
probably wouldn't have brought it up. But since it was there, I
thought it was relevant.
MR. WHITE: I always appreciate commissioners making
inquiries and -- and wanting to know all the facts and the law that
applies to a particular project. But unless I'm mistaken -- and staff
should feel free to correct me -- I believe that the subsequent use for
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recreational purposes is one that needs no further approval.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I believe that's correct. Thank you.
Do we have any other questions?
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: At a hundred thousand dollars to
excavate, it's going to cost something like a thousand dollars a fish,
isn't it?
MR. ROBAU: Well, that's not including the price of a 5-pound
bass from day one, so I'm not quite sure what that's worth. But it's
really intended to be a very low-key, private lake. Whether other
members are out here or not, I can't tell you. It started with a couple
of people for privacy reasons. I'll just leave it at that.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Right. And we want to focus on the
earth mining aspect. Do we have a registered speaker?
MS. MURRAY: We have one. Kay Kulever (phonetic).
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I do believe she's been waiting all
day since 8:30. A good civics lesson.
MS. KLUEVER: And that it has been. And by the way, my
name is Kay Kluever. And it's spelled K-l-u-e-v-e-r, so it's very
deceiving. But this has been an education today, and I've learned to
really respect you guys a lot for putting up with all of this and
listening to all of this. But my concern -- when you look at the
map--
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: If you don't talk too loudly, pick up
that microphone that's right there.
MS. KLUEVER: This is our property right here, right here.
And we have a concrete building here. The back two-thirds of this is
shop. The front half is all housing. Here is our dream home that
we've been working towards since '93 when we blasted our lake, and
we went through all of this. So at the same time, I do have an idea of
what is going on. But they were very gracious and had a lovely
meeting Tuesday night for all of us. But naturally, I haven't even got
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to move into this yet. I was hoping for Thanksgiving, but now it'll be
Christmas. And then to turn around and have this blasting so close,
I'm worried, and I'm sure you can understand. I'm following it as
closely as I can.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Can I just ask a question?
Let me -- I'm not sure quite what your position is. You're concerned.
I heard that. Are you objecting to the blasting taking place?
MS. KLUEVER: Well, they tried to tell me that I'd hardly feel
it, but I would hear it. And at the same time, I'm so close I don't
know how that's possible.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, I'm sure you're
going to hear it and feel it too. But I'm -- I'm just asking whether
you're asking us to put additional stipulations. Can you think of
anything else that would be helpful besides not doing this project?
MS. KLUEVER: I -- I think as a whole the project would
improve the appearance of the comer. And at the same time, they've
been very good neighbors, and I'm not about to try to make the poor
neighbor, but I want to make sure that I'm covered and they do any
repair to my home. I don't want to have any problems. Okay?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Okay. Now, to that point
can the applicant speak to any liability issues here?
MS. MURRAY: Madam Chair, we also have staff here to talk
about our excavation ordinance and blasting and --
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: That would be good.
MS. MURRAY: -- that if you would care to hear from them.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We had a little sidebar over
there and--
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: She specifically asked
whether you -- if you caused damage on her property, would you
handle the liability? And that's --
MR. ROBAU: Well, that's -- I think that's part of the program.
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November 1, 2001
We do a preblast survey that we have to go out to, you know,
residences within a certain distance and videotape, take photographs,
and so on and so forth to establish the baseline condition. Once that's
done, after blasting's completed, if there's any complaints, we
compare that to what they actually have out there. And the blaster's
got, I think, a $5 million liability program for that type of occurrence
SO...
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: And I'd like elaboration from staff on
the -- the blasting aspect of it with our excavation ordinance.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: Good afternoon -- or good evening.
Stan Chrzanowski, development services. I -- I only have -- you
know there's a blasting ordinance as well as an excavation ordinance.
There are two different ordinances. The blasting ordinance has all
the rules that Emilio said about the -- the 150 times the square root of
the charge is the distance that you have to do a preblast survey for.
You're not allowed to blast within 350 feet of a house. He's right
about all that. There was only one thing that I heard that caught my
attention. Did you say your house is under construction? MS. KLUEVER: Yes, sir.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: Okay. You're all aware that concrete
during its initial set -- right after you pour it, it goes through an initial
set. It's very weak. And then, like, 24 hours later, you start getting
up to 90 percent strength and whatever. During that initial set, if you
do any blasting, you could cause damage that's not visible for a while
afterwards. So you're going to have to do some coordination. MS. KLUEVER: This is what I was concerned with.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: Yeah. It might -- but it -- generally our
charge -- our ordinance has been stiffened up so much over the last
few years that when they're blasting now, we get a lot of blasting
complaints, but I don't see much blasting damage. We get a lot of
complaints. People don't like the noise. They don't like the -- you
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November 1, 2001
get more vibration from the average thunder clap than you do from
one of our blasts. But there -- that would be my only concern, that if
they're pouring concrete and they have gotten a slab poured in the
morning or something poured in the morning and this blast goes on,
like, three o'clock, you could get some cracking that you don't see for
a while. But these guys are professionals. They know that.
MS. KLUEVER: Right now we're at the point where the tile is
going on.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: You probably won't have problems.
MS. KLUEVER: I just -- you know, I'm concerned for what
comes up afterwards. I'm sure any of you would be if you were in
that situation. So I just wanted to make sure that we were covered, so
that's what-- I've been just listening.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: That's always one of the hard parts, is
concrete during -- if it's not cut properly in proper lengths, like a
sidewalk, if it's not scored properly -- all concrete cracks from
shrinkage.
It's hard to tell from -- if a sidewalk or a driveway cracks,
whether it was not scored in time. That'll be up to the preblast survey
and the blaster and other engineers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: How soon do you anticipate
commencing blasting?
MR. ROBAU: We're scheduled before the Board of County
Commissioners when, Dwight? November 27th. It's going to take us
probably -- we don't have to go to the district, Stan. This is no
wetlands, one of those unusual sites and so on and so forth. It's less
than 40 acres. So it's probably going to take us a couple of more
months to get a site development plan approval and an excavation
permit. Between now and then, we can also gear up the contractor.
So February-ish, I think.
And just as an aside, I used to work for a testing company my
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first year out of school. Concrete is supposed to reach 70 percent of
its compressive strength in 28 days. The rest of it is asentotic
(phonetic). It continues to cure forever. So I think that we're past
that risk zone. But we have promised to the neighbors that even if
they're outside of the zone where we would typically have to have
some sort of a study done, if they had any concerns, we would
include them in the preblast survey.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any further questions?
Do we have any additional speakers?
MS. MURRAY: No.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: I close the public hearing.
What's the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: I move that we send CU-2001-
AR-371 to the county board--
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I second the motion.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: -- with a recommendation for
approval.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO:
With all staff's stipulations.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: With blasting or without blasting?
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: With.
DR. BADAMTCHIAN: The way it has -- staff recommendation
is no blasting. But if you want blasting, what I would like to get is a
map where they can blast and where they cannot and have it as an
exhibit to the PUD document -- PUD -- I'm saying PUD. I'm sorry --
the conditional use resolution as the areas that blasting is allowed.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. Mrs. Young, restate your
particular motion.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: I forward -- I move this motion
subject to a recommendation for a conditional approval, subject to all
staff stipulations.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Except blasting.
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COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Except for the blasting.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have a second?
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mrs. Young, a
second by Mrs. -- Mr. Adelstein to approve this petition.
MS. MURRAY: Pardon me. Does that include the 12-month
limitation?
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: Yes.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: It includes the 12-month limitation and
fixing the hours of operation, etc., that we spoke about earlier. All
that's included. We have a motion and a second. Do we have any
discussion?
Hearing no discussion, I call the question. All those in favor say
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Thank you.
We have one last item on the agenda for public hearings. That
would be PDI-2001-AR-1317, an insubstantial change determination
to the San Marino PUD. Okay. All those wishing to present
testimony today please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in
by the court reporter.
(The speakers were sworn.)
MR. BELLOWS' Madam Chairman, if I may, everyone can
pass down their conditional use forms when they're done.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Oh, that's right.
MR. BELLOWS: For the record, Ray Bellows with current
planning. The petitioner is Kevin Higginson. He's representing
Southem Marsh Golf Club. They're requesting an amendment, an
insubstantial change to the PUD master plan for the Southern Marsh
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-- or San Marino PUD.
Excuse me. It's been a long day. As you can see, the subject
site is located on the east side of County Road 951, and is south of
the Forest Glen of Naples PUD to the north. This is a golf course
residential community, and they are requesting a slight change to the
roadway that -- that emers the PUD and the location of some of the
preserve area boundaries within the PUD.
In your staff report, you have both the original currently
approved master plan and the proposed master plan. I've kind of
highlighted in color here the changes. Basically the road used to
follow along the property line. Now it jogs around this preserve area
that's incorporated here. It originally had kind of a preserve area that
wasn't in a very viable condition, and they've relocated the -- all the
preserve areas in a more viable area up here. This is a better
condition for preserving these areas. Staff has not seen any reasons
to recommend denial for this change, and I'd be happy to answer any
questions.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: See no reasons for denial, so you want
to recommend approval?
MR. BELLOWS: That's it. And the Planning Commission does
recommend approval of this one -- or does approve. Excuse me.
MS. MURRAY: They have the final authority.
MR. BELLOWS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any questions of Mr.
Bellows?
MR. BELLOWS: One other thing I'd like to point out is there'll
be a slight change to the master plan that you have there. The little
location map has a slight -- a little error on it. This little location
map, the actual site should be in the section down below. And Mr.
Higginson will provide me with a corrected one.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Ray, on Item C in your
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analysis, the question is, is there a proposed decrease in preservation,
conservation, so forth, of more than 5 percent. Well, since you've got
an increase in the preservation area, it seems like that would have
been a -- a way to answer that question instead of this circuitous there
is no proposed decrease in preservation in excess of 5 percent. That
almost sounds like there's something, but it ain't 5 percent. You
know, you could turn it around and say there is no decrease; there's
an increase.
MR. BELLOWS: You're correct.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: However, that is not
related to the insubstantial issue?
MR. BELLOWS: Yeah. I basically try to reflect the question
better that way, but probably the easier understandable way is as
Mr. Abemathy said.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Would it be substantial if
it -- would it be substantial if you increased it by 50 percent or--
MR. BELLOWS: No. It's only the decrease we look at. They
can increase all the preserve area they'd like. It's probably, from that
condition, a benefit.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. You have the floor.
MR. HIGGINSON: Good evening. For the record, my name is
Kevin Higginson. I'm a professional engineer employed by Coastal
Engineering Consultants, and I represent Southern Marsh Golf Club,
LC. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the reason
we're here is during the South -- South Florida Water Management
District environmental resource permitting process, some changes
were made to our site plan to minimize impacts to the on-site
wetlands. So we've had to make some adjustments, one of which, as
Ray -- Mr. Bellows mentioned, was to realign the entrance road, and
the other was to shift some of the wetland preserves around to make
the -- the large contiguous wetland to the east a larger area that South
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Florida was more agreeable to. And as we came forward through the
SDP preapplication meeting, it was pointed out to us that that did not
match up with the existing PUD master plan. So that's why we're
here, just to sort of do some housekeeping and clean up our PUD
master plan.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Goodness. Clean it up.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: I have a question, Madam
Chair.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Go ahead.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: This all sounds
commendable to bring everything together. But I'm wondering -- you
know, we've had a lot of PUDs go through that we never see again,
and then suddenly they pop up sometime later and there's been a
whole bunch of changes made that we didn't know about. Is this an
example of what we might look forward to in the future more often,
that is as other jurisdictions take a look at this and make changes, that
they'll come back to us so that we can have a chance to pass our
hands over it?
MR. BELLOWS: I think it's a valid point. Especially when
you're dealing with other jurisdictions that have authority over a
development of land that this county doesn't control, such as South
Florida, then, yes, if there is a change that affects the PUD document,
it would have to come back to this board.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: That has not always been
the case, though. It seems -- it doesn't seem that that's always been
the case. We often don't know what the -- they don't have those
permits in hand when they come to us. MR. BELLOWS: That's true.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: And if there are
substantial changes -- well, if there are changes that are a result of
that-- that dialogue, you're now saying if it-- if it changes the
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physical PUD documents that we have, that is the way things are put
together and contiguous and so forth, that it would come back to us?
We could expect that to happen?
MR. BELLOWS: Well, the reason this came back, it was my
determination that there were enough changes to the conceptual
master plan that I would not feel comfortable letting a site
development plan go through with it not being consistent with the
currently approved master plan. So it was my determination that he
should come in for this PDI.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: So we need to check with
your comfort factor then to answer that question.
MR. BELLOWS: Well, it's a call in many cases when there are
slight changes to a master plan. And we heard one earlier today.
One person's opinion may differ from another, and it's really up to
staff to be diligent to make sure that when there are changes by other
jurisdictional agencies that they are reflected in the master plan.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Well, I, for one, would
like you to err on the side of keeping us informed.
COMMISSIONER YOUNG: And we thank you for your
diligence.
MR. BELLOWS: You're welcome.
MR. HIGGINSON: Yeah. Thanks a lot, Ray.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Do we have any further questions
here?
Do we have any registered public speakers?
MS. MURRAY: I'm happy to say no registered public speakers.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Having no registered public speakers, I
close the public hearing.
What is the pleasure of the board?
COMMISSIONER STRAIN: I make a motion we approve PDI-
01-AR-1317.
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November 1,2001
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Second.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: We have a motion by Mr. Strain and a
second by Mr. Wolfley for the approval of this particular petition for
changing the current master plan known as Exhibit A attached to the
PDI resolution. Do we have any discussion?
Hearing no discussion, I call the question. All those in favor say
aye.
(Unanimous response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Those opposed, same sign.
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Motion carries. Thank you.
MR. HIGGINSON: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. We are on old business, and I
believe -- I guess this might be new business, but we spoke about e-
mail use before, No. 9. Mr. Weigel, I noticed you came back to join
us at this late hour.
MR. WEIGEL: That's right. Wouldn't leave without you. I had
Pat -- I told Pat before lunchtime to give me a call if I had to be
called in from lunch to speak to you at the end of your meeting today.
And I was in the elevator when the phone rang, but I was on my way
down to check up on you in any event. Thanks for letting me come
back to chat briefly about e-mail.
As you know, our county attomey office is still chomping at the
bit to give you considerable discussion on Sunshine Law, Public
Records Law, the ethics laws, as well as ex parte communications. I
know you know a lot about that anyway, and it would be somewhat
redundant. But at the same time, the refresher course is something
we'd love to do.
In regard to e-mail, and e-mail between commission members
particularly, our advice to all advisory committees and the Board of
County Commissioners is keep it to a minimum, e-mail between
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commission members. Is it absolutely illegal? No. In fact, it is
utilizable in the sense that you can send one-way e-mail from one
commissioner to another or one commissioner to all the other
commissioners. But you don't want a response, and you don't want to
solicit a response because once you get into response and if it pertains
to a matter that may foreseeably come before you or has come before
you in the past, then you have what is considered by law a meeting
outside of the sunshine with the three requirements of reasonable
notice ahead of time, adequate public facility, and minutes being
taken.
It all sounds pretty simple, but our advice to the Board of
County Commissioners again and again is keep the unilateral, the
one-way e-mails, to a minimum if possible. Never solicit a response.
If you receive such an e-mail, think at least twice before responding.
And in the case of a committee such as this one that has a staff
liaison, if you have the question go to your staff liaison if at all
possible and make he or she be the one to send a blanket e-mail
informing the rest of the commissioners, that way you've gone the
extra mile, and I think you'll avoid trouble in almost every instance.
I may -- I hope I've addressed maybe the current issues that you
have. I certainly will entertain any questions now at this late hour.
It's far later for you in your day than it is for me in my day. I had an
easier day, I can tell you. But I'm happy to answer any questions you
may have.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Mr. Weigel, just -- then
there is no prohibition, as you would understand it for our contacts
with staff on any subjects?
MR. WEIGEL: Absolutely not. It's only between committee
members that you run into the Sunshine Law problems.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Can you just briefly say
what we should be doing relative to contacts with applicant
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representatives or members of the public?
MR. WEIGEL: Okay. Well, I think, Mr. Richardson, you take
us into the area of what we call the ex parte communications. And
you are no different than the Board of County Commissioners, that in
regard to those items, the typical items that people are sworn in to
testify to that are considered quasi-judicial -- and you certainly have
that charge before you to make quasi-judicial decisions -- that you
must, in fact, by law identify on the record at the time that the matter
is taken up, make an individual disclosure of the ex parte
communications that you've had.
Now, what we glean from reading the attorney general opinions
and the case law is that more disclosure is better than less. I would
far prefer that you tell with whom you had such communications. It
doesn't matter whether they approached you or you approached them.
The important thing is to indicate that you've had a communication
with this person, that person, X, Y, Z, etc.
It's also important for you to disclose and be able to put into the
record any mail or other correspondence-type of communication that
you received in regard to the decision matter before you. If you
receive e-mail, if you receive hard copy transmittals, or if you can
convert your e-mail into printed copies, you can submit those into the
record. We advise the client, all committees that we've spoken to
with our Sunshine Law discussions, keep a file of the records and
things that you get from a public records standpoint; but also bring to
the committee meetings those documents, exemplars, maps,
drawings, sketches, things that you receive from advocates both for
and against the issues that are before you and submit them to the
record, and the court reporter will make them part of the record of
this proceeding. They'll always be there.
Now, why is the law in place in the first place? It's to give those
persons who wish to review the matter further in the decision-making
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process to know how you and what you have received in your own
decision-making that you make individually and then, ultimately,
collectively here.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Thank you. And, Ms. Murray, would
you please make sure that a memo goes around to all your staff of the
clarification that Mr. Weigel just gave us, that staff should be the
source of the information when they respond to an individual
commissioner so that that's totally understood? And that way it
would probably facilitate everyone's understanding of some changes
that happen that we question when we're reading our executive
summaries, like we did this time.
MS. MURRAY: Yes. I'll do that.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: I have a question.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Mr. Abernathy.
COMMISSIONER ABERNATHY: Are we subject -- as
advisory board members, advisory committee members, are we
subject to any criticism for declining to engage in an ex parte
conversation with a petitioner or opponent of a petition? I know the
commissioners -- county commissioners do it for political reasons.
Obviously, they should be reachable by their constituents. But
should we be involved in the same sort of running -- going through
the mill twice, so to speak?
MR. WEIGEL: That's a good question, and the answer is, from
your county attorney, no. You would not be subject to criticism from
the county attorney for declining to do so and keep all of your
decision-making, to the extent that you personally, physically can,
within the confines of the meeting room. That makes it so absolutely
in the sunshine that there can be no question whatsoever. The
disclosures that you make are pursuant to county policy resolution,
applying state law and case decision, and we think you're protected in
doing that.
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And we have advised this Board of County Commissioners and
you through the years that you may, in fact, have these ex parte
communications, as we call them, as long as the disclosure is made.
The disclosure is made to avoid you individually from having
personal civil liability. And you don't work these long hours to put
yourself at risk to have, for convenience, heard someone outside of
the meeting room pushing an issue no matter which side he or she
may be on.
COMMISSIONER RICHARDSON: Without disclosing it.
MR. WEIGEL: Well, without disclosing. But even with
disclosure the fact is the disclosure makes it legal within the
sunshine, but is it -- is it the process that works best for you in your
own decision-making? If the answer is yes, what you're disclosing is
that you have received information, that may or may not have
assisted you in your decision-making, outside of the meeting
arrangement which the law, quite frankly, hopes that you will utilize.
They want -- the law -- the Sunshine Law wants you to be in -- in
regular noticed public meeting to the full extent that you can.
And from that standpoint it's certainly facilitative for you, as
individuals, to receive information, open your mail, have, even,
meetings with people outside of these -- outside of these commission
meetings. There's no question there's certainly efficiencies achieved
and information that may be passed, but the law wants you to
disclose how you received that information and how -- and to that
degree how it may, in fact, assist you in your decision-making you
make on the floor. That's -- that's what that record is supposed to tell
the observer, that the decision that you're making today, or whatever
meeting day you have, is based upon what you heard at the meeting
that very day and the discussions that you had with other people
outside of the meeting and information, physical information, that
you've received also. It's -- it's legal as long as you make the full ex
Page 250
November 1,2001
parte disclosure, however.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Any other questions?
Under old business I would just like to mention that I thought
we were going to get a current list of all commission members and
their e-mails. I didn't see one at my place, but I have a very nice set
of Emergency Medical Service Advisory Council up here.
MS. MURRAY: I don't know where that came from. I -- I may
have that in my blue folder. And I would ask that you also stay. You
have a lot of paper to sign. And, Commissioner Abernathy, I have a
question to ask you after the meeting. And I have two NAICS books.
A couple people mentioned they did not get them. I'd like to get rid
of them. Thanks.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: How are we coming along on
the LDC books?
MS. MURRAY: I -- she told me a month, and that was two
weeks ago, so I'm going to say it's another two weeks at the most,
hopefully.
CHAIRMAN RAUTIO: Okay. No further old business?
Is there any new business?
Any public comment? No public comment.
No discussions of the addenda. If there's no objection, I move
that we are adjourned.
COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: Second the motion.
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 5:57 p.m.
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Page 251
November 1,2001
JOYCEANNA J. RAUTIO, CHAIRMAN
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF DONOVAN COURT
REPORTING, INC., BY BARBARA DRESCHER, NOTARY
PUBLIC
Page 252
COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIVISION
November 13,2001
PLANNING SERVICES DEPARTMENT
2800 NORTH HORSESHOE DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34104
JERRY NEAL
950 ENCORE WAY
NAPLES, FL 34110
REFERENCE: BD-2001-AR-1182, CARMIGNANI, WAYNE
Dear Mr. Neal:
On Thursday, November 1, 2001, the Collier County Planning
approved Petition No. BD-2001 AR- 1182.
A copy of Resolution No. 01-25 is enclosed approving this use.
If you have any questiOns, please contact me at 403-2400.
Ross Gochenaur
Planner II
RG/Io
Commission
heard and
Enclosure
CC:
WAYNE CARMIGNANI
Land Dept. Property Appraiser J
Minutes & Records (BD, PSP & PDI)
Customer Service
Addressing (Peggy Jarrell)
M. Ocheltree, Graphics
File
PHONE (941) 403-2400 FAX (941) 643-6968 www. co.collier, fl.us
CCPC RESOLUTION NO. 01- 25
RELATING TO PETITION NUMBER BD-2001-AR-1182
FOR AN EXTENSION OF A BOAT DOCK ON PROPERTY
HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED IN COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida in Chapter 125, Florida Statutes, has conferred
on all counties in Florida the power to establish, coordinate and enforce zoning and such business
regulations as are necessary for the protection of the public; and
WHEREAS, the County pursuant thereto has adopted a Land Development Code (Ordinance
91-102) which establishes regulations for the zoning of particular geographic divisions of the County,
among which is the granting of variances; and
WHEREAS, the Collier County Planning Commission, being the duly elected and constituted
Planning Commission for the area hereby affected, has held a public hearing after notice as in said
regulations made and provided, and has considered the advisability of a 29-foot extension of a boat dock
/rom the permitted 20 feet to allow for a 49-foot boat dock facility in an "RSF-4" zone for the property
hereinafter described, and has found as a matter of fact that satisfactory provision and arrangement have
been made concerning all applicable matters required by said regulations and in accordance with Section
2.6.21. of the Collier County Land Development Code; and
WHEREAS, all interested parties have been given the opportunity to be heard by this Commission
in public meeting assembled, and the Commission having considered all matters presented;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Collier County Planning Commission of
Collier County, Florida, that:
The petition filed by Jerry Neal, representing Wayne Carmignani, with respect to the property
hereinafter described as:
Lot 27, Isles of Capri Unit 1, as described in Plat Book 3, Page 41, of the Public
Records of Collier County, Florida
be and the same is hereby approved for a 29-foot extension of a boat dock from the permitted 20 feet to
allow for a 49-foot boat docking facility in the "RSF-4" zoning district wherein said property is located,
subject to the following conditions:
All docks, or mooring pilings, whichever protrude the greater into the water, regardless of length
shall have reflectors and house numbers four (4) inches minimum size installed at the outermost
end on both sides.
2. In order to address the protection of manatees, at least one (1) "Manatee Area" sign shall be
posted during construction.
3. Permits or letters of exemption from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection shall be presented prior to issuance of a building permit.
4. All exotic vegetation as defined in Section 3.9.6.4.1 of the Land Development Code shall be
removed from the site and the property shall be maintained exotic-free in perpetuity.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution relating to Petition Number
BD-2001-AR-1182 be recorded in the minutes of this Commission and filed with the County Clerk's
Office.
This Resolution adopted after motion, second and majority vote.
Donethis [ d'T dayof ~,}0q] ~ ~:~2,~r-- ,2001.
ATTEST:
JOHN M.
Interim Ad]
Communit~
Services
rNNUCK, 1II
inistrator
Development and Environmental
Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency:
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDg~
JOYCE~NNA J. RAUTIO, ~HAIRMAN
Matjo~[ 1~I~ ~tudent
Assistant County Attorney
g:/admin/BD-2001-AR-1182. RG/Io
COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIVISION
November 13, 2001
PLANNING SERVICES DEPARTMENT
2800 NORTH HORSESHOE DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34104
Mr. Ben Nelson, Jr.
Nelson Marine Construction, Inc.
10900 East Terry Street
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
REFERENCE: BD-2000-27, Norm Alpert
Dear Mr. Nelson:
On Thursday, November 1, 2001, the Collier County Planning Commission heard and approved
Petition No. BD-2000-27.
A copy of CCPC Resolution No. 01-26 is enclosed approving this use.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 403-2400.
Sincer/~
Ross Goccl~naur
Planner II
G:/admin/BD-2000-27/RG/lo
Enclosure
C'-
Norm Alpert
1819 Princess Ct.
Naples, FL 34110
Addressing (Peggy Jarrell)
Land Dept. Property Appraiser
M. Ocheltree, Graphics ~
Minutes & Records (BD, PSP & PDI)
File
PHONE (941) 403-2400 FAX (941) 643~6968 www. co.collier, fl.u~
CCPC RESOLUTION NO. 01- 26
RELATING TO PETITION NUMBER BD-2000-27 FOR
AN EXTENSION OF A BOAT DOCK ON PROPERTY
HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED IN COLLIER COUNTY,
FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida in Chapter 125, Florida Statutes, has
conferred on all counties in Florida the power to establish, coordinate and enforce zoning and such
business regulations as are necessary for the protection of the public; and
WHEREAS, the County pursuant thereto has adopted a Land Development Code (Ordinance
91-102) which establishes regulations for the zoning of particular geographic divisions of the County,
among which is the granting of variances; and
WHEREAS, the Collier County Planning Commission, being the duly elected and constituted
Planning Commission for the area hereby affected, has held a public heating after notice as in said
regulations made and provided, and has considered the advisability of a 15-foot extension of a boat dock
from the permitted 20 feet to allow for a 35-foot boat dock facility in a PUD zone for the property
hereinafter described, and has found as a matter of fact that satisfactory provision and arrangement have
been made concerning all applicable matters required by said regulations and in accordance with Section
2.6.21. of the Collier County Land Development Code; and
WHEREAS, all interested parties have been given the opportunity to be heard by this
Commission in public meeting assembled, and the Commission having considered all matters presented;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Collier County Planning Commission of
Collier County, Florida, that:
The petition filed by Ben Nelson, representing Norman R. Alpert, with respect to the property
hereinafter described as:
Bayfront Gardens, Lot 22, as described in Plat Book 14, Page 114-117, of the Public
Records of Collier County, Florida.
be and the same is hereby approved for a 15-foot extension of a boat dock from the permitted 20 feet to
allow for a 35-foot boat docking facility in the PUD zoning district wherein said property is located,
subject to the following conditions:
All docks, or mooring pilings, whichever protrudes the greater into the water, regardless
of length shall have reflectors and house numbers four (4) inches minimum size installed
at the outermost end on both sides.
In order to address the protection of manatees, at least one (1) "Manatee Area" sign shall
be posted during construction.
Permits or letters of exemption from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection shall be presented prior to issuance of a building
permit.
All exotic vegetation as defined in Section 3.9.6.4.1 of the Land Development Code shall
be removed from the site and the property shall be maintained exotic-free in perpetuity.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution relating to Petition Number BD-2000-27 be
recorded in the minutes of this Commission and filed with the County Clerk's Office.
This Resolution adopted after motion, second and majority vote.
Done this [ ~ day of ~ (5~J ~ ~' ,2001 .
ATTEST:
JOHN M. D~CK, III
Interim Admi}iistrator
Community Development and Environmental
Services
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
JOYCE~NNA J. ~UTICI, CHAIRMAN
Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency:
arjoRik M. Student
Assistant County Attorney
g:/admin/B D-2000-27/RG/Io
2
COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIVISION
November 5,2001
PLANNING SERVICES DEPARTMENT
2800 NORTH HORSESHOE DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34104
COASTAL ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS
KEVIN L. HIGGINSON, P.E.
17595 S. TAMIAMI TRAIL, #102
FT. MYERS, FL 33908
REFERENCE: PDI-2001-AR-1317, SAN MARINO
Dear Applicant:
On Thursday, November I, 2001, the Collier County Planning
approved Petition No. PDI-2001-AR- 1317.
A copy of Resolution No. 01- 27 is enclosed approving this use.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 403-2400.
Principal Planner
RB/Io
Commission heard and
Enclosure
CC:
SOUTHERN MARSH GOLF CLUB, L.E.
Land Dept. Property Appraiser
Minutes & Records (BD, PSP & PDI) v'~
Customer Service
Addressing (Peggy Jarrell)
M. Ocheltree, Graphics
File
PHONE (941) 403-2400
FAX (941) 643-6968
www. co.collier, fl.us
PDI RESOLUTION NO. 01-27
RELATING TO PETITION NUMBER PDI-2001- ,AR-1317 FOR
INSUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO THE SAN MARINO PUD
FOR PURPOSES OF REVISING THE MASTER PLAN FOR
MODIFICATIONS TO A PORTION OF THE PUD MASTER
PLAN TO REFLECT THE ALIGNMENT OF THE ENTRANCE
ROAD AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PRESERVATION
AREA ON PROPERTY HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED IN
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida in Chapter 125, Florida Statutes, has
conferred on all counties in Florida the power to establish, coordinate and enforce zoning and such
business regulations as are necessary for the protection of the public, and
WHEREAS, the County pursuant thereto has adopted a Land Development Code (Ordinance
No. 91-102) which establishes regulations for the zoning of particular geographic divisions of the
County, and
WHEREAS, the Collier County Planning Commission is authorized by the Board of County
Commissioners to grant insubstantial changes to PUDs in accordance with Subsection 2.7.3.5 of the
Land Development Code of Collier County, and
WHEREAS, the Collier County Planning Commission, being the duly elected constituted
Planning Commission for the area hereby affected, has held a public hearing after notice as in said
regulations made and provided, and has considered the advisability of approving PDI-2001-AR-1317,
for insubstantial changes as shown on the revised Master Plan (Exhibit 'A') for the San Marco PUD,
Ordinance No. 2000-10, for an additional entrance road and modified preserve areas for the property
hereinafter described, and has found as a matter of fact that satisfactory provision and arrangement
have been made concerning all applicable matters required by said regulations and in accordance with
Subsection 2.7.3.5 of the Collier County Land Development Code, and
WHEREAS, all interested parties have been given opportunity to be heard by this Commission
in public meeting assembled and the Commission having considered all matters presented,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Collier County Planning Commission of
Collier County, Florida, that:
The petition filed by Kevin L. Higginson, of Coastal Engineering Consultants, Inc.,
representing Southern Marsh Golf Club, L.E., be and the same hereby is approved for making the
noted minor design changes to the San Marino PUD having the effect of revising the Master Plan
(Exhibit "A") to allow for the addition of an entrance road and modifications to the preserve areas as
authorized by the San Marino PUD.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution relating to Petition Number
PDI-2001-AR-1317 be recorded in the minutes of this Commission and filed with the County Clerk's
Office.
This Resolution adopted after motion, second and majority vote.
Done this 1st day of November ., 2001.
COLLIER COLLIER PLAlX
COLLIER~~UNTY, FLOI 5G COMMIS SION
JOYCEA~A'J: I~,AUT ~), CHAIRMAN
TEST: ~
Jo~n M. Dun~uck, ~I
Interim Administrator
Community Development and Environmental
Services
Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency:
Matjorieql~/l. Student
Assistant County Attorney
PDI-2001 -AR- 1317/RB/Io
CE 951 (125' R/W) (COLLIER BOUL[VARD)
CHARLES V. BENTON, PhO
SAN MARINO
EXHIBIT "A"
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