Commission - Regular Meeting

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There we go. All right. Good evening everybody and welcome to the city of Boon Beach city commission meeting regarding our comprehensive plan uh workshop. Today is Monday, March 26 and the time is now 5:35. I will now turn to the city clerk for roll call. Mayor Shelton, Vice Mayor Turkin present.

Commissioner Kelly here. Commissioner Cruz present. Commissioner McCrae. Vice Mayor, you have a quorum. Thank you, Tammy. Our invocation tonight will be led by Reverend Emily Ash, followed by the pledge of allegiance by Commissioner Amy Kelly. Let's all stand for the invocation.

Let's take a moment and quiet our hearts and listen for a minute to a greater spirit. Wonderful God, infuse us tonight with vision, creativity, and wisdom as we gather here to hear the various voices of many who have come to talk about the benefits and beauty and safety for a new way to see our city. We ask that you bring us wisdom and kindness and compassion as we seek to do good, as we seek to bring safety, as we seek to bring a new and better city. We ask all this in hope in this holy time in you, Lord. And all who could said, "Amen." Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Right. Thank you both very much. We're now moving on to agenda approval, additions, deletions, and corrections. We will begin on my left with Commissioner Kelly. Do you have anything? No. Thank you. Commissioner Cruz. Oh, no. I'm good. Thanks. All right. Perfect. I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Second. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Kelly. Motion second by Commissioner Cruz. Um, all those in favor of approving the uh agenda as is, say, I. I.

I. Perfect. Motion passes unanimously. Okay. We're now moving on to the presentation section. Um, I'll ask staff to come up. Say again. city manager, if we could have someone from upstairs maybe uh print out the agenda. We are going to allow some public comment tonight and so we're going to go through the presentation and then we will allow for public audience.

Good evening. Amanda Ratigan, development director for the city. Thank you all for being here today. This is uh quite a milestone in this process. Like you know, the overhaul of our uh comprehensive plan started last year. Um we did um we have a consultant on board Chen Moore and Associates that has been working towards this project for about the past eight months and they're going to present today um some of the current community needs, their findings and we're going to be asking for some policy directions um and anything else that you guys want to add at this point in the process before a final draft draft will be presented to the commission. Um I'd like to call up Nielsa today. um she'll be doing the presentation of the comprehensive plan update and I will always be available if there are any questions. It is quite a lot of material so I think we are going to go through a couple of elements at a time and then we can stop to take questions on those two elements and then proceed like that for the evening. Thank you.

Thank you Amanda.

Good good afternoon. I am Neil Zakaras Mr. Vice Mayor Commissioners we are excited to be here conducting this workshop and with me this uh team Mr. Osnia Leon principal planner Mr. Matt Veneziano associate planner and uh Susan doki principal engineer and vice president. So uh for some reason the main goal of this workshop is to listen to each of you to receive your feedback. As you see we have a notepad there where we are going to take notes of your questions. This is a part of this process of updating the comprehensive plan. This is the uh workshop agenda. Like I said, the first point is a what is a comprehensive plan. So we'll go through the Florida statues. Why are we doing this basically then the goals and then we'll go element by element or chapters and that's when we are going to take notes and listen your feedback. Also um we would like to confirm with each of you the planning priorities, feedbacks and directions that we will receive from each of you. As I mentioned before, many many times we receive this question. Why are we doing this? Why do we need this comprehensive plan? Isn't it the zoning code enough? And this is the answer. This comprehensive plan is required by Florida statutes. Every local government and counties and municipalities, they

have to have a comprehensive plan. It's a mandate. Then includes a number of chapters or elements and it provides a long range blueprint for the city. Then this graphic shows that all these comprehensive plan needs to capture what is the values of the city and uh being in compliance with Florida statutes and based on this is the strategic plan and obviously the operating budget. Once we have the comprehensive plan, the land development regulations or zoning code are based on this comprehensive plan. So, uh the LDRs provide a specific rules and standards. Most uh municipalities, commissioners and city staff are very familiar with LDRs. However, the comprehensive plan is your guiding document. It's your vision for the next uh 10, 20, 30 years. Always the comprehensive plan looks the the big picture, your land use, your transportation, conservation. As we go through the chapters, we have a specific uh questions that uh uh we will receive your feedback. Part of this process uh is very important to listen to the community and we have done a number of um initiatives to reach out the community. For example, we uh put together this flyer this uh that we distributed to mo many of the businesses and then also one second. So we also did a a survey. That survey was

uh was distributed and then we get some uh some uh feedback also. We attended a number of we attended a number of events. Excuse me ma'am one moment. It I'm I'm hearing a little recall or maybe there's is your phone near the microphone? I don't hear it now. vibrating. All right, I'll just start talking again if we hear it. It's okay. Thank you. Continue.

Yes. Um, part of this community outreach, we attended a number of community events. As a team, we believe that we need to go and meet the people where they are. For example, we attended uh September 5th the uh here on the plaza. It was a great event. A lot of attendees. uh it was the disco at the plaza and then we also attended the weekend of the pirate fest and on those uh events I'm sure you have seen this we provided to uh many of the community members this um little card that has a QR code that will take you to the survey. So the survey was done in English, Spanish and creole. So we uh pro anybody who was walking by our kiosk or we encounter so it was very wellreceived. Uh these are the results of the community survey and we're just going to highlight the main some of the main question for example what are the biggest challenge facing the city. So between the the option that the city the they have the top three the top three uh was a lack of retail option store a school system and public transportation options those were the highest rank. Then uh what top three things do you want to see created in the city? increase safety, beautifification of the city, land conservation and environmental. Um, also another question was uh to maintain the quality of life in the city, what should be some of the main

issues that the city should focus on the next 20 years? So, police, crime prevention, traffic management, and environmental protection. Over the next 20 years, how important are the actions that the city takes when addressing the needs for commercial land uses? Was focus on design features for site plan and building regulate tight variety of business locally own second locally owned and national change encourage mixed use development patterns. this question over the next 20 years. How important are the action of the actions the city should take to address housing needs? Protect neighborhoods from degradation caused by aging vacant or abandoned properties. Um promote housing for young families and entry level professionals. Preserve community character in new developments. based on this survey. I just want to comment this. We uh when we draft the the policies that we will go through for the different elements, we took into consideration this feedback. For example, we call this housing and neighborhood and we put we are proposing policies to uh uh for the neighborhoods to maintain quality of life. Over the next 20 years, how important are the actions the city should take regarding sustainability, landscaping and trees, encourage additional plantings, water, quantity and quality, land management, mix youth

developments, purchase land for open space. Sorry. Outdoor recreation tree canopy protection. What features could improve in your neighborhood? Access to open space, neighborhood park, toddlot, walking trails, um, additional trees, sidewalks. So, that was a summary of the surveys that we received. Um these are the chapters or elements that h are included in your comprehensive plan. We are adding a new chapter which is economic development. So if you go right now to your website and you want to see their comprehensive plan, the economic development is not there. That's a a new chapter that we are proposing. So the first element we talk about introduction element that's where we talk in general about the location the history the soioeconomic analysis and the uh overall the characteristics of the city. We have to take into consideration that part of the process once the council once the commissioners adopt um approve the first reading this is going to be transmitted to the state and to several agencies. The state is the one that will be looking at this document. So the state needs to fully understand what what is the character of Bon Beach what are the important values. So that's the reason that introduction chapter will set the tone of the all the other chapters with regard to the future land use element.

So this is the chapter where we define the different land uses commercial mixed use uh and the different um important criterias. And why is this so important? because your zoning your um LDRs land development regulations are based on this chapter future land use. Many times people say why why do we have this zoning or why is that? Well, let's just look at your comprehensive plan. It might be part of that there. So, another important document is the future land use map. This is also part of your comprehensive plan. uh in many instances there are there's need to be amended uh for a specific reasons. So to amend your comprehend to this map it also needs to be uh obviously needs to be uh heard by the commission but then also in depends of the acreage it also needs to be uh transmitted to the state. anything related to your comprehensive plan. The state has a lot to say. So um I am not going to read these all but obviously each of these uh future land uses has a acreage and you can see here uh residential is the primary land use is 74.4% 4% of your land use for the city. And also uh we have here a chart that is showing the same. Uh the residential is your highest uh percentage. Here are some of the key objectives that are again

in this document. This is the policy document and we just um we are presenting on this slide some of them you know it's a there are many objectives and policies. So for example objective 1.22 it talks about climate resiliency and sustainability. Objective 1.23 to three uh refers to urban tree canopy and partnership such as for example I mean how important is the tree canopy so and we are um proposing we are um to uh expand and enhance the city's tree canopy support climate resiliency all of that is here in terms of objectives and policies and this is a list of added policies when once we get through the process if after this workshop there will be a um LPA and then there will be the first reading when you receive this document you will see a strike through and underline so and definitely all the underline is uh is new everything that is underlined will be new so you can see specifically what are the new and here in this slide we are just summarizing what are the new policies that we are proposing. Um to propose these policies, we have been working very very close with city staff. In fact, we conduct uh weekly meetings once a week. We, you know, we produce our draft. We send it to the city staff. They review it. So that the reason we are now at this uh step to present to all of you

the housing chapter housing element again we are highlighting the housing issues the challenges and recommendations address housing supply affordability uh and definitely we are tying that with redevelopment and growth strategies. We are not again we are not reszoning any of neighborhood we are not approving any projects we are only setting policies guard rails that's what is a com a comprehensive plan is a big blueprint is a uh real quick quick question yes

thank you can we go back to the previous slide

with um with reference to reszoning the neighborhood hoods. Does that include looking at the density per acre and and identifying if we want to change that? Because from my understanding years ago, this was an item I had brought up to look at density and height and I know there was a lot of things I wanted to do at that time, but we were limited because of our comprehensive plan and LDRs and we needed to change that plan. So, I want to make sure that, you know, I'm educated as far as what type of feedback we can give today to look at um our density um and as well as our height because I know some of those things were limited as far as changing and we only do this once in a while. So, I want to make sure that we have that ability to do that. I can say very clearly that this proposed comprehensive plan is not changing any height any density. So this is not doing that. This document that I have right here in my hands we are not proposing any changes in density and uh density. When you say we are not proposing, you're saying as as as the consultant,

as a consultant, you guys aren't re you guys aren't recommending. Yes. We are not proposing that at this time.

Okay. But ultimately, the commission adopts the comprehensive plan. And so we appreciate I'll speak for myself. We appreciate whatever proposals and recommendations you may have. I think when you look at what we just saw in the community survey that dense I don't even think um housing was at the bottom of the list and a focus on more green space climate resiliency seem to be a common trend there. And so, you know, I'm not going to beat a a very dead horse. I've been saying this for the last four years. This is from my understanding our opportunity to revisit that density, revisit the type of green space we want. And from my understanding, you're going to give your recommendations, but ultimately it's the body's decision to then decide what we want to incorporate based on not just what our constituents discuss with us on a day-to-day basis, but also what we've seen in in the the resident survey. I I can help clarify a little bit. So yes, this element sets maximum densities for specific land use categories. It does not however change what is on the ground. Meaning the application of those densities of those policies to the land remains unchanged. Those require applications and quasi judicial action and a whole slew of other things to implement them on the ground. What this does is set the policy of how much density is allowed in specific land use categories.

So in order to get to that next step where we operate with that legal framework and having those quasi judicial meetings, those will be based on what we discuss here tonight. Correct.

I just want to make sure that at least for me that I understand before making decisions. So then later down the road if we want to revisit density or height, I don't get the the notion that well you should have brought it up at the comprehensive plan because we got one shot of this. We've been discussing this for quite some time. I brought this in, you know, uh, right, you know, four years ago and Commissioner Cruz had had brought this up and we're finally here and, you know, this did take some time and I want to thank staff for for for getting here and the consultant, you know, but it's my position that we look at this seriously and we make those decisions, whatever legal and you guys need to do to make sure that we instill what I believe um, is is what not just what we see in Buon Beach but the county and then also the state as a as a whole that there is there is a notion of maybe we're developing way too fast and I think we need to be mindful of that and we don't want to you know say say like oh well right

absolutely um yeah understood so what this will do again will set densities within certain categories it won't impact what's on the ground and also there are Um there are different things you'd have to consider if you want to go higher in density or lower in density within the policy. Obviously all of our zoning categories and land use categories sorry all of our land use categories are implemented and on the ground. Now if we lower existing densities of existing properties but not future obvious I know there's a property rights legal battle that we could look at and we could be litigated. I understand that my my focus is on future properties that

you know and entitlements. Some of that could be private, some of that could be uh publicly owned land. I just want to make sure that we're not skipping over that very important piece.

So, what I would um what I would suggest possibly is the addition of policies that strengthen strengthening um the character of neighborhoods that strengthen limiting densities or limiting the expansion of existing uh land uses to further uh land. Um, that way we're not impacting what is on the ground or what is already entitled, but we're limiting its use beyond what is already on the ground. That's one option. And we could do that as a policy and that would help inform how we move forward in the zoning code to limit the use of some of those um those categories. For example, if you're talking about mixeduse core, um that is the highest dense category. We could put policies in there that that should only be limited to downtown use within the core within these blocks. We could put some guardrails as policy measures, but that wouldn't um I don't want to set false expectations either. That doesn't ne that doesn't change what's on the ground. It doesn't change what's entitled. It would inform how we move forward.

Perfect. Thank you, Commissioner Cruz. Thank you. Um just wanted to make a comment about and to follow up on those uh good points. Couldn't we include um resoning as part of this document? because no

as even though we have for example um high density in certain areas with live local that expands up to a onem radius of anything that's commercially um designated. So, if we limit the amount of uh potentially future land use that is reszoned to commercial, like I like I think a lot of the times that we've had reasoning in the past um the feedback or the the agenda item staff recommendations are based upon the comprehensive plan. So, if the commission wanted to move in a different direction, um, you know, is this the right time to to talk about that and to say we might not want to continue to reszone certain parcels to commercial because it could bring the the danger of live local.

Um, you I your first question is can we reszone as part of this process? The answer is no. That's a completely separate process. Um, could you I I I think legal I would say not reason but to create a policy that says if the commission desires to do that that the commission desires to create a policy that we are not um wanting to reszone you know

that's it's a difficult it's a difficult decision because while I understand some of the things happening at the state level takes away and preempts some of our ability to plan the way we want to plan. At the same time, some of the most desired things you see in that survey and what we've heard from this commission is the expansion of commercial uses, the expansion of not just bringing residential and units, but bringing services and uses here. And if we prevent commercial investment through a policy, it becomes a double-edged sword. I understand the um desire to to help prevent against live local, but I'm not sure limiting um the expansion of commercial is the way to do that. Thank you.

Sorry, before I forget, go ahead. Um could we make it a a requirement because sometimes when we reszone and I that happened in my district with the um with that project, the apartments by the C.

Thank you. So the project was originally commercial and this is before live local but the commission before us changed the zoning to mixed use which significantly enhanced the density of that project. So it went from being potentially a Walmart or just stores to being you know almost two to 300 apartments and there's nothing we could do about it because the commission had changed the zoning. um if we make a policy of saying we are willing to reszone but when we only and if only we have a plan in place so we know what it is that they're planning to do like putting those together with a site plan approval or

yeah so I what I think um that level of detail would be uh appropriate in the land development regulation so that is actually I I will tell you we do have something like that all of our mixeduse developments are required to come before you with a plan attached to it except if the commission decides to reszone um city initiated then we don't require the plan to come with it and that's what happened with Shalomar so the city chose to do that ahead of private development that's what happened with the mall right so the mall we reszoned it as city initiated ahead of the developer coming forward with a plan um but we can look at the LDRs to strengthen that tie and require concurrent um concurrent applications to help protect.

Amanda, I just want to turn there is a um new statute that came out in 2425 that essentially states that if you make it more burdensome through your comprehensive plan, a person can take judicial action to enjoin the city from doing that. Um was that for live local? Was that specific to live locally or not? They they did it under the guise of hurricanes um to prevent certain redevelopment after hurricanes. But

as that actually is part of our presentation today, we do want to start with that, but at the end of the presentation, we are going to talk about Senate Bill 180 and how it impacts what we're doing today and some possible ramifications when we transmit this to the state. So, we'll be talking about that a little bit and Sean, if you have anything to add at that point. And I what I was going to say is if you want me to expand and do a memo on how that is hurting comprehensive plans and making these sweeping changes that you guys desire, you could certainly do it, but there may be a judicial challenge to it. And so if you want me to do a memo on that, I will. Let me know after the presentation. That would be great. Thank you, Shauna. Commissioner Kelly, do you have anything before we move forward?

Um, not on this, but I did want to add to the list, and it kind of goes along the same way. Back on the slide, they talked about the percentage of residential um that we have in the city and the um percentage of commercial that we have. I was just kind of curious um or to have a discussion about is are we on track with those percentages? Do we have too much residential, not enough commercial? or where are we fitting in what um you know what we have versus what we um what we ideally would want or need to have in order to really have a city that uh meets residential needs, meets commercial needs, meets you know green space needs, meets the needs because ultimately I think that I know that's been you know my goal is that really we want the city to be a place where you live, work and play. That's kind of been our mantra. So, I'm I'm curious when we look at those percentages where we fall. And it might be later on in the presentation, but I didn't want to lose track of that question because I really was curious where where we fall as far as um you know, how those percentages line up and what would be the recommendation on on our focus.

Yeah, part of that is some of the feedback we'd like to receive from you all today. Obviously, 75% just about of our city is currently residential. Um we have been recently expanding mixeduse and commercial components to help serve uh the large residential population that we do have. Um I I you will find cities that are 100 or 99% residential. You will find cities that are mostly the opposite. So that really um is part of the vision of the city. Um we've always wanted at least historically wanted to be someplace people can enjoy life, live here. well, be safe, work here, and shop here. And that's what we're aiming to. I think we are on track. Our mixeduse districts have been expanding primarily due to um live local, and there are expansions. Um it was always intended to be just a downtown. Um so these numbers are reflective of what's currently zoned, but not necessarily possible changes. It's also a little bit skewed because now we have some commercially zoned areas that are mixeduse. So there are some nuances to this that obviously as a planning professional we were not expecting with some of these newer preeemptions

and and and I'm sorry did you have anything else? And and I think that is a great point is that there's there's been a little bit of a wrench thrown in into our mechanism here to where it's my belief that we need to make up for that elsewhere. Right? if we're having commercial space that is being utilized for um you know multif family and because of live local and so it's my opinion that we need to take that into consideration to maybe and and and expand that and then also looking at I think I think it was like 2% of green space is where we're at currently do we set the policy it might have been three I could have gotten that wrong somewhat low is it And that's actually so it's a little bit different than just open space. This is zoned recreation space.

Okay. Um Okay. But this is the time to set that policy. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Yes. Expansion of of recreation spaces or acquisition of those types of spaces. All of those types of overarching policies. This would be the appropriate time. Perfect. Thank you.

I'm sorry. This is an overview of the housing, the existing housing, total housing units, the different type of housings. Definitely the city of Pon Beach has a diversity of housing supply and there is a number again of uh goals and policies such as even to further expand the diverse housing option. Basically, we are including objectives that said yes, we have the city have a number of uh diverse housing, but it would be uh considering to even propose more uh diverse housing options. Uh with regard to neighborhoods, uh we are proposing a number of new policies that talks about uh protecting the neighborhoods, encouragement, reinvestment and revitalization, support inclusive community engagement. So we also are proposing a new objective with regard to the neighborhoods. Erh so establish a citywide neighborhood planning program by we are proposing by that year. So basically the thing is as we were working on this comp plan it it was very evident that Boyon beach is a city of neighborhoods. People love well look at it's u 75% is residential. So people love their neighborhoods that the reason I mean people have choices to buy or to live in any other place but they

decide here because the quality of life that the neighborhoods have and we want to tap into that and even promote farther support farther embrace your neighborhood programs and how to improve it. So, and that also will be linked to with the open space, trails, all of that that we we're gonna propose. We're gonna talk about it when we get to recreation and open space. For example, here we are imple we are proposing implement neighborhood level improvements, lighting, walkability, traffic calming. All of those elements contribute to the quality of life. Now we are moving forward with the transportation chapter transportation element.

Thank you. Good evening. I'll I'll pick up for the next few chapters. Uh the next one will be transportation uh mobility element which plays a critical role in the quality of life of uh residents of the city and visitors. Uh this uh element addresses existing transportation conditions, guides improvements and funding to identify road, transit and trail projects. It sets a level of uh service standards. Uh also coordinates lane use and mobility to ensure growth patterns, support efficient travel and promote multimodal options. This is existing functional road classification of the city map. These are some of the uh public transit networks that the city currently has. Uh we have the Palm Tran, Coastal Cruiser, Tri Rail, some of the complete streets of Inuit already uh implemented. Uh some of the pictures, this is the um hurricane uh evacuation road network uh currently in the city and also list some of the vulnerabilities of this uh road networks. And some of the updated objectives and policies that we have uh updated or expanded on. Uh first one will be expanding expand and improve pedestrian and bicycle networks. Align with complete streets and mobility plan corridors. Enhance safety for all users. Improve accessibility and connectivity. Also support multimotal transportation options. Establish an ann annual mobility report to track development fees and project uh and project delivery. Uh maintain a rolling five-year list of uh pri prioritize multimmoal transportation improvements. Align projects with the city fat and no plans. Increase public

transit uh public transit use and reduce reliance on single occupancy vehicles. Also track progress through ongoing mobility reporting. We have also added the to maintain.

Can I ask one quick question? So, um, a lot of our roads and I I'm assuming it's just an oversight, but where it says align projects with city f and m um we also have a lot of county roads um specifically on the west side of the city. And so, if we could um incorporate that in this as well because uh you know and obviously the county is working on their um you know, their master transportation plan moving forward as well. So, I'm going to make sure that we include um the county in in anything that we're talking about. Yes, noted. Thank you.

Uh we also have maintaining a GIS-based inventory of pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Uh uh update the data to support planning and decision making. Identify gaps and safety issues in the bike uh pedestrian networks. uh improvements based on need and risk and apply the vision zero principles to improve uh roadway safety uh emphasize the quality of service uh standards. So those are some of the uh updated policies and elements of the transportation element. Uh if you guys want to have any comments on that or expand uh we'll make notes um on that as well. Uh I would like to give me one moment. And I see the deputy city manager who wanted

one question I had on the transportation mobility uh element. Was there any thought put into it about transportation on the waterways there? I didn't see anything that or is there somewhere else in another objective that would promote like water taxis and things like that that are along the inter coastal waterways or some of our canals was included in the we have some blueways and greenways master plan as well. So

right, we we will we will add it in there that it's it was an oversight. One of the um exercises that the consultants and we went through is we reviewed the uh mobility plan which is commission approved and trying to integrate everything that that plan is looking towards into the comprehensive plan. So we will make sure to add some blueways and waterway networks.

Thank you for that. Perfect. Thank you. So the next uh element that we will go over is the utilities element. This uh manages the poly facilities uh services essential to the growth and quality of life. Uh within the utilities element has a series of sub elements uh in where you find the sanitary sewer, portable water, storm water, solid waste and groundwater recharge. Uh this element ensures that coordinated coordinated planning and regional agencies and sustainability goals also supports resiliency, water conservation and infrastructural investments within the sanitary sewer system. These are the um existing level of services that the city has as partnered with the South Central regional wastewater treatment plan. It has a level of service 100 gallons per capita per day, 167 lift stations, 390 miles of pipelines within the solid waste management level service 7.7 uh or eight pounds per capita per day. Uh recycling at 22% goal to exceed 25%. uh programs emphasizing reduction, reuse and education within the storm water management uh sub elements uh includes major offs, canals, covers, pumps. The level of service is a 25-y year 3-day storm protection standard. Uh it also partner partners with the South Florida Water Management District, Lake uh Lakeworth Trinish District and FDOT. Uh recealing upgrades to VAS pump maintenance is one of the goals for the portable water system. The the ST treatment plants uh level service 154 gallons per capita per day. Uh one of

the goals is expanding reclaimed water and conservation measures also to reduce portable water demand. And lastly, the groundwater recharge oil field protection relies on the surf uh surficial and Florida aquifers within the um CUP permit allows for 20 million pounds per day allocation. Uh welfare protection and monitoring of programs uh the reuse projects uh to reduce withdrawal These are some of the updated uh policies that we have uh included for the water supply. We um we included to implement water supply facilities work plan uh through planning the through through the planning horizon, diversify water resources to reduce groundwater dependence, improve infrastructure efficiency within the objective uh of growth management. Uh we added to discourage urban sprawl and support compact development. Limit uh extension and utilities beyond planned service areas. Uh also ensure consistency with future land use and service standards. Evaluate need for sanity uh sanitary sewer service for large developments. Plan for capacity infrastructure and future demand. Identify wastewater facility capacity and connection. uh in connection with needs. Establish timelines for sewer system improvements also improve system efficiency to reduce excess flows. So those are the policies and goals that we have included or uh updated within the utilities elements. The next element is the capital improvement chapter.

This element assesses the city's uh poly facility deficiencies, the city of Boon Beach 5-year capital improvement schedule, the funding sources per fiscal year, uh level of service standards for the city public facilities, also a summary of major capital projects and facilities. The highlighted objectives for this uh elements is to invest in infrastructure to address deficiencies. Uh replace aging and obsolete public facilities, maintaining financially feasible capital improvements program require a fair share of contributions from developers infrastructure improvements. This also includes essential poly facilities uh support public health, safety and quality of life. require development to contribute fairly to infrastructure costs. Utilize a range of funding tools uh for example fees, assessments and dedications and um that if you have any questions on those previous elements um any input we'll be happy to take notes.

Not a question. Thank you. um not a question but really just a a quick comment. Um back to where not let's not go back yet but back to where we talked about transportation and we talked about um like not collaborating but um adjoining plans with the no fat and and things of that nature. Um I think one thing we could probably add is to collaborate in a way that doesn't create duplicity. Um, and I can give a specific example of that right now. Actually, no, because it's not on the agenda. We'll talk about it next time.

Okay. But I just wanted to say like I'll maybe add add the words um collaborate to reduce duplicity because sometimes um the MO might have plans that we might be spending you know half a million dollars on where we could just maybe spend $50,000 to just update that and and you know utilize what's already there um and saving taxpayer dollars at the same time. Thank you, Commissioner Cruz. Commissioner Kelly, do you have anything on mobility or utility?

As for me, um I echo the sentiment that the deputy city manager had mentioned as far as uh you know, potential water mobility. Um we're starting to see that a lot more around our coastal cities. In addition, I think looking at what we're doing with our waterfront, I know there's been a lot of dialogue and discussion. So, I just want to confirm that this would be an appropriate time during these through these workshops to to look at that as well. I'm getting ahead nod for me and Okay, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. No, this is perfectly fine. We'll go back and u include if necessary the water waterways u mobility. Perfect. Thank you so much.

Our next element is the conservation element. The core component of the city's comp plan uh focuses on natural resources uh management, air, water quality, wetlands, uplands and native habitats, water conservation and reuse, flood and soil management. These are the current conservation goals uh of the element uh is to again maintain air and water quality, protect groundwater and wellfields, reduce water uh pollut pollutants, uh eliminate uh ocean wastewater discharge, preserve native ecosystem, wildlife, encourage water and energy conservation, minimize flooding and erosion. Some of the updated goals uh we have implemented is to protect and restore natural and resources including air, water and ecosystems. Enhance environmental quality and community resilience. Promote long-term sustainability and livability. Plan for environmental needs through 2035 and 2050. Protect and maintain groundwater quality and supply. Safeguard key aquifers and welfare protection areas. Plan for sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather, expand on the tree canopy and uh vegetation cover. Reduce urban heat and improve air quality. Promote uh multimmoal transportation and EV infrastructure. Reduce vehicle emissions and idling. Maintain and update wellfield protection standards. Ensure consistency with state and regional regulations. expand the use of reclaim and alternative water re uh sources, protect wetlands and minimize environmental impacts, ensure compliance with state and f federal regulations. Uh

also protect manity habitat through coordinated management strategies. Promote uh water efficiency through high efficiency fixtures and landscaping standards. uh integrate sea level rise and flooding projections uh into infrastructure planning, strengthen long-term resilience uh strategies, coordinate with uh regional agencies on climate data and resilience. Also utilize the latest climate science and vulnerability assessments uh and to reduce the heat and improve comfort of public and private spaces. No other questions. Uh the next one will be the recreation and open space elements.

Real quick before moving forward, um just a quick thought, I had talked to someone today, a vendor for a uh I think they do like living seaw walls. Um it seems to be a new concept, seems to be something that has been pretty successful down in Dade County. So I don't know if that's something we want to incorporate as well. Um they don't they do they also do artificial reefs and a lot of other things that are uh multi-purpose as far as sustainability goes repairing um you know ecosystems you know I'm thinking of like the like fishing industry right and uh things like that but they're you know they also help with um um with with with sea level rise you know all sorts of things and so I I don't know if like if that's something that we can include into this because I think that's we we're seeing a lot of that and I just want to make sure that we're not just um we're being we're having foresight for some of this innovative solution to uh to sea level rise and

and we can write in policies that say like promote the use of uh sustainable and alternative methods to sustain ecosystems and and we we could figure out some language that can incorporate some of those things into it. What I think we'll do because I'm sensing a theme and this is something that we're working on in the LDR right now. I think we'll do a review of all the elements and see where we can strengthen water and marine industry uses, transportation, conservation throughout the whole element. So if we could note that and we'll do that comprehensively. Yeah. If everyone agrees, I think that's actually a great a great way incorporate that all looking through through that lens specifically. I think we it might come up with some new new policies.

Yeah. I mean, we've been talking about it um in our different hats and you know, in the CRA and and really prioritizing the marina and the overlay and talking about that and really make, you know, hyperfocusing on that to for the sustainability purposes because, you know, we don't have the, you know, the wet land, we don't have the freshwater like they do further out west. So we really have to focus on what we do have and what we can do to sustain what we do have access to I guess too. Absolutely. Thank you so much.

So the next element is the recreation and office open space chapter. This is the uh we have classification and inventory of parks and recreation facilities. Uh it says the level of service analysis for parks and open space throughout the city. the uh commitment to greenways, blueways and preserving natural areas and also the future parks. So for context, the neighborhood parks is the uh walk to park generally located along streets where people can walk or bicycle without encountering heavy traffic. Then you have your community parks. These are the community uh where it's right to uh these are parks located near major streets or interiors. It is designed to serve the community residents uh within a radius of up to three miles. Uh there's multip multimmoal access to it the community parks and strongly encouraged. Uh also the multimotal access can be enhanced by back path and pedestrian walkways. This is the existing recreation and open space uh map. uh in the city. It shows all the existing parts.

Real quick, there there was something I saw earlier on the um on the presentation about looking at like the reuse of parks instead of land acquisition for maybe some parks that you know aren't being utilized to the best capacity. I just want to share my um support for that because Andrew and I have had a lot of discussion around some parks that we could probably utilize for other initiatives this that this board may see fit. And so that's something that I definitely want to highlight. Um you know, I don't want to have parks that are utilized for, you know, uh undesirable behavior or activity. And if we can't enhance them, then look at alternative uses. um whether that is housing, whether that is commercial space, whatever the case may be, I do think um that is a a a great policy to have that I saw earlier. So, I just want to highlight that and put a couple uh red exclamation marks next to it.

Uh can we get some clarification on what you mean by that if I'm understanding correctly?

So, there so um the example I'll give is like JC Park, right? like it was just an open space and then we enhanced that into like a a dog park. Uh redeveloping the botchi ball courts. Um and then you know there's some other parks. There's one specifically and um I think I forget the name of it. Um I I did a ride along there with the police department and unfortunately there was uh an abundance of drug use there. Um say again Paula Greens.

Yeah. And so, you know, I I'm not what I'm not saying is like just, you know, put housing and not have any green space. What I'm saying is maybe there's a way to get creative as far as adding additional use there that'll help activate that space, whether it is a portion of housing or commercial or something else because we already have the land. And so I help I think that that opens up a better avenue for public uh private partnerships is um what about some language like maximize public amenities or public usability? Perfect. The ways to integrate uses to bring activity to the parks. Perfect.

Okay.

Um I do want to um express my strong opposition to creating any housing at any parks. Although I respect what you're saying and obviously not wanting to have crime and you know those types of activities um in park areas, I think that I mean just looking at this map right now, I am sure it's I think it's up in the screen as well. We have very little park space in our city and I don't really know or I can't recall at this time what the goal is for us to have with regard to park space. Um but it's very in my opinion it's it's not enough and I would not want to see any sort of building of housing um in Can we go back?

This was just showing you the acreage. I wanted to show you

I don't want to misconstrue my message. I So the policy I was referencing was like it said instead of land acquisition like utilize that space first. So instead of paying millions of dollars for land, we already have the land. And if there is an opportunity, great, because maybe there is an opportunity there, but then there's an opportunity to, you know, purchase more parkland that is adjacent to an additional park. We've seen that come up. So, you know, may maybe what I'm looking for is like maximize the efficiency or optimizing those spaces um to try to avoid acquisition for that, if that makes sense. Right? Why go and buy why go and buy land for a purpose if we have it available and it's not being utilized? For instance, those part there's there's probably three parks I know of that we have that are it's they're not being used for what they what the intent is. Um and so and obviously if you if we are able to activate it and you whether that be we need to expand it a little bit because we need some land around it or whatever to in order to have the space to activate it. You know I think we need to consider that what that looks like. You know who knows? I mean what that looks like to us right now may be different than what another commission you know thinks in in five or six years. But we're setting this comprehensive plan to give people the ability to, you know, to utilize that as opposed to just going out and saying, "Oh, well, we can go pay $10 million for this land that we're just going to we don't we can't afford to build it out into a park yet, but let's spend the money to then turn it basically into an, you know, a a green area where they run dirt bikes all day long. So, so to utilize the space that we have before we go and spend taxpayer money to to acquire land that that we maybe already have access to. Is

that what you were thinking? I'll just also add that the amount because my concern is if we open this can of worms and we say we we might be using the word activate, but that could have like what can we define activate? What does activate mean with regard to parks? I think she I think Amanda had mentioned like activating the public utilization was what she said. What I wrote down was uh maximize amenities and access. Perfect. And what what do you mean by that? Like adding buildings to parks like

possibly if it gets it utilized. So it's actually there's like a shift in parks and recno and that's actually one of the more innovative ways to think of parks especially in a redeveloping or built out area. um te right now and this is something that your parks and wreck master plan that was adopted a few years ago already contemplated um the land is what the land is. We don't own more land and the way we're measuring level of surface right now is literally people to land.

At some point we will not be able to meet a land. We are fine with our level of service as it is right now. We are above it. We are exceeding it. But at some point there won't be more land to acquire. So cities are shifting to a quality of parks instead of just a number of acreage. So how many amenities you have in your parks? Like what are you doing to attract people? How many people is it serving instead of yes, I have an acre but it's undeveloped and it's counting towards my park level of service. So it's actually a shift I think that's going uh through parks and rack and and planning uh comprehensive plans right now. I know Del's plan uh contemplated it. Our plan did contemplate it and we are figuring out how to work it into the comprehensive plan now.

Um yeah, I I appreciate everybody's sentiment, but I think that parks should stay parks. I think that green space should stay green space. Um we have such limited amount. Again, looking at this map, the lighter green is our parks and the amount of land we have. It's just I don't believe we have enough parks. I don't believe we have enough green space as is and creating any sort of building inside of our parks. Um I'm not in favor of that. Thank you, Commissioner Cruz. Please proceed.

Thank you. So this uh table shows the total acreage of parks uh combining all of the existing parks within the city and also uh this is the level of service analysis by 20 in 2020 there was a 84 acre surplus of parks and by 2045 we project to uh the city to have about 37 acres. Some of the uh updated goals and policies for this element uh we uh included to create an interconnected system of parks uh greenways and open spaces uh to ensure accessibility, safety and resiliency, enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors. Support future population growth through 2050 and also protect natural resources through parks and open space planning. For objective 5.2, two access to parks uh including to improve multimotal access to parks, recreation and waterfront areas, enhance the connectivity for pedestrian, bicyclists and vehicles. Ensure equitable access across uh the community. Uh for objective 5.3, this is the facilities standards for parks. Uh plan for park and recreation needs based on population growth. Maintain the level of service standards for facilities. uh ensure parks and recreation improvements keep pace with development.

We provided Yes. Okay. And just thinking about the future and and if we were to have this discussion in the future, if it turns out that there's consensus to um activate parks in a certain way, I would like it for I would like for it to be a cap of what percentage of our parks can be built on or modified in a way that's not, you know, mostly green space or activities or or things of that nature. So maybe considering If the commission wants to move in that direction, then maybe capping the percentage of our parks that we would be able to move in that direction with.

Well, but we approve any plans for development or changes to our parks. So, when we approve a plan, we're approving what's going being put in there. So, I don't I mean, I think we do that by nature of the of our position. But um I did have a on the so on the map Amanda I noticed um that although because they're not truly named parks um we don't recognize some of our green space in district 4 and I just wanted to bring that to your attention because we do have about nine acres in um off of Lawrence back behind the meadows. It's not marked on here but it's our little um like our meadows park and it also backs up to Nautica Sound.

I mean it's just green space it but it's ours. It's and we've It's the cities. Yeah. Okay, great. Well, I'll we'll we'll double check this. It's de restricted and we did that's back on the back side of the meadows and it's Well, yeah, we did that the deed restriction a while back on the meadow side, but I mean we so we do have other green space that is just trees. We have one. Yes. So, we did a deed restriction, too. We can look into to showing those in in some way. They might have different zoning, might not be why they're represented or something here. for example, for that piece like my constituents are gone ho about like absolutely we want nothing there. We want to make sure that and the deed restriction would still remain in place. Yeah, a deed restriction would still remain in place.

Could be because they're part of the pud that it didn't come up. Exactly. So if it's zoned PUD, it might not show up here, but it is still a good idea for us to show them on here. We could show them a little bit differently. It's called the Meadows Park. It's Meadows and Nautica. There's like it's like nine acres. Okay. All right. On the back. Yeah. We'll we'll go through and identify some of those that aren't designated. Thank you. Great. Thank you.

Green space. We can uh this I believe I went through uh this last set of policies uh to provide diverse range of recreation programs for all age groups and abilities. Monitor and adopt programs to meet community needs. Maintain a GIS-based inventory of parks, facilities, and amenities. Implement parks and recreation master plan projects and update regularly. Identify and acquire acquire land to expand parks and open space. Our next element is the coastal management. In this chapter uh coastal management uh looks at infrastructure and natural resource analysis, the analysis of disaster planning issues and hazard reduction, the sea level rise impact uh projections for publicly financed construction. Also looks at the resilient FL Florida statue, the national flood insurance uh program community rating system. This is the existing evacuation routes and zones map. The facilities providing water access, water and sewer systems in the city. These are the some of the goals that we have uh incorporated uh to protect public safety and reduce risk from coastal hazards. Limit Yes. Yeah. So, I just want to and go ahead and and get this out there now. um looking I know that we don't have like the um the jurisdictional authority there but I think this is going to be probably something that'll come down in the

future that'll be multi-jurisdictional is the um it's not even identified as a navigable inlet but the boton inland over there that bridge and looking at that and partnering with our neighboring municipalities um I think it would I think find find army corps of engineers and what other uh bureaucratic agency there is that oversees uh you know the uh the canals and and the inlets. But making advocating for that to be an unfixed bridge I think is a huge opportunity um not just for marine tourism but also looking at property values what that would do for for the city of Buon Beach and um also the CRA as well because we have a lot of those waterfront properties along on the water there that are in the CRA. Um, and not just the unfixed portion, but also, you know, maybe it's widened, maybe it's just dredged and there's a bridge.

Andrew, you would know better than me on on um what that looks like and what to really advocate for. But I think that is extremely important because there there has been discussions, I believe, with other municipalities that are advocating for this. So, you know, squeaky wheel gets the oil and I want to make sure that um you know, we try to be as squeaky as possible. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, Vice Mayor, because that was something I was going to ask is because we have had discussions on, you know, do we look at how do we look at, you know, widening that that because it's supposed to be not navigable, but they use it and and what we can do uh to enhance it and make it more usable and and more safe. um because we you know a lot of our um ocean rescue you know is due to um that inlet and and making and it being very difficult to traverse. So um I'm glad you brought that up. I support adding that in here is having that com, you know, having that be a goal of ours that we look at what our options are to uh to enhance that um with our neighbors. So

there's also some environmental benefits to widening and doing that as well as water quality and and scour within the inter coastal area. Yes. Okay. That's that's very good.

I think this went ahead and your slides. Okay. So I think this is where we left off. Um so these are evacuation routes and zones map. So these are some of the maps that are included in the coastal management element and um it provides all of this information uh in your comp plan. Uh we have your water and sewer systems. Uh so I was saying these are the goals uh we have included. Um so limit public investment in high-risisk areas preserve coastal marine and such I can say that estuary resources uh support uh resilience redevelopment patterns enhance uh public access keeps going forward strengthen long-term coastal resilience through 2050. Uh objective 7.3 uh beaches and dunes uh protect, manage and enhance beach and dune systems. Minimize impacts from man-made structures. Coordinate with federal, state, and regional partners. Objective 7.6 uh coastal resilience. Uh access assess the reduce risk from coastal flooding and hazards. Address sea level rise, storm surge, high tide events, promote resilient redevelopment, and engineering solutions. also to require coastal development to reduce flood risk and sea level rise impacts. Uh pursue funding for infrastructure and engineering solutions to reduce coastal flooding. Ensure water resource regulations align with regional permitting standards. Integrate climate action plan into the comp plan. And that was the last uh for that element. Any other question inputs? Nope. I see the next section is

intergovernmental coordination. So, I'll just highlight the bridge again on that.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I was actually taking notes. I said that will be my opening to my to the next element. Why is so important to have these uh agreements, coordinations with different agencies. uh when you receive the overall package you will see that this element has two specific uh sections. Uh the first section is we do like a inventory of all the different agencies that the city has right now agreements. Uh so uh for example South Florida Waterman District, the county obviously there is a number of agencies uh MO, FDOT, all those agencies are critical to the function of the city to providing quality of service for residents and business partners. So and then uh the second section we analyze what exactly uh is the relationship with the different agencies to your point vice mayor I mean the for example army corpus of engineers that's definitely is uh is very important and need to be part of this so there are uh state regulations and there is also a number of agreements and they are all covered under this chapter which is intergovernmental coordination Uh we added updated policies coord that coordinate regional and local agencies on the comprehensive plan support intergo coordination and conflict resolution. Participate on regional transportation like the MO and definitely have an over uh over uh look of of all the different agencies. How the the main point is this. How can these different agencies benefit the city? Those type of

agreements, you know, it's like a so critical to actually use the resources that are provided in the county level in the definitely on the regional level and the state level. So this is the chapter where we focus on to that different type of relationships. This is the new element or chapter that we are proposing that we are adding to the comprehensive plan. Right now they there's not such an element economic development. Why is this important? Because adds to the quality of life adds to the business partnerships. So it says to the it says that how important is economic growth, economic development to the city of Boon Beach and also it can support you to apply for grants based on this new chapter or element. So we are um basically this element focus on that creating conditions for a prosperous inclusive and sustainable economy. For example, when we are saying we're going to to the previous comments that we will propose a policy that welcomes the use of alternative materials, alternative uh so this is talking about uh economic development. So integrate with city's economic development strategic plan which is very important. Focus on innovation, inclusivity and quality of life. At the end of the day, the residents and the business partners, they all um will benefit of having a growth in economic development. So this chapter focus on that. We also include an overall uh the

existing uh the existing employment and business uh based work. So these are the current percentages.

Yes. I just want to take a better look at that.

The education and healthc carees is 23%. Then uh retail trade 18, professional and business services 15%. So entertainment, hospitality, food service 13% and construction 11% and manufacturing 7%.

Thank you. So we are also like I said we have been working with city staff uh very closely. They provided us their input with regard to challenges and opportunities. Again housing affordability is always a challenge when you are planning to attract a major major uh uh businesses you know. So it's always the question uh we can establish our um our office but where are our you know our employer employees will actually be able to buy a home. So housing affordability, workforce alignment, infrastructure needs, climate resiliency, each of them are part of the challenge that faces when we talk about economic growth, economic development, the opportunities, it's always both sides of the coin. So um the city of Boon Beach definitely had a number of opportunities of potential such as the expand the workforce training invest digital and mobility systems in field housing and mixed use income redevelopment and that's important because the city is currently focusing on mixed use h mixed use development. So that is very um h basically employers they look at that as a very positive attraction to basically set their business in this city. So all of the goals all the objectives are new. So when you uh receive the document it will be all underlined because they are completely new. So goal is to promote diversify and resilient

local economy. Support job creation and private and private investment. Strengthen the city commercial tax base. Maintain community character and quality of life and definitely plan for a longterm economic sustainability through to 2050, 2045, 2050. And we also added a number of objectives um working very close with city staff. We we believe that this is a very important element because will um basically provide the basis to attract very um high top businesses to uh establish in this uh city and also support the local businesses that are already here. Um, I know we just talked about working with our intergovernmental agencies and now we're talking about uh work working on our workforce. Um, it kind of works together. Uh, Palm Beach County has um a free program called the family self-sufficiency that if you qualify with a certain income, you're able to get vocational training for free. Um, and I think maybe we can not just partner with local institutions, but also with with the county and other nonprofit agencies that kind of work on those uh endeavors.

That's a great input. We are taking notes. We are going to add that to the comprehensive plan. Thank you. Thank you. So this is also an this is an existing element is uh private property rights. The city adopted this into their comprehensive plan and just basically focus on private property. So protect constitutional recognize private property rights. Consider property rights. Affirmed rights to own use and improve property. So protecting rights to privacy and exclude others. Allow property owners to transfer. So these are uh already uh part of your comprehensive plan. They are and finally let's talk about the challenges that we are facing with this comprehensive plan. And at the beginning there was already a question with regard to Senate Bill 180. So this is um Senate Bill 180 was uh adopted last year applies to local governments uh in counties under federal disaster declaration effective retroactive August 1, 2024. Um so and is effective through um one second uh through October 1, 2027. There was a lot of discussion conversation about Senate Bill 180 because uh it's restrictive. So there is a specific language in this bill that says prohibit adoption of more restricted or burdensome policies objectives. So uh and that is including comprehensive plans, the land development regulations, permitting or

development review process also applies regardless of whether changes are related to storm damage. The intent of this bill started with all for storm damage areas. But then now it has been really cumbersome and a number of local governments including counties uh basically uh they are suing the state because of this bill. So um obviously you seen that we are recommending many um important policies important objectives they are important to the quality of life of the city of Bon Beach um for example resilience resilient standards environmental protection flood plane. So um the truth is this is the moment of truth. All of this is uncertain and uh because uh many of the comp plan comprehensive plan that been transmitted recently to the state they've been challenged that they they've been challenged because they are perceived as more um cumbersome a more um basically restrictive and burdensome. Those are the key words that are included on that bill. So uh the risk is that policy improvement could be legally challenged or invalidated.

Did you have something? Yeah, I just started to think of questions. Um I guess the question might be um for legal. Do we know is there any way for us to find out like how many m municipalities or counties are suing the state? Um, there was a a class action lawsuit that is currently ongoing and my research into the class action lawsuit, I actually spoke to the lawyer and we were at 15, Amanda. Yeah, my memory is telling me 16 so far.

I mean, I can give you the specifics on it. I don't know. They were still open for additional municipalities who wanted to join. Um, so I can get you that updated information if if you're interested.

I mean, just an anecdotal note. So, we recently did a comprehensive plan amendment that added the in lie of option for conservation. Um, it was the only thing that we transmitted to the state and we actually got a call from the state saying this may be more burdensome. We don't think you could do it and not it was one policy that was adding an option. Right. So we um after conversations with them, they agreed to approve it without comments. You'll be seeing that again soon. We did get that approved, but that was just one policy. We have several several several examples where people were transmitting comp plan updates and the response back was not even comments was simply you may be um in violation of this bill and it's just returned. There were two bills that were going through um uh the legislature, but neither one of them uh made it through to help correct some of this.

Well, hopefully next year they'll have more priorities on actually things that make a difference instead of renaming streets and doing Yes. That doesn't mean we can't transmit it and see what we get back. Um it does have an expiration date of October 27. Um so we're just in a little bit of limbo with what could happen with the next few steps.

What um Amanda I guess and maybe um what are what are I guess what are the recommendations I mean around this? Do we, you know, do we, do we establish as it is knowing that this law is out there and then if anything changes in a year or if we can modify or restrict then we amend. Is that kind of the recommendation in the plan?

Yeah, I would be of the opinion that we are not doing anything that is more cumbersome or burdensome. I mean, we are strengthening some policies. We're trying to strengthen some things but cumbersome or burdensome to development. I don't I would argue we are not doing that. Um I don't know that they would agree. I think they have very little guidance from the state the same way we're trying to deal with live local at a city level. I think the state is kind of going through that same process with this bill. Um so the they've everyone's been a little bit handsoff with pointed feedback. Um the worst case, hopefully there's no amendments to this bill that extend the expiration, but there is an expiration date. Um if it doesn't get passed the first time, we could always try again once it expired with minimal updates if needed. Um the good thing is that a lot of these policies, again, we're planning for 2050, so they will still be valid in a year.

Okay. And the other thing to add to Amanda is that uh when we transmit, we don't only transmit to the state. We send it to South Florida Water Management District. We send it to FDOT. So the truth is it will be interesting to to to see if those agency has a specific comments. Yeah, I would be curious to see what F dot, you know, if there are specific comments since Boon Beach is is at their forefront for the next we're on the next five years of um of upgrades, you know, for FDOT. So, I would be curious to see what their um you know, if there are any comments back what FDOT's comments are.

So, there's still value in transmitting even if they come back with no with no feedback from the state per se. Uh with regard to the process as this slide shows we have done uh actually uh one workshop was a public workshop in October 20, 2025. Then a second public workshop was November 13, 2025 and this is the city commission workshop today and then um basically the next step is we are taking notes of your comments. We will update the policy. We will update the document and then uh it will be the next step will be the to be heard by the LPA local planning agency and then the transmitter uh will come back this as with an ordinance uh to the commission and then we need to transmit it to the state.

Perfect. Thank you. Um thank you so much for the presentation. Thank you Amanda and staff. Um I guess next um from my colleagues, Commissioner Kelly,

I was just going to ask um how far in advance of the public hearing will we see the next presentation and my my concern is obviously um we had a commissioner that was just sworn in on Monday and so he is not here unfortunately and then the mayor unfortunately had a last minute emergency and so she is not here and so they are key to this and so I want to make sure that whether whether or not they have a um teams meeting with you to review the presentation and and know what has been provided. But also, I don't want to come into the public hearing having just gotten a 104 if not more pages once you add everything that we discussed tonight to, you know, a week before the public hearing um to discuss it. So, I just wanted to know timeline um what that looks like.

That's a great question. So Neil and I were already coordinating. We are planning to offer one-on-one meetings with both Commissioner McCrae and Mayor Shelton so we can go through the presentation with her and get their feedback. Also, um after that, obviously, we are working on a draft right now. We will input all of the recommendations we received here today. Once we have a draft, um the the process can be up to you. We can give you a draft about a month ahead of schedule as soon as we have it and schedule out a month. Um the tricky part is you know we would need everyone together to take revisions to that document. So if you think three to four weeks is enough we can meet we can do another workshop. We can meet for a discussion item on the draft you guys received and then bring it for a formal public workshop. We can we can do this anyway uh the commission feels comfortable with.

Perfect. Thank you. Yeah, it's it's my position and thank you for covering that. Um, Commissioner Kelly, um, I I would be in favor of doing another one of these, maybe not as extensive after, um, staff gets that one-on-one time with both Commissioner McCrae and Mayor Shelton. And just as important, we're going to hear some public comment tonight. So, I want to make sure we don't miss anything um, from from the audience. I know we've done a couple workshops already, so I'm happy that you guys were able to do that as well. Um but you know this is an an extremely important initiative and so I want to make sure that uh we do this the this well and and strategic absolutely um

one suggestion and I don't know how feasible this is but you know um as we see these workshops are not as attended as even our commission meetings and so I'm wondering if maybe as we're looking at when to schedule it maybe as opposed to I mean because I don't think it will be as long as this but maybe we you know tap it to the beginning of a of a commission meeting that's not heavy um with stuff and maybe h you know form out an hour to have that conversation because there there are definitely more residents that come to the commission meetings on a regular basis as opposed to a workshop and so I think that that would be I think we would gain more input and feedback and have more participation if we incorporated in a commission meeting rather than having a workshop

absolutely so I just want to repeat to make sure that every everyone understands so what we'll do is we will take your feedback. We will formalize a document, a strike through an underline. We will distribute that to the commission um let's say 3 weeks ahead of a discussion item uh to get input at that at that discussion item. We will review the input we receive today and the changes we've made and leave mostly open time for you all to discuss anything that's open. And then following that, it'll be put on the agenda for our transmitt hearing. Perfect.

Commissioner Cruz, are you good with that? Do you have anything else? Okay, staff, do you guys have anything else? All right, we're going to move forward with um public comment. As always, it is 3 minutes per person, is non-transferable, and this is not a Q&A. Same rules as always apply. The speaker must address the commission as a whole and not to any individual on the dis or in the audience. Insults, personal attacks, and disruptions will not be tolerated, and you'll be asked to leave should you violate these rules. After we have concluded those in person, we will go to those that are online. I just ask for everyone in the audience uh to keep this focused on the comprehensive plan for tonight. Thank you.

Yeah. Hi, Susan Oyer Boon Beach. I wish you had allowed us to speak in between each chapter because there's no way to get through all of this in three minutes. So, I will be making I guess my entire list public on Facebook since I'm not allowed to email anyone. So, I'm going to start out with we need more kinetic art. I saw no focus on art and we are an art city. We are one of the old original art cities and there's nothing in here on that. Um there's nothing in here mentioning our historic planner that we are required by state ordinance law, whatever it is that somebody signs off on every single year saying we have one. We haven't had one in years. That's not in here either. Um I think we need to be looking at enforcing the tree ordinance. I think we have some great ideas, lots of great green stuff. Um, but you're not even enforcing the tree ordinance that's been in effect for almost a year now. Let's make that happen. Um, I think we need to look at upgrading the quality of the city because I think that goes handinhand with this. It's part of it the ordinances that we're finally starting to enforce. But adding in the green space, stuff like and and adding some of these components will improve the quality, which improves the property values, which of course brings in the taxes. Um I you guys mentioned in here about sidewalks. We we just had all this discussion on sidewalks and and the parking ordinance. Sidewalks are the worst things in the world. The last thing you want is sidewalks in the middle of neighborhoods. They are completely appropriate on major streets. But inside the neighborhoods then you have parking problems and then you are an inch over and people are getting fined under state ADA and it's nothing but problems and you have to maintain them. there city sidewalks the city has to maintain and the residents don't actually want them in their yards. So maybe we want to look at taking some of those out. Um as you were talking about the um the traffic problems um I I went and looked up the official name of what I keep trying to explain to you guys. Um

they're called chicanees or um they're similar to a pinch point or a chalk. Were they also called chalkers? um on the official planning stuff I saw on on our our friend Google. Um also like maybe look at doing more roundabouts. Let's start looking at ways to keep the traffic moving but still slow it down and make it livable. And I would look at those chicanees. They're very effective all over West Palm Beach. They're in Delray Beach. They're all over the world. So um I'm obviously going to run out of time. So I think I'll come up with one or two more things and then put the rest public. Um, I think we need to get rid of the nodes and I think we need to look at our tree ordinances more closely. Get rid of the palms. They're not trees. They're grass and they're in bloom right now. So, everyone's allergies are set off everywhere because almost everyone's allergic to a palm tree. And look at getting rid of the Norfick Island pines which cause massive damages during storms. And I'll put the rest on public. Thank you.

We have anybody else? Um, I'm concerned about a lot of the noise. Oh, Terry Paulie.

Yes. Um, I'm concerned about a lot of the noise. I only live about four blocks off of 95 and now since all that has been cleared, the noise is so intense now where before I couldn't hear it at, you know, just during rush hour. Now it's it's bad. And also since we've had all this building um you know with I understand that but it's the noise level has increased so much in the six years that I've lived here and it's I think due to what's going on with 95 and I don't know if anything is being addressed to u contain that and also that um you can hear the trains now used to never be able to hear the trains and I don't I think it's because of all the things that are being cut down and then we have, you know, these buildings coming up and buildings do not absorb like, you know, nature does. Also, I didn't u put that I wanted a lot of landscaping uh because most likely there's going to be planted things that don't even belong here and that have to be watered intensely. And I'd also like to know when are they going to start doing water restrictions? I've lived in a lot of places. I'm an ex-military spouse and I've just never seen the waste of water that I do here. Watering grass, watering all the common areas. It's absolutely horrible considering the state that we are in and the fact that no one even addresses it. So that's a lot of my issue. And also when they showed homes, there was no homes showing like right here, two blocks away, three blocks away. They were all like new stuff. I live in a house that's from 1955. And I don't see any of that. I don't really feel like things are being addressed to the actual people that live

here, the real people. Thank you. everyone. Okay, we'll move on to online. Is there anybody online, Commissioner Kelly? Uh, Vice Mayor, there is nobody online. Okay, perfect. Um, does anyone have any closing uh comments, concerns?

Uh, ma'am, this isn't a Q&A, but I'm more than happy to have staff get with you after the meeting. Thank you. Uh I just have one closing uh comment when it comes to looking at opportunities for single family homes. Um whether they're, you know, renovating their homes. Um looking at like what what are the most common like uh obstacles that we run into that prevent um you know passing inspections, maybe costly that aren't really structurally necessary but more aesthetically um required by the city. So maybe I I brought this up before. I just, you know, want to incorporate looking at those codes to make sure that we're doing everything we can to be not just businessfriendly, but homeowner friendly and making sure that if someone wants to improve their property, that they're not forced to get a certain type of something that is more expensive just because of personal preference. Um I you know I like to look at things you know from an operational um perspective on on what's necessary and as we move forward with um you know this property tax discussion amongst the state and you know this affordability issue that we're seeing nationwide I just want to make sure that we're planning ahead um to alleviate whatever we can in our code and our LDRs and this comprehensive plan for our homeowners.

Absolutely. We can um obviously the the code uh kind of review is outside of this comprehensive plan, but one of the things that we can add in here in economic development is uh you know programs and and a review of code that can um allow affordability and renovations to happen easier. Um or streamlining processes, streamlining codes, those are uh economic development initiatives that we can put into the comprehensive plan. Perfect. Thank you. Is everyone okay with that? Yeah. Okay, awesome. Does staff have anything else? All right, thank you everybody. Um, do you have something? You look like you're about to Okay. All right. If not, yeah. Do I have a motion to adjurnn?

Second. All right. All those in favor say I. I. Motion passes unanimously. Uh, with no further business to discuss, this meeting is adjourned at 7:16 p.m. Thank you, everyone.