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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZB November 14, 2005 Transcriptreenber Traurig Adrienne t'riesner Pardo (305) 579--0683 Direct Fax: (305) 961-5683 E-Mail: pardoaJgtlaw.com November 28, 2005 Via Hand -Deliver Mr. Anel Rodriguez Hearing Boards Department City of Miami 444 S.W. 2nd Avenue, 7t1, Floor Miami, EL 33130 Re: Electra Appeal Dear Anel: Enclosed please find a copy of the transcript from the Electra Appeal before the Zoning Board on November 14, 2005. Please include the transcript as an exhibit to the City Commission backup. Should you have any questions, please call me at (305) 579-0683. encl. cc: Mr. Alex Forkosh Gil Pastoriza, Esq. Ms. Wendy Stephen Very truly yours„vim Adrienne Friesner Pardo Fax 305 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PRESENT: CITY OF MIAMI ZONING BOARD November 14, 2005 City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida LLEANA HERNANDEZ-ACOSTA CHARLES J. FLOWERS MIGUEL A. GABELA JOSEPH GANGUZZA CHARLES GARAVAGLIA C. CHLOE KEIDAISH CARLOS MARTELL JUVENAL PINA ANGEL URQUIOLA Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do we have a continuance? THE CLERK: We have one item that was withdrawn. THE CHAIRPERSON: That being which one? THE CLERK: It was item number 5. It was the appeal by John Shubin on behalf of Odester One, LLC. He withdrew the appeal. We have a letter in our file showing that he withdrew the appeal. . MR. PINA: All right. Do we need to read it into the record? A SPEAKER: No. MR. PINA: Do we have to do anything? A SPEAKER: We don't have to make a motion on a withdrawn item. We can just go right through it. MR. PINA: All right. THE CLERK: I have here Mr. (unintelligible). He's fifty percent the owner. A SPEAKER: Just to clarify, although Mr. Shubin did withdraw his appeal, there is another Brenda Kuhns, Wendy Stephan and Pat Kelly on behalf of the Buena Vista East Historic Neighborhood Association which I believe is still Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 pending appeal, and that's still item 5. A SPEAKER: Okay. What, everybody` appealed? A SPEAKER: I'm sorry? A SPEAKER: Everybody appealed on this item? A SPEAKER: There were two different appellants on this item and they were scheduled both as number 5. A SPEAKER: How many appeals did we get, two appeals? A SPEAKER: Or only one? A SPEAKER: It's one item -- listed as one item but there were two separate appeals. THE CLERK: Is the lady here? A SPEAKER: I have no idea. I have not seen her. A SPEAKER: There were two appeals included in the same item. THE CLERK: Yes. A SPEAKER: One of those is a two-part appeal. A SPEAKER: Okay. A SPEAKER: One part withdrew but the other part is still valid. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A SPEAKER: We'll still hear item 5. Okay. Item number 5 is the appeal of, I understand, Brenda Kuhns, Wendy Stephan and Pat Kelly on behalf of the Buena Vista East Historic Neighborhood Association of the Class II Special Permit 05-0166, approved with conditions by the Planning Director on September 28, 2005 for new construction with Electra. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank You. MS. KUHNS: Thank you. We have a short presentation we would like to present and -- THE CHAIRPERSON: Excuse me. Your name and address, please? MS. KUHNS: I'm sorry. My name is Brenda Kuhns. My address is 119 Northeast 43rd Street Miami, Florida. My fellow appellants are here. Do you want to Just stand up and state your name? MS. STEPHAN: My name is Wendy Stephan. My address is 101 Northeast 43rd Street, Miami, Florida. MR. KELLY: And my name is Pat Kelly. I;live at 75 Northeast 44th Street, Miami, Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 5 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Florida. MR. SHORT: My name is Scott short.' I'm not one of the appellants. I'm just running the slide show for them. MS. KUHNS: I thank you, Board members, for hearing our appeal tonight. While he's setting that up I just wanted to put three things on the record. The first is that I don't know what sort of effect the agenda has, but our appeal was phrased in a different way. So I just want to clarify for the record that I am -- the individual appellants are here in our individual capacities, as well as on behalf of the Buena East Historic Neighborhood Association. I'd also like to state for the record that in violation of Section 1804 of the Miami Zoning Ordinance I was never notified of this hearing even though I asked when I filed my written appeal to be notified in writing. I just want to put this down for the record. And if there is need for rebuttal I'd like to reserve time for rebuttal. Thank you. So we are appealing the Class II Special Permit for the Electra 1 proj•ect. This is the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 wrong building in the wrong place. We ask respectfully that you deny the Class II Special Permit for Electra 1 for five reasons. First, the project fails to satisfy the intentions and requirements of SD-8 and must comply with the underlying zoning and land use requirements. Second, Electra 1 fails to satisfy the design criteria set forth in Section 1305 of the City of Miami Zoning Code. Third, Electra 1 exceeds Miami -Dade County Planning Department Urban Design Manual specifications for preferred scale along urban corridors. Fourth, Electra 1 interferes with Miami's Downtown Master Plan which encourages high density development downtown. And finally, it violates Miami Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan. I'll go into each of these individually. First, Electra 1 fails to satisfy the intentions of SD-8. What I have up here is Section 600, which is the intent of special districts in general, and it says, "The intent of these regulations is to permit the creation of Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 special districts in general areas officially designated as having special and substantial public interest in protection of existing or proposed character, or of principal views of, from, and through the areas." So what this is saying is that the fact that the project is in a special district at all means that it's because it has some sort of special character in the public interest to protect. Also, just in general for special districts, in cases where special and substantial public interests requires modification of otherwise applicable zoning regulations for the accomplishment of the special public purposes for which the special public district is established. There's a public purpose public special district is established and only for that purpose is the modification of the special district applicable. In other words, special districts are areas where the zoning is modified in order to accomplish a particular public purpose and where the character is worth protecting. The purpose of the Class II Permit in special District 8 is to ensure conformity with Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the express intent of Special District 8, and 1305 and Electra 1 does neither. Special District 8 was created to strengthen and encourage the expansion of design service activities in this area by allowing greater intensities for appropriate design -oriented service uses. That is the first requirement to get a Class II Special Permit is that you comply with this stated intention in Special District 8. As Section 608.1 states, "Greater intensity is allowed for design -oriented service uses, which Electra 1 is not. Electra 1 has no design specific use or purpose. it is a residential high-rise designated to a residential purpose. According to the developer's own plans only 12,030 square feet are dedicated to commercial or retail. So there are only 12,030 square feet that could in any way meet a design specific purpose. Meanwhile, 567,000 square feet are designated for a residential purpose or parking or other like, you know, where the air conditioner goes. That means that only two percent of the available project commercial use -- of the project is available for commercial VeritextlFlorida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 9 use. SD-8 only modifies zoning for design specific uses. The plain meaning of the ordinance, the plain meaning which in Renko (phonetic) Material Corp. versus the City of North Miami the Florida Supreme Court held is the meaning that should be read into an ordinance unless otherwise stated. The plain meaning is that SD-8 is not intended to supplant the entire zoning, but rather to modify the zoning for projects that serve the stated public purpose, which is encouraging design specific uses. In fact, Special District 8 ordinance even says this. It says, "The effect of these SD-8 regulations shall be to modify regulations, with portions of other zoning districts included in SD boundaries, to the extent indicated herein." Meaning within the limitations of the ordinance itself. It is our position, and we ask this Board to recognize, that Electra 1 must meet the old zoning and land use designation and is not --- it does not comply with the intent of Special District 8 and, therefore, is not allowed to be Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 10 accommodated by the extra density allowed under that ordinance. Since Electra 1 does not meet the stated purpose of SD-8, it must comply with underlying zoning and land use designation which is R-3, fifty feet maximum height. When reviewing a Class II Special Permit there are certain objectives that are meant to be applied. There are (unintelligible) Special Permit is required so that the project will get special and intensive review. The Board is to determine whether to permit project in specific locations. The location is very important. And any limitations, conditions, and safeguards should be applied to protect adjoining properties and the neighborhood from avoidable potentially adverse effects. Electra 1 is in the wrong place and the Class II Permit should be denied in order to protect the neighborhood from its adverse effects. My second point. Electra 1 -- A SPEAKER: Excuse me. Could you elaborate on the averse effects? MS. KUHNS: I will. If I could continue my next section actually goes to that quite Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 thoroughly. THE CLERK: Before you do I want to ask the Chairperson to allow me to ask you a question. Is your address -- your name is Brenda Kuhns? MS. KUHNS: Yes. THE CLERK: Is your address 119 Northeast 43rd Street? MS. KUHNS: Yes. THE CLERK: I have here the certified mail that was sent to you. MS. KUHNS: I never got it. THE CHAIRPERSON: Don't they have to sign for certified mail? THE CLERK: Exactly. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Well -- MS. KUHNS: Is that my signature on it? THE CLERK: No, it's my receipt. They never picked it up. THE CHAIRPERSON: It's important for that to be on the record. And I believe a Board member asked you a question. If you could address his question, please. MS. KUHNS: Okay. I'm happy to do it now. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. KUHNS: The harm to the neighborhood is exhibited in a number of ways. First of all, the project is 420 feet tall. The tallest building in our area of Miami is called Blue. That project is 336 tall and it hovers over all the surrounding residential neighborhoods. We have some pictures of it actually. THE CHAIRPERSON: We're familiar with it. Thank you. MS KUHNS: And it is part of the zoning ordinance that buildings be in the context of the surrounding areas, and protection of the neighborhoods is stated as an intent within the ordinances. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Is that the response to your question? A SPEAKER: No. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Would you restate your question so she can respond? A SPEAKER: is that because it's tall? MS. KUHNS: Every house in our neighborhood will be able to view this project, Electra 1, from their front yard, their backyard and probably every room in their house that faces south. VeritextlFlorida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Also, the project is bringing 430 new cars to our neighborhood. The streets that' intersect northeast 36th Street and northeast Miami Avenue were called at some point was one of the most dangerous intersections in Miami. We get to it later in the presentation, but it's our position that this project creates so much density that it increases an already unsafe condition on the roads in the neighborhood. THE CHAIRPERSON: Does that answer your question? THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. MS. KUHNS: Our second point is that Electra 1 fails to satisfy Section 1305 design criteria. 1305 has a number of design criteria that Electra 1 doesn't satisfy. The first is within the table in 1305.2 within Section (I). The project must respond to the physical architectural environment taking into consideration urban form and natural features. Electra 1 fails to do this. The context of the surrounding area is two to five stories. Electra 1 420 feet and 33 plus stories. The next slide shows the neighboring Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 14 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 properties to Electra 1. The first slide on the upper left is a school. It's a junior high school. It's a charter school called Espira (phonetic). It has 156 seventh and eighth graders. The property under that is on the southwest corner. That's the Bernice Finebaum Gallery, two stories. The next property on the bottom right is a church which is about half a block down from the project, also two stories. Even Midtown Miami scaled down their project when approaching our neighborhood. The top right slide is Midtown Miami and we show it how Midtown Miami the City had a stated purpose of stepping down the project as they approached our residential and our low -scale commercial area. This project is out of context even with the Midtown Miami. This next slide shows the Midtown Miami project. This is from of the developer's own plans. You can see the shadows of the Midtown Miami project on the left side of the picture. All of the high density, all of the tall buildings, were kept on the furthest side from our neighborhood as possible, and as you can see they step down to sort of midsize development, and then Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 15 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 as they approach our neighborhood the highest one is five stories. Everything is three to fire stories. Then the applicant's project sticks up like a sore thumb. It's just in the wrong place. The nearby single family neighborhood, Buena Vista East, will be adversely affected by Electra 1. I live in Buena Vista East and I will be personally affected as well. Electra 1 will overwhelm single family homes and low -scale areas. And here is the example I was talking about that shows just how that works. This goes is a picture of Blue. It's 336 feet tall. It's located at 601 Northeast 36th Street. Because Blue is on 36th Street, and so is the applicant's project Electra 1, and because the streets going north from Blue exactly parallel our street, it provides a perfect example, an exact comparison of what this project will look like from our neighborhood except for one small detail: that this project is almost a hundred feet bigger. So everything you see here add another hundred feet. The next slide shows Blue from three blocks away. This is what Blue will look like from northeast 39th Street in our neighborhood. Northeast 39th Street though does not have houses Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 on it. It's a commercial street. The next slide shows Blue from six blocks away. This is approximately where northeast 43rd Street, my street, is. So this is what the view will be from my house. The next slide shows Blue from nine blocks away. It's so big it's not even getting smaller. Blue is so big that we can see it all the way from Buena Vista East, which is almost a mile away. The next slide shows a picture of Blue from 110 Northeast 46th Street. This is basically the center of our neighborhood and you can still see this highrise over someone's house. Imagine if it's a hundred feet taller and it's a mile closer. Protecting residential neighborhoods is a proper factor to consider when granting a Class II Special Permit. Section 1300 requires just that. Special permitting procedures and requirements are intended to apply in relation to use, occupation, location, design, character, scale are also to assure consideration of the particular circumstances of each case. These developers are not building within their rights. They have to Veritext/Florida Reporting CO.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 satisfy these criteria, and because they're in a special district there out to get the Special Permit so that every project can be looked at individually. The establishment of such conditions and safeguards are reasonably necessary for protection of the public interest generally, protection of adjacent properties, the neighborhoods and the City as a whole. The Zoning Board may deny a Class II Special Permit due to location, design, character, scale and to protect our nearby neighborhoods and we ask that you do that. THE CHAIRPERSON: How much longer is your presentation? MS. KUHNS: I'm going to try to hurry. apologize for taking so much time. In light of the Morningside Development versus the City of Miami case, we have been advised to make sure that we get all of our arguments and facts into the record tonight because it's prudent to do so. The Eleventh Circuit Court has said that if we don't none of it can be heard at the Commission. So I apologize for the length of the presentation. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. KUHNS: I'm just trying to preserve all the issues for appeal. The Miami Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan even states that protects -- it's number one goal when you open the Miami Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan the first thing on the page, the first goal, number one, is maintain a land use pattern that protects and enhances the quality of life of the City's residential neighborhoods. That's us. Electra 1 fails to conform with the design criteria listed in Section 1305(1I)(3). It fails to create a transition in bulk and scale. In fact, Electra 1 at 420 feet is the absolute opposite of a transition. Midtown Miami steps down, as I was talking, towards our neighborhood. The next slide is what I showed before. Even though Midtown Miami and the City -- you know, the City was intervally involved in the development of this project. They respected this idea of stepping down towards residential neighborhoods. The blocks that Electra went on is supposed to be a transition block. Electra 1 fails to serve as a transition block. Looking every direction from Electra 1 the zoning is far Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 19 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 below what this project proposes, and I brought a map just to show you quickly. I have to use the microphone. This is where the project is. Most of the area west of the project is designated C-2, ten stories 120 feet maximum. All the projects south of the area that's Midtown Miami and they stepped down towards our neighborhood and across the street from this project it's three stories. Along the commercial boulevard of northeast 36th Street next to and adjacent to the developer's project all the buildings are one to two stories. Also, north of the project is the Design District. As it currently stands, not a single structure in the Design District is more than five stories. North of the Design District is our residential neighborhood, all single family homes, and on the other side of Miami Av it's the same thing. So basically you have this entire section of the City that is low to medium scale development and then you have applicant's project which is 420 stories high. It sticks out like a sore thumb. It's just in the wrong place. Even City staff recognizes that this was a transition Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 20 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 block and that this project was in the wrong place In reviewing the comments from the Urban Design Review Board City staff said repeatedly that this project fails to create a transition which is what the Code requires in Section 1305. On March 1 and March 15 City staffers said, "The building height is out of scale for the area. The site is more appropriate for a transition block in height from the higher density developments to the east and the lower scale C-2 zoned properties to the west." That's exactly what I said. On March 29 they basically said the same thing. Electra 1 also is not a gateway. City staff said that this project would provide a nice gateway to the Design District. I'm trying to find where that was. But yet it does not provide a gateway. This is part of that whole transition argument when you enter the Design District or our neighborhood you have to come from northeast 2nd Avenue or Miami Avenue. There's no other way to get in. So pretty much half of the people that come to our neighborhood are driving passed this building which serves as a gateway. It's not a gateway because the abrupt seven -story crisp space Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 21 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 parking podium, the closed -off interior plaza, has no green space, no visible landscaping. There's no reference to the character of the area and the strong horizontal elements spins off the corner instead of opening it up like a gateway should. Electra 1 fails to use styles, colors and materials of the area, which is required by 1305.2 in the table (II) Section (4). Instead, Electra went and invoked the modern design with art deco elements. The round tower is futuristic and uninviting in contract to the existing structures. There is no art deco in the Design District. The next picture shows what the buildings in the Design District look like. Electra 1 is also in violation of Section 1305.2(111)(1), fails to promote pedestrian interaction. Electra 1 is a severe 420 foot tower with a seven -story cliff face rising straight from the sidewalk. It interferes with the pedestrian shopping area created by Midtown lower than City leading into the Design District. And I should also point out, and the next slide shows it, that the so-called world class plaza -- world class plaza that the developers have provided actually functions as a driveway. This slide did not come Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 22 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 out very well, but there are two circular basically driveways with water features. They're covered. They're covered. They're not open to the public. You don't see them when you drive by. They're completely hidden. And one of them also is the entrance and exit to the parking garage. Moving on. Section 1305.2(111)(2), design facades that respond primarily to human scale. Human scale is not 420 feet tall. This building is so tall it will create an uncomfortable feeling for people walking by. Electra 1 has a forty -foot pedestal rising straight up from the sidewalk, It uses horizontal lines which are less inviting and less human. THE CHAIRPERSON: Does that conclude your presentation? MS. KUHNS: No. I'm sorry. We are almost done now. THE CHAIRPERSON: You know, I know you have to put it in the record, but you're going to have to do it quicker. MS. KUHNS: Okay. THE CHAIRPERSON: And without embellishing because it is going on way too much. MS. KUHNS: Will do. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 23 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. MS. KUHNS: Number 3. The Miami -Dade County Planning Department Urban Design Manual says that three stories is the preferred scale for corridors like 36th Street and Miami Avenue. Number 4. I'm moving fast. I promise. Number 4. Electra 1 interferes with the Miami Downtown Master Plan. The Master Plan is intended to create density downtown where density is needed. Downtown is seventy percent underdeveloped according to that Master Plan. This kind of density belongs there. That's why we this building is just in the wrong place. And finally our fifth point is that Electra 1 violates the Miami Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan, and I'm going to let Wendy Stephan address this point. THE CHAIRPERSON: Do you know what, the rest of you are going to have a two -minute maximum and please see that there's someone do the clock. A very good presentation. Next. Please state your name and address for the record. MS. STEPHAN: Yes. My name is Wendy Stephan. My address is 101 Northeast 43rd Street, Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Miami, Florida. My issue -- I'm the head of the neighborhood association for Buena Vista East. I'm the president of the association and our issue is that, yes, our neighborhood is slightly north of this particular site. We have a very active development committee. We have people who have the time and energy to take these issues on and work to see that a positive public process happens, that urban design is applied the way it should be. This building is shocking to our residents. It's being located on an overtaxed intersection. It is currently 36th Street is an E and F rated level of service currently. It is a tiny little street. Can you move forward? Keep going. Next one. This is not a big intersection. There's exactly one lane going west in front of the entrance where all the cars are supposed to come and go from this particular project. One lane 430 cars coming and going on a daily basis. This intersection is not slated for any high flow volume upgrades through the year 2030, according to the Metropolitan Planning Organization. We argue this is not -- this is not a Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 palm -lined boulevard. In the plans they show palms and medians and nice wide open spaces. This is a weedy little intersection that does not -- cannot accommodate the scale of this project. It will make our lives miserable. I came and went from this particular intersection in an on ramp on 95 and 195 four times just today. It affects everyone who enters and exits. That includes Wynwood, the entire neighborhood of Wynwood, the entire neighborhood of Buena Vista Heights, Buena Vista West. All of these neighborhoods will be impacted every time they try to make a turn into that intersection and it's loaded with cars. The FDOT upgrade that is occurring now is essentially an esthetic upgrade. It will not add any lanes and it not even --- Commissioner Winton acknowledged in the MPL meeting that it is in no way prepared for the intensity -- increased intensity that is happening in Miami and even Midtown. So... THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. MS. STEPHAN: Thank you. THE CHAIRPERSON: Next. Keep that clock, please. MR. KELLY: My name is Pat Kelly. I live Veritext/Florida Reporting Co,,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 26 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 at 75 Northeast 44th Street. I'm going to be really brief. I came with some affidavits from our neighbors that they wrote opposing this project and I'll just summarize them real briefly. THE CHAIRPERSON: Two minutes remember. MR. KELLY: All right. David Roan (phonetic) who lives on 42nd Street he says he's strongly against the construction of a thirty-foot tower. He cited concerns over the height and scale, as well as the traffic impact. He says over the past years it's become so congested that it is a terrifying place to be a pedestrian. It truly is a difficult pedestrian street, north Miami Avenue. He's particularly concerned over safety issues to pedestrians traveling back and forth between Wynwood and the Design District during Gallery Nights. And Darren Dasilvo (phonetic) who lives on 43rd Street expresses his concerns of the loss of privacy due to the tower's inappropriate scale. In addition, he is concerned about the ability of the neighborhood's infrastructure to support this project, particularly the roads. He says, for example, the off ramp from 195 to Miami Avenue, Veritext!Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 27 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 which even though was just expanded, gets clogged, even block high-speed traffic on 195. And finally Annette Richard on 42nd Street opposes a permit for Electra for similar reasons, including the project's scale compared to that of the existing Design District, traffic concerns, quality of life and esthetic issues. She notes that the parking situation along north Miami has gotten much worse in the past few years. She was witnessed several accidents in the past years calling the situation dangerous with the potential for becoming much worse with Electra 1. Limited visitor parking. Moreover, she is worried that the site does not offer space for storage and/or delivery of building materials and how this will effect traffic, congestion, patterns commuting time. THE CHAIRPERSON; Thank you. MS. KUHNS: May I just,restate what we ask the Board to do? THE CHAIRPERSON: No, no. You've already said it. Why restate it? MS. KUHNS: All right. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to speak on this item? Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 28 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A SPEAKER: I'd like to speak on behalf of the appellant. THE CHAIRPERSON: No. I'm assuming that you finished your presentation, right? A SPEAKER: Anybody from the public, you said, right? THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, certainly. But we're now going to the other side and then -- there's a certain order to this. You finished making your presentation. So now we're going to the other side. A SPEAKER: Okay. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. MS. KUHNS: I think he's just saying because the individuals named on (unintelligible) is not an appellant. So he is only going to speak today in his capacity as a concerned citizen and resident. THE CHAIRPERSON: We'll get there. Thank you. Where is Adrienne? MR. PASTORIZA: Adrienne is here. THE CHAIRPERSON: What are you doing here? MR. PASTORIZA: We're doing this together. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, that's nice. MR. PASTORIZA: Yes. Madam Chairwoman, Members of the Board, we're here on behalf of the Permittee or the appellees in this case. Adrienne Pardo, my co -counsel, is here with me. We also have our architect, Mr. Colby Carr (phonetic), our traffic engineer, Richard Garcia, and our planners Ralph Curtis and Cathy Sweetapple. First of all, I would like to just kind of get some procedural issues out of the way real quick and real brief. THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, 'd like that. MR. PASTORIZA: First of all, as you know, our abutting neighbor, the neighbor who sits immediately across the street from us on northeast Miami Court, that neighbor has withdrawn their appeal. The neighbors in question lack standing, and they lack standing for several reasons. First of all, the Association lacks standing because under the recent case law, Pekoe (phonetic) versus City of Miami, the Association only has standing to raise procedural issues. There is no procedural issues raised on this appeal. One of the appellants mentioned something Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to the fact that she had not received notice and that, therefore, she wanted to put that into the record. The fact is that she has waived that because she was here and she amply testified. even assuming -- and your City records does reveal that she had received the notice. So the Association doesn't have standing because of Pekoe because there's no procedural issues here. Second of all, the individual members don't have standing on the Renard (phonetic) versus Miami -Dade County, and I'll make copies available to your City Attorney. I think he's familiar with those cases. And the reasons why these individual members lack standing is because I think we should put this application a little bit into perspective. Our property lies on the northeast corner of 36th Street and Miami Avenue. These neighbors they all by their own admission they live on 43rd Street and 44th Street. There is more than -- close to 1300 feet from our property toward where these neighbors live. They live right in here. And not only that we have the Julia Tuttle Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Expressway that is also right between us and that neighborhood. Their entire neighborhood is buffered by approximately thirty-eight acres of an SD-8 District. The SD-8 District allows for unlimited heights. It has no setbacks and it has a density of 150 units to the acre. That's what the Code allows. This project is not seeking any variances, exceptions for any of accordance District. it's not seeking any special We're not taking -- we're not asking the FRA bonuses. We are building in with the regulations in the SD-8 Finally, the City required a Class 2 Special those owners that the appellants live outside of zoning Permit notice requirements. On the City Code says that immediately abut this property are legally entitled to receive notice. these neighbors again they live 1200 feet away, more than three -and -a -half blocks with the expressway also in-between. So I think that for those reasons these neighbors MR. PINA: Mr. remind you that this is lack standing. (unintelligible), let me a public hearing and Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 everyone is welcome to speak on an issue. MR. PASTORIZA: I understand that, Mr. Pina, but I just got to put into the record just to preserve that record. MR. PINA: Okay. MR. PASTORIZA: Even if we assume that these neighbors have standing, well, the Florida case law is very clear that the burden is on the appellants, and that burden is through substantial competent evidence. Neighbors -- and we all know that neighbors' opinion testimony it is not substantial competent evidence. Basically what these appellants are trying to do is they're asking this Board to substitute the opinion of your Zoning Director for their own opinion. Your Director issued the Class II special Permit, and it was properly reviewed by your staff, and when they made those -- when they issued that permit they made the findings that you'll see here tonight that we will further buttress. We started this process about eight or nine months ago working with your staff, and some of the comments that were raised by the appellants at the very beginning or during the presentation Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 33 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 were addressed and that's why -- and they were addressed by reducing the size of the building and by doing certain things to the building. At the end of the day after all this work, you know, through eight months your Director felt comfortable and then your Director issued this Class II Special Permit. Also, the UDRB, which is the City's board made up of architects, reviewed this project, and they reviewed it for context, for scaling and those kind of factors, and they also approved this project. To get to some of the substantive issues. We have made a copy of the Code itself here and basically why are we before you today? Well, we're before you today because the property and, by the way, the property lies the farthest most away from the neighbors within the SD-8 District. We're really more akin to Midtown Miami because of the geographical expressway boundary, but we are the farthest away that we can be within the SD-8 District from these neighbors. So your Code, the section SD-8 of your Code, requires that we get a Class II Special Permit, and that's what we did. We obtained a Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 34 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Class II Special Permit and the neighbors appealed. Now, in looking at the Class II considerations, it says that we need to make sure that we comply with the basic intent of the SD-8 District. Not with Section 600, but with Section 608, which is the appropriate intent section. I (unintelligible) to you that this project complies with the basic intent of the SD-8 Ordinance, and I would just like to read -- I'd like to read for you, and please bear along with me, what the intent says. "Allowing greater intensities for a property design oriented service uses, coupled with meaningful ground level pedestrian open spaces, and active street level walking environments." We do have two plazas. We have a plaza here that is approximately 9,000 square feet at the intersection of Miami Avenue and 36th Street. We have wide sidewalks all around this project, around fifteen feet of sidewalk around the project. We also have a small activity or plaza on the southeast portion of the property. And obviously we abut the expressway so, therefore, there's no pedestrian activity back there. That's Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 our back of house. But we do have wide sidewalks, we have the plazas, and we have the landscaping. All of that really reacts with retail spaces all along the ground floors to interact -- provide interaction between the street and the use. And that also very critical within the intent of the SD-8 District is that it says "Greater intensities for mixed use development site abutting principal arterial roadways are promoted." We have this project lies at the intersection of the two arterial roads here. 36th Street, which is your east -west arterial, and Miami Avenue, which is a north -south arterial. So we do comply with the basic intent of the SD-8 Ordinance. Not only did we say that. Your planning staff and your director has said that, too. The appellant raises the issue of -- and also what 1 would like to do, if I could right now, is to bring in our architect in, Mr. Colby Carr, who will enumerate and go through the other design standards in the SD-8 District, which is Section 608.12, and he will tell you, you know, why we meet those design standards. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 36 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A SPEAKER: Is Mr. Carr a registered lobbyist? MR. PASTORIZA: Yes, sir. MR. CLARK: Hi. Good evening. I'll try to be brief based on my presentation. But basically as Gil has notably said, we have met with your staff and then we have met and went in front of UDRB, and specifically what everybody acknowledges this is a unique site. What we did, and as you can see, in an SD-8 one of the requirements was very prevalent is to create a very unique open space here which originally was located over here. The condition was to create an open space here which would relate to the commercial on the south. And when you add up all of this open space and pedestrian and commercial areas it adds up to be about twenty percent of the site. And what was unique about this design is that we created a small footprint. We specifically went for a skinnier building. We only have six units per floor. We kept the building as skinny as possible and yet maintained the pedestrian, as Gil has mentioned, within the SD-8 requirements. And that's important to Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 37 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 understand because we spent many adays with your staff, and when we went to the UDRB the on1 condition was basically relocating the public space to the corner. Specifically we have the work -live spaces which also have the commercial on the ground level as, you know, that's the requirement for the SD-8. And also what we did is we wrapped it all the way around the building. So we certainly complied with all of those requirements. 1 can now be brief because the hour is late. But to take it specifically, and this was done in detail by your staff, who was very good at it, very adamant about it, the UDRB that looked at the project and approved it, we meet the pedestrian entrances. We provide all the retail facades. Not only do we meet it but we exceed it. We provided surfaces on the building walls that are transparent and glazing not only on 36th Street, not only on North Miami, but we wrapped it all the way around and we brought our residential entrance to the project on the west side. And as Gil has mentioned, we kept all of our backup house up along the highway. The transition line. All of the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 38 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 transition of the cornices and all the details of your pedestal were deeply looked at in detail with building materials by your staff and by the UDRB, which, by the way, approved it. I believe it was unanimously. The surface parking lot, the drop --off areas, all of those areas, we went above and beyond the call of duty on this project. We have a subterranean parking. We have more public parking that would be necessary. We have about a hundred parking spaces for the commercial and for the retail plus the bonuses. So we met all of those requirements. So with that, Gil, if you need me for anything else, I'd be more than happy -- MR. PASTORIZA: No. What I would like to do now is bring our planning expert who is going to talk about compliance with Section 1305, which is one of the issues that were raised by the appellant on their appeal. Cathy Sweetapple, please. MS. SWEETAPPLE: Thank you, Gil. Cathy Sweetapple, Cathy Sweetapple Associates, 101 North Gordon Road, Fort Lauderdale. I'm going to run through a quick power point presentation. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. PASTORIZA: Just very briefly. Cathy, are you familiar with this project? ° MS. SWEETAPPLE: Yes, I am. MR. PASTORIZA: Are you familiar with the neighborhood in question including the East Buena Vista District? MS. SWEETAPPLE: Yes, I am. MR. PASTORIZA: In your expert opinion, does this project conform and comply with Section 1305? MS. SWEETAPPLE: Yes, it does. MR. PASTORIZA: Please could you elaborate to the Board, you know, why it complies? MS. SWEETAPPLE: Certainly. For the record, a quick power point presentation. Again, we looked at the site location. We are located within the SD-8 Design District, which is located on both the north and south sides of Interstate 195. We have Midtown to the south. We have the Buena Vista neighborhood extending north of the SD-8 Design District and we've shown it here so you can see the relationships between these three areas, Midtown, the Design District and Buena Vista. The site looking south we think it's Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 40 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 important so you can see where we're located and understand the context of the urban forum. We have Midtown on the south, we have downtown Miami at the very southern edge of this photograph looking south. We then have Midtown. We've got the project location in the orange rectangular shape and then we have the Design District which extends along the south side of the photo. We think this is important for us to understand that the Design District encompasses much of the area that is immediately adjacent to the site. Within easy walking distance from this new project you will have access to this resource for the Design District. This is an image that is in our packet. It shows you the simulated building from Midtown. It shows you our simulated building. It shows you Blue all the way on the far side adjacent to the bay, and it shows you downtown. It creates a very interesting triangular shape as you extend the development from downtown up the Biscayne corridor and into Midtown. You will note that based on the perspective view you see the height of the Electra is in keeping with the Midtown buildings and in keeping with Blue. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 41 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 We do note that the retail piece of Midtown, which is directly on the south side of this project, is a lower scale town center retail. However, that is comparable to the pedestal that's been created by this building. The Section in pink which extends to the south side of the photo is the extent of the Design District. The Design District extends all the way north halfway between 40th and 41st Street, at which point the Buena Vista neighbor then extends further north. The SD-8. Again we've gone over this. It designates pedestrian streets. Very important. It promotes active street level walking environment, greater intensities for mixed use site abutting principal arterial roadways. Gil mentioned the 36th, he mentioned North Miami Av. Don't forget the Julia Tuttle Causeway. It's a state principal arterial. It encourages mixed residential and design commercial space and multiple use development. And then most importantly it promotes a diverse range of building types. I know we'd all like to see one type of building. Everybody has their favorite Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 architectural motif. But the SD-8 promotes a diverse range of building types. The applicants must demonstrate conformity with the standards of Section 608.12. You've heard the architect indicate that we meet or exceed each one of those design standards. And again we must be in conformance with the general considerations of Section 1305. The review criteria for 1305 is outlined here We've got site and urban planning, architecture and landscape architecture, pedestrian oriented development, streetscape and open space, vehicular access and parking, screening, signage and lighting, preservation of natural features and then modification of nonconformities which in this case does not apply. Each of these elements were reviewed by your staff, by the planning Director, and each of those were found to be in compliance for this project. Again, let's talk about site and urban planning. Respond to the physical and contextual environment taking into consideration the urban form and natural features. As a planner, we look at the entire urban space. We do not just look at Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 43 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the buildings adjacent to our site. We look at the form that is created by the (unintelligible) and this area is dominated by the Julia Tuttle Causeway and 36th Street. You see our site in the orange triangle and that Julia Tuttle on the north side, 36th on the south and then Midtown under construction. We also recognize that if there is a natural urban forum it is Biscayne Bay, in which case we would then like our project to enhanced use of the bay. Again now looking west the urban forum. We have the expressway on the north side of the site, 36th Street on the south, Midtown under construction. And again I also point out that the uses to the east and west of this site are very industrial in nature. Site and urban planning. We've got the site plan that you see before you looks at the design of the site in order to minimize the impact of parking and driveways on the pedestrian environment and adjacent properties. You will note that the driveways -- there are two driveways serving the site. They are both designed along Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the east side of the site. They both access northeast Miami Court. Northeast Miami Court is not a through street. It dead ends right there at the causeway. And so instead of channeling all of our vehicular traffic onto 36th Street or on to north Miami Av, which could have happened, this portion of the project is onto the street which is not a free street with access then south to 36th Street. We also have we are required as a corner property to orient our building to the corner and to the public street front. We have our corner pedestrian plaza, which sits in the southwest corner of the site. •It's oriented. The retail frontage is oriented to north Miami Av and 36th Street. The pedestal for this building this view was used. It's one the architectural simulations to show you that at the ground level we have the retail street front along both north Miami Av and 36th Street. Architect and landscape. We must respond to the neighborhood context, create a transition in bulk and scale, and use architectural styles and materials derivative from the surrounding Veritext/Fiorida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Horida (305) 376-8800 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 area, articulate our facade. We're going to go first and talk about context again. Context. Our context is the interstate and 36th Street, the Design District and Midtown. And then what we did is we took a look at different views extending outward from the site. We had our photographer take photographs at street level in the Buena Vista neighborhood. We wanted to know what would these people see. What would the home owner see when he stepped outside his door, stepped on the sidewalk and looked south? We have several images, and it's very difficult to tell but the building is superimposed in these photographs. You can barely see it behind the tree in the center of the building -- of this photo is the simulated photo of this building. It's a little easier to see on this photo. This is from 43rd Street midblock. You can see through the trees. You do have a view of Electra. It's in perspective view again. We are now five, six blocks north of -- seven blocks north of the site. And so as you're standing at street level looking you have a very -- it's not a dominating tower when you're in the Buena Vista neighborhood. It Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 46 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is perspective view of this building. 41st Street, 44th Street, midblock barely recognizable. Now, this is at 48th Street. There is no longer -- you can see I believe that's Blue that extends over the house on the left side of the photo. But there is no recognizable image of Electra. Now, here is the one place where you will have a view. When you are driving south on north Miami Av, when you are driving south on northeast 1st Av, when you are driving south on 2nd Av, you will have a view of this building. It is impossible to avoid that. But as you can see again, this is at 40th Street. This is the five -story building that sits on the east side of north Miami Av at 40th Street, which is almost at the north edge of the Design District. Because again because of the perspective view you do not have a towering building that looms over you as you are on the street. You have a perspective view of this building. Pedestrian oriented development. Again, this is the pedestal at this point. So that you can under it again, we have the retail frontage, streetscape and open space, the landscape plan Veritext/Fiorida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 47 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you've seen it on the board here as well. We've got our landscaping, we've got the public plazas, we've got the fifteen -foot sidewalks which are wrapped around three sides of the building. Usable open space that allows for convenient and visible pedestrian access from the public sidewalk. One of the -- and with pedestrian oriented development as well. One of the emphasis is to allow for the continuation of the pedestrian traffic down 36th Street and north Miami Av, and we look at this project and bringing in the continuity from Midtown to the Design District and it will provide the residential population that will then, you can picture it, walking to Midtown, walking into the Design District on the weekend, and we think this is part of the vision that the City had for this area. Vehicular access and parking. Design for pedestrian and vehicular -- THE CHAIRPERSON: Excuse me. I know, that, you know, we've apparently become the parlor for lawsuits, and I know that you all have to put everything on the record for pending lawsuits. But you're going to have to speed it up a little bit here. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 48 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. SWEETAPPLE: Okay. We're almost done. THE CHAIRPERSON: George, somewhere in our bylaws or something says we that will finish at a certain time. What is the time that we finish? MR. FERNANDEZ: My recollection is eleven p.m. So you can't consider an item beyond eleven. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. So I am going to request that, as I did with the appellant, that -- you know, I know you have to put it on the record but read very quickly. MS. SWEETAPPLE: I'll be fast. Okay. I think we've gone over the vehicular access. this leads you to access to parking. All of our building services are adequately screened within the site. Our design plans are in compliance with each and everyone of the screening requirements. Signage and lighting we are could in compliance. Preservation of natural features. Again, the only natural feature that we could identify from this site would be the potential for views to Biscayne Bay, and I think that our project will Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 49 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 enhance that. Modification of nonconformity is not applicable. Thank you. MR. PASTORIZA: Thank you. I would like just to a couple of things to enter into the record. One is Miss Sweetapple's resume, a copy of the package that she showed you, and I would like richard Garcia, our traffic engineer. Richard, please be brief. Richard, could you state your name and address for the record? MR. GARCIA: Good evening. Richard Garcia, 13117 Northwest (unintelligible). MR. PASTORIZA: Richard, you're familiar with this project and the number of trips that this project generates, right? MR. GARCIA: I am. MR. PASTORIZA: How many trips does this project generate? A SPEAKER: Excuse me. Is he a registered lobbyist? MR. PASTORIZA: Yes. MR. GARCIA: Yes, I am. The PMP trip generation from memory I believe it was eighty-eight vehicles, but I'll look at my table and make sure so I don't guess at it. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Eighty-eight vehicles in the PMP. MR. PASTORIZA: Richard, are you familiar also with this neighborhood and the traffic patterns in this neighborhood? MR. GARCIA: Yes, I am. My company also went out and did turning movement counts, traffic counts at three locations. MR. PASTORIZA: Richard, in your expert opinion, what is the effect of this project on the surrounding areas's traffic? MR. GARCIA: From a level of service perspective, there's no net change in the level of service letter. There is some increase in delay, which is normal for any time you add additional traffic and additional trips. MR. PASTORIZA: I would like to submit a copy of Mr. Garcia's study into the record. MR. GARCIA: I just want to go over a couple of things real briefly. MR. PASTORIZA: Right. MR. GARCIA: Class II Permits typically don't require traffic studies so usually you don't see a traffic engineer. They're much smaller in size as opposed to a (unintelligible). Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 In any regard, this traffic study was done not using a lot of the person trip methodologies which the City allows. The City allows internalization for a mixed use. We didn't do any of that. The City allows to assign some of the traffic to transit. We didn't assign anything to transit. We put it all in vehicles on the street. The City also allows pedestrian and bicycle usage for some of the traffic to be assigned to and we didn't do that. So we did a very extremely conservative analysis. A11 the traffic was assigned to the streets, and all the traffic going north and east and west and south was all maintained on the street. T didn't even assign any traffic to 1195, which obviously some traffic would be destined to use Julia Tuttle. The area of influence. Typically the area of influence that's studied for a must is probably smaller than the area that we studied due to the problems that we anticipated with this community. We studied an intersection as far as Miami Avenue and 46th Street, and we found that the level of service at that intersection remained c. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 at the existing level of Service C. There was, like I said, some increase in delay. Approximately from the net change at that intersection was from 18.5 seconds of average delay for the section, which is a level of Service C, to 24.7 second of delay. Now, someone mentioned that 36th Street and Miami Avenue had a level of service. I think I heard E and F. It doesn't have a level of Service E or F. The current level of service is a C. It has a future proposal level of service adding background growth rate and adding this site project remains at Level Service C. The delay goes from 25.7 to 29.7 seconds of delay. And just to give you a real quick indication of why the level of service is not bad, cycle length at that intersection of the traffic signal is 105 seconds. The first thing any agency, and I used to work for DOT, would do if they had a level of service problem is they increase the cycle length. You don't go adding lanes. First you maximize your traffic signal. Dade County runs as high as 180 second cycle lengths and here you only have 105. And that's generally a clear indication that level of service or capacity at the intersection Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 53 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is not a problem. So with that I'll wrap it up if you have any questions. MR. PASTORIZA: Just a couple of minor points. Appellants mentioned compliance with Downtown Master Plan. The Downtown Master Plan here is irrelevant. Downtown's density is 500 units to the acre. We're here at 150. It's not relevant the Downtown Master Plan here in this area. And then this project is consistent with the SD-8. It is consistent with a general commercial designation for this district. And also I would like to put into the record we do have neighbors that are within the SD-8 District that are in full support of this application, and I would just like to put that into the record. I was incorrect. The Downtown is 1,000 units. Well, just in conclusion what do you have before you tonight? You have on the one hand the unsubstantiated opinion testimony from neighbors that are seeking for this Board to basically throw out your Director's opinion. Remember they have to show you that the Director when she issued this Veritext/Fiorida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 54 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Class II Special Permit she did something wrong. And the fact of the matter is that the Director studied this very carefully, your staff studied this very carefully, and found that we were in compliance with 608 and 1305. Our experts here today have told you the same thing. Clearly the weight of the evidence here presented to this Board tonight' is in support of the denial of this appeal, and I would ask you please -- respectfully ask you to deny the appeal. Thank you. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Two minutes for rebuttal. Time please. As soon as she starts talking start counting your two minutes. MS. KUHNS: Thank you. I would like to respond to what Mr. Pastoriza just mentioned. We do not have the burden to show that the Planning Department Director did something wrong. That's not what this process is about. This board is given the authority to make planning decisions. The Department Director approves a Class II Special Permit, but it's conditional upon there being no appeal. So earlier when he said that we obtained the Class II Special Permit that's actually incorrect because Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 55 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you don't actually receive officially a Class II Special Permit until all the appeals have been exhausted. And we don't have to show that the Planning Director did something wrong. You may use your discretion to evaluate the zoning ordinances and evaluate whether this project complies without passing judgment on the Planning Director's performance. I'd also like to mention that the expert said that the pedestal of this project is comparable to what Midtown Miami is across the street. This is a 420 story with a seven -story pedestal. Across the street is a three-story commercial building. Also, counsel for the applicant said that his project is within the SD-8 -- the parameters of SD-8 because it allows for mixed use development and are actually permitted along arteries. But that provision I argue is subject to the overall intent of the Special District 8, which is to encourage and strengthen design specific uses, which this is not. And any maximum density that there is allowed is allowed to encourage that public purpose of creating a Design Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 56 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 District, which this building does not foster. I'd also like to address the photos that were shown. One of them was actually from my front yard and nobody asked me for peLuLission to come and take it. I thought it was very interesting that every photo was obstructed by a tree and I would have to be standing in my driveway to see that view. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Maybe you. ask them to plant lots of trees. Okay. Is there anybody else from the public who would like to speak for or against this item? MR. PASTORIZA: Excuse me. Madam Chairwoman, remember that thiswas an appeal by appellants. This is not a public hearing in the sense of that everybody from the whole Miami can come in and speak. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Let me refer to Mr. (unintelligible). What is your ruling if I -- if I'm not supposed to hear anybody else I'm going to feel terrible. I love to hear everybody talk and talk and talk. MR. FERNANDEZ: Let me just read from Section 1800 of the Zoning Ordinance. "Appeals to the Zoning Board may be taken by any person Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 57 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 aggrieved or by any officer, board or agency of the City affected by," and what would be pertinent here is 2. "Any decision of the Director of the Department of Planning, Building, Zoning, including, but not limited to, decisions involving Class II Special Permits." The next important section is Section 1801. "Decisions of the Zoning Administrator or Director of the Department of Planning shall be deemed final unless a Notice of Appeal is filed within not more than fifteen days from the date such decision was rendered. Such Notice of Appeal specifying the grounds thereof shall be filed with an officer or agent designated by the City Manager." Then finally, "Hearing Powers of Zoning Board. The Zoning Board shall conduct a public hearing on the appeal. Any person may appear by agent or attorney. All materials has been (unintelligible) Zoning Board upon the Notice of Appeal shall be part of the record in the case. New materials may be received by the Zoning Board with such materials are pertinent to the determination of the appeal. "In exercising authority to review the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 58 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 decision of the administrative official, the Zoning Board shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken, and in conformity with the provisions of law in this Zoning Ordinance may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the decision appealed from, and may make such decisions as ought to be made. The concurring vote of five members of the Zoning Board shall be necessary to reverse." THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Make it brief. Is it a yes or a no? MR. FERNANDEZ: So that basically says that this is an appeal, as Mr. Pastoriza said. So it indicates that there's a public hearing but it's a public hearing of the appeal. MR. PINA: So then we keep it to the parties. MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes, exactly. I would keep it to the parties. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. He's sorry. I really would have loved to hear from all of you. We will now close the meeting to the appellant and the applicant and the appellate and everybody else and open it up to the Board. MR. PINA: For Mr. Wiseman (phonetic). Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 59 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Mr. Wiseman, what is the criteria for the analysis? MR. PINA: Okay. The most important thing to remember is that Section 1305 says written findings and determinations in accordance with the established applicable criteria. Set forth in the Zoning Ordinance and City Code are what you have to -- what has to come out of here. So the design review criteria in Section 1305 is what it is It was listed by both parties, by citizens and then by an expert witness that said, I think, the eight elements were complied with. So you have to look to that chart that was shown to you, Section 1305, and see whether or not the design review criteria and it's rather specific. MR. PINA: But, I mean, this is more than just design. This says a whole bunch of issues that if you take their presentation and you take the other side and they're two complete opposites. MR. FERNANDEZ: Yes. Reading from the Notice of Appeal which says that -- it's rather brief -- the Notice of Appeal says the project named Electra 1 is out of scale for the area and Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is in violation of Section 1305 of the City of Miami Zoning Ordinance. Those are the grounds specified why you should overturn the appeal. Now -- MR. PINA: We had issued a Class 1I Special Permit. Therefore, those conditions must have been met. MR. FERNANDEZ: Right.' And the way the criteria is written in Section 1305 it says that if the -- Design Review Criteria. The planners should look to certain things. Site and urban planning is number 1. MR. PINA: Master Plan. MR. FERNANDEZ: Well, no. Site and urban planning. One, respond to the physical, contextual environment taking into consideration urban forum and natural features. It has three parts: Architecture and landscape architecture; 3, pedestrian oriented development; 4, Streetscape and open space; 5, vehicular access and parking; 6, screening; 7, signage and lighting; 8, preservation of natural features; 9, modification and nonconformity. Assuming that there's a problem with one of those eight, 9, the modification is the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 61 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 planning staff makes the applicant do something to cure the lack of design criteria being met. And so in determining whether or not the Class II Permit should be -- the way I see it is that the appellant is saying the appeal should be granted and the Director should be reversed because, one, the project is out of scale in the character of the neighbor and, two, that the project is generally in violation of Section 1305. MR. PINA: You mentioned landscape as being one. MR. FERNANDEZ: Landscape as being one, yes. MR. PINA: Right? Correct. Over here in the Class II Special Permit the City is asking to provide a complete landscape plan. Therefore, there wasn't one. MR. FERNANDEZ: Right. Exactly. So if you read the Class II Special Permit final decision those conditions - MR. PINA: Are still out there to be seen. MR. FERNANDEZ: Well, those conditions listed on the Class II, the Final Permit. The four conditions go to number 9, which are the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 62 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 modifications of conformities curing the adverse effect. That language of adverse effect generally was amended back in December 18, '03 by Ordinance number 12467. Before the appeals, as you recall, Section 1305 generally it's out of character, out of form with the neighborhood. Just a general assertion. Now there's design `review criteria that specifically says what the project has to meet and what it might not meet. So the one side should show -- if you look at the two appeals in the package, Shubin and (unintelligible) appeal said specifically it violated Section 1305 point -- there was a little chart that says 1305.2 Site and Urban Planning, Vehicular Access and Parking, around he explained why in his appeal. Here we have an appeal based on the fact that it's in violation of Section. 1305. Mr. Pastoriza then said not only do you have to listen to testimony, but it has to be competent -- there has to be competent substantial evidence that what they're saying is true. He put on expert witnesses, expert testimony, in an effort to show competent substantial evidence that the Class II Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 63 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Special Peimit was correctly granted. You heard the evidence and testimony from the appellant indicating that it's out of scale and character of the neighborhood and they addressed the various design review criteria as well. So your job basically is to determine -- and also Mr. Pastoriza made a sort of preliminary motion that the whole appeal should be dismissed because they didn't have standing. A SPEAKER: That's what I was concerned with. MR. FERNANDEZ: Right. A SPEAKER: Tell us about that. MR. FERNANDEZ: Standing in lay terms means you have the right to be here, you have the right to file this appeal. Florida law says that in many land use matters neighborhood association groups don't have standing. What I would advise you is he's preserved that issue for the record. My advise would be to let the appeal go forward in that our Zoning Ordinance says that any person aggrieved may file an appeal. And then it defines person as individual, organization, association. So our own Zoning Ordinance appears to confer standing where Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 64 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 general law does not necessarily confer standing. A SPEAKER: Right. MR. FERNANDEZ: And maybe a Circuit Court will say our Zoning Ordinance is wrong and that the general principles of law should apply, but... MR. PASTORIZA: If I could just clarify that condition on landscaping just one second. The City and most of the times even though on the (unintelligible) even when there's some major landscape plans, they always put a condition there to provide final landscape plans at the time of Building Permit. And I think the City does that so that when we go through the Building Permit process at the very end of the project is when they see all the entire landscaping. It doesn't mean that there was no landscaping provided. It's just like and Roberto could probably tell you this -- that they always put that condition there, a final landscape plan at the time of Building Permit. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. (Unintelligible). A SPEAKER: Yes. If you read the condition, it said a complete landscape plans to be presented at the time of the Building Permit; Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that is, that it's a conceptual landscape plan with the Class II. And then when we want a complete, complete means that you have to have the spread, the caliber, the name of the species, the amount of trees that you're putting. That is a complete landscape and that's what we want as part of the Building Permit. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Gentlemen, I think now that we have all the legal issues I think out of the way it's going to become more an issue of playing Solomon, and I see it in the simple fact that both sides presented pictures. In one set of pictures the building is not there and in the other set of pictures the building is there in every picture. So who do you believe? It's going to come down I think to a point of faith of we believe and who would believe because either they're both lying or they're both saying the truth. But we cannot have pictures of the same area where in one the building is not there and in the other one it is. So it's going to have come out of what we think. MR. GANGUZZA: You know, the pictures really -- it's interesting that everybody has a perspective -- a different perspective when they Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 66 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 see things and I think both sides did a great job of presenting the case, and one side saying that 1305 criteria were met and the other side doing a good job of saying that 1305 criteria were not met. You know, again looking at what was on the screen, and looking in the district where that building is, I think that there was an insensitivity to 1305 and I'm not convinced that there was a proper determination. THE CHAIRPERSON: Are you ready to make a motion? MR. GARAVAGLIA: Madam Chair, if I may -- MR. GANGUZZA: And I also have to tell you that, you know, it's all worked out if you plant the tree in the right place and just stand just -- THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. I'll come right back to you for your motion, Mr. Garavaglia. MR. GARAVAGLIA: Well, in the interest of simplified things, since we can't be Solomon and split the baby in half, and we have to make a decision, I've heard that 1305 -- pertaining to 1305 -- because I've got to vote one way or the other, I can't be going down the middle -- and presumably if they appeal and it went back to the Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 67 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Director, and the Director looked at 1305 and everything was in order for 1305, then I would have to say then that they met 1305 and, therefore, is this correct that they met 1305 and went back to you? THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, remember that that's why we're here. MR. GARAVAGLIA: It's like you're saying that it's a question who do you believe. THE CHAIRPERSON: Right. But that's why we're here because it's for us to make the decision based on what we hear and what we think. MR. GARAVAGLIA: And that's why I would like to ask the Director when they came back to you and say: Hey, this one here in 1305 doesn't apply -- A SPEAKER: Ramo Polito (phonetic), Zoning Administrator. It's not me. I'm not the Director of Planning. I'm a Director of Zoning. So it actually falls under Planning. THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, you've always wanted to that, right? MR. GARAVAGLIA: What about that, Robert? When they went back to you and said, you know, this one doesn't meet the standards for 1305 -- Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 68 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A SPEAKER: That's issued by the Planning Director, and the Planning Director and the Planning Department thinks that they complied with the criteria of 1305. That's why we issued the Class II. MR. GARAVAGLIA: So when they went back to you, you say that it complied with 1305. MR. FERNANDEZ: In fact, when you read the Class II Special Permit final decision the last bullet says, and this is a written finding, "It is found that with regard to the criteria set forth Section 1305 of the City of Miami Zoning Ordinance the application has been reviewed and found sufficient except for the issues listed above and contained in the condition." THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. MR. GARAVAGLIA: Thank you. THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Ganguzza. MR. GANGUZZA: Yes. I move that the request on Agenda Item 5, the decision of the Planning Director, be denied in the requirements of Ordinance 1305 as amended, and I am citing 1305 as opposed to Ordinance 11000; is that right, George? MR. FERNANDEZ: No Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 69 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. GANGUZZA: It's Section 1305 of -- (unintelligible) as amended we're satisfied'by relevant evidence in the record of public hearing as demonstrated by the appellant. MR. FERNANDEZ: The way I would have had it is there's an appeal was the Director affirmed or reversed? MR. GANGUZZA: I'm sorry. The appeal is -- THE CHAIRPERSON: It's upheld. MR. GANGUZZA: Well, we're reversing the determination of the Planning Director on this item. MR. FERNANDEZ: So, yeah. The way I would write it normally is grant the appeal, reverse the decision of the Planning Director thereby denying the Class II Permit. MR. GANGUZZA: That's my motion. MR. FERNANDEZ: And your findings are that it's inconsistent with Section 1305 of Zoning Ordinance number 11000? I don't want to put words in your --- I just need specific findings. MR. GANGUZZA: Inconsistent and insensitive to the consideration set forth in 1305.2. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 70 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE CHAIRPERSON: There's a motion. Is there a second? Okay. Then I'm going to pass i to you and you play Chairman and I'm going to second the motion. A SPEAKER: Okay. Motion by Mr. Ganguzza, second by Madam Chair. Roll call, please. MR. GANGUZZA: Yes. MRS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. I'm sorry, but I really think that the building is out of scale. MR. FLOWERS: Yes. MR. GABELA: I'm going to go by what the Director says because that's -- you know, he's telling me one thing and, of course, the other side is telling me something else. So no. MR. GARAVAGLIA: Yes. MR. PINA: I'm going to have to side with the neighbors on this one. I always feel that their concerns are meant to be heard, and I find reading through the Class II Special Permit Final Decision that it continues and it leave open some holes in it which are not defined. Yes. MR. URQUIOLA: Yes. THE CLERK: Motion passes 7 to 1. THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. By the way, Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 71 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 one thing that does bother me about this whole situation is that this comes to us as an appeal. But we never got the item to begin with. So there are a lot of things -- although the presentations were very long, we never got to see the building itself and, George, somehow there's something wrong in this system. We got the appeal but we never saw the item. We never saw it -- MR. PINA: Can I make a comment? THE CHAIRPERSON: -- in its entirety MR. PINA: Can I make a comment with respect to that? THE CHAIRPERSON: Certainly. MR. PINA: If some of the buildings that have been built, and I'm sure you're aware of many of the buildings out there THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, yes, I am. MR. PINA: -- that we have never seen, if some of the neighbors would show up at some of the appeals at least we would be within our jurisdiction here to make some changes to what's been built. But I think definitely the Code -- that's why we're having a problem with the Code and it's being reviewed. A SPEAKER: Miss Chairman, I was Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 72 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (unintelligible) and I know I'm talking to the gentlemen over here and they say we are over (unintelligible) in the traffic. One of them told me you are (unintelligible) buildings you got to have a big, big, big trouble with the traffic. You know, they're work now in the (unintelligible). A lot of money. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Item number 6, please. THE CLERK: Madam Chair, a correction on the vote count. That passed 6 to 1. THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800 73 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CERTIFICATE STATE OF FLORIDA } SS: COUNTY OF MIAMI-DADE I, ROBERT I. FINGLES, Court Reporter, certify that I was authorized to and did stenographically report the foregoing proceedings from a videotape and that this transcript is a true and complete record of the proceedings before the Board. I further certify that I am not a relative, employee, attorney, or counsel for any of the parties, nor am I a relative of employee of any of the parties, attorney of counsel connected with the action, nor am I financially interested in the action DATED this 26th day of November, 2005. ROBERT I. FINGLES, CP Veritext/Florida Reporting Co.,LLC Serving the State of Florida (305) 376-8800