Regular City Commission Meeting - Regular Meeting

Is livestreamed. And when the item that perhaps you wanna speak to comes up, you can come in beforehand because as the meeting proceeds, some folks will have had an opportunity to hear their item, participate, and then decide to go on about their day. And we are on the air. So thank you all. Today is 04/15/2026.

We are here at Hollywood City Hall for a regular city commission meeting. But as I always say, no meeting is ever regular because it's always important, and, interesting, substance to, take on as a city commission and as a community here today. So today is no different. We always begin with a moment of silence followed by a pledge of allegiance, And I'd like to extend a moment of privilege to vice mayor Coleri, would like to all of us to reflect on someone that our community lost just last night, vice mayor.

Thank you, mayor. Actually, I would like to invite chief Devlin.

Okay. Thank you, chief.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Yeah, obviously a fresh wound that cuts very deeply for us. And we're all still reeling here as we learned about this not even twenty four hours ago. But Scott Parden, the ultimate public servant with almost thirty five years of service to his community, started with his career at Pembroke Pines, came to Hollywood, served twenty nine years with us, rising to the rank of major, and finished his career with the Seminole Police Department. Scott was a humble servant, leadership style.

He cared more about his subordinates than any other supervisor I ever met or knew. He had the unique gift to identify someone's talents, foster those talents, and ensure that person had every resource they needed to rise to whatever professional goal that they had. Our department is filled with leadership roles and people because of Scott's mentorship, myself included. Scott was a great friend to many. He would always make you feel like a best friend of his every time you talk to him.

No matter how many times I would call him or the length of time in between those calls, Scott would always start the conversation about your family, identifying each one of them by names, how the wife is, and then circling back to his family. And by the time that was over with, I most of the time forgot what I was calling him about. And I just would make fun of his beloved Dallas Cowboys. He would make fun of my Giants. And we'd always hang up with a good laugh. So Scott was a devout family man, cared deeply about his wife, Maureen, his daughters, Lindsey, and Nicole. And I would like to let them know that the Hollywood Police Department will be with them not only today to help get them through this horrific time, but for the future to come. We will always be there for them. And they will always be part of the Hollywood Police Department family. Well, thank you, Mary, for that.

MARY Thank you, Chief. And if I could just add, he definitely was it's an honor and a privilege to have known him as well, being part of the police family, a lifelong service that he dedicated to policing. And it's a reminder to all of us to check on one another. Mental health affects everyone. There are no exceptions.

Not in law enforcement, not in fire rescue, not anywhere. Those who appear the strongest are often caring the most. We've lost a good one, someone who leaves behind two amazing daughters, as was mentioned, and a beautiful wife, Maureen, who is a friend of many. A family, lifelong friends are affected by this. So please, I encourage everyone to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. And just a reminder, a simple phone call, no matter if it's the strongest person that we know

or the weakest, can make a difference. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Kalarian, Chief Devlin, and our condolences to Scott and his family. And let's all think of Scott and the life he led and his blessed memory as we rise for that moment of silence followed by the pledge. Thank you. Another important moment we take at each meeting is to recognize our veterans, active service personnel, and their families. So if you are a veteran of the US Armed Forces or a family member thereof or an active service member, please rise.

We'd like to recognize you. Thank you. Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Commissioner Gruber.

Here.

Commissioner Biederman.

Here.

Commissioner Quintana? Here. Commissioner Schuham? Here. Commissioner Hernandez?

Here.

Vice Mayor Clari? Here. Mayor Levy?

Here. Thank you. Items on consent today are items five through nine. These are items that don't usually require individual discussion. However, if there's a speaker card or request from the dais, we're happy to remove an item and hear it later in the meeting. Pat, are there any speaker cards on five through nine?

No cards.

Is there a motion or a request from the dais?

Motion to approve. Second.

We have a motion from Vice Mayor Coleri, second from Commissioner Quintana to move the consent items five through nine. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Hearing none, those items carry unanimously. On to our 1PM presentations, proclamations, and awards. We've got a full course of proclamations and presentations today. So let's go ahead and begin with our fire chief and the fire department. Chief Levy, please come on up. We'd love to recognize recipients of the Hollywood Fire Rescue Awards for 2025.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city manager, staff. Before we get started with the awards, I want to take a little bit of privilege here and recognize somebody that wasn't on the awards or a division that wasn't on the awards. I sent you all an email about this, about our fire prevention division. But I felt that it was worthy during this presentation to recognize them in public forum. So I want to take a moment to spotlight the remarkable progress within the fire prevention division.

Thanks to the outstanding leadership of Chief Lucas and Deputy Fire Marshal Chief Hoffel, the open plan review aging list has been reduced to just thirteen calendar days and eight working days. This is a significant improvement compared to June, when the list stood at thirty five calendar days and twenty working days, a situation that required heavy reliance on overtime and expedited plan review fees. This achievement is a testament to the commitment and professionalism of our plan reviewers, who have truly thrived under their effective guidance. Their dedication, coupled with strong leadership, has been the driving force behind these improvements. Furthermore, as we finalize our quarterly performance measures, there's even more good news to share.

For the first time in both Q1 and Q2 of this year, the Fire Prevention Division has not only met but surpassed the target for high hazard fire inspection completions for commercial properties. This year to date target for Q2 is set at 32.5%, while the actual completion rate has exceeded 52%. If we maintain this momentum, we're well positioned to achieve 100% completion for the first time by the end of Q4. These accomplishments are the result of having a fully staffed fire prevention division and ensuring proper oversight. I want to express my gratitude to city hall, the commission, city manager, and staff, which have been instrumental in the driving force for these positive changes. We're truly moving forward in the right direction.

So I'd like to Round the applause for that. Chief, I just want to mention, thank Fire Marshal Lucas and the team that's fire prevention. And that's especially with plan review. It's been a real big problem for the city for many years. And with this new team, as you've pointed out, chief, the plan review times have come into a manageable and a lot more effective period for everybody who lives, invests, and works, and builds business here in Hollywood. So thank you so much to all of you. I really appreciate the effort because we hear less of the issues that we used to hear on an ongoing basis. So thank you so much.

Thank you. So what we're here for today is the recognition of our members of the Fire Rescue and Beach Safety Division, whose initiatives and leadership and commitment to excellence have distinguished them throughout the year. These twenty twenty five awards highlight the individuals who have gone above and beyond their roles, strengthening our organization, and elevating the service we provide to the community. You're going to hear about several medical emergency medical emergencies in which our crews acted decisively in critical moments, ultimately saving lives. These stories reflect only a small portion of the remarkable work happening every day.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to share just how dedicated our team is and how tirelessly they serve on behalf of the residents and visitors of the city of Hollywood. At this point, I want to call up our PIO, Shay, to come read the awards. And I'm going to call up Chief Zadie and Chief Moshe to help me give out the awards, please.

Good

afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city managers, assistant city managers,

and staff.

I am Shay Kaufman. I'm the Public Information Manager for Hollywood Fire Rescue. All right. I'll begin by calling up each recipient to receive their awards. For the Civilian Employee of the Year 2025 award, will Anthony Lobaldo please come forward.

Anthony Lobaldo has proven to be an invaluable member of our department. Working in consistently busy environments, he plays a critical role in maintaining and repairing our entire fleet, including fire apparatus, rescue trucks, assigned staff vehicles, and ocean rescue equipment, such as their ATVs and jet skis. Anthony is frequently called upon after hours and is always willing to respond, ensuring that our men and women on the front lines have the reliable equipment they need to do their job safely and effectively. No matter the situation, he approaches his work with a positive can do attitude and the willingness to help making him a pleasure to work with and a trusted resource for the entire department. Beyond his technical experience, Anthony takes pride in representing the department in the community.

He regularly attends events showcasing our historic Old Betsy, the fire truck, ensuring that it is always in top condition and ready for display. Anthony's dedication, professionalism, and exceptional mechanical knowledge are vital to the success of our operations, make him truly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations. Tony,

it sounds like the department can't run without you, so thank you so much, And thank you for keeping all that machinery working. We know that's a very important skill here, and appreciate your commitment. Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you.

For the next award, there are two recipients of our Meritorious Service Award. Will Captain Sonia Camacho please come forward? On 03/14/2025, Captain Sonia Camacho demonstrated exceptional courage, leadership, and technical experience oh, expertise, excuse me during a high risk apartment fire. Upon arrival, Captain Camacho immediately assessed rapidly deteriorating conditions and established command presence. During a precise and aggressive response to contain the advancing fire, recognizing the extreme hazards, she initiated vent enter search vest operations under high heat and zero visibility conditions, entering the structure alongside a firefighter to perform a thorough search of the affected apartment.

Her decisive actions stabilized and repeatedly evolving scene and prevented further fire extension, reflecting her unwavering commitment and operational excellence. Beyond her personal bravery, Captain Camacho exemplified outstanding leadership and mentorship. She coordinated the fire attack, conducted a rapid three sixty degree assessment to identify critical entry points, and guided a rookie firefighter through complex, high pressure operations. Her advanced training, technical proficiency, and ability to make critical decisions under intense conditions demonstrated the highest standards of a fire service. Captain Sonia Camacho is highly deserving of this Mayor Tory Service Award.

Congratulations. The other recipient of the Meritory Service Award, will firefighter Robert Burrito please come forward. Firefighter Robert Burrito, newly assigned to the department, demonstrated extraordinary courage, composure and decisiveness during a high stress Edgewater condo incident. While positioned at a pinch point supply hose to the interior crews, he identified that a firefighter inside the structure was running low on air. Recognizing the urgency, Firefighter Burrito immediately followed the hose line into the zero visibility interior without hesitation or direction.

Inside the hazardous environment, he quickly located the member operating and identified the firefighter that was in distress. With calm precision, he connected his buddy breathing hose, enabling the team to safely exit the building. His actions under extreme pressure reflected exceptional situational awareness initiative and an unwavering commitment to safety of his fellow firefighters. That a new firefighter responded with such skill and confidence speaks to his professionalism, composure, and strong potential for leadership. Firefighter Robert Burrito's selfless dedication exemplifies the highest traditions of the fire service, and making him highly deserving of this Meritorious Service Award.

Congratulations. For the Lifeguard of the Year 2025 award, will Marine Safety Officer, Michele Gonzales, please come forward. Marine Safety Officer, Michelle Gonzales, joined Ocean Rescue in 2023, and has quickly distinguished himself through hard work, strong leadership, and unwavering commitment to the team. In a short time, he has earned his respect of his peers and his superiors alike for his professionalism, reliability, and positive attitude. Recently promoted to Marine Safety Officer, Michel has proven to be an outstanding addition to his staff.

His exceptional physical ability, dedication to public safety, and willingness to go above and beyond make him a true role model, and wholly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations. For the Firefighter of the Year 2025 award, will Alejandro Guzman please come forward. Firefighter Guzman exemplifies dedication, leadership, and innovation, making him an outstanding candidate for the firefighter of the year. Over the past year, he has devoted countless hours to advancing the department's drone and robotics program, transforming them into highly capable soon to be state recognized operational teams.

His efforts have strengthened the special operations team, enhanced firefighter safety, and improved decision making during the complex and high risk incidents. In addition, he serves on the Advanced Life Support Competition team, dedicating significant time, both on and off duty, to providing advanced medical care to the community. Firefighter Guzman also mentors his peers, develops training resources, and ensures proficiency with emerging technologies supporting critical operations, including hazarded materials responses, technical rescues, and large scale emergencies. His professionalism, initiative, and selfless commitment to both his team and the community make him a true role model, and highly deserving of this award. Congratulations.

All right, there are two members receiving this award. It is the Supervisor of the Year 2025 award. Will Lieutenant Allen Beach please come forward? Lieutenant Beach has devoted his life to serving our community. Since joining the city as a lifeguard in 1988, he has exemplified what it means to lead with purpose, integrity, and compassion.

Throughout his distinguished career, Lieutenant Beach has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty. He has trained, mentored generations of lifeguards, instilling not only the skills required for this job, but also the values that define true public service. His actions have directly contributed to the saving countless lives, and his presence has been a consistent source of strength and reliability for both his team and the community. Known for always stepping forward when others are in need, Lieutenant Beach embodies selflessness and dedication. His unwavering commitment, exceptional leadership, and lasting impact make him truly deserving of this award.

Congratulations. All right, last but not least. For the last supervisor of the year 2025 award, will Captain Evan Goodwin please come forward. Captain Goodwin exemplifies exceptional leadership, consistently leading from the front and setting the highest standards throughout both action and mentorship. He inspires his crew to excel modeling accountability, professionalism, and operationally excellence in every training session, emergency response, and daily station activity.

Deeply committed to the growth of his personnel, he invests in mentorship, skill development, and team cohesion, creating a culture where discipline, pride, and excellence are expected and achieved. On the fire ground, Captain Goodwin demonstrates strong command precedent and sound decision making under pressure, ensuring safe and effective outcomes in each of the most complex incidents. Beyond operations, he dedicates himself to ongoing training, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing, enhancing the readiness and proficiency of his team. Throughout his leadership, Captain Goodwin has made a lasting impact on his station, the Special Operations team, and the City of Hollywood, making him truly a deserving Supervisor of the Year. Congratulations.

Well, thank you to everyone, chief, who were recognized today, and the whole department for your professionalism and all the, you know, individual accounts of of your service and what caused you to, you know, win the praise and and respect. Earning these awards really speaks to your own personal professional commitment and and how you react in the moment and, in the end, how that serves our greater community and provides for public safety. We're you have a lot of community pride in the fire department and and beach safety. And, you know, moments like this when we hear the stories of what you guys do is just elevates the pride in all of us. I want you to know that we have a proud group of residents, 155,000 strong in Hollywood, that appreciate what you do. So thank you so much.

Thank you, mayor. Would you mind if we took a picture?

Let's do it.

Can I get all the award recipients to come up for a picture, please? All of the award recipients, come up for a picture, please.

Ready? One, two, three.

Nice. Hey. Nice. I'm sorry. Great. Three, two, in. Three, two, one. Very nice.

Alright. Thank you all. Alright. We have a proclamation, three of them. Let's begin with, commissioner Quintana, who will present a proclamation recognizing the seventy fifth anniversary of the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge. Accepting the proclamation, I think we have some folks here. Is Edward here, the worshipable master, Alexander Smith, the senior warden, Stuart Davies, the secretary, Wallace Fine, treasurer, Wayne Kisendath, past master perhaps Bolivar Vazquez or Alexandre Merrou might be here.

Come on over in the front.

Come on up, And commissioner Quintana, the floor is yours once the folks come on up. Lodge 299.

Yes, sir.

See Andre Brown is here.

He's not here with the lodge, though.

I think he might be a Mason.

Are you with this lodge?

Yeah? Oh,

wonderful.

Well, everyone, I am so very, very pleased to be able to celebrate with our role, Fulkerson Masonic Lodge here at City Hall. These folks are right down the street from where I live, and they contribute so much to our community. So with that, I'll read the proclamation, City of Hollywood, Florida, in recognition of the seventy fifth anniversary of the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge, 04/18/2026. Whereas, the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge number 299FAM was founded in Hollywood and received its official charter from the most worshipable Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Florida on 04/18/1951. And whereas the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge was named in honor of Doctor.

Roe Parham Fulkerson, from 1870 to 1949, one of the founding fathers of the city of Hollywood, who dutifully served the community as an optometrist and member of the Florida State Legislature. Doctor. Fulkerson was also a distinguished Freemason, prolific speaker, writer, poet, and a dedicated local community leader. And whereas, like its esteemed namesake, the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge has served Hollywood as a vibrant and dedicated civic organization for over seven decades, fostering the Masonic principles of faith, hope, and charity. The lodge has been instrumental in supporting the local neighborhood with charity programs, events, and celebrations that unite and uplift people of all ages and backgrounds.

And whereas this seventy fifth anniversary milestone of the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge is a testament to the dedication of its founders, members, and volunteers who have continuously supported and strengthened our community. Now, therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the City Of Hollywood and the Hollywood City Commission, hereby honor and congratulate the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge of Hollywood on its seventy fifth anniversary, commend its invaluable contributions to our community, and do hereby proclaim 04/18/2026, as a day in celebration of the seventy fifth anniversary of the Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge in the city of Hollywood, Florida.

Hello, everybody. I'm Ed Vaitulis, the master of the lodge. I would like to make a brief statement. On behalf of Roe Focus and Masonic Lodge number two ninety nine, I extend our sincere gratitude to the city of Hollywood for proclaiming 04/18/2026 as Roe Fulkerson Masonic Lodge seventy fifth anniversary day. Seventy five years ago, at our lodge's beginning, the founding members of

the

lodge carefully chose the name of the organization to honor Roe Fulkerson, a founding figure in the city of Hollywood. He exemplified the outstanding civic service and left a lasting legacy through his many contributions to the community. His integrity and dedication established him as a pillar of our community, an example that we continue to uphold and continue to strive to emulate today. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Please come on up. We'd love to take a photo with you guys and help spread the word about the lodge.

For your unwavering commitment and service. In addition to this proclamation, we look forward to celebrating and honoring you at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Tuesday, April, sorry, at 06:00PM at the Boulevard Heights Community Center. On behalf of the city, we extend our sincere gratitude. Your impact does not go unnoticed and our community is better because of you. Thank you.

Want to grab the

proclamation there? Thank you. Let's a photo real quick. Anybody from HR, come on up.

Thank you, guys.

Final proclamation. Let's invite vice mayor Coleri to present a proclamation recognizing Earth Day and Arbor Day of this year. Accepting the proclamation, I believe, will be Elaine Franklin. She's the city's environmental sustainability coordinator and the staff liaison to the sustainability advisory committee. It's two big titles there, Elaine. Welcome. Vice mayor Coleri, please.

Mic's on, so I didn't have to a chance to pre read this, so I apologize. Proclamation City of Hollywood, Florida, recognition Earth Day, 04/22/2026, and Arbor Day, 04/24/2026. Whereas Earth Day, observed annually on April 22, and Arbor Day, celebrated on the last Friday in April, serve as an important reminder of our shared responsibility to protect and preserve our natural environment. And whereas the city of Hollywood, as a vibrant coastal community in South Florida, is connected to and dependent upon the health of our oceans, beaches, waterways, urban tree canopy, and native ecosystems. And whereas rising sea levels, coastal erosion, extreme weather events, and habitat loss pose ongoing challenges that require proactive environmental stewardship and community resilience.

And whereas, trees play a critical role in reducing heating and cooling costs. Improving air quality, preventing soil erosion, supporting wildlife, and enhancing the beauty and livability of our city. And whereas, environmental conservation efforts, including coastal restoration, mangrove protection, tree planting initiatives, and reduction of pollution are essential to safeguarding our natural resources for present and future generations. And whereas in honor of Arbor Day twenty twenty six, the Public Works Department will plant an oak tree at Rose's Garden located at 510 South 24th Avenue on Thursday, 04/23/2026 at ten a. To provide shade for visitors while enjoying the park.

And whereas in celebration of Earth Day twenty twenty six, the Hollywood Sustainable Advisory Committee will host a conservation village in collaboration with 4ocean and support from Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort on 04/25/2026, from 9AM to 1PM at the Hollywood Beach. And now therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the city of Hollywood, Florida and the Hollywood City Commission hereby recognize 04/22/2026 as Earth Day and 04/24/2026 as Arbor Day in the city of Hollywood. Alright.

Sounds like we have some great events coming up, Elaine.

Yes. Thank mayor. Yes.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, commissioners, city manager, and staff. In addition to those two events, I just wanna highlight two exciting details in Hollywood. One, turtle nesting season started March 1 as it does every year. Leatherbacks are the first species to start nesting here. They tend to have small populations, so we have small number of nests. But we already have six leatherback nests on Hollywood Beach. So that's about one per week. That's very exciting news to have that. The other I'd like to highlight is we are doing a tree planting project that will focus mainly in the West and south areas of Hollywood that will be complemented by some tree and plant giveaways. So stay tuned for those details. So those are some ways that the city continues to support wildlife and our urban canopy here in Hollywood. So thank you for this recognition today.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks for all the effort. Please come on up. All right. That concludes our proclamations, not but not to be outdone.

We have four presentations. So let's begin with mister CJ Davila. He is the director of the Florida Green Building Coalition. And he would like to share an award to the city of Hollywood for achieving the green local government recertification. Mr. Davila, welcome.

Thank you. My name is CJ Davila, I'm the executive director of the Florida Green Building Coalition. The Florida Green Building Coalition is a green building certification program that was founded in the year 2000. We are the largest certification program in the state of Florida, having just surpassed 46,000 projects statewide. The city of Hollywood has completed their green building certification or sorry, their green local government certification recently, in 2025.

The city of Hollywood first certified in 2012. I wanted to just review the program a little bit. The program judges the city on water conservation, energy conservation, disaster mitigation, a lot of different factors. The city of Hollywood scored 33% of the total points available to them in 2025. So I wanted to really recognize that.

I wanted to recognize the mayor, the commissioners, the city manager, Elaine Franklin, Isaac Wechtler with Code Green, and all the employees who contributed to this extraordinary feat. We are in Hollywood today, so I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize Barry Fask, one of our former presidents of our board, and a long time Hollywood resident. He was very passionate about Hollywood and the Florida Green Building Coalition. So I wanted to recognize him. Also, in 2025, we started our version five of our local government certification program.

Since then, only three local governments have completed the program. Hollywood is the second highest ranked city to complete the version five, which is much higher than version four. So really wanted to congratulate you guys for that. And in 2025, you were the highest scoring city across the state of Florida. So we recognized you last week in Miami at our annual Green Achievements Awards. So once again, really wanted to recognize you, let the taxpayers know that you guys are doing a great job of saving them money and resources. And on behalf of our board, we'd like to thank the city of Hollywood for all their work.

Great. Thank you.

Let's see what you got there. Sure. All right. I love that. Please, let's take a photo.

Appreciate everybody's effort in that regard. Alright. Presentation number two. Let's invite miss Joanne Fullerton Reiss. She's the chair of the African American Advisory Council, and she would love to share her annual report for the advisory committee. Hello, miss Reese. If there are any members of the committee or staff liaison that would like to join Ms. Reese, you're welcome to.

I have that one.

All right, looks like we've got a great presentation here.

Good afternoon. You can hear me? Good afternoon, Mayor Levy.

Good afternoon.

Commissioner Kalari and the commissioners. But don't let me forget my commissioner, Peter Hernandez, the professionalist. Joanne Reese, as you said, I'm here to present the annual report for the African American Advisory Council. And as you see, the slides are so beautiful. And I don't want to be remiss without recognizing our liaison, our very professional, polite, dedicated I mean, words can't even explain how she has presented herself, how she supported the council.

And it's there through all of our concerns. And they're to correct us, as well. So don't think that she's

not does the same for all of us, too.

So we appreciate Allison and know

Yes. Exactly what

you mean, Ms. Reese. Purpose of the African American Advisory Council is to keep the city commission informed about the needs and the concerns of the African American in the city of Hollywood. The council is dedicated to promoting fairness, equality, economics, employment, housing, education, and cultural Look at our pictures. Current membership.

Joanne, I was hoping that she would be here, but she's really, really the force behind the council as well, Joanne Tate. And those are basically our board, our slideshow, Black History Month. Oh, goodness. It was at Washington Park. And I know you guys were there. We had a phenomenal, phenomenal event. And the keynote speaker, regional manager, all the and don't let me forget our spoken word young man, Destin E. Ward.

JULIETTE

The future

president of The United States.

JULIETTE F. Following that, that was in February. So in Juneteenth, Georgette is not here. Was hoping that she would be here. But anyway, we had a very nice presentation at the MLK Park. And it was a good day. I mean, the band was really jazzy. It was like, oh, my god. That's great. And it was great.

And we had a good day. Oh, now, going back to school for the haircuts. And Joanne Tate, our vice chair, she instrumented this. And it was at MLK. And we were able to get in I can't remember how many students through Sandra and got their haircuts.

The kids were so, so happy for getting the haircuts that day. And don't let me forget our goals and accomplishments for 2026. We're going to host and it's now, we've already done twenty twenty six Black History Celebration. And we're going to assist with the Juneteenth celebration, partnership with South Broward Juneteenth Celebration, S. Georgette Leslie Wiggins.

And in effort to support the local businesses this is our main focus for right now we are developing a directive for those businesses to create their program to provide support and connect with them and their resources. So we have been working diligently with the city also with that. And AAC is the host, again, the back to school haircut events and a sneaker drive this time. So we're happy to be able to do that. So we want you to join us.

Those of you that are interested in becoming a member of the board, here's where you can log on and make your appointments and fill out your application. The meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of each month. And we're happy to see you there. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Reese. Really high quality programs year round by the ACAC, and especially on the holidays. Thank you, all the volunteers, the board, and Alison as well. Thank you so much. Great to see the progress. All right, Chris Kanter. Let's see one up that. Chris is here. He's the chair of the Education Advisory Committee. And let's hear all about what the advisory committee is doing to further good education BROWN: here in our city. Welcome, Chris. CHRISTOPHER Good afternoon, everybody. I would be remiss if I did not point out and give honor to our school board member, Ms. Debbie Hickson, is here in the audience today. We appreciate all that she does for

Thank

our And who else? Mara Bowman.

Mara I didn't see her. And Mara as well.

Mara Why don't you guys join Chris up here?

Mara Bowman, school board member.

Come on up, school board members, please, if you'd like. And if there's anyone else who serves on the advisory committee here, the education committee, you can feel free to join Chris.

I'm sweating on a presentation. I'm sorry.

I'm not sweating.

No, I'm not sweating.

It is a little hot in here, though.

Right. I could

tell jokes.

I'm kidding.

Well, in the meantime, thank you for our school board members for being here. I know you all had a I think a long school board meeting. I think it was yesterday. So and so

SPEAKER Are those of our advisory board

members any

of those? No. I do not see them here. Yeah, they'll

Chris, maybe while they're queuing up the presentation, perhaps if school board members would like to say a few words. I know that some of them have interacted with the advisory committee and can express any please, countywide school board member Debbie Hickson first, please.

Good afternoon, everyone. This is not what we we came for something else. But good afternoon. Nice to see everybody. We are very happy to be here today. We did just have a school board meeting. Thank you to the Hollywood Advisory Committee for I believe you do scholarship, yes,

for students?

We do the grants. Grant

Okay, right. The BEF grants, they actually just had the hootenanny to celebrate those teachers who received grants from

Sounds Irish.

No, it was no, a hoot, like like cowboy ish. Okay. And they had the cowboy hats on and had a good time Hootman.

Thought I heard Mark Rose say that once before. That's why I said Irish.

Anyway, we're you know, great things are happening at Broward County Public Schools. And we're happy for the partnership that we have with the city. So thank you.

Thank you all. Thank you. Ms. Bowman.

Thank you. Commission, great to be here today. So just a couple updates that we have. And I know that this has been rolled out before. But I've worked with Commissioner Gruber, Commissioner Biederman. We have the Sloan Stephens Foundation doing tennis on the West Side of town. And on our board meeting on the twenty first, we're going to be signing a contract with Overtown Youth Center for a pilot program at McNico Middle School, which was brought to us by Mayor Levy and Commissioner Quintana. So I really

And I have to give credit to Congresswoman Debbie Wasson.

Congresswoman, yes.

Brought Alonzo Mourning here. And all the stars lined up. And your partnership was critical. So thank you.

So great things are happening with your support. And we really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Maura. Thank you so much. Chris, back to you. That was a good feeling there.

CHRIS Thank you, everyone, and thank you school board members for everything that you've done for us and continue to do. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. I'm Chris Cantor, chair of the City of Hollywood's Education Advisory Committee. Also, thank you very much, staff, for all you do in leadership. This is our annual report. Throughout the country, public education remains under strain. Enrollment continues to decline in many large districts, and teacher shortages persist. Meanwhile, voucher programs are expanding at both state and federal levels. The U. S.

Department of Education is nearly dismantled. Its headquarters are about 70% vacant. Remaining staff are moving to a smaller building and the building they're in right now, it's going to the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, districts are merely trying to survive. In Florida, these pressures are more intense. We now have universal vouchers with no income cap. Between 2021 and 2025, voucher use doubled. Now that went from about 12% to 24% statewide. As you all know, when enrollment declines, so does funding. Here in Broward County, the impact is real.

During the past decade, our district lost more than 40,000 students. Earlier in this school year alone, officials reported another 10,000 student loss. So far, the school board has approved six school closures due to under enrollment that had to happen for the next year. About 34 schools have been named in the coming years, does not mean all 34 will be closed, but have been named. There's now a district hiring freeze with the plans to cut at least 1,000 jobs each year for the next three years.

In Hollywood, the future is ominous. No public school has closed yet, but our buildings remain underenrolled. Florida's Schools of Hope legislation complicates matters, enabling charter operators to co locate at existing sites practically for free with the district paying the cost. Our own Quest Center, Hollywood Central Preparatory K-eight, Mary and Bethune Elementary and McNichol Middle Schools are among 27 Broward Schools campuses that charter operators already targeted unsuccessfully. For now that measure is still being looked at.

Nonetheless, our committee stood in the gap. We partnered with the Broward Education Foundation. We awarded grants totaling $20,000 to 19 Hollywood classrooms that went right into the hands of your kiddos and mine. We analyzed enrollment trends and we examined career and technical education pathways. We identified barriers to student lunch access.

We prioritized our work upon best practices in teaching, engagement and advocacy. Now, I'm going to be honest, like many advisory boards, we faced our challenges. Reaching quorum has been difficult. Despite midterm appointments that this commission gave to us, the struggle continues. We've only reached quorum about 20 sorry, 60% of the time, and we're continuing to work on that.

As the committee addresses root causes and action steps, we welcome your feedback and your support. So looking ahead to 2026, well what are we going to do? First things, we're going to keep our community up to date on education policy, engage parent and civic groups, and continue to work with public charter and private schools for one goal, that is in our mission to make Hollywood's educational opportunities Florida's best. Now these priorities mean that much of the work will center around not just promoting our educational opportunities and partnering with them, but also working to protect our schools as much as possible from losing more students and potential closures, or becoming sites for co location, working alongside our board members, municipality the municipality, and our community. Now, if closures become imminent, we will focus upon engaging our entire community with the school board, our two school board members, and district staff, as we will do ourselves to advocate for fair, reasonable, and equitable approaches.

Finally, our committee recently became aware of the city's white paper outlining a potentially by right zoning approach for micro schools. The Department of Development Services and our staff liaison are currently working to secure a date for collaborative meeting time. It's my sincere hope that the city and this committee will work hand in hand moving forward prior to any action being taken by the commission to ensure that any such proposal is informed, that is, by a thorough study of the city's existing educational landscape and a careful assessment of its potential impact. I also believe it's vital that we play an active role in facilitating meaningful conversations and opportunities for stakeholder input as part of that process. With that said, I invite you and all of our residents to our upcoming meeting on April 20 at Sheridan Technical College.

We're taking a tour, and we're going to get an up close look at their exceptional career programs. 06:00, feel free to come on out and be a part of that. I want to thank you as chair for your continued support and your trust in me. I welcome any questions or feedback you may have at this time.

Thank you. Vice Mayor Calera. Let's, please.

Hi. So thank you for all the efforts. I understand the quorum. Just one thing I want to note, we did reach out to our youth ambassadors for the city of Hollywood asking for participation, as well as the historical site, the historical club students. So we put that out there yesterday.

Hopefully we'll get some bite. But I think one really important question, not just for education purposes, and I'm glad that our school board members are also here. And I know my staff will probably be like, why? But it is a topic being in the broad league of cities, we constantly are talking about it with the SRO compensation and working with the school boards. So I just don't know if you guys are privy to that information and what is it that you all are doing to help facilitate some type of

Dialogue.

Compromise dialogue and making sure that our students are safe within their schools.

Yes, it's such You

know they are, but to continue that.

Absolutely. And safety, of course, is the number one thing that we all hope for for our kids when they go, right? First of all, to backtrack a little, thank you for your work with the youth ambassadors. They will be joining us on the twentieth as well. We're excited about that and having that representation on the committee. The news about the SROs just kind of hit within the past week or so. We've got it. We've been going back and forth, myself and our staff liaison. I do plan on bringing that to our committee and talking about it. And I was reaching out going to be reaching out this week to our board members and those in the know staff, so that I can get real information that's really strong information, not just hearsay, in the hands of the committee.

I do think we need to look at that and kind of know what the next steps are going to be, and then how we can really work to organize and engage our community. I think a lot of times our community is so busy doing the work and working that those opportunities don't seem natural to them. And we need to create as many natural inflows as we can to have those conversations.

So I think that it's really, really important that education and knowledge about the situation, whether it be what direction they go in. So I would offer any assistance that you need to get the proper information. I'm sure that the school board would offer that as well. I can't speak on behalf of them, but I think it has to be a joint effort. And we have to be able to communicate and find out what's the best way to go to make sure that that safety is ensured.

Absolutely great. And I will be sure to take that to you then. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris, for all your insight and the work of the committee. Just to the city manager and team, I would just mention that perhaps when you bring forward the annual board appointments, if there are any boards that you might want to consider reducing the number of members in order to enable a lesser number of people to create a quorum, then you might want to analyze that for this and any others that suffer lack of attendance and make it easier for them to do their work.

And we're getting their full transparency, doing everything we can to make sure that people are excited in there. I think April was a great start to that and getting to see that campus head on.

Board Member Biederman.

Thank you.

Since you brought it up, first of all, Chris, thank you for your stepping up to be on the advisory board and being the chair. But secondly, as opposed to reducing the number of seats, I would much rather add alternate seats. That's a much more authentic and it's a much better it's more

I'd love more participation.

Yeah,

it's just I think it's more effective.

What I was

looking for. Have alternates as opposed to reducing the number

of seats. That's a good idea. I think that achieves both goals.

And if I can just interject I'm so sorry, Mr. Mayor. I think the one thing that is going to be very crucial is there's a lot of crucial stuff happening right now that we need to be getting our hands on, it's kind of reinforced the direction that we're taking. I think that will definitely increase MASTERS: engagement.

Thank you, Chris. Appreciate it. Alright. Our final presentation. Let's talk about parks and athletics. Let's go ahead with the actually, he's the parks and athletics manager. Alex, was was Alex Nonemaker? He'll tell me if I pronounced that wrong. This is the annual report for the Marine Advisory Council. Alex.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, and nailed it. Absolutely perfect.

There we go.

Thanks so much for that. My name is Alex Donnemaker. I'm the Parks and Athletics Manager for Parks Recreation and Cultural Arts and the new staff liaison to the Marine Advisory Board. So while I'll be giving you a report, I have only met with the board one time. So we're looking forward to getting another meeting in tomorrow night. So we'll go ahead and move along.

I do love the skate park. It could be waterfront at some point. But right now, it's

We're going start with one of my projects that we brought forward. You already approved on a consent agenda. The Boulevard.

Thank you. Thank you. Love it.

I think

we're gonna be the skateboarding.

I think we are definitely the skateboard capital of Broward County with the Justice Skatepark and now, of course, with Boulevard Heights, where we are the place to skateboard in Broward County.

Justice Skatepark is widely visited throughout the As my staff's there, they encounter people from all over that come to enjoy that skate park.

Yeah, know people that drive from all over for it.

It's wildly popular. A great hit.

Soon to have more parking as well, thanks to Vice Mayor Kalari's initiative.

We certainly welcome that. Marine Advisory Board presentation. I have notes in front of me if you want me to swing with.

Go ahead, Alex. And hopefully, we'll catch up with the visuals.

So the Marine Advisory Board's purpose is to develop ways to increase revenue from the marine industry sector in Hollywood to develop strategies to encourage student and residents to pursue careers in the marine industry, increase marine activities and opportunities for Hollywood residents and tourists, and to provide recommendations to the commission based on specific findings and research. The board's appointed and serves at the advisory capacity to the commission. Highlighting the achievements for 2025, the board was able to advocate for marketing promotions in current and proposed natural artificial reefs, considered and researched nearshore multifunctional structures that can reduce wave energy while also producing coral reef habitat. A letter was sent on behalf of the board to the commission requesting a fertilizer ban. A letter was sent to the commission advising the risk of extreme weather.

The board was active in promoting and volunteering at the Cardboard Boat Race, which in the years that I've been here seems to have its highest attendance year after year after year. Additionally, they supported the waterway cleanup activities, which we were able to host out of two locations and saw wonderful attendance at. Upcoming for twenty twenty six, we're going to stay with some of the main goals, which is going to be advocate for marketing and promotion of current and proposed natural artificial reefs. We're looking to formulate a new marine event. Additionally, we'd like to improve communication between local municipal marine advisory boards.

There's been a bit of an effort to try and get more involved with the County Marine Advisory Board and bring in our neighboring cities boards to have a more coalesced voice. We're looking to research the feasibility of hosting a Countywide Marine Advisory Board Summit to get everybody together and get them on the same page, as well as promote and conduct the annual youth fishing tournament and cardboard boat race. We're continually looking for speakers. If you're interested in promoting anything at the next couple of board meetings, feel free to reach out to me. We'd love to have somebody in the know come and present to us. That's going to wrap up our findings for this year's report. And thank you for your time. If you have any questions, how do

we take them?

Thank you, Alex. Just one note, if you could. I know you're just now been designated as the staff liaison. But a subject that we've been talking about, We The City, for a long time, and I think it's a big need and perhaps we can find some grant funding for, is in Northlake specifically, there's a very shallow draft in the waterways. It really restricts the boating opportunity for especially for the people who live there and can't necessarily, you know, navigate during certain tides and even always.

So I do do think it needs some maintenance dredging. And so if that could be put on your radar of the advisory board to work with the city as well and to start looking at that. I think we need to align ourselves up for how that can take place. I think Fort Lauderdale does it very frequently. And even some private owners in Fort Lauderdale, I know, just hire a dredging contractor to do maintenance dredging in front of their docks. So perhaps we need to also let our homeowners know what they can do if there is something within the wall that they can do that's feasible and just have an opportunity to make the navigation in Northlake a little better.

Sounds like an agenda item we'll have for tomorrow. Absolutely.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Thank you, Alex.

All right. All right. That concludes our presentations, ladies and gentlemen, and our proclamations. So thank you so much. I know that a number of you are here for some time certain items that we'll get to, some quasi judicial items. I'm going to go ahead because I know there's a lot of people here on '22. I think eighteen will be quick and then we'll take '22 and then we'll go ahead with the rest of the agenda. Let's go ahead with 18 as an ordinance of the City of Hollywood City Commission vacating a portion of the Platter Alley lying between Block 53 Of The Platter Of Hollywood, Platte Book one, page 21, more specifically as described in exhibit A, etcetera, as provided in the agenda. This is for Alta Hollywood and the Gaia residence. It's an ordinance on second reading advertised as a public hearing in conformance to state statutes and city codes.

There have been no changes since the first reading. I'm going go ahead and open the public hearing. Are there any speaker cards on item 18?

No cards.

Public hearing is now closed. Is there a motion from the floor?

Motion to approve.

We have motion from Commissioner Vice Mayor Coleri, second from Commissioner Biederman, Commissioner Schuham.

I was just commenting on your rescheduling. I think there's a lot of people here for item 19.

So let's go ahead on the motion real quick. The motion let's go ahead and read the ordinance and call the roll call vote.

ANNETTE An ordinance of the City Commission of the City Of Hollywood, Florida vacating a portion of the Platte Alley lying within Block 53 of the Platte Of Hollywood, Plat Book one, page 21, and more specifically described in exhibit A attached here to and incorporated herein, providing a severability clause, a repealer provision, and an effective date. Alta Hollywood, Gaia residences.

JULIE Commissioner Gruber? JULIE Yes. JULIE Commissioner Biederman?

JULIE Yes.

JULIE Commissioner Quintana?

JULIE Yes.

Commissioner Schuham?

JULIE

Mayor Levy? Or vice mayor Vice mayor Clary? Yes. Mayor Levy?

Yes. Alright. Let's show the ordinance passing on second reading unanimously. So I think there why don't don't you raise your hands if you hear on item 22? This is for the residential development on 16th Avenue.

Alright. Let's go ahead and take 22 if there's no objection from from the dais here from majority of us. Item 22 is resolution of the city commission considering a request to review the planning development board's action on a design and site plan for a four story 22 unit residential development located at 2101 Through 2111 North 16th Avenue. This is an item from development services that was requested by us. Also on the dais, there has been some additional information distributed to us, which looks like a bunch of legal descriptions and what have you that'll be explained.

And let's go ahead and offer the opportunity for staff to present. Before we do so, I'd like to ask the city attorney to go ahead and read the quasi judicial proceeding instructions.

JULIE Florida courts have determined that there are certain types of matters, including item 22 on today's agenda, which are to be treated differently from other issues considered by the commission. Most decisions of the commission are legislative in nature, meaning that the commission is acting as a policymaking body. However, in quasi judicial matters, the commission is applying existing rules and policies to a particular factual situation and is therefore acting like a judge or jury in the courtroom. In such cases, courts have determined that due process and fundamental fairness require that more formal procedures be followed. Therefore, in quasi judicial matters, all witnesses are sworn in and subject to cross examination by the parties.

In addition, the decision of the commission must be supported by competent and substantial evidence presented at the hearing. However, in Hollywood, we have adopted a rule that allows for the waiver of quasi judicial judicial formalities. Waiver can only occur if agreed to by staff, the applicant, and any member of the public who is present. Therefore, at this time, I ask that the mayor inquire as to whether there is anyone who objects to waiving the quasi judicial formalities.

JOSHUA All right. Thank you so much, city attorney. Does either staff, the applicant, or any member of the audience object to proceeding informally?

JOSHUA The applicant requires it to be done quasi judicially to maintain the competent substantial evidence standard.

JOSHUA Okay.

So we have an objection from the applicant. So we will proceed more formally. So let's go ahead. City clerk, please stand up, wave to everybody. If you're here to speak on item 22 regarding residential building for 16th Avenue, please stand up.

The clerk will give you a sticker, you'll be sworn in as a witness. Yeah, that's why I wanted to go first. Even if you think you might speak or you're not sure, just go ahead and get sworn in. If you'd like to decline speaking later on, you'll have an opportunity to just wave on. I don't believe that council needs a sticker,

but If

you're gonna speak, you gotta have a speaker.

And if you do plan on speaking, Pat has the speaker cards. If you haven't filled one out, please do so.

Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, So help me, God.

Thank you all so much. This time, I'd like the commission to fulfill our duty, and that is to share any ex parte communications that we might have had on this item Please be seated. For today. I'll go ahead and begin. Yesterday, I had an in person meeting with the architect, Joe Kahler, legal counsel, Keith Polyakov, and the property owner, his name was Gil.

They came in and spoke to me about the project details. And after the planning and development board meeting, I had a discussion with the architect as well, and I believe Mr. Polyakov as well by phone about this item later on when he was retained. And then, of course, city staff, some brief discussion with, I believe it was Andrea Winget, to talk about the Planning and Development Board and how this came to be with us having to call it up today. So let's go ahead. I'll go down the line for ex parte communication sharing. Let's go with Commissioner Schuham.

Thank you, mayor. I, too, had a virtual meeting yesterday I think it was yesterday with the applicant's attorney, architect, and owner. I have talked with staff about this. I have also talked with Broward County staff about this. And after the PND board meeting, but prior to the appeal, I spoke with several neighbors about the property.

Thank you. Let's go ahead with Commissioner Hernandez. Thank you, mayor. I had discussion with staff. I've had discussion with the architect and the attorney for the project. I was at the subsequent board meeting of the PND board. I have received quite a bit of emails. I believe that was about it for me.

Yeah, just a good note on that. Emails for all of us are in the public record. Let's go ahead to Commissioner Gruber.

Yep. So I also met with the applicant architect and counsel this week, spoken to staff about this. And counsel for the applicant had reached out to me after the PND to discuss.

All right. Let's go to Vice Mayor Colari.

The same.

Let's go to Commissioner Biederman. The same. And Commissioner Quintana.

And myself, all the same parties.

Okay. You know what, Mayor? Forgive me. By chance, I bumped into school board member Maura Bowman last night, we had a little discussion about it.

All right. City attorney, that's sufficient?

Yes, that is sufficient.

Thank you. All right. So let's go ahead. Since we're proceeding quasi judicially, there'll be a little more formality with the order of things and specific time limits and time opportunities, and also an opportunity for counsel to cross examine any witness if they wish. So this will start with a staff presentation, which is limited but does not need to take thirty minutes, followed by a five minute cross examination opportunity by the applicant.

And the commission will have an opportunity to ask questions along the way. Following the staff, we'll hear from the appellant and then we'll go ahead to public speakers and then final round of five minute comments. So our staff presentation, please.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. My name is Alicia Lewis. I'm with the law firm of Nason Yeager. And I am honored to serve as staff attorney. Before Andrea gives her presentation, I wanted to qualify her first as an expert witness and then enter some items into the record. So please state your name for the record.

Andrea Windjett, Director of Development Services.

And Andrea, how long have you been in that position?

I have been at the city for almost twenty four years. And I have been a director for probably the last three to four years.

Last question, I promise. And do you hold any specific degrees or special?

I have a two year degree in environmental science, a bachelor's degree in planning, and a master's in management. And prior to working at the city, I worked for a private consulting firm.

And I would like to enter into the record the agenda and the backup materials that have been included already and are available to the public.

And in addition to the backup materials that were available online, Mayor, you mentioned there was additional backup material that was left on the dais as well. That will also be entered into the record. That information on the dais includes the city's 2005 adopted ordinance for the Regional Activity Center, where the area was expanded. And page four of 84 identifies the subject property in the backup on Exhibit A in that ordinance. There is also the county's ordinance for the land use plan amendment relative to the RAC that is being added into the backup ordinance February and February at the county with their subsequent maps attached.

And in addition to that, there is a twenty sixteen-twenty two city ordinance where the city rezoned the subject property before you today from a residential zoning to a Federal Highway 1 zoning designation. And in addition to that is also the traffic study.

Thank you. Please go ahead with staff presentation.

Excuse me, mayor. That will be staff exhibit A or exhibit one, I'm sorry.

Great.

Thank you so much, mayor. As you mentioned, we're here today to talk about the property at 2101 Through 2111 North 16th Avenue. This property is here before you. It's not very common for the commission to see these types of requests. But there was a commission, what we call a commissioner request for review, where I believe four commissioners had expressed some concerns with the action of the Planning and Development Board regarding this property.

The Planning and Development Board is the city's local planning agency. And they have the authority to approve and deny projects relative to site plan and design. And if the commission has concerns with their actions, the commission is able to call it for review, which the commission exercised that option. Thus, we are here today. This project was presented to the Planning and Development Board in February, where there was a tie vote and no action had taken place, which is the reason why the commission called this for review.

At that time, the applicant chose to include a variance request on their application for a corner cord variance, a corner cord dedication at the time. The applicant has revised the plans to do a partial easement and a partial dedication, which has eliminated the need for the variance. As such, the project before you today is a development by Wright project, which satisfies all of the subsequent criteria. And I will walk you through that now. The property is located just East of Federal Highway on the northern end of our jurisdictional boundaries.

You could see here today the property is a residential structure and surrounded by different residential structures, as well as South Broward High School. The property has a land use of regional activity center. And it is zoned Federal Highway Low Medium Intensity Multifamily District, also known as FH1. The property is about 0.18 of an acre, or 20,000 square feet. Before we dive a little bit more into the specific request, some of the information that was entered into the record before you are some actions that the city previously took place.

The previous land use for this property pre-two thousand and five was low medium residential, six to 10 units per acre. The city then expanded the regional activity from our original downtown core to generally I-ninety 5, Pembroke Road, and touching Sheridan Street, which was inclusive of this property as identified in the exhibit on the dais. The city had to do a land use map amendment as well as a text amendment, and so did Broward County. The city was the applicant of the map amendment and made the application to the county. The county's map is a general pictorial graphic of the represented area of the city's request.

The city's request clearly included this property as identified in the backup. And planning council would agree with that as well. The city furthermore recertified its map at the time. And the text and the county accepted the city's maps that were recertified as part of that. So this property is within the Regional Activity Center.

Several years later in 2016, a rezoning took place. And this property was rezoned from RS5 to the zoning that it has today, Federal FH1, Federal Highway. And if we move along to the next slide, the site plan that's before you today, the property is considered double fronted. The front setbacks are 20 feet. The side setback is 10.

The rear is 20. The height is 45 feet. There are some slight encroachments on the height, which are permissible under the zoning and land development regulations for the parapet and other elements. There are 22 units with a mix of one and two bedrooms. They are required 34 parking spaces. Actually, let me make sure I clarify that because they are

required They 30

have four additional spaces. And some of those spaces are tandem, which is also permissible under the zoning code. And those will be specifically applied to the two bedroom units. Here are some general design renderings of the property. And here is a better one where you can see the fenestration, the ornamentation, and the angle of the property from the corner.

As identified in your backup, this project is consistent with the applicable design criteria with architectural design compatibility, scale, massing, and landscape, in addition to the site plan standards for open space, circulation and parking, safe and efficient access, community services and utilities, building and other structures, and other requirements. It's also important to note that this project based on the size of this project, a traffic study is not traditionally required with this. However, recognizing that it was proximate to the school, the city did request a traffic study, which showed that the traffic is de minimis and no further improvements were necessary for that. And that is also left on the dais as well. In addition to that, as with all new construction, all new construction is required to maintain their own drainage on their property.

Within this area, the city, through its storm water master plan, has identified that there are some flooding concerns within the general community in this area. And as such, that plan identifies five years or so out from now that there will be improvements to that community. Some of those improvements may include a storm water pump station and drainage wells, as well as some piping along 24 inches piping along Liberty Street. This project is, as I mentioned, is required to retain its own drainage. However, as part of that, the city has requested that they do some off-site improvements in this area to help alleviate some of the flooding that is taking place within the public rights of way.

And so the applicant will be required to do some improvements along 16th And Sheridan, which will help alleviate some of the flooding within that intersection. And it's also important to note that some of the drainage in this area also stems from the overuse of the swales and the compaction in that area. So that tends to lead to some of the localized flooding that is taking place within the community. And with that, as I mentioned, the project is consistent with the design and site plan criteria. And as a belt and suspenders, to remind the applicant they do have to comply with public art, there is a condition relative to that. And as such, staff recommends approval.

Thank you, Andrea. Does that conclude staff direct presentation?

Counsel? That concludes staff's presentation.

All right. There's an opportunity for a five minute cross examination by the applicant's counsel if he would like to cross examine any witnesses of the

JEFFREY Thank you, Mayor. Keith Poliakoff here on behalf of the applicant. For Ms. Wenjig, we absolutely certify that she's an expert witness. No issues with that. Just have one question. Did you ever speak to anyone in Broward County about this issue, about the RAC, or anyone at the Broward County Planning Council?

Yes.

Who did you speak to, and what did you discuss?

I spoke to the executive director, Barbara Blake Boy, regarding the alleged discrepancy that has been raised regarding Broward County's map not showing this area within the Regional Activity Center.

And what did she tell you?

She told me that the map is a general depiction of the area intended to be included and that the city's ordinance, which includes the individual parcels and the legal description, is what we had put forth and what prevails and that the city therefore recertified their maps. And so this property is therefore part of the Regional Activity Center. And no further action would be needed by the city.

Thank you. No further questions.

All right. Thank you. City Commission has an opportunity to ask any questions of staff at this point. Are anyone any folks who chimed in? Vice Mayor Caleri, anything to staff? All right, me activate your mic. Go ahead.

Just curiosity of a couple of things that you had mentioned. One, so I'm glad to hear if this is moving forward as far as addressing drainage, which always is a huge concern, not only for myself, but I think as the commission and the city in general. But you said May about a pump station, a lift station, and such. That word is broadly used. And so I just would like some clarification on that. There may be a pump station. There may be. What is it based on?

It's based on what identifies in the storm water master plan. And I could have the city's technical expert give you additional information if you're concerned about if it's a May or it will be done in five more years.

Yes, that's what I'd like.

So I'll consult with our city attorney as to whether or not we can, right now, call someone who hasn't been presented as a witness right now. Just if you can direct us for later questions, or is this permissible now, counsel?

If this person was listed previously as a possible witness, then they would be included as part of staff's presentation. And at this point, they could be crossed during staff's presentation. I do believe that she is going to be qualified as an expert first.

Mr. Poliakoff.

JOSHUA Yeah, we fully MACHT: agree with staff's expertise. There's no reason to waste time.

JOSHUA Great.

Thank you. JOSHUA All All right, Alicia. Welcome back.

Hi. Good afternoon, mayors, vice mayors, commissioners. Your

name.

ALISIA VEDERA Feria with Public Utilities, Utilities Permit Review Manager and Floodplain Administrator. Yes, this is already identified in the stormwater master plan. So it's a matter of when funding becomes available, which should be in the next capital improvement program, next five years, could be five to ten. But yes, first there's a 24 inches along Liberty. Then there's drainage wells at the end of Liberty and also a pump station. So that's supposed to cover the entire basin for the whole Westlake area that leads the water over into that area to alleviate everything between 16th and 14th.

So is it considered, just out of curiosity, is it considered one of our hot spots that we noted? If it is And the reason why I say it is the may kind of like, it may get done, it may not. And I would like to put on the record that it should be a priority if it's definitely one of the hotspots. Second, that it is a school zoned area. And so there's a priority getting our children to and from school. So I think that, however, this is just my opinion. But since we're talking about it and it's been brought up and there is concern, I think that that should be one of the priorities addressing, especially if it's considered a hotspot in a flooding area. And with all of the other implementation that goes with it, with schools and driving to

and

from kids, I think that should be that. So thank you for clarification. I don't know if I need support for that. And then the second thing is, I guess Andrea can answer this for me. You mentioned about overuse of swales. Has code or anyone implemented or have we thought of doing a capital improvement as far as the swale restoration program going in that area since we've noticed that it's become a problem?

Not that I'm aware of. It's been identified in the city storm water master plan as one of the reasons why there is some additional flooding in the area. So it's intended to be addressed as part of that.

Okay. So I'm just going to make a couple of statements and then leave it up to everyone else. We tear up a road. And we've talked about this several times. We tear up a road. We disrupt the neighborhood with construction. And then after we do such, then we come back a year later and we change it up and do things. I think that this is a prime opportunity for us, whatever the result is today, to really look at where we're at and what needs to be addressed. So that the disruption, if there is any, based on the decision the commission makes today, that we address all the issues at one time. So the disruption is minimal as much as possible instead of going in.

Whether that's working with the developer and the city staff together as a team, however it goes. But I think that that to me is a priority because we don't want to have the construction going on if it gets approved today. And then a year later go and tear up the streets. And then a year later go, I think we can coordinate and work together. And that would be my request as we move forward. But I'm here to listen to everyone else's questions and comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Hernandez, with any questions to staff?

Thank you, Mayor. I do. Andrea, if I may. The zoning that we have, if I wrote it down correctly, FH1 is the current zoning?

And that

was done in 2016?

Correct.

And that allows up to 45 feet high?

Yes.

Is there any higher density or higher limits in that area?

As you move, I believe there is, as you I was going to say further west fronting Federal Highway. It generally steps up probably to about 14 KAUFFMAN: stories. But I could get you the exact answer if

No. I just wanted to know that could actually go higher getting closer As to

you move towards Federal Highway.

Federal Highway. And then have another question and maybe answer why we haven't a lot of resistance or a lot of people. Is this the first project of four story in the neighborhood that it's been allowed since 2016?

That's correct.

To the best of my knowledge.

Okay, no. I've driven through the area pretty much. I don't see any other, but I do see that the zoning allows it. So that might be one of the reasons why this is happening, that everybody's concerned about the area. But this was done back in 2016.

Yes. The regional activity center, it's intended to be identified as a growth area of the city. And so we're starting to see it now build out with that future vision that we started in 'twenty five when we expanded, rezoned in 2016. And now we're starting to see it further start to expand to the north and south areas.

Thank you. And even though I agree with what the Vice Mayor Clari have said regarding prioritizing areas so that we don't disturb it again, in this case, it's a private development that is taking place. And I'm not sure that the private development should prioritize what our goals are for the storm water department that has already been identified. But I agree with her that we should pay attention to what development is taking place in order to alleviate the residents in that area. Because this being the first project that comes up of this magnitude in that area, that's something that the residents need to be aware of that we're going to address the flooding problems as well.

Thank you. Noted. I think Vice Mayor Cleary wants to

Just for clarification purposes, I specifically asked if it's one of the noted hotspots that we all have that is a problem throughout the city. And we all have this is not in my district, may be in yours.

It's not in mine either.

So that just shows that we're aware of all the hotspots in the area. And so if that is a hotspot, instead of disruptiveness from a personal construction site, let's get it all done at one time if possible.

That's all

my request was.

I know, and I agree with you. I just don't know what the department, the utility department has on their books as to where they're going to start and what they have planned. So I don't want to disrupt that plan. I just want them to realize that this is one of our target area and there's construction going on. If they can prioritize it, please do so, whether it is the swell or whether it is the pump station that's coming through.

Yep. Andrea, just a quick question for me and then we've got two others. You mentioned that this item here, this application is made as a matter of rights. In other words, what you're saying is that the property owner has the rights in zoning and land use to construct what it is they're proposing.

Correct.

And there is no variance request by us. And so really, the commission does not have a choice but to approve this lawful application, correct?

Correct, based on the criteria that's before you today.

And then following the site plan approval and consideration would be design?

MARY Correct.

MARY

Okay. Let's go to Commissioner Quintana, then Shuham.

MARY Thank you, mayor. I wanted to just make sure I understood, because when I spoke with the attorney and the property owner I think you said, right? Just to make sure I understood that there is additional drainage that this project is going to adopt in its design in order to address some of the common area flooding

Correct.

Above and beyond what our city project is going to do?

Correct. As part of the permitting process, the applicant will be requested to provide additional drainage along North 16th Avenue and Shenandoah to alleviate some of the flooding at the intersection.

Okay. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure I understood that and that everybody else got a chance to in case they missed it. And then is this intended to be rentals or condominiums?

The applicant can address that as part of their presentation.

Okay. All right. Then my other question is probably going to be answered that way, too. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

CHRISTINE Commissioner Schuham.

I don't know if this is for counsel, but when will the public have the opportunity to make their comments today?

MARY H. Following the staff presentation and the applicant presentation, then all others MACHT: for public comment may speak.

And that is typically three minutes unless decided as otherwise by the

Okay. Then I'll hold my questions till then. Thank you.

JOSHUA All right. Thank you so much. Andrea, let's go ahead now. There's a thirty minute opportunity for the applicant to present.

JOSEPH Mayor, if you just give me a minute while they pull up our presentation. And we have hard copies for commission as well as staff. And yes, Commissioner Hernandez, they are page numbers on them. Mayor, just for housekeeping purposes, our PowerPoint presentation is part of the applicant's record. Along with that is their formal submission to both the commission, the Planning and Development Board as well.

And with us are our experts who we have previously noted and provided you with their resumes, including Joseph Kahler, the architect. We have Carl Peterson from TrafTech. We also have our civil engineer who's available by phone. And I think he's online right now.

Are you entering any of these items separate from what Andrea has already submitted into evidence?

S. Application package, which is part of your backup, is what we're referring to now as part of the evidence submitted.

Has that already been admitted, Pat, and labeled?

What about the pelvic floor?

Yes. I just mentioned that as well.

You want that?

So would that be exhibit B?

That's correct.

Composite exhibit B.

JAMES I believe exhibit two. Exhibit two.

JAMES DAY: Thank you, mayor. I'll begin, but I'm going to be I'm definitely not taking thirty minutes for this one. Florida courts have made it clear that once staff says that it should be approved and you've recognized your staff as an expert, that the burden of shift under competent substantial evidence switches then for the commission or public to be able to prove by competent, substantial evidence that staff is wrong. Due to the fact that there are no other expert witnesses testifying, it would be impossible for anyone to do so for an Azerbai project, which is why I'm going to make this presentation a little bit shorter than normal. First and foremost, I was not involved with this development at the early stages when it went to Planning and Development Board.

But I do know that several commissioners were at board meetings when this was discussed. And it did fail to get approved or denied by a three-three tie. In Florida courts, when something isn't approved, it's considered to be denied, which is why it gave the opportunity to be ripe for commission call up. The issue at the Planning and Development Board got stuck on the variance. And I'm going to just jump right there that everyone understands what occurred.

Originally, staff was seeking a 20 foot corner court at this intersection. But if you can read the letter that was provided to us from staff right after the planning and development board hearing, it says, please note that the corner of Shenandoah in the alley only requires a six foot dedication triangle. And therefore, the 10 foot setback is not implicated, which means, whoops, there's no need for a variance. We only needed that top corner cord. We didn't need that entire amount based upon our right of ways map.

And therefore, this didn't require a variance. Because it didn't require a variance, staff then went back before the Planning and Development Board and said, hey, would you guys reconsider this now that the variance isn't an issue? And Planning and Development Board declined to do so. And based on the call up, that's why it's here today. Everyone here knows where this property is.

I actually had the opportunity to take all the comment cards from Planning and Development Board and public outreach meetings and the like. And for those comment cards that I could read, I actually emailed every owner who came to those meetings to discuss this item. And I do want to thank several of them who actually contacted me in response to ask me direct questions about the project rather than just listening to other residents on information that really was not correct that I was able to clarify for them. So I thank those of you who called me for taking the time to do so and understanding these issues further. This is the property at issue.

It's important for everyone to understand where the FH1 line is, that the city rezoned all these properties. All of the properties directly on Shenandoah, right across from the school is FH1. Why is that a reason? I speak about this later in the presentation that some people brought up school issues. Oh, it's so close to the school.

Are you worried about a four foot building, four story building near the school? Well, property directly across from the school is the same FH1 entitled as of right to go to the same 40 feet. We're actually over 100 yards away from the corner of the swimming pool, blocked by trees, a gate, everything else that's out there for any of you who've been to South Broward. So we're probably one of the furthest properties away from the school. Everything else is directly abutting the school that shares the same zoning category.

So I just wanted to make that clear. If you look at the line that goes north south, which is the FH1 line, there's a reason why staff did that. And that's because everything to the left of the line is a mixture of multifamily and single family. And then as you go closer to Federal Highway, which is a 14 story height limit, that's everything even greater in density and mass as you approach federal. And then everything to the right or to the east is single family protecting the community with a step down zoning, which goes from fourteen-four and then to their 30 feet.

One thing to note and I show it later on the presentation, but it's important to understand while we're 40 feet, this is all in the AE flood zone level, which means that the RS single family homes next to us, which is 30 feet, have to build a new house there at six feet over floodplain plus one. So they're 37 feet. So I don't want anyone to get confused by that. Because of the new FEMA regulations, they're at 37 feet. And it's important for them to know that when understanding the project.

I know staff showed a good photo of the property. This is the property. It's been utilized for several things over the years before the owner who's present bought it, including Joe Kahler did the approved design for an ALF here, which was a 20 bed ALF that was not there when Gil purchased it, but was at some point approved by Joe Kahler on this site. Our site plan is a very clean site plan. A resident asked me about parking. We're over parked. And I want to just make sure that everyone understands how that works. It's a mixture of one and two bedroom apartments. There are thirteen one bedrooms. That's 13 parking spots.

You need one space per every one bedroom under the city code. Then there are nine two bedroom apartments. And when you add that together, that's an additional 14 spots because those have 1.5 per every two bedroom apartment is the parking for a two bedroom. And then they are required to have three guest spaces, which are 30 spaces. But when you add in an additional four, which is not required by COBE, but they put in four extra spots for a small development, they ended up with 34 parking spots, which is over the requirement, all parked underneath the building.

All loading is under the building. Everything takes place under the building. There's nothing on the street. Everything is under this building. A resident asked me a question as well about the trash. The trash is on the alley, just like every resident there who has their trash cans on the alley. But ours is in an enclosed portion of the building. Trash is dumped through the trash chute. It lands into a dumpster, which is an enclosed part of the building. On trash day, you roll up the gates to that enclosed structure. You roll out the trash. It gets picked up. You roll it back in, and you close it again. Trash is not set out. There's no place for residents to throw out trash except for directly within the dumpster inside their building.

Here are some of the elevations that are not three d renderings, but elevations just so that everyone can see. This is the northern view elevation. This is the southern view elevation. And then we have the eastern elevation and the western elevation, which I'll speak about more in a minute. This is called isometric views, which is the top down view so that everyone can see how the buildings are oriented as it relates to them.

Most importantly to me is actually that view looking northeast, the top one. And it's because you can really see their amenity deck, which is on the 2nd Floor of the building. When Joe Kahler designed that amenity deck, he purposely put it where he did to avoid any impact to the single family homes. The pool and an amenity deck is facing to the west. It's on the Northwest side of the building.

The building is blocking the entire amenity deck to ensure that no one would be looking at anyone's yards from the pool deck, any of those issues. Everything is looking directly towards that area. And Joe can testify in a minute that that was all done on purpose. Looking at the proposed plan again, we went through that, the initial 1st Floor. This is the 2nd Floor that I mentioned before, where you have the pool, the summer kitchen, the fitness center.

All corridors are essentially the same in the building. But after Floor 2, they all look down in that smaller corridor down to the pool. And that's 3rd and Floor or 4, and they all match. A resident called and asked me about traffic. And I know that normally a 22 unit development doesn't propose much traffic. It's a very small makeup. But because residents were concerned, we ordered a traffic study that was done. And we did traffic analysis. Based on the traffic analysis on a use that was approved there in the past, in the morning, it's looking at four additional AM trips. In the afternoon, it's three less trips.

And in the evening, it's six more trips. And that is the traffic that this site has as a result of the traffic study. For the first time in Hollywood that I've ever done a project, we looked at the level of service. And it's all A. Every road here is an A rated road and maintains its A standard, even with the six additional evening trips. And that's important to understand. I mentioned this before, and the commission jumped on it immediately, that the drainage here is a problem. And we're improving it a lot. And I'll explain that in a second. But this whole area of that dark blue is AE.

There's only one flood zone worse than So this is like the second worst flood zone according to FEMA in the area. And that's why anyone who rebuilds their home there can actually end up building to a little bit more than 37 feet because it's based on the crown of the road, etcetera. But that's why. It's because they're all in the AE flood zone. When our engineer, who used to work for the city actually, designed the storm water management for the project, he did it all with underground tanks and an injection well that actually takes the storm water, goes into the aquifer to clean it.

And that's how it's done today. It's over capacity in size so that if flooding should occur, it will take some not a lot, but some of the additional storm water. In addition to that, the applicant has agreed and it was touched on by Andrea before that we have mammoth swales here. We have the swale on 16th. We have the swale on Shenandoah.

That they're agreeing, if Alicia says, let's do this in conjunction with our drainage project, to put in full exfiltration trenches there, to put in French drains to whatever standards the city is eventually going to want so that we can pre prepare for the eventual storm water connection. There's also actually two storm grates right outside of our project on two of the streets. And if those need improvements while we're doing it, the owners said, just let us know. We're happy to do it. Our engineers said, without the city doing the main infrastructure, it's not going to do much.

But it will help. And so if Alicia wants us to do it now, we've previously committed. Andrea said we committed to do it. And we would like to do that as part of the project as a community benefit for the project. And again, for anyone wanting to see these swales on Shenandoah And 16th, and you even have a little one on the alley, this is what they look like.

And that's where we are happy to provide additional drainage to the project. I mentioned this before, but it was interesting that someone said, oh, people are going to be looking at the swimming pool in South Broward. South Broward is really far away from the first balcony unit of this project. It's really far away. I did it from the property line to the corner of the pool.

And it's over a football field, the way that you have to look through all those trees and the fence and everything else to even be there. And it's important to note that every single property across from the school, including the one directly to our south, are FH1. So that issue is a non issue that was considered by the commission when it approved the FH1 in the area. A resident at Planning and Development Board mentioned that she had solar panels. And we certainly didn't want to impact those solar panels.

In fact, that was one of the first things I said when I joined them is I said, Joe, you have to commission a shadow study. Because if we are impacting her solar panels, we need to figure out what we can do. Because although there's no right to solar panels, there's no right to the sun, everyone knows that, she spent money on it. And it's not for us to want to impact her. So a couple of days ago and it took a while because Joe had to commission the study.

They came back with the shadow study. And with that shadow study, you can see that the solar panels are almost never in the shade except for one panel on December 21 at exactly 4PM is slightly touching one of the panels. But at all other times and quite frankly, it's luck that the sun is coming from the opposite direction based upon how the building's oriented. But there's no shade on the single family neighborhood at all. It is all actually going to the West based upon the orientation of the project.

I think the residents here, Joe pointed her out earlier, I did send her the study directly based upon the only email that I could find on the comment cards. I apologize if you didn't get it. But I'm happy to give it to you at any point if you didn't receive my email. I think Commissioner Biederman mentioned early on that he bumped into a school board member yesterday. And school board members are being called saying, hey, this project's close to the school. What are you doing about it? And at the request of Commissioner Schuham, I actually reached out directly to the school. And I had a conversation with the principal. And here are some of my emails back and forth, which you can't read, where he asked me to send him the plan, etcetera. The plans were all sent to the principal.

And he has those. And we told him, if we can be of service, just let me know. But I have reached out. And I've given him everything that he asked for. Land use was brought up. So I'm going go through it really quickly. Because some of the residents were saying, oh, the land use at the county is wrong. The reason why I have a little bit of an issue with the continue emails that I got through public records requests saying that is the individual who called Barbara Blake was told by Barbara Blake that this is not an issue. They were specifically told, yes, the Iraq on the county map is not accurate. But we had to pick a map of 15,000, I think she said, 15,000 acres.

And it's where they drew the line. And if they made a mistake, we'll fix it. The rack is based upon what the city requested to us. And quite frankly, for anyone who knows the other argument, she said this isn't a thirteen oh one situation for them because in this case, the city actively requested the RAC to be created. And they didn't change the boundaries created by the city.

They just approved it. And if you look at the legal description that was submitted by the city, it specifically has in these properties in both its application of the county and the legal description itself. It specifically recognizes part, which is why Barbara Blake told Andrea, this is a non issue. You guys totally belted and suspended this by not only providing us the maps, but providing us the legal description. And it's an issue we'll fix on our end.

Joe did a couple of new views for everyone to be able to see if they haven't. This is the view from the corner of North 16th Avenue and Shenandoah Street. It's the Northeast view of the building. And then the next one he did is the view from Shenandoah Street, a direct head on looking north view of the building. Commissioner Quintana asked, yes, at this time, it is proposed to be rentals.

If the market changes and interest rates change and it can become sellable, the owner will tell you he'd be very interested in doing so. But right now, the financing mechanism is not for sale for multiple reasons in being able to get construction financing now to actually build the development. But it's something that he's always looking at and everyone knows that homeownership's important. But at the same time, rents, especially at market here, is actually 120 AMI. There's a need for that as well.

And he did smaller units on purpose to enable the rents to be more competitive for people who are looking for a brand new product. At this time, I'm going to ask Joe if he wants to add you want to come up and add anything about his design. And then we'll conclude our presentation to be asked any questions.

Afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. Again, my name is Joseph Kahler, Kahler Architecture, 20 Fourseventeen Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Florida. Yeah, we're really very happy with this project, how it kind of developed. It was totally a bit different in the earlier stages. We opted for glass railings, where before it had concrete block.

It was more brutalistic. So we actually wanted to make the building really much, much nicer. And through the year and a half to close to two years, where we got to this point today, there was always improvement and improvement on all the finishes so that the building would look great. And again, as of right, this building has totally been designed as of right. There's no variances, no special exceptions, nothing, everything. The heights are proper. The setbacks are proper. The count of parking spaces are proper and according to code. Thank you.

JOSHUA Thank you, Joe. And the one thing I just want to add is when we met with commissioners on this, we actually had prior renderings that didn't show all the actual improvements that he made. So up there is the full redesign that changed all of the concrete to glass. So that's why it looks different. He actually made all those improvements to this building. With that mayor noting that the commission doesn't really have much say on an as of right project, we rest our presentation with the ability to close and ask questions of any of the individuals who may wish to speak. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. That concludes the applicant's presentation. There is an opportunity for staff to cross examine any of the applicant's witnesses. Is that something you'd like to do or not necessary? Thank you. Commissioners, you have an opportunity to ask questions of the applicant. Commissioner Hernandez?

Thank you, mayor. I'd like to ask the applicant a question, whether it's him or his architect. The landscaping that you provided has beautiful tall trees. I want to make sure that the landscaping that it gets installed reflects what the rendering does. And I don't know if staff has the prerequisite for when it comes to the landscaping, or if we're just asking what the minimum landscaping is. Maybe you can answer that.

JOSHUA Usually, when we go through the whole site plan approval process, commissioner, we are forced to put the exact plant material on the rendering. In other words, you can't just make it pretty without really backing it up, saying that's not the tree that you're putting in. So everything that's shown there is what was proposed to be installed.

The reason that I ask is because what we were giving doesn't have a list of landscaping materials. I don't know what is there. So if that's a four story building, one, two, three, four, that means that those canary palms are going to be around 30 feet

or so?

No. Well, it would be the canaries and any palm tree is based on the trunk height. That's how you call the height, not the fronds. So basically, it's close to two and onetwo stories, I think, of that building.

25, 30 feet? I'm just asking because the residents here deserve to know that the same picture that we're looking at is what the end product is going to look like. I just want to make sure the staff takes a note of that when it comes to the landscaping material that's going to go on the site. Because it looks beautiful. I just want to make sure that it's reflective of what's going to be there. That's all.

Was the

only question. Joe, so there was just a follow-up on Commissioner Hernandez's point the landscape schedule and the plans have been submitted to the city?

JOSEPH Yes, they have. And they've been approved. And that's allowed us to go to PND.

JOSEPH Okay. Let's go to Commissioner Schuhnham for questions to the applicant.

I have a question for counsel for the applicant. On your page six

Yes.

Where you are talking about we see that in this FH1, the applicant's property is as far to the east as it could be. And so the first neighbor east of that, you're saying, in that residential zoning, as I understand what you're saying, is depending on I'm not sure what a single family home could be built today to 37 feet.

That's correct.

Can you walk us through that again?

JAMES Sure. It's a 30 foot zoning code height. But that limitation is over the FEMA base flood elevation. Your planning staff would be able to address this a little more. But because the AE category is six feet, the way that I've been told and Andrea, please correct me if I'm wrong it's six plus one, which gives them the 37 feet total. But then Joe told me last night that you could actually get more height there because it's based on an average height based on cables of the roof and some other factors. But I only did the base minimum, which is the floodplain plus the 30 feet on the code, which is where they

And the highest elevation of this project?

With flood is 45. 45.

Okay. So the highest elevation here is 45.

Built up from, you know, not yes. Yes.

JULIET Yes. And the neighbor immediately to the east, if they chose, could build a house at 37?

JULIET At least. It may actually be higher because that 37 is an average of the height is an average of

So a portion of

the house was 30, sorry, and another portion was 45. But yes, it's an average.

Can I have Andrea confirm that at this point?

This is questions to the applicant. Why don't we

Okay. But definitely please with your staff how they do that measurement. But Joe can add more, because he builds them all

the time. Yeah. Usually in

the flood zone, commissioner, normally they don't take it from grade, because then it would be unfair for someone in the flood zone to lose the allowable height that they give other people in the X zone, which is a non flood zone. So basically, start with what FEMA plus one is. That starts your height. Then you're allowed 30 feet. But 30 feet, if you have a gabled couch, it's between the mean roof, a peak between the peak and the eave. That's how they take the height. So it's even taller than that, ultimately. That's what I was trying to say.

Okay.

And thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much.

JULIE

And Mr. Policoff, please state again what you said about because Ms. Widget has been confirmed as an expert and opined that she believes the project to be appropriate, that the commission has no discretion. Is that your point?

I didn't say no discretion. You're still the commission. There's a long line of cases that make it clear that once the planning staff, as qualified expert, finds that it meets all applicable code requirements, that competent substantial evidence has been met. And therefore, in order to show that staff is wrong, because that's what you'd have to prove otherwise, you would have to have your own experts and otherwise show that staff was wrong to switch the burden of proof to deny an application. So the commission does always have the final say, but you would have to do so within the legal requirements to prove that your staff was incorrect in their findings.

Okay. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. That concludes questions to the applicant. Now is an opportunity for public speakers. Everybody's got an opportunity to speak for three minutes. And then we'll have an opportunity to ask you any questions if we'd like. So go ahead, Pat, if I can get the speaker cards, please. Alright. Let's go ahead with mister Robert O'Neill followed by Ellie Savate, Alex Alexieva, followed by When you come up, you'll proffer anything, and then counsel will tell me if it's Okay for you to provide any documents. And you'll hand it to the city clerk if that's the case.

Robert O'Neil is he here? All right. No, Robert O'Neil. Elisa Vet, Elisa Vet Alexieva. Did I close? All right. She'll tell me. Followed by George Bagrakos, then will be Raymond Leyali. If you can get yourselves lined up to be ready after Ms. Alexieva.

Can I get my mom?

Okay. All right.

Good afternoon. Elizabeth Alexieva, resident. I live right across from the proposed project. Before I begin my presentation, I urge you to think about one question, and it is, who do you work for? There are three serious issues that I have seen with this project, And each of one of those issues, taken independently, lead to the same conclusion.

You should not approve that project. But taken together, you have no way but to deny it. The first issue is the zoning. And I understand that you brought some information in, but that's not competent substantial evidence. What's competent substantial evidence is what I learned listening to you, mayor, on February 26.

What competent substantial evidence is the maps that are with the county, because county governs. If you go with the link and look at the maps, right now, what you will see is that this project is outside of the proposed development. Now, the second issue, if we get to it, is whether this project complies with Article six. Specifically, I did see that the person from the city looked at 6.23. It tells what the city commissioner shall look at in approving it.

None of the criteria is met. None of the criteria regarding density, regarding harmonious relation with the surrounding structures, none of it is met. And finally, I want to talk to you about trust and transparency. And believe me, I have very little hope that we will get the right result today. And the reason is that there has been a pattern of behavior from the city to the residents that makes me really, really upset and makes me lose trust.

So here's how this process lacks transparency so far. First, we never received any information about any rezoning in 2016. Second, I requested public records as to how it was mailed or published or whatever. No response whatsoever. No of our other public records requests were responded to either.

We were supposed to have a technical meeting. It didn't happen. We were supposed to have numerous officials look at it. It didn't happen. And finally, my request to intervene so I can present evidence was denied despite the Florida law. And I cite the date, the Naples, and St. Petersburg case. So that's how much we feel unheard. And I really hope that at the least you deny it you delay Thank

you.

Thank you, Ms. Luxieva. George guys, instead of clapping, what you do at these meetings is you do jazz hands. It's kind of a silent way to show support, but not delay or interrupt. Let's go to George. Welcome. Followed by Raymond Liala.

My name is George. I live at 1538 Shenandoah Street. I'm 100% disabled Vietnam War veteran. And I've lived in that house for forty two years. That neighborhood was not at all what it is about to become when I bought that house there.

We bought houses there to enjoy the peace, tranquility of that neighborhood. The RAC zoning, for all the debate and everything that we've had about it today, is flawed. Your own resolution in the packet of information that you sent out for this meeting, the verbiage in your own resolution says that buildings should be of compatible height next to one another. How do you put a 45 foot building next to a single family home literally 15 feet away from it? How do you do that?

Would any of you like to live in a house like that? That's what one of our residents, one of our neighbors is forced to look at. If you look at the packet that was just disseminated to you briefly before the meeting, If you go to page 22 or 23, you'll see photographs. I don't know what the attorney for the architect is talking about not being able to see anything at the school. But these photographs were taken at 45 feet with a drone at the edges of the proposed development.

And if you look at the pictures, you'll see they're quite revealing. Vice Mayor Kalari mentioned the safety of schoolchildren. Where is the safety of the schoolchildren when the 14 story building that went up at the corner of Shenandoah And Federal has a clear line of sight? Remember, I'm a military guy. I look at that and I see the sharpshooter's dream.

You can see right into the courtyard of South Broward High School. I remember when you guys put up parking signs right after nineeleven because you were afraid somebody was going to come in there and harm the kids. But now you routinely put up shooting vantage points in close proximity to public schools and intrusive into the neighborhood like you wouldn't believe. This particular one, this is on the north side of the proposed development. You could literally pick the nose hairs of a person in this swimming pool.

Look how close it is. Again, would you like this next to your swimming pool? No. In the forty one years I've been a member of the American Legion and being a war veteran, I've learned a lot about leadership. And leadership is not something that I take lightly. You all should exercise some leadership today and deny this project until these things are all clarified.

You Thank George. Your

Thank you, Raymond Lavalli, followed

by

Skanslav Kryav. Welcome, Mr. Lovalli.

You, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. My

name

is Raymond Lovalli, 1519 Liberty Street here in Hollywood. I've

been

on this Lee Street excuse me, Liberty Street since 1956. I'm still on that street. Mom and dad bought a house, three-two. I bought the house across the ways. Been there with my wife for fifty seven years.

And I'm sure that mom and dad, if they would have known that they were going to have a four story building in that area, they wouldn't have bought there. And also, George stole my speech. He told you everything. I'm 100% disabled, retired Air Force for over thirty two years. And what's going on today, I probably saw more in the war than what's going on today.

But please, cancel this building, this four story in our beautiful, quiet neighborhood. They mentioned the garbage. The garbage truck today has to go on 15th Street, 15th Avenue, and back the truck in to the alley because there's a dead end that's a little street there. And if he comes in from another direction, he can't make it in there. So that's going to be a serious problem.

They make it sound real good, but on the other hand, reality may not be there. So I hope that you reconsider and cancel this building, four story building. Thank you very

much. Thank you, Mr. Lovalli, and thank you for your service as well.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Oh, one more thing. Thank you for the barbecue every year that you treat us veterans. I really appreciate MACHT: that. Thank you very you're a good man. Thank

I'd rather do it. ROBERT SCHENGSLAV Kraev, followed by Jerry Kish, then Alex Mahan.

Hi. My name is Svetoslav Kraev. I'm a twelve years Hollywood resident. Raised my family there. And I've been super grateful to have the opportunity to live in such a beautiful neighborhood until now.

I wonder how many voting members have actually visited the site. We have heard about the many issues so far that the project is going to create, such as intrusion of privacy, exacerbation of flooding, and traffic. Another core issue is compatibility. How is a four story concrete block compatible with a neighborhood of a single story, single family houses? City planners, Delgado and Butler, voted sorry voted no to the motion due to compatibility and density issues in the last meeting.

They noted that this building pushes density to the absolute limit while sitting right at the zone border. In reality, the Broward zoning map suggests that it's even outside that zone. As a result, the motion was cancelled. This plan completely ignores the requirements for harmonious relationship with the surrounding area. I'm convinced that this development will have a long term damaging effect on our community. So before we vote, I urge you to come to the location and see for yourself. Thank you.

Thank you. Jerry Kish, followed by Alex Mahon, then Julie Terencechenki. Hello, Ms. Kish.

Hello. Jerry Kish, 1513 Shenandoah Street. I've been there for thirty five years. And have you thought about when you all campaign, we hear about our rights being protected, safeguarding our community and environment, and guarding against extreme agendas. And that's why we're here.

We received an email from you with the photos of the petition that our neighbors signed not wanting this project. And included there were photos of the flooding that affects our neighborhood. And that was just during regular rainstorms. It doesn't just go down Shenandoah, but the approximate 15,000 square foot lot that is being proposed to be used for this project, that's going to be gone. It's going to be filled with concrete.

And that's porous land that absorbs the water that comes down our alley, even with it being there. The backyards of the people on both Liberty and Shenandoah are flooded consistently. So it's low. And we can see that a project could be going after all the existing problems are fixed. And with the water plan that's going on and not being ready for five years, that's a problem.

The other aspect that I researched in reading your resolution was the section five point three point one point four A two and three, the harmonious relationship between existing architectural language and composition and the proposed construction. Well, I don't know what anybody is looking at. I know that there are no two story buildings on Shenandoah Street at all, let alone four. And same with Liberty between 14th Avenue and 16th Avenue. So how can it be harmonious?

The proposal just doesn't fit within the context of the proposed construction. And it's not consistent with the surrounding structures. The flooding is, well, a problem. We haven't been able to fix it yet, and it's not fixed now. The safety of the schoolchildren, of course, is questionable.

The traffic that exists now, the turning of the bus loop, and the proximity to this project is just way too questionable to be recognized as being safe. So please, do the right thing. We are the people that pay your salaries.

Thank you, Ms. Kish. Yes. Alex Mahon.

Oh.

Followed by Julie Terencechenkie. Then Johanna Carlton or Clayton. Hello, Mr. Mahan.

Good afternoon. My name's Alex Mahan. I live at 1537 Shenandoah Street. I'm directly next to this building. It's not true that that 45 foot tall building is going to cover my solar panels. It will. It's going to cover more than half. I don't know what he's talking about. But, you know, for one panel to be covered, one's too many. They're going to do more than half. The flooding. I've answered this question three times. I'm not going to answer it yet. The architect claims that they're going to drill tunnels and piping to ship all this fresh water out, rain water. Great.

What happens to her at King Tide? When that salt water comes up, fresh water, there's no place to go. King Tide is not just one day. It's two days before and two days after the peak. Utility trucks.

Utility trucks going down my back, back road, my utility road has hit my fence three times. Once I fixed it, twice WastePro fixed it. They can't make the turn. Excuse me. Because their fence on this property goes all the way to the utility. That truck cannot make the turn. Okay? They back up or they back out. Fine. They've got that solved. What happens if a fire truck tries to get down there? They can't make the turn. Maybe a ambulance could. I don't know. But it'd be tight.

And if they're in a rush to save somebody, it ain't gonna happen. I will have no privacy in my backyard. I have a pool, beautiful backyard. We've been there for, oh, twenty five, thirty years. I have a beautiful pool, beautiful backyard, and a beautiful sitting area. And I will have zero privacy back there. When they're talking about privacy to the school, he's saying the trees, there's a palm trees. They're this big. They're gonna block their ability to look into the high school pool or tennis courts? I don't think so.

Something's got to be done to protect those children at the high school and protect my backyard. It's only fair. And fix my solar panel problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Julie

Terencechenkie, followed by Johanna Clayton, then Debbie Hickson. Hello, Julie.

Hi.

Julie Tereshchenko, 2125 directly next to the property. First of all, I'll digress slightly. I truly appreciate you addressing the flooding and the potentially concurrent construction. I really appreciate you driving through the neighborhood. Thank you all so much. And I will say that I'm a proud member of this neighborhood because I think that what you're seeing from the people who are here is a tight knit community. And that is where we are. I bought this house because I have a quadriplegic epileptic child. She's no longer a child. She's now 20.

And the lady who owned the house before had a son who was severely disabled. And hence, the house ensured both privacy and compliance. I hope none of us are ever disabled, but all of us will be elderly. We will all face the same issues. While I appreciate the traffic study that suggests that introducing 34 parking spots will decrease traffic by a given number of cars. And I'm an applied mathematician. I find that hard to believe. I would like to say that we have flooding. And guess what? When that street floods, nobody can get out or in.

If my daughter has a seizure for more than three minutes and nobody can get to her, she's dead. Privacy. This is a picture of my property. And this is what you're looking into. Outside of that, I would like to say that while I agree with you, I believe in the American principle that people have the right to their own property. I have a right to my privacy. I have a right not to be flooded. And I have a right to a harmonious neighborhood. This building does not fit in. In fact, that was brought up at the planning commission meeting.

One of the reasons why it was not approved was the fact that it was not harmonious with this neighborhood. Should I construct a house next time? I will construct a tall one if I win the lottery. However, none of us have so far. And none of us are constructing a house just now.