HomeMy Public PortalAbout02 27 2020 MeetingMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING HELD BY THE
ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW AND PLANNING BOARD OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM,
FLORIDA ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 AT 8:30 A.M., IN THE WILLIAM F.
KOCH, JR. COMMISSION CHAMBERS OF THE TOWN HALL, 100 SEA ROAD, GULF
STREAM, FLORIDA.
I. Call to Order
Chairman Smith called the meeting to order at 8:30 A.M.
II. Roll Call
Present and Thomas Smith Chairman
Participating: Malcolm Murphy Vice Chairman
Robert Dockerty Board Member
Curtiss Roach Board Member
Jorgette Smith Board Member
Also Present & Gregory Dunham Town Manager
Participating: Edward Nazzaro Staff Attorney
Rita Taylor Town Clerk
Absent w/Notice: Caroline Delafield Alternate Board Member
III. Minutes of the Regular Meeting and Public Hearing 12-19-19
Board Member Roach moved and Board Member Dockerty seconded the
motion to approve the minutes of December 19, 2019 and all voted AYE at
roll call.
IV. Additions, withdrawals, deferrals, arrangement of agenda items.
Town Manager Dunham stated he had two additions which would be added
under Items by Staff.
V. ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Meeting Dates
1. Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
a. March 26, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
b. April 23, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
c. May 28, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
d. June 25, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
e. July 23, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
f. No August Meeting
Chairman Smith called attention to the future meeting dates.
Chairman Smith and Board Member Smith stated they would not be at the
April 23, 2020 meeting. Vice Chairman Murphy stated he would not be at
the May 28, 2020 meeting.
VI. PUBLIC HEARING
A.Declaratioft of Ex -Parte Communication
There was none.
B.Administer Oaths
Town Clerk Taylor swore in Cynthia Spray, Librada Lavigne,
Hassan Tajalli and Dan Stanton.
C. Applications for Development Approval
1. An application submitted by Cynthia C. Spray, CCS,
Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
Architectural Enterprises, Inc., as Agent for the owners, Rene and
Librada Lavigne, of property located at 1555 N. Ocean Blvd., Gulf
Stream, Florida, which is legally described in metes & bounds in Govt.
Lot 11, Section 10, Township 46 South, Range 43 East.
a. DEMOLITION PERMIT to demolish the existing 351 sq. ft.
cabana and the second -floor balcony railings.
b. LEVEL 2 ARCHITECTURAL/SITE PLAN REVIEW to permit the
addition of a 161x40' loggia to the east (rear) side
of the dwelling.
Cynthia Spray from Architectural Enterprises made a PowerPoint
presentation as agent for Rene and Librada Lavigne. Ms. Spray
explained that they would be demolishing the existing 351 sq. ft.
cabana and the second -floor balcony railings. They want to add a
161x40' loggia in its place with a summer kitchen, living and dining
area, she added. Ms. Spray stated they wanted to paint the house
white, but not change anything structurally. She stated they would be
reducing the thickness of the columns shown on the drawings as well as
adding some landscape lighting to the columns. Ms. Spray pointed out
two of the windows where they wanted to streamline the balcony railings
to match the wrought iron on the loggia.
Chairman Smith wanted to know what the height of the columns were
on the loggia compared to the roof of the cabana that was being torn
down. Ms. Spray stated it was 14'9" which lined up with the bedroom
where the loggia will be coming from, with the posts being 48" on top
of the loggia. Vice Chairman Murphy asked the details on the fireplace
and where the flue would be located. Ms. Spray stated the fireplace
was going to be a biofuel, self-contained or gas, so there would be a
vent, but no chimney. Vice Chairman Murphy also wanted to know what
the top of the loggia looked down onto in terms of vegetation and the
neighboring yard. Mrs. Lavigne stated it was very heavily landscaped
to where you couldn't really see the neighbor's house. Vice Chairman
Murphy asked if there had been any feedback from the neighbors to which
Town Clerk Taylor said there had been none.
Vice Chairman Murphy made a motion to approve a demolition permit
to demolish an existing 351 sq. ft. cabana and the second -floor balcony
railings. Board Member Dockerty seconded the motion with all voting
AYE at roll call.
Vice Chairman Murphy made a motion to approve a Level II
Architectural/Site Plan based on a finding that the proposed
construction of a 16 ft. x 40 ft. loggia to the rear of the dwelling
meet the minimum intent of the Design Manual and applicable review
stands with the following condition:
1. Any minor modifications in the approved landscaping shall
be submitted to the Town Manager for review and approval
and any modifications shall be brought back to the ARPB
for review and approval, prior to commencement of
landscaping.
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Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
Board Member Dockerty seconding the motion with all voting AYE at roll
call.
2. An application submitted by Hassan Tajalli, Urban Design
Studio of South Florida, as agent for Daniel and Hanna
Stanton, owners of property located at 2765 Avenue Au
Soleil and possibly future owners of property located at
2775 Avenue Au Soleil, Gulf Stream, Florida, legally
described as Lots 92 and 93, Place Au Soleil Subdivision.
a. DEMOLITION PERMIT to remove existing building, with
the exception of 2 walls from 2775 Ave. Au Soleil, and
partially demolish a portion of the existing building
at 2765 Ave. Au Soleil.
b. VARIANCE from the provisions in Section 70-73 that
require the second story to be setback from each first
story side elevation a minimum of 15 percent of the
width of the first story of the house to be granted
for the east elevation.
c. LEVEL 3 ARCHITECTURAL/SITE PLAN REVIEW to permit the
construction, across the 2 lots, of one Gulf Stream
Bermuda, single family, two story home with attached
four -car garage.
Mr. Hassan Tajalli from Urban Design Studio of South
Florida gave a slide presentation as agent for Daniel and Hanna Stanton.
Mr. Tajalli explained they wanted to remove the existing building at
2775 Avenue Au Soleil except for two walls and partially demolish a
portion of the existing building at 2765 Avenue Au Soleil. He stated
there were several key components they had to take into consideration
when designing this project which were to keep in line with the Town
Code. Mr. Tajalli stated they were going with a Bermuda style house and
were going to keep all the lush landscaping and mature trees intact. He
added they were trying to keep with the style of the structures already
in Gulf Stream. Mr. Tajalli showed how they were combining the two
sites together and due to that, it looked substantially larger than the
other homes in the community.
Chairman Smith asked to take a break because he noticed
the meeting was not being video taped so that needed to be set up. Once
set, Mr. Tajalli continued with his presentation. Mr. Tajalli stated
they were keeping the existing driveway at 2765 and removing the
driveway at 2775 to make way for landscaping. Chairman Dockerty asked
if he was scraping the site, to which Mr. Tajalli answered they were
not. Mr. Tajalli stated they would be fortifying the foundation and
keeping two existing walls as well as the slab. He added that it
reduced their construction costs by $500,000 - $600,000. Mr. Tajalli
explained they were introducing an eyebrow on the second story to break
up the monotony of two-story walls on top of each other.
Board Member Dockerty wanted to know if they would be
applying for a renovation permit or a new construction permit. Mr.
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Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
Tajalli replied it was probably going to be a new construction permit
and renovation permit, but he wasn't sure how Delray Beach was going to
look at it, but he said he would call it an extensive renovation. Board
Member Roach wanted to know how much larger this house was than the
other houses in Place Au Soleil. Mr. Tajalli answered it was about
12,000 sq. ft. and that the houses in the neighborhood were anywhere
from five to six thousand sq. ft. to which Board Member Roach stated
that it was basically doubling the size. Mr. Tajalli reminded the board
that it was two properties combined to which Board Member Roach said he
thought there was something in the Town Code about sizes of houses in
comparison with neighboring houses and added this house was definitely
going to dwarf all the neighboring houses. Mr. Tajalli stated that
Board Member Roach was correct but that most of the house would be
hidden behind the landscaping. Board Member Roach said even though it
fell within the FAR, it was still a very large house in comparison to
those around it. Mr. Tajalli stated that all the setbacks were very
generous and exceeded the requirements by the Town Code. Vice Chairman
Murphy asked for a landscape elevation to be submitted and then he asked
Town Clerk Taylor if there had been any feedback from the neighbors.
Town Clerk Taylor stated that early on, a couple of the neighbors had
come into the office to look at preliminary plans but didn't voice any
objections. She added there had been no response from the notice
letters. Board Member Smith asked why they were seeking a variance if
this was new build. Mr. Tajalli explained because he had the second -
floor wall sitting on the first -floor wall and that there was a section
in the Code where the Town is trying to avoid having two story walls
going all the way up. Board Member Dockerty asked if the variance
wasn't granted, what would the architect have to do. Mr. Tajalli
answered they would need to redesign the entire house and the house at
2775 Avenue Au Soleil would have to come down, as well as redesign the
landscaping and possibly remove the mature trees, which would be a major
cost to the owners. Chairman Smith stated it was basically a brand-new
home that they were being asked to grant a variance on. Town Manager
Dunham then asked Asst. Town Attorney Nazzaro to explain the variance
process.
Asst. Town Attorney Nazzaro stated that Section 66-154
laid out the specific criteria that needed to be met for a variance to
be granted and that all eight of those criteria must be met. He added
that the applicant had already responded to those eight criteria in a
justification statement supplied to the board. Asst. Town Attorney
Nazzaro told the board they needed to decide if the applicant had met
those standards for the variance.
Mr. Stanton asked if he could speak to the board before
they moved forward. He stated that the two vacant homes next to his
property were consistently filled with drug -users and homeless people.
He added that the property they were proposing was unique in length and
width and did re -configure the entire landscaping but that the square
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Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
footage that was quoted earlier was the entire structure and not the
living square footage, which was around 8,800 sq. ft. Mr. Stanton added
that the property to the west that they were looking to purchase, which
they haven't yet. He added that the options were not to change the
structure or not, but whether to do the project or not. Mr. Stanton
stated it didn't make sense to do the project if they can't do it as
they have so diligently tried to proceed. He added that although the
eyebrow didn't conform to the current Code, he thought it was a good
trade-off to the current situation of the house currently being an eye-
sore when you drove into Place Au Soleil and getting rid of the drug -
users and homeless people. Vice Chairman Murphy clarified that the
eyebrow was not the reason for the variance, but the lack of a second -
story setback. Mr. Stanton agreed. Mr. Stanton also stated that if the
project didn't move forward and the house to the west and north stayed
filled with drug -users and homeless people it would discourage others,
as well as themselves, from living in Gulf Stream. Board Member
Dockerty stated that someone else could buy that property if Mr. Stanton
decided not to purchase it and tear the house down. Mr. Stanton stated
that it had $2,000,000.00 in liens, the Town wanted it torn down, the
Town had many restrictions on design, and it wasn't an attractive
property to purchase, to which shrinks the candidates of potential
buyers given the current situation.
Chairman Smith asked Mr. Tajalli to walk them through the
justification statement. Mr. Tajalli stated that he and Mr. Stanton had
an attorney draw up the answers and said he didn't see the benefits to
him reading it out loud and asked the board if they wanted to take a few
minutes and read the statement and let him know if anything stood out.
Town Manager Dunham told Mr. Tajalli that he should at least read their
responses. Chairman Smith stated that if legal counsel drafted the
responses, they may want to have legal counsel present. He added that
they had all read the statement and that as the Chair, he wasn't
convinced that they met all eight of the criteria to why they should
grant the variance and didn't think they would fare well if the board
was to vote right then. Vice Chairman Murphy asked about point two in
the criteria. Mr. Stanton stated that they respected the requirements
and the board process, but they saw this as a simple decision and that
the variance criteria was more procedural than anything. He added that
they were at fatigue with the whole deal, with drug -users adjacent to
them that for some reason the Town couldn't seem to solve and had
delayed purchasing the property until after the ARPB meeting. Mr.
Stanton stated that if the board didn't approve the current site plan,
he would rather save everyone's time and money and abandon the project
altogether. Vice Chairman Murphy asked if the lawyer who put the
verbiage together in the justification statement could be present to
meet with the board. Mr. Stanton stated they had already spent
$100,000.00 and were willing to walk away because the reality of the
situation was that they were talking about an eyebrow in an unusual
Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
circumstance that he didn't think the Code was written to anticipate.
He added he thought the design protected the integrity of Gulf Stream's
design requirements and fit the design of the Town's future and was a
good outcome to the current situation. Board member Dockerty asked if
they had looked at what could be designed had they followed the rules of
the Code. Mr. Tajalli stated anything other than what they had would
affect the landscaping, the mature trees, etc. and that the black and
white of a Code vs. the reality of what they were dealing with needed
some common-sense usage of how they are improving the area and keeping
all the lush landscaping. Chairman Smith stated that if the board had
just been looking at the primary residence on the east side and they
were coming with this request, they board would deny it immediately. He
didn't want them to veer from that just because of the circumstances
being horrible in the neighborhood knowing this would help clean it up.
Vice Chairman Murphy stated there were special circumstances with it
being two lots, enhancing the community, etc. The board could not agree
that all eight points were being covered enough to recommend to the Town
Commission. Chairman Smith asked Town Clerk Taylor if they could have a
special meeting to address the variance so as not to delay the process
even further. It was decided to have a special ARPB meeting on
Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 8:30 A.M. The board asked for full -on,
super -imposed images of the landscaping elevations, a little more
concrete answer to number one and two, as well as the lawyer who drew up
the justification statement to be present.
Vice Chairman Murphy made a motion to delay the
application to be reconsidered until Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 8:30
A.M. when the specific focus will be the variance request. Th-_ motion
was seconded by Board member Smith with all voting AYE at roll call.
VII. Items by Staff
1. Town Manager Dunham wanted to let the Board know about a new
project that there had been discussions about and he believed the Town
would be receiving an application from The Gulf Stream Golf Club and a
developer, Mr. Cary Glickstein, for the property adjacent to Place Au
Soleil. They are planning on adding 14 lots, with ten of them being
approximately 16,500 sq. ft. and the last four being bigger, he added.
Town Manager Dunham stated the Town had a consulting planner with Urban
Design Studios who would help the Town review all the documents
necessary. He added there were five steps of approval over several
months that needed to take place before any of this could happen.
2. Town Manager Dunham wanted to bring the Board up to date on
the shutter color for 3112 Gulfstream Road. The owners decided to go
with the green instead of the burnt orange so they could proceed per the
Board's decision at the December 19, 2019 meeting.
VIII. Items by Board Members
There were none.
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Minutes of ARPB Regular
Meeting & Public Hearing
Held 2-27-2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
IX. Public
There were none.
X. Adjournment
Chairman Smith adjourned the meeting at 10:23 A.M.
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