2005 1117 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting November] 7,2005 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida space not valet parking. Mr. Karp said that if they look at the parking plans, they can build more density then what it is that they are proposing and that they are building less but what they are really providing is that they have one parking space for every unit and then above and beyond it an additional space so they are going to meet and beat the Code by having the mechanical lifts which are an asset to them for two reasons: it helps keep the podium of the parking garage as small as possible; and this is not a public facility such as a hotel or a condo hotel. He said the AJA condo/hotel functions as a hotel which has a stronger traffic circulation whether then a condominium and they have mechanical lifts that was approved as well as Sole and Sayan have the mechanical lifts. Mr. Karp said they also have a life safety issue on the parking which is that the previous buildings that were approved were under a fire code which recently changed and specifically the modification in the Code requires two areas of staging for the apparatus of mechanical life safety. He said if one was required they could have done it and there would have been a different solution but there isn't and we went back and forth on this with staff to come to this, and a variance is the only solution to this specific site because we have the fire apparatus that has to be accommodated which is controlled by Miami-Dade County. He said a few months ago 100% tandem parking was allowed and now the Code has changed although he feels that the change of the Code is good and viable for all properties above 1 OO-feet, but the properties that are 100- feet or less will have such issues. He said that when they met with staff that there was an opportunity to decrease the size of the pedestal put them all on one line, it works well for them because they are a condominium and they are not maximizing their density, their units are large, it is a luxury product and that is why they are providing valet. Commissioner Goodman asked about the mechanical lifts and Mr. Karp said that they are intended to be used by individual people, it is very simple and easy to use, you drive into one, push a button and the car goes up, and you can drive another one underneath it, and that they will have to use valet parking 100% of the time. Commissioner Goodman said he was concerned about traffic and parking, and Mr. Ferro said that valet parking provides more control over parking. Vice Mayor Thaler said that other buildings could have been designed to fit that spot, it could have been made smaller or narrower, and he said that he feels they are trying to force a building into that spot. He said that they started on the wrong foot by stating that they could not have a walkway to the beach, and when they start on 100% tandem parking on something that they, this Board passed, they have two strikes on them, and then they come and ask for TDRs on top of it. He said that they are coming in with a building that is oversized, with the wrong parking, and asking for TDRs, and that they should go back and design a different building that can fit on the lot. He said this is being done because of the economics that are involved, a mistake was made from the beginning and you want the Commission to bail you out of the problem that was created. Mr. Karp said that they did start off on the wrong foot with the beach access but they have found a solution for that but he does not have a solution on the tandem, it is a hardship in the situation that they are in. Mr. Karp said they are not asking for densities above and beyond, on the contrary, they are asking for less density, there are only three units per floor. He said that there is nothing that they can do about the life safety issue but there is a solution for the beach access. Commissioner Iglesias said that in certain issues he would have to agree with Vice Mayor Thaler because one of the things that they have tried to do and have been successful is to make 5