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 architectural commission and pay them their loss of equity. Their units start at$3 Million for 3,100 square feet. What this project will do is add value to both of its neighbors and the entire City by basically increasing the price per square foot over units that exist today because they are larger units. All in all,what is the prejudice to them,they are paying interest of$200,000 a month on those properties, and every day is basically equity out of their pocket. Mayor Edelcup asked the City Attorney and City Planner if proper notice was given, if there are any violations, and if there are any variances being requested or is this a waiver of a setback. City Attorney Ottinot responded that yes proper notice was given,individual notice was required to be issued at least 10 days prior to this hearing to the property owners that are within 300 feet of the proposed project and those notices went out in addition to the newspaper notice. In addition, today staff got its first request to meet representatives from Ocean Four without an appointment,they met with them. Carlos Gimenez is the attorney of record and was on the phone, and not all of these issues were raised. City Attorney Ottinot disagreed that there were any Code violations, they reviewed this project for at least two months. They had indicated to the Applicant that they have to comply with the City Code. City Planner Claudia Hasbun said in regards to the building width, the envelope of the building is measured from exterior wall to exterior wall,and the extension of five feet on each side,there are no balconies, it is just an architectural embellishment of the building. Mayor Edelcup said he thinks we had an issue before with another building that were not enclosed balconies,we had the same issue at that point and we came to the conclusion that it was not an encroachment. Ms. Hasbun said correct, and the embellishment comes from the 9th floor, from 95 feet in height, that is the initial point of base embellishment up to the 415` floor. In regards to the setback,the pedestal of the building is nine(9)feet tall,and our Code calls for the first six(6)feet to be at the property line,and they chose not to go to the property line because it is extending another three (3) additional feet and they are providing four(4) feet and six (6) inches on each side, north and south. Mayor Edelcup said that the beach access is not a variance but a waiver request, and Ms. Hasburn said the beach access is not a variance, it is that beach waiver as is in our Code. City Attorney Ottinot said not only was this plan reviewed by Ms.Hasbun but it was also reviewed by Alex David who also works for the City as a consultant. All of us concur that there was no Code violation based on plans submitted. Alex David of the Bell David Planning Group said that he concurs with what City Planner Hasbun just said. Commissioner Aelion said every time a new project site plan is presented to the Commission similar issues arise of the inconvenient element attached to the erection of such a structure. All the architecture is different on the beach, there is no architecture continuity of these structures, they are all different. As far as the protrusion of the art work on each side, it is something that really starts at a certain height like 95 feet. The art work on similar buildings on the south side that have had such protrusions,and even the Acqualina has balconies which allowed for the long distance which are much more obtrusive than an architectural structure. However, he is concerned with the egress and ingress of large vehicles like a garbage truck, and he asked Kobi Karp if he made allowances for them. Mr. Karp said yes, they met with staff, the Fire Department, and Waste Management and it is all sorted out. Commissioner Aelion asked about the art structure in the front of the building, is the engineering made in 5