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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2007-11-28 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November 28, 2007 2:00 PM SPECIAL PLANNING AND ZONING City Hall Commission Chambers City Commission Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor Angel Gonzalez, Chairman Joe Sanchez, Vice Chairman Marc David Sarnoff, Commissioner District Two Tomas Regalado, Commissioner District Four Michelle Spence -Jones, Commissioner District Five Pedro G. Hernandez, City Manager Jorge L. Fernandez, City Attorney Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Minutes are transcribed verbatim. Periodically, agenda items are revisited during a meeting. "[Later...]" refers to discussions that were interrupted and later continued. 2:00 P.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PZ.1 Present: Chairman Gonzalez, Vice -Chairman Sanchez and Commissioner Spence -Jones Absent: Commissioner Sarnoff and Commissioner Regalado On the 28th day of November 2007, the City Commission of the City ofMiami, Florida, met at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in special session. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Angel Gonzalez at 2: 10 p.m. and adjourned at 2: 23 p.m. PART B 06-00614mu RESOLUTION 1 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING WITH CONDITIONS, A RECONSIDERATION OF A MAJOR USE SPECIAL PERMIT PURSUANT TO ARTICLES 13 AND 17 OF ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 11000, AS AMENDED, FOR THE SAWYER'S WALK PROJECT, TO BE LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 152 AND 218 NORTHWEST 8TH STREET, 249 AND 263 NORTHWEST 6TH STREET AND 160 NORTHWEST 7TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, TO CONSTRUCT A MAXIMUM APPROXIMATE HEIGHT OF 142-FOOT, 13-STORY MIXED -USE STRUCTURE TO BE COMPRISED OF APPROXIMATELY 1,050 TOTAL MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS WITH RECREATIONAL AMENITIES; APPROXIMATELY 75,000 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL SPACE; AND APPROXIMATELY 1,610 TOTAL PARKING SPACES; PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN FLOOR AREA RATIO ("FAR") BONUSES; MAKING FINDINGS OF FACT AND STATING CONCLUSIONS OF LAW; PROVIDING FOR BINDING EFFECT; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City ofMiami Page 2 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Item # 9 PAB PAB 11.07.07 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 06-00614mu1 - 06-00614mu -Sawyer's Walk.pdf - Item #2 - 06-00614mu1.pdf CC Legislation (Version 2) - OLD.pdf Exhi bit A.pdf Exhibit B - OLD.pdf Exhibit B - NEW.pdf Exhibit C.pdf Exhibit D.pdf CC 11-09-07 Fact Sheet.pdf Cover Page.PDF Table of Contents.PDF Letter of Intent.PDF Application for a Major Use Special Permit.PDF Zoning Write-Up.PDF Legal Description.PDF Aerial.PDF Zoning Atlas Page 23 & 36.PDF Project Data Sheet - OLD.PDF Project Data Sheet- NEW.pdf Warranty Deed(s) and Property Tax Information.PDF Ownership List and Mailing Labels.PDF State of Florida Corporate Documents.PDF Directory of Project Principals.PDF Project Description.PDF Minority Construction Employment Plan.PDF Sufficiency Letter and Traffic Impact Analysis.PDF Site Utility Study.PDF Economic Benefits Analysis & OLD Housing Impact Study.PDF Housing Impact Study Including Page 17.PDF Enviromental Assessment Report.PDF Site Plans for Property including Survey and Photos of Property.PDF PAB Reso.pdf CC Legislation (Version 2) - NEW.PDF CC 12-13-07 Fact Sheet.pdf CC 11-28-07 Fact Sheet.pdf LOCATION: Approximately 152 and 218 NW 8th Street, 249 and 263 NW 6th Street and 160 NW 7th Street [Commissioner Michelle Spence -Jones - District 5] APPLICANT(S): Ben Fernandez, Esquire, on behalf of the City of Miami, Community Redevelopment Agency FINDINGS: PLANNING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval with conditions*. PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD: Recommended approval with conditions* to City Commission on November 7, 2007 by a vote of 6-3. *See supporting documentation. PURPOSE: This will allow the reconsideration of the Sawyers Walk project for the review of the environmental component. City ofMiami Page 3 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Motion by Vice -Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Spence -Jones, that this matter be INDEFINITELY DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Sanchez and Spence -Jones Absent: 2 - Commissioner Sarnoff and Regalado Direction by Chairman Gonzalez to the City Manager to meet with all five Commissioners to determine a meeting date for a special City Commission meeting where the full Commission will be present to hear the reconsideration of the Sawyer's Walk Major Use Special Permit project with a time certain of 5 p.m. Chairman Gonzalez: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this special City Commission at the City ofMiami chambers. The members of the Commission sitting at the dais are Commissioner Michelle Spence -Jones, Vice Chairman Joe Sanchez, and myself your Chairman, Angel Gonzalez. Mr. Vice Chair, I believe that you have a statement to make. Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman -- Mr. City Attorney, should you be putting any statements before I open up? Jorge L. Fernandez (City Attorney): Yes. When the meeting opens up, I will be reading a statement into the record that explains the process by which we have arrived at this hearing today. Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right. Why don't we do that first? I'll yield to you, and then I'll take it back. Mr. Fernandez: Okay. I need to get it a second, please. Hold on. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, the Major Use Special Permit application, which is the subject here today, has followed a path that brings us here for the second time to consider. The Major Use Special Permit for this project, known as Sawyer [sic] Walk, was approved by the City Commission on October 6, 2006. The MUSP (Major Use Special Permit) was granted to the applicant, Crosswinds, and other development applicants, including the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), who owns the land. The project is for a mixed -use development, consisting mostly of condominiums, to be located on vacant land between Northwest 6th Street to the north, Northwest 1st Court to the east, and Northwest 3rd Avenue on the west in Overtown, in the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA District. Power U challenged, by writ of certiorari, the granting of this MUSP on various due process -related grounds. On June of 2007, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals found that due to certain procedural due process violations which occurred relative to the Sawyer [sic] Walk's MUSP, the City ofMiami departed from the essential requirements of law in approving the MUSP for the reasons that I will discuss with you briefly. The court remanded the MUSP back to the City Commission for an entirely new hearing, and that is why we're here today. The court found two deficiencies with your earlier vote. The first one dealt with the environmental impact analysis. The court found that Florida Statutes Section 170.2.3 -- or rather, Section 1703.2.3 of the zoning ordinance required that this MUSP application contain a development impact analysis that would show, among other things, that Sawyer's Walk project is favorable to the environment. The zoning ordinance in Section 5 of that same Code provides, in part, that one of the things a City Commission considers in granting the MUSP is whether the development will have a favorable impact on the environment and natural resources of the City ofMiami. The court ruled that the environmental impact analysis had to be included in the application for the City Commission to have a complete MUSP application to review and/or approve. The court found that the applicant's submittal of the analysis during the closing stages of the hearing was too late for opponents to question it. Accordingly, the applicant supplemented the record very -- several weeks ago by submitting an environmental impact analysis, which has been on file with the City, and a copy was simultaneously provided at that time to Power U by the applicant, so the first deficiency that the court found has already been addressed, and now the record contains and everyone has a copy City ofMiami Page 4 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 of that environmental impact analysis. The second issue that the court ruled on dealt with Commissioner Spence -Jones independent investigation and site visit to Detroit. This issue is being addressed right now by the Commissioner. Suffice to say that the court ruled that independent investigations are allowed by statutes in question and that the Commissioner complied with the statutes by disclosing her independent investigation of a site visit to a Detroit housing project prior to the final action being taken on the MUSP in October of '06. Nevertheless, the court ruled the disclosure had to be made early enough in the hearing so that the opponents could object to or rebut her independent investigation during the course of the public hearing. That is precisely why the Commissioner, in a few moments, will be making her disclosure at the very outset or at the beginning of this meeting dealing with her trip to Detroit, as well as other issues that she feels she needs to disclose. Due process. You need to bear in mind that this is a new MUSP hearing, and you should afford the applicant and his experts or counsel, and any recognized opponents and their experts or counsel an equal amount of time, and you need to determine that, Mr. Chairman, to make their presentation completely. This is a new hearing. This is a new record. Due process requires that they each have a full and meaningful opportunity to be heard. You may limit the members of the public to a smaller period of time, and typically, what the Commission does is limit public participation to two to three minutes and allow the attorneys, or the main representatives of any faction, an equal number of time -- number of minutes. At this time, Mr. Chairman, that is the reason we find ourselves here. You have a land -use decision. You have a MUSP application in front of you, and as the meeting -- as the hearing goes on, I will be giving you guidance as to what are relevant issues for this Commission to consider. Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman -- Chairman Gonzalez: Yes. Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- ifI could speak on the issue. With all due respect to the Mayor, to the City Manager, to the Attorney, and all those present here, including the representative from Crosswind [sic], this item, with all due respect, should be heard by a full Commission. This item was -- when we selected a day, I believe that the only Commissioner who stated they could not be here was Commissioner Sarnoff, and that's why we selected this day. If we stand for something in this legislative body is fair process, and having -- not having two Commissioners here on this controversial issue is not a fair process. I think everyone is entitled to a fair process when they come in front of this legislative body, andl think we would be sending the wrong message when it pertains to a controversial $200 million development, so therefore, what I would recommend, with all due respect, is that we select a day, as long as it's properly advertised -- and there're other legal concerns that I want to bring out. One is, this meeting was properly advertised for 5 o'clock, allowing people, hardworking people -- Applause. Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- to participate in this process. It was changed, and that may be a legal situation that we, the City, may end up with, so protecting the interest of the City, which is my -- our responsibility here, I would respectfully make a motion to continue this meeting to make sure that all the Commissioners are present so they could cast their vote, whether it's for or against, but think they owe that to you, so Mr. Chair, I make a motion to continue the meeting, and we could select the date right here or, Mr. City Manager, you could contact the other Commissioners that are not here and select a date. I'm available 24/7 to address this issue, so that's my motion. Chairman Gonzalez: All right. We have a motion. Is there a second? Commissioner Spence -Jones: I guess there's a second. City ofMiami Page 5 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Chairman Gonzalez: There is a second. All in favor, say "aye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chairman Gonzalez: The meeting has been continued. I suggest, Mr. Manager, that you contact the other two Commissioners and set up a date making sure that we're going to have -- Commissioner Spence -Jones: Mr. -- Chairman Gonzalez: -- a full Commission sitting at the dais. Commissioner Spence -Jones: -- Chairman, I want to be very clear because I don't want to have any issues later on. The City Attorney made a statement -- Commissioner Sanchez, are you with us? Vice Chairman Sanchez: (INAUDIBT,F). I have to run somewhere. Commissioner Spence -Jones: Okay. I just want to ask the question, though. Vice Chairman Sanchez: We're not voting on any issues. Commissioner Spence -Jones: No, but want to make sure -- Mr. Fernandez: Yes. Commissioner Spence -Jones: -- so -- do -- am I to read something into the record for this -- Mr. Fernandez: No. Commissioner Spence -Jones: -- hearing, or I can do it at the next hearing? Mr. Fernandez: At the time that the hearing takes place, that's when your disclosure statement needs to be read on the record -- Chairman Gonzalez: All right. Mr. Fernandez: -- but now the Commission needs to make a decision if the -- if you have a date in mind, or if not -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE) Chairman Gonzalez: Keep the order. Please abandon the chamber on [sic] silence. Mr. Fernandez: Mr. Chairman, the decision that -- this Commission has already voted to continue this hearing. It's being continued to a date certain or indefinitely; that's the one decision -- Chairman Gonzalez: It's indefinitely until the Manager can arrange a meeting with the other Commissioners to make sure that we have five Commissioners sitting at the dais. Mr. Fernandez: And afford ample notice -- Chairman Gonzalez: Exactly. Mr. Fernandez: -- opportunity. City ofMiami Page 6 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Chairman Gonzalez: Yes, sir. Vice Chairman Sanchez: Properly advertised at 5 o'clock. Mr. Fernandez: Madam Clerk, do you have that clear, ma'am? Priscilla A. Thompson (City Clerk): Yes, sir. Vice Chairman Sanchez: Okay. Motion -- Mr. Fernandez: All right. Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- to adjourn. Pedro G. Hernandez (City Manager): Mr. Chairman. Chairman Gonzalez: Yes, sir. Mr. Hernandez: If -- I'll have to get a hold of the other Commissioners. I understand that Commissioner Regalado may be out of the country, so I won't be able to reach him today. As soon as I talk to him, Commissioner Sarnoff, I'll look for the best possible dates; get back to you, as the Chair, and the other Commissioners, and my understanding is that there is a seven-day requirement for the advertisement -- seven-day notice, so once I have the agreement on the date, we will do the proper advertisement to have the meeting scheduled -- Chairman Gonzalez: All right. Mr. Hernandez: -- and -- Mr. Fernandez: It's ten days notice. Mr. Hernandez: Ten days notice? Mr. Fernandez: Ten days notice, not seven days. Ten days notice -- Mr. Hernandez: Okay. Chairman Gonzalez: All right. Mr. Fernandez: -- and we're working against a date -- we have a meeting on the 13th, but certainly before the 13th we will be noting the Chair so that the Chair can then call for a special meeting -- Chairman Gonzalez: All right. Mr. Fernandez: -- for a time certain observing the ten-day notice rule. Unidentified Speaker: So it'll be at the City Commission? Commissioner Spence -Jones: In -- before. Mr. Fernandez: We don't know. It's -- we need to give ten days notice from whatever date we know. City ofMiami Page 7 Printed on 12/14/2007 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Chairman Gonzalez: All right. Very well. Mr. Hernandez: Okay. Chairman Gonzalez: So be it. Ms. Thompson: Chair, are you --? Chairman Gonzalez: Meeting is adjourned. Ms. Thompson: Thank you. Chairman Gonzalez: Yes, ma'am. City ofMiami Page 8 Printed on 12/14/2007