Architectural Review Board - Regular Meeting

The applicant and staff have made their presentations on each item. All testimony, including public testimony and evidence, will be made under oath or affirmation. Additionally, each person who gives testimony may be subject to cross-examination. If you refuse either to be cross-examined or to be sworn, your testimony will be given its due weight. The general public will not be permitted to cross-examine witnesses, but the public may request the Architectural Review Board to ask questions of staff or witnesses on their behalf. Persons representing organizations must present evidence of their authority to speak for their organization. Further details of the quasi-judicial procedures may be obtained from this clerk. At this time, I'd ask our ARB members to disclose if you've had any ex parte communications concerning any of the agenda items today.

None here, no.

So I need to step out for the first one.

The second one, no?

The second one.

The Rich Carlton one.

Okay. So noted that Mr. Gomez will step out for the second item with the Rich Carlton because his firm is involved in that matter. And then, Mr. Van Diemen, do you have anything to disclose?

I do not.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you please swear in the speakers? Yes.

All those who will be giving testimony today, please raise your right hand. And do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you.

You may proceed, Mr. Chair.

Very well. So for the first item, who's presenting? Okay. It's kind of confusing because I see in the agenda seems to have the architect noted in item two. Got it. So there was some confusion there in the agenda in terms of the architect being noted. Okay, so very well. So you've identified yourself by name? Yes. Okay, so for this item, Jose, our dear member here, is recusing himself, right? I think you can sit there. Oh, he has to step down. You've got to physically remove yourself from it.

All right.

Very well. Please make your presentation. We should have the image up on the screen for the first item. Or you could use your pointer, no?

The presenter's microphone is not on. I cannot hear him on my end.

Hello? Oh, now you got it. So a lot of times what we recommend is that you point to this screen here, which is better than the TV, and then everybody can see it. See? Assuming the pointer works for you.

I don't know if I have to touch anything to make it work.

There's a button to be pushed there. Did you find a button?

Okay.

Okay. It's simple. As you can see, we have a couple of images from Google from the year 2013 and the year 2014 where the cabanas are visible in that space, in the highlighted space that you can see on top as the area in scope. This is the contextual images. This is the existing condition right now. As you can see, we have landscape, and we have the space in between the landscape where the cabanas were. So under, you can see the floor plan from the existing condition as well.

This is the proposed renderings.

And in the areas existing between the landscape, we are proposing to replace those cabanas. The total cabanas is six. As you can see, it's another view from the proposed renderings. Another view, another angle, so you can see the space. The area highlighted in red is the area in scope. So that's the area where we are replacing the cabanas that were shown on 2014 and 2013 in Google Earth. Basically, this is a blow-up of the license area, where you can see the landscape and the walkway that is existing. And this is the proposed, is the existing walkway, the existing landscape, just we are putting back those cabanas. Total number six. This is the floor plan and elevation of the cabana. They are 10 by 10. And you can see below what are the materials that we are proposing. Very light material, fabrics, and aluminum, which is dark bronze. And I think that's the end of the presentation. It's simple. I have sample of the material, physical samples here. And if you have any questions, just...

Yes, so I think the building official has to read his report.

Basically, I received the acknowledgement of the six items of the conditions that we placed, and they are in agreeance with it. And it's my opinion that the six new outdoor cabanas on the residence at the One Bar Harbor condo follow the Village Appearance Code and the zoning ordinances, and the Village Planning and Zoning Consultant and Parks and Public Spaces Department has reviewed it and also concur that the proposed project complies.

Thank you. Thank you. You want to pass the samples real quick so we can kind of touch them? It's aluminum. These are aluminum frames. Okay.

Okay.

What's the floor of the... It's the existing floor, so you're not redoing the floor, or there is a new... Speak into the mic.

They're pouring concrete slabs for each of the... The floor is concrete, and we are replacing the foundation.

Okay.

So with new optical, with delegated engineers and everything. It's part of the shop during this. It's going to be submitted during construction documents.

Thank you.

Very well. Any other comments from the board? No questions, no? And we have no public comment on this? No public comment on this? Very well. So is there a motion? Is there a second?

I second.

Okay. Then all in favor, say aye. Aye. You got three members, three votes. That's what you need. So you're approved. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Everyone is yes.

Oh, Nathan is online. Gotcha. I'm sorry.

I said I as well.

Thank you, Nathan. Okay, the next item, item two, trying to get the address here. The team is ready to present? Yeah? You can step up to the podium and identify yourself.

276 Balcross, I believe.

276, yes. It's a dry lot, yeah? Yes.

Yes.

Should we do the building official report first?

Yes?

Yes.

So I received the written confirmation also for an acknowledgement of the 18 conditions that govern this project, and it's my opinion that the exterior renovations for the 276 Balcross Drive follow the Village Appearance Code and zoning ordinances, and the Village Planning and Zoning Consultant and Parks and Public Spaces Department has reviewed the plans and concur that the plans and the submittal complies.

Very well. Identify yourself and make your presentation.

Good afternoon, members of the board. First of all, thank you for the opportunity to present this project. My name is Leonardo Vinero. I'm with Jose Gonzalez Architect LLC. Our address is 415 Norris, 114th Street, Miami, Florida, 33161. Before I begin, I want to clarify that I'm not the architect of this project. Our architect is currently hospitalized, so I will be presenting this project on his behalf.

Very well.

What we have here today is an existing two-story residence, and we're planning to renovate the exterior areas without changing anything inside the property. Our goal is to modernize and improve the existing exterior areas, making sure these changes fit well with the existing residence and the surrounding neighborhood. So speaking about the modifications we are going to do in the front of the house, We will remove the existing planters, the planters that you can see on the front. We want to remove it. And to give our house a better and cleaner look to the front of the house, we will remove the existing driveway and replace it with a new design. But it's made of previous concrete papers. I don't have a physical sample for you to see, but it's the one that you can see on the top corner. The specific type of paper is easy grass block. This specific type of paper allows us to have a bigger driveway and a more useful driveway. And at the same time, it's a lot better with water drainage. So also, the pool equipment that you can see on the side of the property, we're going to relocate it to the front. And the hedge will be extended to provide visual coverage for that new equipment on the front. And we're just moving the pool equipment because it's within the size setback. So that's the only reason we are moving the pool equipment. To the house itself, we are only making three modifications. The first one will be the front door. You can see the front door. In this picture, it has an existing double door. And we are replacing with this door that is a single door with a side light. The second modification we are going to do is the tiles. We are keeping the same layout, just changing the existing tile with new ones. They are the same. I have a sample. They are the same style, just a darker color. I think these two modifications, the front door and the tiles, will be not a massive modification, but it will give a fresher and more updated look to the house. The third modification to the house itself, it will be an addition trellis, aluminum trellis in the back. I can show you. You can see on the right side a rendering that how it will look once it's installed. I have another renderings. Right here, you can see the back. Also in the back, we're going to renovate the exterior kitchen to make it functional again because the existing one is almost out of working condition. We're going to renovate the pool to make this new square shape. You can see before it was literally like an oval shape. Let me get there. It was this oval shape, and now we are making this more square shape. That's not a big change. The third thing we are doing in the back is the pool deck will be replaced with a new one that is slightly different to the original because we have to make sure that we comply with the setbacks. So I think that's all with my presentation. I'm now happy to ask any questions or concerns you may have. Also, the contractor for this project is here, so if you have any questions for him, please feel free to ask. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Public comments on this? No. No public comments for the record? Board discussions? Questions?

I have more of a comment in general for the neighborhood is we do have an issue with a lot of cars being parked on the street, whether it's visitors or contractors working in the area or homes with multiple cars. So what you're doing is actually a benefit for the neighborhood because you're taking a lot of cars onto the property. So I commend that. It's very efficient.

Thank you.

Any further comments?

I have a couple of questions. The front pavers that you're proposing, they are like a mesh of concrete. So what do you put inside the openings?

It's grass, just single grass. Regular, I mean, real grass. Natural grass, yeah.

I can show you a picture.

I think you have an image in your presentation.

Do you have any experience using this kind of pavers with real grass?

Yeah, the specific type of grass is easy grass block. We can submit the full specification sheet.

Because I was just going to share my experience with you, if it's valid at all. But what I've seen happening is that the concrete gets hot, and then the heat of the concrete ends up killing the grass. So the grass has several factors working against it. First is the heat from the concrete, and second, with the cars coming and going all the time, it also creates a lot of impact on the grass, so you end up having a lot of mud in between the concrete. So just to bring that to your attention.

Okay. Thank you.

I don't know, can we, there is somebody raising their hand. Can that person come over and talk?

Or maybe you need to come to the... Wait, wait, wait. Up to the chair, and you would need to be at the mic. Thank you.

And then my second comment, and I understand that dark roof tiles are a trend nowadays. So I just would... encourage you to consider maybe increasing the insulation of the roof because the darker the tile, more heat it absorbs and more impact inside the house and your electrical bill probably will go up. So compensate one with the other. So those are my comments.

You have something to add to the presentation?

I'm the contractor. I just had a comment about the... Your name for the record. Javier Ortiz. I'm with Phase 3 Construction. I'm one of the owners. Thank you. Just relating the paper, this company, EC Grass, is a plastic planter that goes inside. They cannot guarantee that it's going to survive the grass. It requires a lot of maintenance. Sometimes they said if you don't feel comfortable doing all the maintenance, you can put... Not real grass. But it doesn't affect the previous properties of the town. I just wanted to say that. Yeah, no, no.

I understand that. I was just more concerned with the maintenance issue part. And I don't know if those people you hear all year round or not. And so the neighborhood wouldn't like to have a sea of mud in front of the property, right? And then the other would be like the cost of maintaining all this grass and making sure in the long run it looks decent for the neighborhood.

Yeah.

All right. Thank you so much.

Does Nathan have any questions or comments on this since Nathan is a landscape architect?

Yes, I would second Elizabeth's comment about the natural grass having a really tough time living there. One thing you can do to advantage the grass to help it grow a little better, which would, in my opinion, be a benefit in a couple of regards, would be doing some larger landscape material, trees or palms up front. If you intend to go with the synthetic grass, just note that that synthetic material, especially dark green as a dark color, is going to be significantly warmer, 10, 20, 30 degrees warmer when you walk through that space. So it will be sweltering hot if you stand on that driveway in even spring and fall. So I would encourage you to maybe reconsider the landscape plan along the front. I see you have a small palm and a couple of relocated palms to the side, but the house is not ugly. It's just nothing architecturally significant, in my opinion. So having some larger landscape material, a tree or something to kind of anchor the space and provide some comfort for the people in the space and also reduce the heat island effect that you'll be experiencing because of the synthetic turf there.

It does seem like in your presentation you are specifying artificial turf. Is that correct?

Yeah. It's the information from Easy Grass that we have here.

You're proposing from day one to have artificial turf, not real grass. Is that what you're proposing?

It could be, but just the landscape architect just mentioned it about the raised temperature. We can weigh in if it's more suitable to use just real grass at the cost of higher maintenance. So we could see that difference in price and maintenance and heat, all the variables.

Yeah, I just don't think that you're ever going to shade that enough to reduce the issue of, I mean, the concern of the heat of the concrete paver. You know, if they put a few palms, that's not going to make a big difference.

One large canopy tree in the middle of that space would be a great benefit. I understand that's a big cost, but you're looking at a $100,000 pool and probably a $100,000 paver area. So maybe one large specimen tree would be – or a couple surrounding the space would be nice.

So, Nathan, how do you feel about the idea that they go artificial turf from day one on this?

It's – you know, there's no perfect solution here. It ends up being hot, but it's the obvious solution for maintenance reasons. You can do actual grass, but you're going to be fighting an uphill battle if you do natural grass, living plants.

The village allows for the artificial grass here, correct?

We have it based on Chapter 18A of Miami-Dade County, and it requires living plants. We're in the works in the next couple of months. We're evaluating that and making an addendum and having our own landscaping code. But in the meantime, we follow the Miami-Dade County and the Miami-Dade County Code, Chapter 18A, it says living.

So it does not allow the artificial turf. Only a percent in the non-setback area. But if that changes for the village code, they could come back and get an amendment to this and install artificial instead of real grass.

That would be at that time, depending what the council votes on and what's the actual final version of that. Also, any comments on that?

Actually, I'm not a fan of artificial and I'm not a fan of those blocks. I think they're rather uncomfortable to work. But look, if it's allowed, I don't think we can do much about it. So artificial is not allowed today. Right. It might be allowed.

Also, they get an approval with real grass. We'll get an approval with real grass. They implement this if there's an opportunity for them to, if they prefer to go artificial, they could do that, it seems. I mean, with the concern that has been brought up, of course, their narrative here is that they want the pervious so that it could increase the amount of cars they could park within the property, right? That seems to be... Their approach, create a parking lot in front of this house. So these people probably entertain a lot, and that happens, right? And the neighborhood is already complaining that cars spill out all over the place with such festive homes, right? So we're going in the direction of pervious, and then we have concern about the real grass not being surviving or maintenance-friendly. It seems like artificial eventually may be allowed so we can move forward. If we are of that tendency of approving it to move forward, they could always have that option, right, of going artificial. As more practical, all of us are kind of like, you know, allergic to artificial anything, right? But we live in a world where things are not what they seem to be all the time, so... So, you know, I've sort of gotten my therapy on that. I'm okay with artificial grass. So we've had our discussion. We've had our comments. Now, should we take a vote? Anybody wants to make a motion? Microphone is off.

Thought was on, sorry. So the application right now is proposing to use natural grass. So then we can approve that as is. Is that correct?

Well, so in their exhibit here, it says turf pod, and the specificity of the item is it says artificial turf. I don't know if somewhere else in the documents it says natural grass turf.

Ellie, can you clarify what the motion needs to be to be legal currently? Because we don't know what's going to happen in the future.

being a drainage system or not, it's pavers. It doesn't have that leeway of if it's pervious or not pervious. So based on the actual calculation of the pervious area, it is allowed to be all pavers. So by him suggesting or proposing something that it looks like it has life grass inside, it's not calculated because if you see that detail, it doesn't drain in the middle. It's basically a concrete paver, and here the soil does not percolate. We have the water table at three feet, so as much as you want, it won't percolate as you would hope to if it does not have a drainage system built underneath it. So based on our review, We hadn't taken consideration if it was pervious or not pervious. That area was already as a paver, so it's not pervious.

Okay, so let me try to understand that for all of us, I guess. What you're saying is that the amount of paving they have within their private property complies with the code and it does not have to be pervious. Is that what you're saying?

Exactly.

So for your review and analysis and that of the zoning consultants, this could be a regular paving system. It doesn't have to be this sort of block that you seem to have issues with. So does the applicant understand that?

Yeah, initially we planned to do it just normal pavers, but because of the size of this driveway, we have to change to a pervious driveway, a pervious paver. So that's why we are doing this.

But pervious doesn't need to be this sort of grass paver system. It could just be a regular looking paver which meets the pervious specificity.

Yeah, we could change the type of paver, but that's another question with the owner maybe.

Well, so we could approve it to have the flexibility, I guess, right? It's just ground cover, basically. It's ground cover, right? And they could then... come back and show you the samples of whatever pervious is. If there's something far from what it is, then we need to come back. Pervious means that the paper sort of allows the drain. It has a special sort of detail that allows for the water to kind of be absorbed. What you're saying is these sites are in ground zero in water world here, so the ability to absorb the water is questionable. But still, if it's specified as pervious, it would be pervious. but in this case is not even required to be pervious. So for them to be sort of saying it's pervious is sort of going beyond what's required, right?

Yes. And then we're trying to reach what the board member... You seem to disagree with that, but... No, no, no, fine.

Just a quick question. Yeah. So we don't have to use previous papers on the front and neither in the back. We have previous papers in the pull deck and in the front.

You can try with the 50% of pervious and non-pervious. 50% is what the code requires.

Yeah, but for that 50%, we have to use previous paper, right?

By the size of your lot. My planning reviewer reviewed it, and it complied with the 50%. Okay. Regardless of the papers.

Regardless of the papers. The footprint of the house is deducted from that 50%, right? Yeah. So you've got the footprint of the house plus all the previous, all the paving area.

We have all the calculations.

His calculations seem to sort of say no, that he does need to go pervious in order to have the amount of paving that he's showing.

If you go through it, he has the size of the lot and the size of that area. Do you have a calculation diagram?

Is that what you're showing on the screen?

Page 32. Sorry, A001.

A001. But that diagram doesn't... I don't have that page. That diagram just kind of shows the existing... This diagram doesn't really give us, I guess... Look at the... Go here.

There is a chart. Yes.

Yeah, there's a chart, not a diagram, so you don't have something visual that we could really...

It's a chart with all the calculation, yeah.

You see it says there, underneath this chart, it says proposed area breakdown. The building and structure is 4,083 square feet, and the driveway, it's 1,812. So it gives you the 50%, you're below the 50%. And it says it gives you a credit of 906 square feet.

for the previous driver, but... For me, it's fine to use just normal papers, just asking a question.

And it's the front, and then the back on the deck is the other calculation of 1,066 square feet, and then you have 527 square feet. All right.

The chart that I have here, which I was able to zoom into, because unfortunately with this PDF viewer, you cannot zoom into that, and nobody could really read that chart. So take that into account for your next presentation, because that chart should be like a full-page exhibit. Okay. Because we can never read it, because they don't have blue beam here. They cannot zoom into that. But I'm seeing it here. So it says here, existing building structure is 4,083 square feet. That's 34% already of the site. Okay? Okay. And you've got other impervious areas at 29%. So your math, total impervious is 64%. So you are exceeding the 50% according to this chart, which is why you're proposing.

He had a conversation with Mike Miller, or your architect had a conversation with Mike Miller, and then apparently that's why he's giving you a credit for impervious pavers.

For previous paper.

For previous papers. That's the question. That's the question.

If I need to use previous papers or not.

He's required to have previous.

Yeah. Apparently, Mike.

He's required. He's required.

That's Mike Miller's part, not Mike. So Mike agreed that he needs to have a certain percentage of previous. Apparently, he does. Right? Okay. Apparently, he does. Okay, there we go. So it could be pervious, but again, what we've learned here is it doesn't have to be the artificial thing, which everybody seems to dislike nowadays. And the natural thing, which is the maintenance concern. So it could just be a beautiful, pervious system, but it doesn't have to have the green look, right?

Okay.

So you have that option, right? Yeah. So I think, you know, the thing is that our approval would possibly have a condition, but we'll wait until we go there, okay? Okay.

And if I may, Mr. Chair, Ellie, so if they came back and they wanted a pervious paper that did not have the holes, a different system, that would be a different appearance and they would have to come back to ARB, in your view, right? If it's in different appearance. Just so you know that.

Yeah, so it would be changing what you represented to us, so you just have to kind of file and come back and... and see us again, but it shouldn't be a big deal. It's just another procedural process, but it does give you that flexibility.

Or they could keep what they have right now.

Or you could go forward with what you have now if you wish to go in that direction.

Okay.

Okay, so that's clear. All right, so again, do we want to make a motion?

I don't have any conditions, so I would just motion to approve.

I think there's a condition because they can use the synthetic.

Right, so his opinion, he has no conditions. But let's see if we have conditions, and then I think the motion to approve would have to consider these conditions. So do you have a condition?

Well, the only condition is to comply with the existing, the current code, which does not allow you to put synthetic grass. That would be my only condition.

That's not the condition. If you have to comply with code, you have to comply with code.

Well, that's just a note.

That's an observation. I think it's just an awareness that the current code, you know, makes it necessary to be natural, right? Right. At this point. if you were to go in this direction okay condition number one that's what it states that's already in the condition from the building official and the uh the zoning consultant

So our condition could be that if it becomes approved by code to use artificial turn, the proponent can change the material without having to come to us?

We could put that in the record, yeah?

Yeah, so that's what I'm asking you guys. If you wanted to, yes, because that doesn't change the appearance. It's green for green. Correct, so we don't have to take another round.

It's already there in condition number one. Yeah, it's already there. They've got to comply with the accounting code. So whatever they do, they've got to comply.

The other design elements really were the front pivot door, which is beautiful, the squareness of the pool, which is quite attractive, and then that aluminum trellis that you're doing in the back, which I'm sure has an NOA and all that, right? Yeah. So, any other comments concerning all the other elements of this? I mean, it seems to be a minimum intervention project. That's what you've been asked to do. So, the house doesn't really get transformed a lot. It just gets improved. So, I don't think there are any other conditions, right? So, okay. So, a motion to approve?

Second. Second.

Okay. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

You got votes. Nathan? Aye. You got five votes out of all of us, so you're good to go.

Thank you. Thank you. Can I pick up the samples?

No, you've got to leave it with us. We want to take that with us. All right. Next item, property located at 42 Camden Drive. Architect Oscar Cabeza.

Good afternoon. My name is Oscar Cabeza. I'm with AD Architecture. Office address is 1803 Banks Road in Margate, 33063. Very well.

Building official, your report. also received the confirmation of the 18 conditions and they're in the greens with it and it's the opinion that the proposed new to Two-story single-family home at the 42 Camden Drive follows the village appearance code and zoning ordinances and the village and planning village planning and zoning consultant in parks and public spaces Department has reviewed the plans and concurred that they comply Thank you for that Mr. Cabezo make your presentation

Thank you very much. This is a new two-story residence located in a dry lot. We're going with a contemporary design, very open and clear glass in our second floor. We wanted to give a lot of transparency for this design for two things. We wanted to get a view of the great neighborhood that we are in. So we wanted to make sure that every living space in the house had that access to view the neighborhood. This is the front of the house. So we can see that the second floor is a completely clear glass story. It's enclosed in a concrete C-shape that was going to be covered in travertine. And it's got the appearance to be floating under the first floor, which is cladded right now with the material that you have in the table, which is aluminum cladding, which has a 20-year warranty that doesn't change material or color. We wanted to go with the aluminum because it gives a nice look, and we can enrich the look of a wood. It looks really like a wood, and it gives the long-lasting material. We're also in this property raising the grade. Our base floor elevation indicates that we need to be at 9.67, but we're bringing the house to 10 feet. We wanted to bring a little bit of more view as well from the backyard and from all the other spaces into the neighborhood. We do have a terrace on the third floor, so that's also a thing where we raise the height of the house. We wanted to make sure that when you're on the terrace you were able to Take advantage of the views. It's very nice views in this neighborhood. This is another view from the other side. We have on the left, which is the south side of the property, we have a multifamily home. So we're creating like a landscape buffer. This is the one that you see on the left, a high 12-foot landscape buffer. We have on the back of the property, there's an empty lot. And on the right, there's a residential lot. We have two driveways. One is on the right. Most used to do day-to-day driving. You walk in, you don't want to park your car in the garage. You can just drive in and put it in the driveway that is exterior. And on the left, we have an access to the garage, which is not facing the street. As you can see, the garage door is facing the south side of the property and is hidden from the front of the view. It's another view. This is our view from the backyard. Like I mentioned before, we are raising the backyard. We want to make sure that it's level with the house. We wanted to make sure that the jar becomes extension of the interior part of the house, making it feel bigger. That's why we kept it at the same level. We have on the back as well a clear story of glass. This is composed of fixed windows on the sides and a big slider in the middle so you can open Open the doors and you have an extension of the interior residence. We have an A-row that extends to 12 feet, same height of the ceilings inside, which will give you that feeling that the house is bigger and extends in the back. And the second floor, we have the master bedroom and the master bathroom. Look into the backyard. We have balconies all around the property. We took advantage of the code that requires the second floor to be set back an additional 10 feet. So we took advantage of that to create some balconies and use that space. Because the second floor needs to be recessed and set back. We have another view here. On the right hand, we have all the mechanical equipment, all the pool equipment. This is going to be that door that you see to the right, and this is also going to be the cabana bath on the back. These are the elevations of the home. We see we listed the materials in the top, which are the ones that you have on the desk as well. Basically, we have travertine and the aluminum wood cladding that we're going to be using through the entire house. There's not going to be any stock or any paint. We plan to clad everything on the travertine, and the other thing will be the cladding with the metal that you have in the desk. This is side views. So on the bottom you see the side that is facing south. That one shows the garage door and the garage which is oriented to the side property so it doesn't have visibility from the front. On the top you see the facade from the back. You can see here as well that we have indicated that we're raising the property four feet from our neighbors on the south and north. Two things why we're raising the property. One is because of the base floor elevation requires that. And we're adding another three inches just to make it ten foot even and take more advantage of the views. We have here, you can see as well, the stairs that go into the terrace. Those are the ones on the right. And the terrace on the third floor has no coverage. Everything is open, but you have a railing that goes around the same perimeter shape of the second floor. We have here the location of the lot. As you can see on the right-hand image, the lot is to the south to the multifamily, to the north has another property, and in the back is an empty vacant lot. Some photos on the bottom of the existing lot. These are the neighborhood photos, homes adjacent to our property. We have here our site plan. We obviously have complied and something that we have here that was brought up on the previous application. We do have the synthetic grass for the dryways because we do comply with the coverage and the impervious area. So the dryways already... all pervious. I'm sorry, all impervious. So we're going to use the artificial grass on that area. Because maintenance is always good. Once you do the driveway and you grade it and you put this subsoil that is required for the cars to hold there, that area doesn't drain very well. That's why the regular grass dies because there's no good drainage in there. The We have another table with side diagrams that indicates the coverage areas and the impervious areas. We have our hardscape plans. We have two terraces in the first level, the one in the front that is indicated on the brown shaded area and the one on the back. Both of them are covered. That means that the main access and the main exit on the back have coverage from the rain and the weather protections. Here we have our color plans for the side plans. As you can see here, we have taken advantage of the back of the property, putting in the back the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen. It's the social area. As I mentioned before on the renders, we wanted to make sure that the backyard is an extension of the house. That's why we put all the social area towards the back and created all these big openings so when you want, you can open it and take advantage of the backyard. Towards the front, we have a guest room and office, which is directly below the garage on that plan that you're looking at. And to the right of the garage, we have the laundry room and media room. We have the layout of the first and second floor. The house is 6,800 square feet between first and second floor under AC. We do not have an elevator here. We do have a stair in the middle of the home to the right when you walk in. this one is the second floor we have on the second floor the master bedroom with the master bath again facing towards the back of the property and taking advantage of the balcony that we created around the second floor and towards the front of the property we have the four bedrooms it's going to be a total of six bedrooms for this residence this is the floor plan with all the dimensions and all the details Here we have the terrace floor plan. So the terrace is only be facing the back of the property and the backyard. The front, which is that big Y square, is going to be roofing material, TPO, roofing material, but it's not going to be accessible. We have the equipment for the condensing units for the mechanical equipment in the roof as well. That's what you see behind to the left of the wood cladder area. that's going to be enclosed in a parapet wall and enclosed with a fence as well, so it's not visible from the front or from the sides. This enclosure goes 12 inches above the equipment, so it provides full coverage of the equipment. And we have in the terrace a barbecue area and a proposed jacuzzi area in the middle of the space. Again, we're trying to get advantage of the views, and we have glass railings all around the third floor terrace. The only one that doesn't have railing is the one that is facing east in the front of the property. We wanted to do this for two reasons. The front of the property is not the best to be looking when you're on the third floor, and you want people looking at you when you're having your events or you're entertaining in the second floor. We wanted to keep that away from the neighborhood so when they drive in, they don't see what's happening in the home. So we want to give some privacy for the owner and some privacy for the neighborhood so they don't see what's happening out there. We have here the elevations, which have indicated the cladding areas. We have materials indicated here, as well as all the NOAs for the windows and doors that needed to be indicated here. This page as well is the other side of the house, front and side, that shows as well all the materials. We have some details for the fencing. We're going to be creating a retaining wall on the back and on the south side of the property. Two reasons. We need to give clearance for the utilities, for the wire meters, and also it's an easement, so we cannot build anything on top of that. So those details are the ones that are shown here for the retention walls. We have the disposition tree. There's a couple trees in the property that are going to be removed, but mostly all going to be mitigated with the new landscaping that's been provided. This is the landscaping plan showing all the landscaping that is required. It has been reviewed and meets all the requirements. Big thing over here is obviously we wanted to leave it low and open toward the north side of the property and keep it high towards the left. So it's showing in the plans. You have all the species and all the specification of the trees listed here. They put as well together a photo of each of the trees and species that we're putting into the site. This one indicates we have a planter located on the second floor. As soon as you come up on the second floor to the terrace, we put a living planter to give us some natural elements into the second floor. So these are the ones that are located here. For the third floor, we're going to put some planters, but those are Non-structural elements that are just going to be bought and placed in place. But we put them in here so we have all the information of the planting that was going to happen in that area. These are the elevations that show the trees and the shrubs and all the landscaping, how does that integrate into the design of the house. So we have in the front, the first elevation on the top, you see that we have some shrubs in the front between the two gates to access into the property. Those shrubs are not a backup with any structural wall or element. We just wanted to keep natural elements to create our fence. We only have the gates for the cars because that one needs to be open and close. But all other elements do not have any structural behind. These are more views, the side views. As you can see here in the bottom view, we have those plantings on the second floor balcony. And we also have those plantings in the third floor balcony. So we kept continuous and harmonic landscaping to this side of the property. These are both details of planting for the plants, for the landscaping. Or the irrigation plans. I mean, everything is shown to have the proper coverage for irrigation. Even though you can see here on the plan on the left top and left side of that plan, you see the retaining wall and we have five feet clearance. All those areas need to be maintained as well. I mean, even though they're lower and past the retaining wall. So we are proposing the irrigation to be covering in that area as well. More details for landscaping and irrigation. This is our civil plans. Here we have two retention areas to be able to contain the water inside the property. So we have a catch basin in the front with an infiltration trench. which is in the front by the driveway. That area in the front is lower, so we did two different ones because the one on the back is going to be higher. That area on the back is four feet higher than the front, so they couldn't be connected. That's why we created two different infiltration trenches, one on the back and one in the front. The calculation's been done, so those two will contain all the water into the property. The flat roof obviously drains through gutters, not through gutters, through internal downspouts, and they go directly into the system. Some details for the lands for the civil. This is our erosion cementation control plan, which shows how the construction staging will be done. And that's it.

Thank you. We start just with a few questions that may ignite other questions from other members of the board. You're at 9 plus 1, right? So your first habitable floor is at 10 feet, right? Correct. Okay. So you're going with minimum. That's what Florida Building Code requires.

Florida Building Code requires 9.67. This base flood elevation is 8 plus 1.68, so that brings up to requirement of 9.67. We bump it up to 10.

Because the Florida building code, I think, requires the minimum that FEMA tells you, plus 1, right? That's correct, yeah.

Is that consistent with your understanding? Yes, but the thing is that here the base flood elevation based on FEMA is 8. So the one foot above, but with the conversion of NGBD to NDBD, then it gives you the 168. It's still the same. It's still the same. It's still the same thing. It's the one foot freeboard.

Yeah. So you got the minimum one foot freeboard. Yes. And you know you're allowed more, right? But you didn't want to consider more than that, right?

No, we already, I mean, with that elevation, we're already five feet higher than the street. Okay. We raise it up because we want to take advantage of the views and everything, but it's already going higher. It will just increment the price tremendously.

Right. So are you having to fill the site? Yes. So you're providing retention walls? Correct. Correct. I see, because on one side you have the easement, which, you know, your retention wall has to be outside of the easement, right? Because in the easement you cannot build any kind of structure. Correct. You can only put soft landscaping elements, right?

So we have to the south, we have setback five feet and put a retention wall, and same to the west, five feet setback and retention wall.

So you're transitioning from the street at about 4 something, 4.4, something like that, up to your parking areas, then into your house. Okay. You mentioned you had artificial turf somewhere. Could you?

That's only for the driveway. We have concrete pads, and between the pads is going to be a space of three to four inches. So that's going to be filled with artificial grass.

I thought that that was not allowed by code. Let's clarify. The artificial grass, in that regard, it is allowed because it's not being used for pervious purposes. It's ornamental. You could put artificial grass or you could put marble pieces. It could be full concrete. Full concrete. That's just architectural design of them. But the thing is that on Chapter 18A, it does not allow you to use the green area that is required by the 18A as artificial turf.

Interesting. Okay. Okay. You don't have sections in your presentation, so I wish you did. You only have four elevations, no sections. So I'm just curious. Okay, this is really not, it's more of an internal question for your interiors. You do have drop ceilings, right? Yes, correct. You're showing your sliders going all the way up to what appears to be the ceiling height, but we know that you're probably going to have more of a drop internally, but we don't know how that may affect your window systems.

Well, actually, in this one, you see the exterior soffit. On the front of where the balcony is, we have 14 inches. That slopes up.

Yeah, but your slab is going to be probably nine inches or something like that, right? Ten inches. Ten inches. So you've got like four inches to work with. That's not enough for mechanical duct work and things like that, right?

We have 13 inches to work with. The thing is the balcony extends nine feet into the outside. Right. So when it's a slope up one quarter foot, it gives us five inches higher. Then the second floor windows, we're going to set them two inches below the slab of the second floor to prevent water infiltration. And the seal of the window is four inches. So you give us the two inches below.

Yeah, but that whole window system that you have, the slider system, which is very nice going up to the bottom of your terrace.

Yes.

I'm just saying how is that potentially impacted when you drop the ceiling in the inside of the house? You know, it may not impact it. You may have some kind of transition there.

I can show you. It's not part of the presentation. We have the sections here.

We don't have minimum criteria for the drawings that they submit for these projects that requires building sections.

The thing is it's never been required. It's only exterior.

Got it. So building sections are not required?

Yeah, building sections.

Let's take a look at those sections. Okay. 10 inches left. Then we have 13 inches to go.

The 13 includes the framing for your ceiling? I mean, look, it's...

This is what you're looking for? Yeah. Which you don't see on the rendering. Right. It's not flush. Right.

Yeah, there is a drop inside, behind the glass, and you don't see on the rendering because it's behind the glass.

Right.

And the ground floor...

Very well. You saw that? Okay. Looks tight.

What's your floor to ceiling height on each floor?

First floor is 12 feet. Second floor is 10 feet. Let's see.

Okay, another technical question. So on your roof plan, you show a five-foot, I believe a 60-inch parapet between your barbecue and your mechanical equipment. But then that five-foot, I don't see it reflected on the facades because my understanding is that the village counts a parapet as part of the height of the building. Is that correct, Mr. Official?

But since the building, that building could be 30 feet high.

So they have the height volume to do the five foot.

And he has 22 feet between the first floor, 12 feet, the second floor, 10 feet.

Yes.

So he has 22 feet, no more than 25 feet with the structure and everything.

Correct.

So then he has up to 30 feet, so he could go five feet on that height. Okay.

I'm sorry, but the 12 feet is clear height, right? So you have to add the structural.

12 feet clear plus two structure is 14, plus 10 is 24, plus two is 26. That's our structure.

So you have four additional feet.

Right. I'm looking at your elevation here, which is a good way to figure this out, right? So your total height is noted as 30 feet. And then the top of your roof, by the way, sometimes when you sort of reduce the size of these files, it gets pixelated and we can't read the numbers, okay? Just something to look at because there's a lot of line weight stuff that drives us crazy. So we're seeing two feet here and... You know, I'm just not getting how you get to have... I mean, I like the idea of a five-foot wall that separates your terrace, but since we don't really have a cross-section through this, you know, having a hard time understanding how that works.

Yeah, the five-foot will put us one foot higher than the 30, definitely. So... We'll need something... That if it's not allowed, we can maybe do a fence or a shrub or something.

Yeah, just be looking at it because, you know, this first run, like zoning reviews it for this, but then you're going to review it for building permits and you may have something that comes up there, you know. Sure. So that's just sort of...

Mr. Chair, just to add to that, you do have a standard condition that the zoning review is only preliminary, and so you will have to show that you meet the height limit before you get the building permit. So if there's a gap there, you may as well encounter it and solve it now and not be held up later.

One of the challenges for us in these projects in Ball Harbor here is that the mechanical equipment, right, you're putting on the rooftop, which is nice because it liberates the side yards and all that, right? But then they become potentially... an element on top of your building.

Yeah.

And right now, these joints are kind of saying they're behind this sort of 42-inch parapet. Sometimes these equipments are a little bit higher than 42 inches. So, you know, just look at that so that your building maintains the sort of very clean look that it has. Okay. And I think those are all my questions at the moment. Oh, wait. So you got planters, you got live planters on the rooftop, right? yes okay yeah that's something that you know it's not a condition that you have to plant them like that i mean you could decide to remove those sometimes we're getting clients and saying look you know we don't want to be living our hedonistic life here and worrying about maintaining plants on the rooftop because then the gardener has to go up there i lose privacy and it's a maintenance concern so we end up losing sometimes some of these beautiful upper-level terrace landscaping, let's say. So that's just something that may happen, but it's beautiful to have it, I think. And all your green walls that you're showing in your renderings, I don't necessarily see them in the landscape plans, but those are intended to be real-life green walls.

Yes, it's a marsh. It's real life, but it doesn't require water. It doesn't require any maintenance. It gets it from there. How does it happen? I don't know, but they come with this product. It looks installation and maintenance free because you don't need to wire it down, and it looks real.

The only other comment I'll make is the fact that your approach into the parking is on a 14-foot driveway, right, for two cars. And, you know, we find sometimes that those are tight maneuvering conditions to get the two cars in and out. I mean, it's nice the way you've done it, right, because it's on the side. It kind of disappears. I'm just sort of saying you don't have like the type of car movement studies that would confirm that that works, right? So that's just a comment and then that's it. I open for more comments or questions from the board.

My comment is exactly that. You stole my thunder. I'm sorry. It's the parking. How is the 14 feet? Is that allowed by code? It says the garage not being visible from the street.

However. Use the garage as something that it's operable garage door.

But the parking code, parking requirement for backing up. is at least, I don't know this city, but at least 20 feet. Or 22 in this city? 22 feet. So how can that not be applied to this? Because that doesn't work. You know that 14 feet is not going to work.

The point is, our zoning code requires it to have two parking spaces. And he has it on the driveway.

So how you get him in or get him out, it doesn't matter to the code?

He has a driveway.

Yeah, but the garage does not work.

Yeah, it's a narrow lot. This is one of the most narrow lot that we have in this village.

Right. They drive it up, then they pick it up, they rotate it, and then they back it in. That works. That works. It's just not illustrated here. I don't think it's codified. I mean, the driveway approach into a garage condition like that, I don't think it's codified. So the code is kind of silent. So this is permissible in that sense. I don't know that it's functional.

In other municipalities, that backup, even in residential, All the municipalities that we work, and they tell you, no, you need to have 18 feet. So I'm just very surprised that this code doesn't have that. Because there's no way you get two cars in there. You might be able to get one car in there. You know, you maneuver, you'll get one car. At an angle. Mr.

Chair, again, the condition says preliminary review as to zoning code compliance. You could certainly make these comments as part of your motion and then put that task back on to the building official to make sure that those calculations and distances are confirmed for full compliance with village code prior to building permit issuance.

We had this conversation in the past with other projects, and my understanding is that because there is nothing specific in the code disallowing that, it goes. Because there was a few ones that we had this conversation.

We approved the house, not... I don't know, maybe a year ago, that you actually enter from the main facade, from the front, and you remember that house, right? But they had the width to back up. This one doesn't have the width. The front court in that house is wider. This house can easily, it has no windows in the front. You can easily turn that into another room.

Yeah.

Because as I say, yeah.

Well, that one is, the garage is two feet and a half lower than the house. So really, you know.

The code does require to have a garage. All single family.

Yeah, so eventually if they do it, they'll do it illegally and then they're going to try to, I guess, not working.

It doesn't mean that it's a garage.

Yeah, so what's missing the code is that they are required to have a garage with an accessible driveway to the garage, right?

Eventually they have a garage. Could they drive two cars in the garage? That's the concern. And you understand the concern.

Before my time, there's a house in Balbae that basically only a bike could go in. Right. Before my time. And it just got finaled out in the last two years. That was built before...

i arrived here and then that's the way and i questioned it and then we couldn't find a section of the code where it governs it so that yeah that will i guess we could put that in as a friendly uh note to to be careful with that because you know zoning still hasn't concluded a hundred percent in the review you get a preliminary review you know to be here with us so that that's a functional that's more of a functional concern so any other functional concern

No, no. Other than that, I think you've done a great job. I mean, your package is, with the exception of lacking section, I think it's a great package. You've done a great presentation. You have all the houses. It's a good house. Thank you. Except no garage.

Being the third one to speak, I think the two of them stole my thunder, but that's okay. I'll bring something new to the conversation. On the rooftop, you have all your AC units there, and you have only this four-foot wall now separating your C units to your outdoor kitchen, summer kitchen. And when those four AC units are running and somebody is trying to have a party up there, it won't be funny. So just something to think about on the noise control of having those four AC units running next to your barbecue area and entertaining your friends there. It's going to be a little complicated. Just a friendly note.

Yeah, you just have to turn the music up. Yeah. Which then the neighbors won't appreciate. Right, yeah. There's a noise ordinance in the village.

Yeah, so I know maybe if there is another way you can rearrange things, so at least you can separate them a little bit more, that would be a little helpful. But I understand that you cannot raise the wall more to block more of the noise, so you're kind of stuck in there. But it's something to evaluate.

Okay. Yeah.

Commercial buildings where we've put sound dampening blankets for AC equipment, they make that. I don't know if it would be appropriate here, but it could be a solution.

Yeah, because, look, you have limited areas to put this equipment, right? So we've had neighbors here concerned that you're putting equipment right next to them on the ground floor and then the noise is going to carry over to their home. So that's a concern. Or you put it on your own bedrooms on the second floor, and that's a concern because your bedrooms are going to have now the noise of these condensing units. So the least, you know, insulting condition for many reasons is a rooftop, right? So I think that that was your assessment, which, you know, guilty of thinking similarly to that many times. But then you have the issue if you want to be up there having a nice glass of wine, you know, you're going to have condensing units creating some environmental sound for you. And so I don't know that. You know, that environmental sound is not part of our scope of review, but we're just giving you some friendly advice because, you know, we have all these, I guess we have a lot of experience sitting here and wanting to give you good feedback. But, you know, I think as Jose has already represented, you know, the house is very, very nicely designed. I mean, of course... The aluminum cladding solution is one that we see a lot because also these clients, whoever ends up living in this house doesn't want to be doing the maintenance of real wood, right? So it's always, we live in this world of aluminum cladding that looks like wood. And all of us here seem to have gone to the same therapy session I went to about real wood not being real nowadays. It's just artificial aluminum stuff, very durable, more cost-effective.

We have the owner here, which, I mean, he likes the idea of not maintaining the head.

There you go. Nobody wants to be living in paradise and maintaining natural wood. So we're not in Brazil. You know, in Brazil perhaps, but not in South Florida. So the materiality of your project is quite nice. Now I wanted to ask you about that travertine idea, right? So the sample that you pass around for travertine, The travertine sample is paper thin. It's almost like, you know, less than a quarter inch. So is it a natural travertine or is it a porcelain that looks like travertine? It's a porcelain that looks like travertine. It's a porcelain. Yes. Correct. All right. Yeah, because I think that's another thing that we should be requiring is that the real material is specified clearly with more specificity, you know, as part of these things when you review for compliance with, I think materiality is so important in how it performs, right? You know, this is going to be applied, of course, with like an adhesive to the concrete, right? Correct. And there should be detailing of that. In my opinion, you know, we should require the detailing of any kind of veneer application because it, you know, it's part of the analysis here is who's going to perform, not perform, because you've got a beautiful idea. But, you know, you're cladding basically everything that otherwise in South Florida would be just white stucco. Correct. You're doing with a beautiful travertine porcelain. So, in my opinion, I should have said porcelain that looks like travertine. again it's perfectly fine it's just the way it performs you know so what we find with that you know because you know we all have i guess too much experience is that the water gets behind that porcelain and it starts to create issues long term doesn't happen on the first year maybe not in the second year but eventually the water does get behind that porcelain So, you know, what I've learned is that I try to do a mechanical attachment of any veneer to the facade, but that's a different detail than this. It requires more dimension, and it kind of changes the proportion of your elements, which right now are very well proportioned, right? So that's a concern, right? Because as we know, in these minimalist homes, God is in the details. No matter what religion you have, you know, God is in the details, and you've got to follow up on those details. Your railing system is draining to the edge. So you're going to get all that water that comes through those terraces dripping down that edge. Eventually, it won't look as nice as you're wondering. These are all things that we all live with here. I mean, if this were a project in Europe, you know, you probably have internal drains and you're capturing that water before it drains off the edge.

I think I have that in here. Maybe.

What? Internal drains? Yes. On the terraces? Yes.

On the terrace, yeah.

Yeah, on the terraces? Okay.

Well, two things, because obviously when there's rain, it becomes like a waterfall. Right. We didn't want that to become, because it gets dirty.

So you're doing internal drains in your terraces, and you've accounted for that, and you've got the ability of bringing those pipes down in these very transparent facades.

Yeah, we thought about that, because it's nice when you, I mean, even if you're out there, you know, you're sitting there, you don't have this rainfall in it. Yeah, in the back. And in the front, we have the main access, so if you're going through the door, you don't have this.

Yeah, capturing that water up there is a good idea.

You have to do it also on the roof, right? Oh, yeah, the roof has got drainage towards the middle.

If you have your glass railings attached to the concrete slab, you need to have internal drains because otherwise there is no way the water that falls into the terrace will drain, right?

Correct, yeah. Very well. Well, so some feedback from us. Any other comments, suggestions? Motion?

I like it. On the south of the first floor, it was just blurry on the site plan, but there's a pad south of the cabana bath. Is that the garbage bins or pool equipment?

Yes, correct. Let me see if I can put it here. Site plan. Down the front, in the lower part to the right. Lower part of the plant to the right. That's the, this doesn't work, so.

Yes, and we have a landscape architect that's on Zoom with us today, a member of the board. Nathan, do you have any comments on this project?

Not in terms of the landscape. My only comment was actually going to be the same as David's about the 2'6 by 8' pool equipment area that he's calling attention to. I think you're going to be challenged to get a pool heater in there. unless it's electric or propane. There's not going to be enough heat exchange for that to be like the typical heat pump system in that small space, in that confined space. Even if you have a lot of airflow, it will never heat the pool.

So we have a nine foot by three and a half, I believe, is our space in total. The front is louver doors. They're going to be the same aluminum, but they're going to be all open louver doors.

So what he's saying is based on experience, that's going to get really hot in there and you don't have enough ventilation.

The opposite. It needs hot air to draw to deposit that into the pool, so there's not enough of a heat source within that confined space, has been my experience. Even with louvers, it's hard to do. The interior dimension is 2'6". So if possible, I would just caution you that you might end up with a propane or electric pool heater, which is the propane is not costly in terms of operation, but the electric is going to be immense operationally.

We're looking to go with the gas, natural gas.

That will work fine then.

That should be no issue.

Okay. Yeah, you have natural gas service in this site.

Yes. It's not actually to the property, but we already contacted the TECO company. They can bring it to you. They can bring it to us, no problem.

That's a good thing. More environmentally friendly and sustainable, so we like that. Okay, so we were considering a motion with some condition or some friendly suggestions. Jose, you want to draft a condition of approval concerning the parking or the driveway or no?

I mean, it's just a concern, but there's nothing that can be done.

I guess it's more like a note, you know, a friendly note from us that you should look at that because it may affect your final permitting review later on, you know, just because of the 14 feet, you know. Does that have to be officially in the record of our decisions?

Well, it's in the record as a comment. It sounds like it's not a condition that you're making as a condition of your recommendation of approval or your actual approval.

Well, I don't think we can make it a condition because it's not correct.

That's what I'm hearing from staff. It's not codified. It hasn't been interpreted in the past to require that. That's what I'm hearing.

Right. So we like the fact that the garage is sort of on the side. It's kind of discreet. It's not frontal. Right. But it's a more European, like, you know, anytime you drive in a European city, you realize that we just have too much paving here, you know? It's not functional. Everything is tight. It is. It's not functional. A European driver will get two cars in there, no problem. It's got a mini car.

But they have all those little tiny Fiat's that can fit in there, right? Not all the Fiat's that we have in here.

Right, right. Depends on the vehicle, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that makes a difference. So to make a motion, I'll make a motion to approve with all the building officials' comments.

Yes. Is there a second? Second. Second, okay. All those in favor to approve, say aye. Aye. So Nathan? Aye. Okay, so we have five votes from five members. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cabeza. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. All right, so we're having too much fun. We basically, there's no public comment.

I have a motion to adjourn. Good question for you guys. We have, your terms are going to be ending in December, and we will, I'll be asking you, well, I can ask you now, are you interested in continuing on?

Well, I don't know if it's more appropriate to ask that in an email.

I could do it in an email, for sure.

Yeah? I mean, you guys prefer to receive an email and give it some thought? Yeah? Right.

Yes, we just had an election, so they reappoint the boards. Okay.

Every two years, you're reappointed. So I'll send an email. Okay.

So whoever wants to stay can ask to reappoint, and then you can reappoint.

Correct. I think so. Yeah, makes sense.

Most often, we're just trying to find enough people to fill, but maybe we'll have the luxury of choice. We'll see.

All right. This is a popular position, it seems. All right. Motion to adjourn. Thank you, guys. We'll see you next month. There's a December meeting. Yeah? Okay.

Recording stopped.

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