2007 0215 Regular City Commission Meeting

Home Browse Search

Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting February 15,2007 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida has incorrectly construed our Code to claim that his client can convert a 3.5 acre site to a 17- acre site by utilizing submerged land that is located outside of the platted lot of the property. He said the developer attorney construction of our Code is not only incorrect but his interpretation is inconsistent with our Comprehensive Plan. He said Jorge Vera who was the Zoning Administrator at the time when we amended the Code, is in agreement with him on this issue. Assistant City Manager/Services Vera stated that platted lands have to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Edelcup said there is no area in the City with un-platted lands, and Mr. Vera said no there is not. Public Speakers: Clifford Schulman, Esq.; Gloria Taft; Bud Scholl Clifford Schulman, Esq., representing Publix, said he would like to incorporate his comments from first reading here. He said they disagree with the City's rewriting ofthe Code rather than clarifying the Code, and the word "platted" was never used in the past Commission discussions but is being added today. Mayor Edelcup said when this came up years ago, he thought he and Commissioner Iglesias handled this topic when they were trying to define submerged lands and what would be allowed for density and what wouldn't be allowed for density. He said they both agreed at the time when they were talking about lands that eroded that were originally platted, and any eroded land as a result became underwater, we would respect the fact of that piece of land being part and parcel of the above ground land, and would be counted as the entire parcel that had been platted. He said he thought we made it abundantly clear then, and what we are doing now is nothing more then putting that discussion that we had back then into a form of an ordinance today and we are not changing anything that we said years ago. He said also that our Comprehensive Plan when filed was filed with a zoning map that showed all the areas of the City and what density would be provided for in each of those areas. He said as a result you can take the Comprehensive Plan and add up all the units that possibly could be built in this City, based on all the platted land and all the zoning areas that are within the City, and no where on that map, as we look back into the Comprehensive Plan that was filed, can he find an area where the submerged land in Dumfoundling Bay, which he believes this is part of, was shown in any part or parcel where density could be calculated from. He stated that if we were to start to include that land we would be increasing density above and beyond what had been filed in our Comprehensive Plan. He noted that if we follow that thread we would be going all the way to the midpoint of Dumfoundling Bay or the Intracoastal Waterway creating a lot of density that was never intended when we put together our original Comprehensive Plan and when the development ordinance came from there. Commissioner Goodman asked if there was ever a case brought against the City that was set before a judge in reference to this before, and City Attorney Ottinot said there are a lot of zoning and land use cases filed by numerous attorneys against municipalities but this is a unique issue, you don't have a lot of case law with submerged land, this is the first time this has ever gone to court. He said any developer orders issued by this Commission must be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, also your Land Development Regulations, your Zoning Code, must also be consistent, so even if we assume that Mr. Schulman's argument is correct, if your Comprehensive Plan says there is no density assigned to that water area, you cannot violate your Comprehensive Plan under State law. 10