2012-1115 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes:Regular City Commission Meeting November 15,2012 City of Sunny Isles Beach,Florida we have elements on the corner where we have floating balconies. This becomes quite interesting because it picks up the character of the ocean and a space where you can physically walk out there and have a view of the ocean. The combination of the two towers in this building we feel is going to become a really interesting element to complete the project and to mark the corner of these two important streets. Claudia Hasbun noted for the record that they worked with the architect as well and at the entrance of the baywalk on Collins Avenue we are requiring them to have a grand entrance to the baywalk with a minimum of ten (10) feet. Along the entire baywalk, there are no obstructions and no planters, and it will be an open area for pedestrians. Vice Mayor Thaler asked on Collins Avenue how wide is the opening to get the cars into the lot and out of the lot. Architect Castineira responded by saying the actual driveway is 24 feet, they have additional space that is required by the Fire Department of about 40 feet for the staging area. They are going to treat it with a cobblestone finish so that there will be no physical markings between entry and the fire area and so it will just look like one entry. It is going to serve all the different functions which are the fire lane, a stacking lane for any cars coming in,a turning radius,and room for a slightly bigger truck to stop at the fire lane and not block any of the traffic on Collins. They can get down and buzz whoever they need to buzz and the doors open in the service area and they are able to back in. It is something that they looked at from a very practical point of view,and they addressed all these things that need to function in the building, including how are they going to solve it, keeping in mind that we want to keep this as clear as possible of backups, stacking, etc. We want to make sure that Collins Avenue has a steady flow of traffic and we don't create a situation where we are going to block anyone. Vice Mayor Thaler said this is why he asked the question because that is a backup corner anyway because of the traffic light and people are making a right turn and he doesn't want to have any cause to have additional backup in that area. Architect Castifieira said the width of the sidewalk has not been interrupted and so the fire lane is not over the sidewalk,it is beyond the sidewalk. Again,we kept whatever is outside the property line and the City sidewalk is clear. Commissioner Scholl asked if along 163rd Street they were staying with the same theme as the old building. Years ago when we were planning this and we were doing the Town Center,he was hoping that we got one developer, and Joe Milton was probably in that meeting. Commissioner Scholl said so we have the consistency in the facade and he noticed it is pretty consistent all the way down. Architect Castineira said yes, they are staying with the color theme and bricks as they have in the existing St. Tropez. They are also staying with a lot of the details of the grids for parking as they like the fact that a lot of people don't even notice that there are four levels of parking at St. Tropez, and so they have kept a lot of the language similar. The height and proportions are carried through so that they don't vary from one project to the other. The new elements which you don't see in St. Tropez are the corner and that majestic colonnade off of the causeway. Although they do have some square columns in St.Tropez,they are choosing that with a water feature. Mayor Edelcup opened the hearing to the public. Commissioner Aelion said he was extremely impressed with both facades. The concern of the ingress and egress of the parking area,including what is the inside space from the entrance of 13