1989.11.08_PB_Minutes_RegularTOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH
. PLANNING BOARD
REGULAR MEETING - MINUTES
Wednesday, November 8, 1989 9:30 A.M.
The Regular Meeting of the Planning Board was called to order in Com-
mission Chambers at 9:30 A.M. by Vice Chairman A.M. Fox, Jr.
Deputy Town Clerk Doris Trinley called the roll. Present were Vice
Chairman Fox, Regular Members Amelie Leng, Arthur Keller and Helene
Harris and Alternate Member Arthur J. Kiefer. Chairman John E. Ward
was absent.
Also present were Attorney David Friedman and members of the general
public.
A MOTION was made by Mrs. Leng/Mrs. Harris to approve the minutes of
the October 11, 1989 Regular Meeting, as amended to include the correct
spelling of Mrs. Harris' first name. All members voted AYE.
Vice Chairman Fox noted the Board had been informed that Jim Park,
Senior Land Planner for Gee & Jensen, would be arriving about 15 min-
utes late. As Mr. Park was to give his recommendations to the members
regarding their responsibilities of implementing several elements and
policies of the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan, Vice Chairman Fox
suggested that the Board move onto New Business at this time.
Before this was done, Mrs. Harris questioned the Town Attorney re-
garding deletions and insertions noted in Ordinance 574, particularly
the retitlement of Sections 8 and 9, wherein "Administration, enforce-
ment, violations and penalties" were totally deleted to rename the
Section "Building and Site Plan Review Procedures," while in renaming
Section 8 to Section 9 only "Administration" was deleted so the title
reads "Enforcement, Violations and Penalties." During the discussion
Attorney Friedman noted that Chairman John Ward had worked closely with
this ordinance and suggested that Mrs. Harris check with him for an
explanation. He also said that when the ordinance is finally codified,
consistency will be evident.
Harold Chambers, 2524 S. Ocean Boulevard, who was first on the agenda
for New Business was present at this time; however, he was to be repre-
sented by Attorney Doak Campbell who had not yet arrived, so the Board
went on to the next item on the agenda.
Final Review for Single Family Residence, 1070 Bel Lido Drive, Block 4,
Lot 1, Bel Lido. Submitted by Amelung Construction; E. Garrett/Owner.
Amelung Construction representatives Ciro Gomez, Supervising Contrac-
tor,and Dennis Spanola approached the Board and the members convened to
the table to review the submitted plans. Mr. Keller asked why the
Planning Board
• Regular Meeting - Minutes
November 8, 1989 Page 2 of 5
Building Official was not at the meeting and was informed that Mr.
Heithaus was attending a seminar out of Town. Messrs. Gomez and
Spanola told the members that no changes had been made to the plans
since they had been approved by the Community Appearance Board. They
pointed out the privacy wall that had come under discussion at that
meeting, explaining that the 6' height was in compliance with code
according to the Building Official. Mr. Keller asked if there was a
cinder catcher for the fireplace on top of the stack and Mr. Gomez
replied that one was placed at the bottom of the fireplace only. Asked
by Mrs. Harris how large the house would be, Mr. Spanola replied that
the structure would encompass 3,581 sq. ft. in total. Mrs. Leng asked
how many air conditioners would be utilized; Mr. Spanola replied two
units would be installed.
After some further discussion, Mr. Keller/Mr. Kiefer made a MOTION to
approve Sheets 1 through 5, dated September 26, 1989, depicting the
residence of Eugene Garrett, 1070 Bel Lido Drive, Block 4, Lot 1, Bel
Lido, as submitted by Amelung Construction Co. All members voted AYE.
By this time Jim Park had arrived and the members returned to the first
item on the agenda.
• Discussion of Elements and Policies of Comprehensive Plan which require
Implementation by the Planning Board.
Mr. Park presented two handouts to the members, i.e., a copy of the
Department of Community Affairs "Procedures and Criteria for the Review
of Local Government Land Development Regulations" (Rule Chapter 9J-24)
and a copy of the Table of Contents Sheet from their Model Land
Development Code . Because of the language of Regulations, he added,
all Comprehensive Plans will have to stand a broader range of tests to
be deemed adequate. He also informed the Board of a State statute
which requires that Land Development Regulations be reviewed and re-
vised by every municipality within a year of submitting a Comprehensive
Plan.
The members and Mr. Park discussed the elements and policies assigned
to the Planning Board for implementation. Among the areas covered were
the need for a monitoring system to be put in place when these elements
and policies are implemented, as well as the need to spell out criteria
that will be equitable for all property owners.
As regards obtaining grants, Mr. Park felt the Town would be eligible
for $15,000 or so, but a work product must be submitted if funds are
applied for and that product must withstand DCA review, as well as
State review. Mr. Park felt the work product could be accomplished in
two ways: (1) review pertinent ordinances and amend them, but do not
incorporate them into concise document and (2) review and amend perti-
nent ordinances and combine them into a single document.
Planning Board
• Regular Meeting - Minutes
November 8, 1989 Page 3 of 5
Mr. Parks noted that the State does not require zoning districts as
such, only land use districts. He also expressed the opinion that al-
though the implementation of the Town's Land Development Regulations
requires revisions and incorporation of new features into same, that
this should be able to be accomplished by April 1, 1990. Mr. Friedman
said he would like to have it done by March 28, 1990. Mr. Park agreed,
noting that the lack of vacant land in Town would preclude an elaborate
effort.
Other elements and policies were then discussed, which included housing,
solid waste, sanitary sewer, traffic circulation, stormwater manage-
ment and re -development. Regarding re -development, Mrs. Leng requested
Mr. Park to address how re -development would apply after a severe storm
or hurricane where the CCCL would be altered. Mr. Park replied that
the CCCL is not, in fact, a prohibition line against construction; if
so, he continued, the State would have to say the CCCL was inviolable.
Therefore, the Town must address re -development and set criteria which,
if met, would afford the right to build.
Mr. Park then advised the Board that it would be beneficial to get all
related ordinances together and also to get other problems out of the
way, such as different definitions of the same thing appearing in sev-
eral ordinances. Also, in response to Mrs. Leng's question, Mr. Park
said that the Town would be able to get assistance from South Florida
Water Management District regarding environmental issues.
Mr. Fox said that from the information imparted by Mr. Park today, it
was evident that the Board would need his help on an ongoing basis as
they prepared to implement those elements and policies for which they
are responsible. Mr. Fox further stated that he and Mr. Ward would be
back in touch with the Town Manager to arrange for such assistance, not
only from Mr. Park, but from others in the firm when technical aspects
were to be addressed.
Final Review for After -the -Fact Satellite Dish, 2524 S. Ocean Blvd.,
Lot 126W, submitted by Harold Chambers/Owner.
Doak Campbell, attorney for Harold Chambers, summarized events that led
to Mr. Chambers being in violation of Code, advising the Board that his
client had already received approval, with amended plans regarding sub-
stitution of three sabal palms with one canopy tree on the north side,
from the Community Appearance Board. He was appearing before the mem-
bers today to ask their approval regarding structure and wind resis-
tance, Mr. Campbell stated.
After being advised by Attorney Friedman that they need only consider
the criteria as set forth in Town Code 9-12.1, the members convened to
the table to review and discuss the plans.
0
Planning Board
Regular Meeting - Minutes
• November 8, 1989
Page 4 of 5
When questioned about the location of the dish, Mr. Chambers said it
was so located on his property as to avoid any obstruction in receiving
satellite communications due to other structures.
Mr. Fox brought up the fact that on the plan transmittal sheet, the
Building Official had noted the plans did not meet Town requirements.
As was noted earlier in these minutes, Building Official Harry Heithaus
did not attend this meeting, so an answer as to specific requirements
not met could not be immediately forthcoming.
Mr. Keller asked Mr. Chambers if the fidelity of reception would be
decreased if the dish were ground mounted. Mr. Chambers replied that
it would since the dish must rotate. Attorney Campbell expressed the
opinion that "lowered" might be a better choice of words in this
regard, as his client considers the dish to be ground mounted.
Mr. Keller continued his questioning of Mr. Chambers, referring to the
"sway" factor of the pole during heavy winds or storms. Mr. Chambers
explained how the pole was solidly sunk in cement and that in the event
of heavy storms or hurricane conditions, he would remove the dish from
the pole promptly for safety's sake. He then drew a sketch showing how
the panels in the dish could be "popped out" quickly. Mrs. Harris
asked at what point Mr. Chambers would determine if a storm was severe
• enough to remove the dish from the pole and he replied that he has had
extensive experience with storm conditions, having owned hotels on the
west coast of Florida which were located in hurricane evacuation areas.
He also stated that he would not be concerned with the "survival" of
the dish if weather conditions were such as to pose a threat to safety.
Although the members concluded that the dish itself was within Code as
regards size limitation and wind resistance to 120 MPH, they discussed
at length whether the dish was actually ground mounted since it is also
attached to the house itself with a bracket. Mrs. Leng pointed out
that she was a member of the Community Appearance Board when the
ordinance regarding satellite dishes was formulated and expressed the
opinion that apropos the term "ground mounted" the members were dealing
with semantics in this discussion. She also indicated that this case
was a good example of the need for very clear ordinance language perti-
nentto definitions. Mrs. Leng also expressed concern that Mr. Chambers
was being responsible only after -the -fact and also that the installers
of the dish had not applied for permits.
After some further discussion, a MOTION was made by Mrs. Leng/Mrs.
Harris that the dish meets all requirements, except the Planning Board
finds that it is not ground mounted and, therefore, the Town Commission
would have to approve the satellite dish located at 2524 S. Ocean
Blvd., Lot 126W, Harold Chambers/Owner.
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Planning Board
Regular Meeting - Minutes
• November 8, 1989 Page 5 of 5
A roll call vote resulted as follows:
Mr. Kiefer.....................NAY
Mrs. Leng.................... .AYE
Mr. Keller.....................AYE
Mrs. Harris....................AYE
Mr. Fox........................AYE
Attorney Friedman then stated that since the Town is not in the busi-
ness of installing satellite dishes, it would seem the ambiguity of the
term "ground mounted" could have been clarified if the Building
Official or someone with an engineering background were in attendance.
Mr. Kiefer remarked that he considered the dish to be ground mounted
and, meeting all other requirements, it would be non -conforming only if
it extended beyond the 20' height limitation.
At this point Vice Chairman Fox read into the record the transmittal
sheet signed by the Building Official, dated October 3, 1989, which
stated that the dish did not meet Town requirments. In this regard,
Attorney Friedman instructed the clerk to request a memo from Mr.
Heithaus explaining why the installation did not meet Town
•requirements. (The clerk will respond to this directive and supply
copies of said memo to all members.)
The next Regular Meeting date was then announced to be December 13,
1989.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting
was adjourned at 11:35 A.M. upon MOTION by Mrs. Harris/Mr. Kiefer.
APPROVE: -ABSENT -
John E. Ward, Chairman
A.M. Fox, Jr., Vice Chairman
A
Amalfi Leng
A 't
ArthuY R. Keller
,Nt- t e A-P
Heleng--Harj'is
Arthur J. Kf fe
WTTES
DATE: