The entire Palmetto Bay village council, key staff members and residents gathered in the Village Hall Council Chambers on Monday, Apr. 17, for a special council meeting at 6 p.m. and a zoning hearing at 7 p.m.
The special council meeting, which drew about 40 people, was called to discuss and vote upon a resolution and two ordinances sponsored by Vice Mayor John DuBois, all dealing with land use, traffic studies and the scheduling of meetings relative to land use.
The proposed policy changes, although generic in some ways, seemed keyed to development on Old Cutler Road and issues that often have divided members of the council.
After several residents made statements of support, with reservations, in the public comments portion of the first meeting, DuBois explained his reason for sponsoring the resolution.
“The purpose of the resolution is to avoid these last minute traffic studies that are done days or weeks before the zoning application is presented to the council,” DuBois said. “It’s also an issue that I believe should be done to slow down the process so that adjustments can be made as opposed to late in the process. It provides some checks and balances for a developer of integrity to do the right thing.
Mayor Eugene Flinn said he agreed in principle with the resolution but thought it needed to be more specific in regards to the time frame involved.
“I would suggest that you amend your resolution so that the traffic study be provided no later than 30 days before the hearing, or that they (hearings) can’t be noticed until the traffic study has been provided, which is about 45 days out,” Flinn said.
Discussion among council members seemed to be more about the nature of traffic studies per se, with Councilmember Larissa Siegel Lara asking detailed questions about how they’re done and the number of them.
“I don’t see why two traffic studies are needed if the studies are being done by licensed and qualified engineers,” Lara said. “I mean, if they’re done by engineers and are accurate, shouldn’t the results be the same?”
The cost of the traffic studies also was discussed and who should pay for them, with Travis Kendall, Planning and Zoning interim director, stating that average traffic studies cost between $15,000 and $25,000. He also explained that there are several approaches used in making the studies depending upon what kind of information is being sought.
Vice Mayor DuBois said he felt that most traffic studies commissioned by developers, especially “count-based” studies which reflect the number of vehicles but not whether they’re moving at normal speeds or are bumper-to-bumper, tend to favor the developer’s interests. He preferred the study being done by the village and the zoning applicant paying for it.
The resolution, after some discussion between council members and with the help of the village attorney, was reworded to state that traffic studies will be posted on the village website at least 30 days before a public hearing and 10 days before any workshop. The resolution was voted upon and passed unanimously. The first of the two ordinances for first reading was passed after the wording was changed and the second was deferred until a later meeting in June.
The zoning meeting which followed drew a crowd of more than 70 people and went until 11 p.m. Most of the five zoning items, including the one for Grace Pentecostal Church of Miami, were approved with only one item deferred until later.
