Planning and Zoning Board - Regular Meeting

The date is March 12th, 2026. The time is approximately 6:30 p.m. If anyone wish to speak on agenda item, please complete a public comment card and give it to the planning and zoning staff prior to the board discussion and before the public comment section is announced. In no event will anyone be allowed to submit a comment card to speak on agenda item after the title of the item is read or considered. The total time allotted for each member of the public to comment on each item is three minutes. Please be reminded that the planning and zoning board is committed to civility and decorum by members of the public who attend this meeting. Let's start off with a moment of silence and the board will lead with the pledge of allegiance. [cough] [clears throat]

I pledge allegiance 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. May have a roll call, please. Board member Joseph, present. Board member Stringer, present. Board member Williams, present. Board member Burgess, present. Board member Davis, present. Board member Gallen, here. Board member Brown present. Vice Chair Fernandez present. Chair Wy

present. You have you have unanimous vote. Chair. You have a quorum. I'm sorry. Thank you. Uh do you have acknowledgement of any board member absentee notifications? No sir, Mr. Chair, everybody's here tonight. Full house. Good. Um any acknowledgement of any board member vacant positions? Yes sir, Mr. Chair. We have a vacant position for the alternate district 2. On to section three. Are there any additions or deletions to the agenda? None from staff, Mr. Chair. Right. Number four. Do we have any disclosure by any board members?

And can we get the adoption of the agenda? So move. Second. It has been properly moved and second. Chair, are we ready for the vote? Yes. Board member Vurgess, yes. Board member Williams, yes. Board member Stringer, yes. Vice Chair Fernandez, yes. Chair Wy, yes. Unanimous vote. Chair. All right. Can we get approval of minutes? We have no minutes, sir. That is correct, Vice Chair. On the number six, unfinished business. None, Mr. Chair.

And before we get on to new business, um I would like to acknowledge that we have some um very important people in the crowd tonight, our leadership academy, and I would like to have Mrs. Lucy Joseph, who is part of that, to go ahead and announce some of her members and have them come up and announce themselves.

Thank you, Chair. Um, good evening board members. It is the honor and privilege to um share today that I'm participating in the citizens leadership academy this year and my class is here to join us tonight for our planning and zoning meeting. Um, so we have this will be our fifth session. Um, so we've had an opportunity to hear from our police department, utilities department, um, finance, um, the CRA and HR. So it's been a great learning experience and we're happy to be here. So, I'll allow the rest of my class to introduce themselves. Don't be shy. Nobody go up at once. [laughter] Let everyone go up at once.

I'll bring it to you. It'll be quicker. I I'll pass it around. Ty Spence, Joseph Bedford, Senior, Nicole Young, Mainline Nursing Services, Inc. Vanessa Nosent, Dr. Latoya Newbie Ununice Terrell

Deatress Lindsay Esquire Aziza De Gail Captain Robert Silva Tia Carter

Gloria Harris with Firebush Nonprofit Michael Jimpy. And we also like to acknowledge that we have our great city manager here in the building also, Mr. Jonathan Evans. And thanks again for your dedication um to the city of River Beach. All right, let's go on to new business. No new business, Mr. Chair, only our workshop item.

Let's go ahead and start new items. Mr. Chair, um as mentioned at previous meetings, uh we know um as staff that we're here to support you in your responsibility to advise the city council as it relates to planning and zoning uh matters. Uh with the recent appointment session from city council, we have additional four new board members and some of you have been serving for quite some time. So we believe it ripe to uh embark on the training series that we're currently in the middle of to make sure everyone understands all aspects of the types of items that you will be weighing in on um as advisory board members. And so uh tonight we are uh going forward with the second installment where we will get into a little more detail on the types of applications and terminology uh that you hear regularly as we present different development projects to you. U so as uh previous in the last uh training session uh principal planner Mr. Curtis Thompson will be leading the way uh to get a little more granular in the types of things that we discuss and that we uh evaluate for planning and zoning. So without further ado, Mr. Thompson, the floor is yours.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Everybody has a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, I assume? Yes.

Good. Okay. So, let's get started. This is the basic table of contents that you see here that we're going to be going through. I have a number of slides, so I want to be able to move efficiently. I don't want to go too fast, but I don't want to linger either. Um, so I'm sure as we go along, you'll have questions, but as always, I always like to do the presentation and answer your questions uh afterwards, but however the board wants to do this uh but I just want to take it forward and see where we go. So there you have the 10 the uh eight items and I'm going to start off with the very first one which is the future uh land use map or the flume. Future land use map is a key component of a comprehensive plan that visually designates the long-term preferred and plan development patterns for land within a jurisdiction. Typically it covers a 5 to 20 year period. It acts as a policy guide for growth outlining allow uses density and intensity. It is not a legal b binding zoning map because we have a separate zoning map. Essentially in a in a few words the land use map is the comprehensive plan in a geographical format that you see there. Second, the land use map uh change amendment. Okay. So, what is a land use map change amendment? A future land use map amendment is a formal legislative process to change the designated future use or development intensity of a property within a municipality's comprehensive plan. In this case, the River Beach comp plan [clears throat] aptly titled River Beach 2040. It

requires submitting an application, paying fees, and undergoing public hearings to ensure consistency with local planning goals and infrastructure capacity. Common types include smallcale amendments, usually under 10 acres, and large scale, which is usually more than 10 acres. There are ex they're expedited for state mandate changes or comprehensive plan text amendments to amend long-term city policy. Large scale map amendments and text amendments require approval by the state department of commerce when we have uh well when there are large scale amendments smallcale amendments do not amendments do not have to go to the state as all of you have seen we've we have done text amendments and we have done a couple of reasonzoning map reszoning map amendments u over the past year or so. So, we have been very busy and since uh I've had the privilege to work for the city and and to be hired by Mr. by Mr. Evans and Mr. Surmans. Uh I've been able we've been able we've been very busy and we're going to continue to be very busy in the near future. Three, zoning map amendments. A zoning map amendment or reszoning is an official change to the designated zoning district of a specific property or area on a municipality's official zoning map. It alters the allowed land uses, for example, residential to commercial and density requirements for that land. It requires a public hearing review by planning staff and planning board, which is all of you, and approval by a governing body such as the city council or board of county commissioners. In this case, it would be the city council. And what you have there in the graphic is a is a showing although on a mineral form is a showing of the zoning uh the

basically the zoning map for the city of Riviera Beach. Site plan review. This something that we all that you all have done quite a bit of. A site plan review is a municipal planning process that examines detailed drawing plans for new construction or major renovations to ensure they comply with local zoning codes, land development regulations, and environmental standards. It typically involves city staff reviewing site layout, parking, drainage, and landscaping before the issuance of permits. Uh I the purpose to verify that proposed developments met city regulations mitigate potential negative impacts on neighbors and ensure functional design when it's required usually required for commercial industrial institutional or multifamily residential projects oftentimes like four rolling units or greater it is commonly a required step before obtaining a a building permit. Uh I I like to take out that word commonly. It is required prior to a step before a building permit even administrative uh site plan reviews which is reviewed internally by uh the development services department requires a site plan can review what is being reviewed. I'm sure all of you noticed that we look at setbacks, height, and footprint. Infrastructure and access. We look at driveways, parking, traffic impact, and utilities. And then environmental and site features, we look at drainage, grading, landscaping, and tree preservation. And as some of you have known, I know Miss Miss Stringanger has asked me from time to time about environmental impacts. That's going to be coming up soon. Well, actually, we're

here. We're going to be looking at environmental impacts, uh, as well as all other issu all other issues. I have some experience with environmental impacts, uh, Miss Stringer because I was a part of an environmental assessment process when I lived in Washington State. Uh, the environment environmental impact assessment is the process that be that is the review. The environmental impact statement, EIS, is the actual document that derives from an environmental impact analysis. And then there are different things that you go through. Okay, I'm going to keep going here. Pull your mic. Your mic closer. Mic. Your mic. Pull it closer. Closer.

Thank you, sir. Can everybody hear me better? Okay. I'm sorry. [laughter] I apologize. Uh the process usually involves a pre-application meeting, formal submission of plans, review of city department such as planning, city engineer, fire, the police department such as the two officers sitting in the back particularly um the I can't remember what is Phillips.

Miss Phillips thank officer Phillips is a part of that review process. She's helped me out on a couple projects. Thank you. Mel, moving on. Special exceptions and PUDs. A special exception, also known as a conditional use permit. In other places where I work, special exceptions will call conditional use permits. Here, each city is different. Here, PUDs are part of that. Let me move further. It is a land use permitted in a specific zoning district only if it meets specific predetermined criteria and receives approval from a zoning board or a planning and zoning board such as yourselves. It allows for uses that might fit in an area but require careful review for compatibility such as schools, churches, hospitals, and residents, excuse me, and residential zones. Key aspects of a special exception. The approval process requires a public hearing and approval often by a board of zoning appeals or planning and zoning board and then ultimately the city council to ensure the use will not adversely impact the public interest conditions. The approval the approving body can attach conditions for the approval to mitigate impacts on traffic noise or property value. As all of you know, uh, site plan approval, we through resolutions, we've always tacked on, uh, con conditions of approval, uh, and has a a a great example is the one that Mr. Fern Mr. Fernandez has always in included where, uh, we try to encourage a developer to um, use local uh, local citizens and projects. So, that's an example of of a condition of approval. The other courses involves landscaping site specific. The applicant must submit a detailed site plan for review.

Now there here's an example of specific conditions of review for special exceptions. I won't go through all of them, but these these six are typically you'll find and just about every uh resol site plan resolution for conditions of approval. these condition all every application resolution staff report goes through Mr. Evans and Mr. Scott Evans and then Mr. Sur before it comes to you to before all of you or before it even goes to city council. This is the part where I wanted to make sure you all had your own uh uh copy of this of this presentation. So this way you can look at it and take home look at it and at some point have questions we can go over them. Continue on with special exceptions the legal basis they are in effect.

Mr. Thompson if I could just jump in on that previous slide you were on. Yes sir. Please.

I I did want to point out to the board members uh the conditions that was on the previous slide. Um we have six standard conditions that um we apply to every project related to when they must start and complete construction. Uh the certificate of occupancy bonds for things like landscaping. Uh but for uh projects that are more complicated or have moving parts or that they are promising additional things to the city, the list of conditions is one of the u most uh influential places where this board can add additional conditions that you are recommending to council to um create certain um obligations uh that the developer um may be compelled to agree to um or or negotiate with the city to bring additional um amenities, a community benefits and things like that to the project. Now, there is a um a box that we have to stay in in terms of making sure that anything requested is relevant to the project and development codes and legal will of course jump in if we go too far out of bounds with that kind of thing. Um but the list of conditions for a project um essentially becomes the contract between uh that developer and the city and any um obligations that they have through the development process. So that is an important aspect of any um project when we go through those conditions. Um making sure we have them right and everything is included and and um some of you are very familiar with adding certain conditions uh that are important to this body for when the project is forwarded to city council. So I just wanted to point that out um because that is one of the areas where this board is very influential.

Okay, any questions yet from the board? [clears throat] Let me keep moving. Do you want to chair? You want us to ask questions now or to later because I wasn't for sure you Okay. [clears throat] Well, I don't want to I don't want to be too um tight, but sure. Go ahead. Well, let me ask this and chair. If we have a list of questions, is it best to just email them to you? But I'm just thinking maybe some of the questions I may have the residents or audience that's here may have may

it would be I think the best way to email it to me often and then I can try to respond to you. I will respond to you via email. Oftentimes this allows me time to consult with Mr. Scott Evans the assistant director or Mr. Surmans himself the director. Um, I want to make sure that when we get a question from the board that staff, all sta, you know, the management level of the sta of staff is involved so I can make sure you get the best possible response uh that we can give. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Thompson, just a quick question. We may all have that same question. Can you answer her question and send it to all of us?

Mr. Sherman, is that that's not a problem? Yes ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Okay.

Okay. Moving on to the I was in the legal basis. Um it's a legislative finding that a certain use is in harmony with the general zoning plan provided it meets with it meets the stipulated conditions. Now, plan unit developments. P uh PUDS in Florida is a specialized master plan zoning designation combining residential, commercial, and recreational spaces in one community. Unlike traditional subdivisions, PDS allow for flexible, higher density design requiring mandatory uh homeowners association or HOA membership and fees for shared amenities. residents typically own their home and the land beneath it. Now, the difference with condo with condominiums is that while both often have HOAs, uh PUB owners usually own the land in the roof, whereas uh condo owners typically only own the interior space of their unit. Key characteristics of Florida PUDS as you can see there uh is ownership amenities HOA govern zoning flexibility and and of course the difference between from between condos and uh individual home ownership. Okay. density and floor area ratio or also known as F. Density means the total number of residents or dwelling units per acres of land. Uh density zoning is a land use planning tool that dictates the maximum number of dwelling units or allowed for area ratio per acre to regulate the intensity of the development. that guides grow urban

growth, manages infrastructure strain and is used to incentivize such as affordable housing and workforce housing programs. Okay. And key aspects of density zoning is f follows. So there is measurement is usually defined as dwelling units per acre. You have the purpose which is outlined there. You have components. Uh you have density incentives and then you have impact on the value of property. Uh typically um while traditionally low density was is was preferred, some studies show that upzoning or increase in allowable density can significantly increase property values particularly in high demand urban areas. I think you know such as maybe single island area where you have up very high density but you also have u I would say pretty expensive uh housing there

chair if I may please. Yes. Okay. I I do want to ask this question because I think a lot of times because we know the information or we meaning staff that we just assume the residents will know it. Can you literally give a a layman's term or an example not term but an example of you know how density plays in in part of that because people are watching and people are here just just so you'll know we're not just skimming through everything.

Okay. Well, okay. Density, let me just give you like an example. I'll use the RM20 zoning district. The RM20 zoning district is 20 dwelling units per acre. Okay? And typically that is the highest density zoning district in this city. But in actuality, there's a caveat there because you only get to 20 units per acre when you apply for that's like that's a bonus. The S3 units are a bonus. If you're going to apply for a what is called a inlet harbor center PUD or a PUD and if you're going to go through the MIHOP or the minority uh minority employment and housing opportunity plan and there are bonuses within that within that process allows you to get up to those 20 those 20 units an acre. If you do not desire to go through that bonus situation, then the fact then the bottom fact of the matter is that you only getting qualified for 17 dwelling units per acre.

Mr. Surm, you want to give any additional comment that um that is accurate. Um and so for example, if you own a 2 acre property

Yes. and the density is 17 units per acre, you can have a maximum of 34 units on that property. And uh that is one of the things that we check for uh in the planning and zoning department to make sure any project that comes through the city um they are within the bounds of the code which is approved and and passed by city council and we are just the administrator of their laws. And density is one of the first limitations that you have in zoning regulations of how you can develop your property. One of the first is use, which Mr. Thompson covered. When it comes to what zoning districts are where based on a zoning district, that tells you what use you can have. Then your density tells you how um how intense that development can be. So if it's residential, the zoning district says 17 units per acre, um that's your limitation. And uh that's how it it comes together to make sure that um there is some a certain level of um expectation for how our city will be built out and what's the maximum amount of persons and and uh uses we can have in certain places.

Thank you. Because I I just think chair if I can follow up. I just think that's important because a lot of times residents have you know complaints or feedback and and it's just because they they don't understand that it's not our laws. It's not ours. is also govern and go by and that's I wanted to make sure we brought that up. Thank you so much. Yes, Mr. Sman, could you explain how the CRA development or CRA would defer from regular development or do they have to stick to the density and height?

Yes, the uh the CRA is the uh community redevelopment agency. I believe it's the A. uh they are a state um allowed reinvestment district that exists in many cities across the state. The state has to approve them. Um but what they allow is that for a certain boundary within the city and our CRA is primarily the Broadway corridor um and uh the the areas near the waterfront and Blue Heron. Um within that boundary there is a goal to redevelop and get rid of slum and blight. To do that the CRA has its own um is its own governing organization and they are able to receive the tax increment of the district. So the property value goes up below above the date when it was established that additional tax revenue go to the CRA for them to reinvest in that area of the city. So they have their own master plan, goals and object objectives to get rid of slum and blight. They do not have their own land development regulations. That authority stays with the city. So we still control the zoning districts, the regulations in that area. However, when a project is proposed for the CRA, um after you all provide your recommendation on it, it goes to the CRA board and they uh their staff and that board reviews the project for consistency with the CRA master plan. And so they in addition to your recommendation, the CRA provides a recommendation to city council and city council still has the final say as to um whether they're going to approve or deny or or approve with conditions. Uh but the development regulations stay with the city. The CRA does have um many goals and plans and um aspirations for how different areas of the CRA should be built out and they weigh in as to

whether development is consistent with their plan. But the the zoning density setbacks all of those uh typical um and hard regulations of how you can develop the site that remains with the city. So chair, [clears throat] so basically if I'm a developer in a CRA area and I got one acre, I can build 17 units. So why would I even entertain a 34 story or 20 story plus building with more than 17 units

if they're well so so a developer is going to try to maximize profits and so so they are going to try to get as much as they can um out of a property to um to maximize their profits and um and of course people who want to rest invest in the city of Riviera Beach we're interested in as that as well. We don't want properties to sit vacant and underdeveloped and you know attracting uh nuisances. Um and a developer of course they're going to try to maximize their opportunity with the property uh they own. And there are certain things such as what was just described the special exception. That is a type of land use approval where in some cases, especially with our PUDs, which are special exceptions, where a developer will say, um, the base zoning for this property is 17 units per acre, but this PUD allows me to get F, which allows me to build much higher and more dense and more profitably. In those situations, staff is responsible for reviewing the application. um determining if it meets the criteria for the PUD, packaging that information and presenting it to you for a recommendation. Um we are not offended by a developer trying to maximize profits, but we have a a responsibility to balance what the code allows, what the comprehensive plan says is appropriate for an area, what citizens may tell us. they they may write to us via emails. They may show up at meetings like this and give us feedback on whether they want or think that uh proposed development is appropriate for the area. Um so we take all of that into account into our staff reports and we present it to you, present it to the city council so that the decision makers can decide on that. But if our code allows it, then they can apply for it. If our code does not allow it, they

cannot apply for it. Uh so it does start with the land development code, those regulations. Uh at the end of the day, city council uh creates those um they direct us how to change them. Sometimes we have recommendations and say, "Hey, this is not functioning well with the development community or with our residents and uh we recommend considering this change or this is the state of planning or there's a new state law that says we can't do this or we need to do this with planning." So there's many reasons that codes are living and breathing and evolving uh organisms so to speak. Uh and so a co a code is not permanent but if if currently a code says that this is a optional application that can be applied for here they can do that. Um a property owner can also come in and say hey I don't like the zoning district I'm I'm assigned I request to be changed to this different zoning district that does allow more height and density and profitability to this property. And that's a homeowner's right as well. And so we respect the development community as property owners just like we would uh respect a resident here that comes in that says I want to change my windows. Uh and um here's my application to change windows. We have a responsibility to process all of those applications the same. Make sure you get your permits for windows. That's important too though. You don't want someone just changing those without inspections. But to answer your question

thank you. Thank you chair.

Okay. Okay, I'm moving moving right along to the floor area ratio or F. It is the measurement of a building's floor area in relation to the size of the lot or parcel that the building is located on. The F is expressed as a decimal number and is derived by dividing the total area of the building by the total area of the parcel as you see in that parenthesis. F is effective way to calculate the bulk and mass of building building volume on a development site and is often used in conjunction with other development standards such as building h building heights, lot coverage and lot area to encourage the community's desired arrangement and form of development. In this context, higher FS indicate greater building volume. And I have a such such as you see by this illustration here. You see the F as one. And so you can see how a building can spread out one story and cover the entire building. But you can also see in the next um in this one here, you can see where they go up a couple of stories and it's still F of one, but instead of covering the entire lot, it cover half the lot, but that second instead of this half being here, it's on top as a second story. And then you see here another uh option for the F of one where instead of of covering the whole lot or even a half a lot they now you now have four stories as you can see here like it's it's sort of like Mr. Wley, you're a teacher. So, it's sort of like this. You It's like a uh contra like division. You have a you have a a box and you divide it up into four parts and then you take each and

each part equals a floor. So, instead of going here or here, you you go here and go four stories up. Okay? And it's the same way. Uh F2, same thing except now you're doubling this. you're doubling the the allowable uh square footage instead of you can do two stories here and cover the whole lot or four stories or eight. The the difference is this though and I want and I'm getting right to it Mr. is there are setbacks, there's lot coverage requirements, there's landscaping requirements, and so you would I doubt that you you sell and see this type of thing here or here because there are other extraneous limitations that will limit a project looking like this or this. you more likely would see something like here or one of these two because of the setbacks landscaping requirements that are that all zoning codes maybe a few exceptions had in this zoning code with the city you couldn't very seldom would you be able to get this type of uh arrangement because one of the first things that we look at particularly myself is where's your setbacks where is your landscaping and only and there's a and the building can only cover so much property because there are drainage issues. Okay. And that's a very big important thing and that I've noticed in this state drainage is important because this Florida is a lowlying state so to speak and so drainage is very important particularly during storm season. Now here's the other part um Mr. As you seen here, you know there's you have 0.25 that represents one quarter. And so you have a entire property and

you take that box and you divide it into quarters. And so the F is 0.25 and that's usually how it's u expressed. So this is a 0.25 F. This is a 0.5 or F. As you can see, they can go up another floor or you will even see a like in the prior uh slide 0.5 could probably be half of the pro the lot here. Okay, here this is a F.75. This is what you would really would see because of the setbacks, block limits on building coverage, parking and landscaping. you will see something like like this schematic here. Another one you'll see is FR 1.25. You now have a fivestory building and that meets the 1.25. But you can see here this property left for parking, landscaping, things like that. And that's how mostly you have seen this type of layout for most projects. Okay. building height height of buildings means the vertical distance from the U I will not okay so let me just stop and just get right to it because I don't want to insult anybody's intelligence we all know what building height is okay so the key here is that u the minimum for 18 in above the crown of the That's that's usually a a building requirement. Uh because you you seldom will have a building being flush with the ground that's always going to be elevated some some degree of inches

simply because for flooding purposes if for no other reason. Uh the highest point of a flat roof. Here's a flat roof here. The deadline of a mansar roof. And there's a mansawar roof here. The a the or the average height between a eve and ridge of a gable or hip or hip and gamrell roof. Here's a gable. Here's a hip. And here's a gamrell roof. Okay. And you can see the A stands for height. How is measured? You see it goes up for the flat roof here for the gamrell. You see the height measured here. uh for the mansar here etc. This came right directly from the zoning code. Okay. Civic open space. Civic open spaces are maintained uh outdoor spaces uh which are accessible by the general public improve the pedestrian environment are aesthetically pleasing and serve as an amenity uh for the city as a whole as well as for occupants of the building which the open space serves. We all have dealt with civic open space on projects like Oculina uh 1117 South Broadway u even recently with the uh gallery at the Marina village or element 7 then there was element 8 u so we've all dealt with that uh that type of situation where you had civic open space as you all seen there's the amount on site is the requirement is that the floor is equal to 20% or more of the buildings and shall provide at least 5% of the size of the site as a civic open space. So always you see 5%

of the site for civic open space and you've seen me um uh well you seen staff not just myself but Mr. sermons and and with Scott Evans particularly. Scott has a degree of expertise on the civic open space because he's dealt with it a lot when he worked with the CRA. uh location uh civic open space may be provided either onsite or offsite provided the civic goen space is located within 660 ft of the building site uh within the same zoning district and within the CRA boundary. Here are the types of civic open spaces. You have the green which is about 2,000 square feet. You have a plaza which is at least 2,000 square feet and adjoins a street on or at least two sides. You have a playground which shall be at least 2500 square ft in size. The next slide, you have a square of at least 10,000 square feet that adjoins uh one or more streets or on at least three sides and an attached green. And here is an example of the civic open space. Um this is the green area here that you see. This one here is the plaza uh illustration. And here you have the playground where the playground is here. You have a square here where there's a mixture of landscaping and hardcape. But it's the whole intent here in every situation is to encourage the intersection between the public and the open space. And then

you have the attached green here which you have seen. And we're in fact we're recently working with an applicant on an attached green here uh to apply that. And then you have over here is is a waterfront green and by it title is simply that there is a a open space area adjacent to a water body. And here we go with with the uh with the MIHOP, the minority and housing opportunity plan. Uh we've we've dealt with that with uh Oalina and some other another other projects, but Oculina stands out. That is chapter 26 in the city's code of ordinances. It is although it's a planning um tool, it is not within the zoning code. It's a separate chapter but it is a part of the planning process here. Okay. It establishes regulations in an effort to decrease unemployment by encouraging the hiring of minorities and construction industry including minority business, skilled and non-skilled labor and professionals. Uh I don't mean to pick on anyone here but but Mr. uh Fernandez has mentioned that as a big- time concern in his if if I remember his phrase and quote me if I get it wrong Mr. Fernandez but he's looking out for his people our people and the people is the city of River Beach and so we try to look do the same thing we try to look out for you and this plan here the Mihop is an attempt to do just that with what Mr. Fernandinis has said when we created that condition that in in instances when a project does not qualify or apply for Miha that we have that particular condition of encouraging businesses to

look at citizens here in the city uh for employment and there is a list of Miha bonuses of which the next slide I will show to you. I'm really glad you all have your own copy because this can I think you can use this, you know, as a as a good tool. Thank you.

Here you have this is why I wanted to make sure you have your own copy because it's hard to read that particular graphic, but you will see here on the left hand side the zoning districts and on the right hand side you see the bonuses which people can apply for. Okay, the main one that has been used a lot here is the one at the very bottom, the IAPUD, which in the code currently the uh maximum height of a building is can only be 20 stories at 240 ft. With the use of the IAPUD, they can get an additional five stories or 60 feet. Okay. And the additional force are not included in the F calculations. This particular tool, ME planning tool, the ICPUD has been used at Octalina. It's been used at Broadway, I think of 1117 Broadway. Uh, yeah, Miss Burgers has been here a long time on the board and has been familiar with all kinds of different uh project scenarios. So, I'm sure you've seen it all. And so, this is what the Miha bonus stands for. Let me show you another one. This is the list again. You have on the left hand side, you have the zoning district, you have the base requirements, and then you have the bonus column, and then you have the maximum permitted with the bonus. Okay. Now, I'm going to skip over to the next. I've used ICPD because that's the one that I've used most since I've been here at the city. You see the IAPD here at the very bottom. Again, as you can see, the maximum height under the zoning district or on the RM20 is 20 floors, no higher than 240 ft. With the implementation of the Mihop,

they can get that extra 60 feet or 300 feet and no more than 25 floors or 300 feet. That's a very important one. I want to make sure everyone sees that I I look at you Miss Davis because often times the uh I was at we were at that meeting yes last yesterday I think it was 84. Yes ma'am. And there was uh the one lady spoke about 28 stories for a we haven't received anything on the that gateway project. Uh and they what they have submitted is not a complete application but this is they cannot go any higher than 25 floors and 300 feet in height.

So the previous application actually had it on their drawing that it was 28 stories. Say I'm sorry. the previous the applicant's previous application on the design that that we received actually had 28 stories on one of their um legends there on the side. And I can tell you it won't be if it if if it ever comes to before you, it will not be 28 stories because of right here. The new application says 25.

Yeah. They can only go to 25 stories or 300 ft. Okay, that's another reason why I'm glad you all have your own copy. It it if you pour my vernacular, it won't happen. It's got to it's got to be here. Okay. Number eight, and that is the principal arterial design. We have talked some about that, but uh Scott Evans is really familiar with the principal alterior design standards. I've used it some, but uh I'm going to start paying much more attention to it in the in the in the future. They're established for um the development along principal arterial roadways excluding all areas having a downtown district designation. the arterial design centers to ensure that such uses are compatible with other uses permitted in the same district and to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the community. Delineation of overlay districts. Um the River Beach principal overlay district shall be imposed. It's like you have the zoning district and then it's like this imaginary overlay that sits on top of the zoning district. uh and it's to be superimposed on all properties, only properties that are fronting on any of the following roads in the city. And you see that right here, uh Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Boulevard, President Barack Obama Highway, Blue Heron Boulevard, uh Broadway or also known as the Broadway Boulevard, uh 13th Street, uh Military Trail, Congress Avenue, and Australian Avenue. Okay.

Now, this is where we you where really this applies to all of you because you always come to the end of a project and now you have to you you have to make a motion a recommendation to city council. Okay? And it's usually one of four options that you have. The first one is you move the recommend to the city council to approve the project. It's a straight approval. And oftentimes that number one appears for ordinances because ordinances deal with like things like it's a legislative process. Things like reszonings and land use changes. And typically you won't find conditions of approval attached to resonings and land use change. You either approve it or or recommend approval or you recommend denial. Number two, if you recommend a land use change or reszoning with conditions, that's usually kind of called uh contract zoning and that you're putting special conditions on a a a reasonzonial land use exchange. And that typically is not a legal process. Uh because there's been case law developed that rules against that because that can that kind of compromises the zoning scheme or the zoning process by putting conditions, negotiating. That's like contract zoning. You're negotiating a a uh a reszoning and in return you're asking for something in return when the zoning process is either approval or denial. Number two, you recommend approval of the project subject to proposed conditions of approval. And this is what you've done on Got a question real quick.

Yes, ma'am. Thompson, just a follow-up question. when we deny not deny but vote against the project what then happens you what what you're recommend it's a recommendation uh Miss Joseph and it it then goes to the city council as a denial um case in point there was that one case don't buy the golf course there you go [laughter] which which we said no no and the city council first read said yes. Then 5,000 people showed up and sayonara.

There you go. That's the best example. [laughter] And it went right to the council with a recommendation of denial.

Can I follow up and have another I have another question related to Mr. Fernandez and that is when you all pres when you as staff present the project, do you automatically or as part of your procedure say this is either that the um uh planning and zoning has uh does not approve this project? Is that part of your even if even if staff approves it, do you also enunciate that or articulate that uh planning and zoning has is denying it? Is that part of is that part of the procedure?

Yes. Yes, ma'am. Here's the reason why. Well, let me just answer the question and then Miss Fernandez or Miss Burgers or Miss Gallo, Miss Brown can jump in. Particularly Miss Burgers because she's been on the board a while too. What happens is this is that we recommend approval. Okay, there's a staff re and we do everything as a recommendation and the board decides no, they don't think so. And then there's a majority vote of 4 to1 or 5 to recommend to the council that they deny it. And then we may have staff I make sure I ask that you give me some r some reasoning some some conditions of denial or standard standards of denial. I would then make sure has the well any planner but not not just me. I would then make sure that those conditions that you state the reasons why it was denied goes to the city commission goes to the city council and that's in the form of either the ordinance or the resolution which indicates you denied it 4 to1 or 50 and here are the reasons why you denied it. We don't uh don't we don't make things up. We don't code it. It's a denial and here are your reasons. I'm going to always ask you well what are your reasons? And the reason why I give Mr. Fernand is because and Miss Burgers is because they've been they've been through that war. Do any one of you want to comment?

No, I think you said it absolutely right. Um it's like a a justification. So whatever our recommendation is, whether it's approval or denial still has to go to city council that way. Same way it moves from this board to the next one.

And Mr. Mr. Chair, if I may, I I'll add to that. Um, all of us in this room as well as the CRA board, we are just an advisory capacity to the decision makers and and one of the earliest uh lessons you learn as a as a planner in our profession is the power isn't with you. Not not with projects of impact and of scale. If it's a a driveway permit or those window permits that everyone always makes sure they get when they get that work done, uh yeah, we can approve that. But anything of impact, of scale, um that's a decision of the elected body and and we have to uh remind ourselves um that it's not our decision. We don't have the power to make those uh decisions. So, you know, I think at planners, we've all been humbled at some point or another when we thought something was good or bad for the city and it didn't go our way at the end of the day. Um but our responsibility is to advise the decision makers as best as possible and make sure they understand why. uh we believe um that for whatever reasons uh we are recommending denial or approval um and try to be as influential as possible but the power lies with that elected body to make those uh decisions. So, um, that's why I don't we shy away from using the word approve. Even when we talk about this board, when we talk about our staff um, recommendations, we're not approving anything because it's not within our authority to do so. That is a decision of council. We just recommend for approval or denial. chair, if I may. And and just to say that's one of the reasons why it's so important for us as citizens to be civically engaged, to show up to meetings, to see our elected officials, if they're really voting on our behalf for us.

Right. and not just for themselves because they sit in these positions not for themselves. They do it for us. So if we don't hold them to what we put them in that position to do, then that's on us. But that's why we are civically engaged and that's why we vote.

Mers makes a good point because Mr. Fernandez when we've denied stuff since I've been here. He has sent emails. I've received an email from him to tell this sometime he wants to see how how when is it going to go to council? Do we get the wording right from all of you and to make sure that the council gets it just as you all have told us. Okay. And Miss Burgers has has been the I think the longest serving member now on the board and was here when I came on board. So was Mr. Gallon and Mr. Brown. Um whenever there's a denial recommendation from you all and the staff recommends approval, we are duty bound to put it in the resolution ordinance. Your denial and your reasons for that denial. Otherwise, it's like M Mrs. Mr. Fernandez did.

Okay. Let me piggy back, chair, on on Miss Burgess. Everybody keeps coming up to me, traffic, workforce, housing. We can't afford to live in this town anymore. But you know what? We make those recommendations to city council, the CRA director who was here last time on the last project. But we need our citizens and the voters to go into the city council

and make sure that our point gets across. If they don't, then we don't want to hear about the traffic congestion. The same things we hear all the time. You need to be proactive in your community and at the city council meetings. Now, I know nobody likes to sit there for five and a half hours. Believe me, it's [snorts] painful. I'm not going to appoint anybody who can, you know, see how painful it is. But you do need to show up and you need to speak up. So, thank you, chair. Absolutely.

So, um yeah. So, at any rate, any other questions? So the next move, the third point is move to recommend to the city council deny the proposed application as submitted and reviewed by the board. And then then there's the fourth option and that is to move to contain a proposed application to a day certain to allow the applicant time to amend their application as requested and outlined by the board. So these are your four options that you have and I have seen uh this board use all four even number four to continue. I have I was here for that uh situation but these are the four options uh that you have. Okay, this one talks more about the board's review and and and focus. Um so for every for every project and this is where I suspect we're going to have a free flow here uh of discussion uh impacts of projects on surrounding properties. So you're looking at neighborhood compatibility and I hear that a lot uh you know where you talk about concern and interest the impact to the surrounding communities. I've heard the chairman speak about that a lot. That's neighborhood compatibility. That's what you're talking That's what you're talking about, Mr. Wilding. That's what the board has talked about. Land use amendment and or reasoning compliance with the con plan such as workforce or affordable housing. I've heard Mr. Fernandez talk about that um and so forth. I've even now I've heard um Miss Davis a little bit talk somewhat about that. Environmental impacts, Miss Stringer, potential impacts on heritage, important natural areas and water pollution, air

uh things like that. Uh M. Davis has talked about the wind tunnel issue uh for buildings too tightly together on the Singer Island area. That's the environmental impact circulation parking and landscaping for sites and landscaping for street frontage. That's an important that's what I was talking about this point is about the the ability to have enough landscaping open space to allow for drainage purposes. Drainage is a very big uh issue here and I pay particular attention to the ability for properties to have enough landscaping and enough area for drainage purposes so that even a regular old I say regular I say that in quotes old thunderstorm can create a flooding situation. Uh so we want to make sure that we have adequate drainage systems available uh for the city. Uh, this city has been around a while and some of the drainage systems. We need to take a look at those. I'm not an engineer, but I've been around engineers long enough to know that, you know, you can well, you all can eyeball a situation and can tell that a situation exists with a flooding issue. Uh, building facades, is it compatible with existing neighborhood? Uh, does the project scale and design minimize adverse impacts to the neighbors and make improvements to streetscape and public ground? Okay, I want to go back. There's one thing I wanted to I I was looking at Mr. Gallon. I remember when I first started, Mr. Gallon was talking about there's so many warehouses. Got too many of them in this city. And some of these warehouses could be used for workforce or affordable housing. they could be converted. I never will I haven't forgot

about that, Mr. Gallon, because and Mr. Brown even talked about I remember you all were very concerned about that. I haven't forgot about that. So, at some point, I'm going to look at the concerns of workforce affordable housing because I can I used to live in Seattle and and there they use h a warehouse district. You got people living in those pla living there. Those are and there are they own those places. They're dwelling units. Okay. I have mentioned to Miss Stringer where I lived in Washington state. I was a part of an environmental impact statement. They wanted there was a development. I used to work for the forest service. There was a move to have a ski resort in a rural area and those folks fought that tooth and nail and they got an environmental impact statement that was done about that fix. Okay. And turned out the ski resort was never built because of the impacts and there they didn't have comprehensive water and sewer systems. They had septic tanks under and there was an issue where they had to even build a a water and sewer plant but because of a number of things and the expense even to this day I was checking last week the that ski resort was never built. They have ski slopes but an actual resort didn't happen. So those are the kinds of things that um that you know I have experienced but also I've experienced by listening to all of you and what you have said I know that Miss Joseph has a planning background a very heavy planning background uh and Mr. Wley has been on the board. Miss Fernandez, they've been chair and vice chair. So, you all have a leadership responsibility in this neighborhood that

I'm aware of that I pay attention to. Believe it or not, I do pay I'm listening and pay attention to it. And sometime I will a lot of times I will ask you questions. Mr. Williams, I'm sure he listens. He listens very carefully and I can appreciate that. So with with the combination of the what all you bring to the table, Mr. Brown is a is a surveyor and an engineer, he has tremendous background. So we have a very good cross-section, a very good board and the saying goes, I won't BS you because you you're watching. So and with that chair,

yes, Mr. On that note, we've also brought up before that all these industrial areas that have been vacant for ages, zoned industrial, we mentioned it that just because it's industrial, we can't change it, force the owner to change it. But if we approach the owner and said, "Hey, we can do workforce housing or affordable housing here. Are you immuneable to it?" We could do that.

Yes, sir. That is where why I remember what Mr. Gallon said because yes that is something that's on my mind for the rest of this year now because as you know the comp plan is being amended and after the comp plan gets approved we're going to look at the zoning code.

Okay. Amending the zoning code and one of the things that came up in my mind when I looked at uh the zoning industrial districts residential use doesn't appear to be allowed. Well, we're going to take a look at that, okay? Particularly as it relates to that affordable housing, workforce housing issue because like I said, I came from out from out west where people were and I'm sure you you've seen it. So, this is no secret. You've seen people, you know, have converted warehouses into dwelling units into living spaces work uh live work where they live and they work. Artists do that. In Seattle, they had an artisan district and it was full of warehousing. people you have artists they would their studio was there and they also live on the upstairs same thing here that can be done with all these warehouses and like you said Mr. And is it's if I if I have enough time, we have enough time. We got the staff now. We're going to look at some kind of ways to go to the owners and say, "Would you consider converting using your warehouse space has living space for a firefighter, a police officer, uh or some or folks who just need a place to live that's that is inexpensive or affordable, Mr. And so having said that, this is why I remember what Mr. Gallon said because two it was like 2022 I think you said that when I first started and I say I'm gonna remember what he just said.

Yes, we've been saying it for a while now but thank you. He's been saying it for a while. Miss Burgers has also mentioned things about property praise or values because that's where she's from. So you know all those things come into play here from the Mr. Chair. Yes, sir. I I just wanted to uh advise the board that we do have several public comment cards for this item. I will now I will now complete the presentation. Thanks a lot, sir. Appreciate it. All right. Can we have comment cards? Yes, sir. Mr. Chair, we have five public comment cards. Are we ready for them now? Yes. Yes, we are.

Miss Lindsy. Miss Lindsay. Good evening everyone. I'm Debatrius Lindsay and my question is with the new proposed more flexible combinations of commercial and residential uses have speed limit regulation thank you. Have speed limit regulations and law enforce enforcement presence been taken into consideration to ensure that it is in the best interest of the residents.

Mr. Chair, typically we would uh respond after all public comments if this board's pleasure. What would we rather would you rather answer afterwards or before or while they're speaking? It would probably uh be most sufficient if we get through all the questions and then do the answers at all at one time. Got it. Okay. Thank you. Is that your question? Thank you. I'm sorry. Is that your only request? Yes, that is my only question. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, Mr. Chair, we have city manager, Mr. Jonathan Evans. [laughter]

City resident Jonathan. President, Mr. Jonathan Evans. [laughter] Hold up.

Are we ready? to go over codes and rules and regulations and policies and processes and projects that impact the quality of life as of residents in our community. As a resident, I'm certainly glad that you all answered the call to serve your community. Um, not many people uh step up in these moments and so we certainly appreciate the contributions that you make. And to the staff, I think you all are doing a phenomenal job. I know it's a tough job and certainly being in the hot seat, but somebody has to do it and I know that you all are well prepared and equipped to do so. And I think it's great to see our citizen leadership class participating in government. That's one of the things that is a cornerstone of our uh republic is that we have a a government that is for the people by the people and to participate it actually is the best part of our government. So it may not be the best form of government that people think, but I think it is the most outstanding form of government because it is predicated on the involvement of citizen involvement and citizen engagement. And as our country celebrates 250 years, I think this is what our founding fathers thought that we can have an inclusive government that we can all work together for a better community. So thank you all for your contribution uh to our city. And lastly, I want to recognize the Sun Coast boys basketball team that is playing in the state championship game

now

at 8:00 and we are having a viewing party at the EOC uh fire station 87. So we will start the game starts at 8. We certainly would love your presence there as we hope that they bring home what is I believe a second state championship and the last time it was 36 years ago and so we are certainly rooting for them and would love for you to uh to come and join us but thank you for your participation and your contribution to our city. Uh we're a better city because of you all volunteering your time to be part of what we uh what we do here. And so as a resident, I'm proud to be able to have folks like you representing our city's interest and certainly we'll make sure we hold those elected officials accountable. [laughter] Thank you. Mr. Jeffy, I'm sorry if I mispronounced your last name. G Y A M F I

FM.

Hello, my name is Michael Jemphy. Um well again want to thank you all for allowing us to come and learn about the different uh activities that's associated with the planning and zoning board. I know it's not easy um spending your evenings uh in dealing with what what's the land use for the city but definitely appreciate it. Uh, one question I have is, um, when I look at that map of Riviera Beach, I notice that the city is very landlocked and so what is the thought about how do we expand the city giving our very weird geometric figure that we have? Uh, I know that there's some unincorporated land that is there. What is the thought about incorporating that into the city to expand the the footprint of the city? Next, Mr. Chair, we have Miss Young. Good. Good evening, everyone. And again, thank you for your time. Um, as a resident and as a business owner in the city of Vivier Beach, my question is when was the last time the map was updated and is there any plans on updating to benefit small business owners? And um I noticed that they said that here on the map that it's not legally binding. Um, can someone clarify what that means again as a business owner? Thank you. Okay, let me try to take a crack at that and then one more question.

Oh, I'm sorry to wait.

Can I ask one more?

And are there any special exceptions for small business owners when it comes to um the special exception like in regards to pricing and things like that? Do small business owners get um special consideration? Next, Mr. Chair, we have Miss Harris. Good evening. My name is Gloria Harris. I was born in Rivera Beach. I grew up in Rivera Beach Heights. Graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1968. 50 years later, I've returned and I love it. I want to talk to you about Rivera Beach Heights in Inlet City. And I want to ask you as a board to consider preserving that community. There's a lot of talk about workforce housing and where our people can work and not have to drive so far. Well, we have communities like that. You can stop developers and investors from going in and rebuilding on a lot that has nothing that to look like our history. We can preserve our history by not allowing investors to rebuild far one, far two, twostory houses on one lot that right now is a beautiful single family home. Those homes have survived hurricanes. They've survived natural disasters. So, they're not unckempt. But the we know that the larger population there are renters. And from my little research, I see that most of those owners have no vested interest in our community. They're overseas. They live

somewhere else. If the home is abandoned, if the yard is is not kept, the city steps in to do its part. But we can stop the gentrification that we know those investors are waiting on. They are sitting on those homes not caring whether they're well cared for in many of them and they're waiting for a developer to come in and make a good offer so they can build two and threetory buildings or to change our whole neighborhood. We see the history. We know that there are communities that once preserved history that have no resemblance to that history. And that River Beach Height Inlet City was built and designated for war veterans from World War II. I'm a baby boomer. We grew up in those streets. Today, if we change that and don't try to protect it, we're throwing away our history. We're throwing away our opportunity for people to live here and afford it. So, I'm asking when they come and say, "Oh, we want to build a 25story building or a four-story building right in between two single family homes." You have the authority to say no. Just say no. Thank you so much. Next, Mr. Chair, we have Mr. Salva. Salva. Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Hey, good evening. Uh, my name is uh, Captain Robert Silva. I've been coming to this uh, fine city for the last 40 years and I've been a homeowner for the last 30. I've seen so much going on, so much development, and I'm starting to understand how the city has run. Thank you for uh, getting us involved in this uh, citizenship leadership. I've I've learned a lot. I can only touch base on what the city manager has said. The more I understand what the city is running through, I understand what you're going through and I really respect what you're you're doing with your time and your involvement and thank you for that. I I've been a property owner here and I've seen it as I drive up and down the street what you're going through, what you're understanding and what you foresee for the future. So, I really appreciate all of that. And uh I'm retired now and I have more time to be involved with this city and I I really appreciate anything I can do to help in this and anything with the city I'd be more than happy to do because I love this place and thank you for all your time with that. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you. Get his information. [laughter]

That ends the comment cards. Mr. chair. Well, that's funny. That's funny.

Miss Newbie, do you have a comment card that you're presenting? Okay. Okay. This will be the last one, Mr. Chair. Miss Newbie. Okay. Good evening members of the board. I am Dr. Latoya Nubie and my question for you all is with the uh current policies and legislation of property taxes being taken off the ballots and so forth, does that impact the work that you all are doing or how um the community at large will be affected if that is something that uh is passed by legislation? And that concludes my question. Thank you,

chair. Yes,

I would like to touch on that question really quick. Yes. As we know that is being proposed. Hopefully, it does not pass. It's really important for everyone to understand why it should not pass because you would just be taking it from one bucket. The money still has to come from other buckets. The money that goes into your property taxes pays for very important services that we all need and use. So if that money was to disappear, it would not benefit us. So please, when you have the opportunity, make sure you get out and vote and you vote no for that. Thank you.

Thank you. particular questions.

Uh yes, Mr. Chair, I'll uh attempt to answer those questions posed by uh the public comments. Uh first, the expansion plan for the city. Uh yes, the city does have an expansion plan. In the comprehensive plan, it talks about an annexation uh program for the city. Um there are limits to it. The city is sealocked on on one side, so we can't grow in that direction. And we are municipally locked to the north and south by West Palm Beach and um Palm Beach Gardens and um and Lake Park uh to the west and there's a couple of donuts, so to speak, within the city. There are some opportunities for annexation and and that is the process where a city legally incorporates additional property or land into its boundaries. Um recent changes in state law make it very difficult to do that. Um there was a point where cities could annex strategically and based on you know what services sometimes we provide water services beyond our municipal boundaries to places that needed and and there was a time where you could automatically annex those type types of places but um state law makes it very difficult to do that now. If there's even one property owner that is uh in objection to being annexed, uh cities uh cannot move forward. So, it is a um a very um legal uh related process. Um but it is possible. It is very difficult with the current laws though. Uh but we do have a plan for it and what strategic areas make the most sense to be annexed into the city. Um and it is a process that we have to initiate uh with council through the legal department if we are to move forward and it's heavily supported by planning staff and our work but it is a legal process to incorporate more city into the I'm sorry incorporate more land into the city.

Uh there was a question about speed limit regulations and law enforcement presence uh as it relates to new development and development of large scale. The police department is a reviewing agency. Um, with the development process, they [clears throat] look at the design of a property and they try to implement and review with the lens of a acronym called SEPTED. um but it is a acronym and I I can't say all the words but it evaluates a property to make sure that it's done in a way that reduces crime or creates barriers for environments for crime to thrive as much as possible. So they uh they review projects for that lens. Um they also um are aware of the the boundaries of um the city and the responsibility to police it. So I I can't speak too much to how a police department would determine the right size or the right number of cops to serve their constituency. It may be a per capita count per I don't know how many thousand residents one cop per um and work these different shifts. So I I don't know that aspect but they are aware of developments that come in as they are reviewing agency and they are responsible for monitoring traffic on the roads and that's whether new development comes in or not. Um but uh how they rightsize their or organization that's a little bit out of the land development side of things. Um but we do incorporate them into the process to make sure that they're aware of what's coming in and can prepare themselves accordingly. The next question um when is the last time the map was updated? And I'm assuming that's referring to our zoning map and our future land use map of the city. Uh we update that. Well, the county uh the city council pro uh approves changes to it uh regularly.

Every uh couple months there's typically a change to the zoning or the land use of a property. And uh staff in the development services department uh is responsible for updating the city's GIS or um electronic map uh that's available online uh to understand what uh the zoning district and future land use designations are around the city. So, we do update that and we work with a third party consultant to do that work as well. Uh, when we say um there was a question about something being not legally binding, um, I believe that we're referring to the recommendations uh that the staff and um the boards make. Um they are the city council is legally required to um take recommendation from the local planning agency which this board is um when it comes to matters of the uh the comprehensive plan of the city because the comprehensive plan is required by the state and regulated by the state. Um but as we mentioned earlier, our recommendations are just that they can overturn um or or approve against what a recommendation is for this board or staff. Um so it is not legally binding, but it is legally required that they have the recommendation of uh this body for items related to the comprehensive plan. And on there was a a question related to the uh Riviera Beach Heights and uh the what's allowed in those areas. And um this is a a problem definitely not unique to Riviera Beach. And I know there was some news articles uh related in uh Lake Park about um the I would say older style of development where we have that kind of Florida ranch style home. is a a one-story um wide linear home that takes up the lot, probably two palm trees in

the front yard. Um but the current development trends are twostory uh pro uh uh homes that fill up um more of the lot and um that is the state of industry and building and and development and that's that's not a problem uh unique to Riviera Beach. Um I I have uh studied and u followed some cities attempts to um rein that in. Uh but it is a difficult thing to do because there is a certain expectation that uh persons have and in Florida real estate is very expensive as you all know. Um and people even an individual homeowner building a home they expect to maximize their investment just like a developer who would be doing a intense project. Um so there's a certain balance that will have to be struck between what is too much and what is respecting the the um the building wishes of a property owner. And uh so that's something that we can look into with our code and and look into the um example that was done in um Lake Park is the one I'm most familiar with because um they have some in intense uh debris development pressure. But people do um what are called tearowns. They'll tear down an older house built in the 60s or 70s and they'll build something modern and typically that is uh two stories or sometimes three in the area and that that is the nature of the industry and what is often required by the economics of of property uh in our area. But that that is something that we can investigate as staff as well. And I think the last question related to uh property taxes was already eloquently um answered by someone firsthand and um I will just add that uh city administration is actively monitoring what's going on in Tallahassee right now because it would be a significant uh impact to uh the city depending on what's passed and how and to what extent um lawmakers go in terms of adjusting uh property tax revenues. But generally in most places

it's about 60% of the city's revenue uh is is from property taxes in most cases and and sign and reducing that by any significant margin uh requires deep um cuts in services uh that uh are provided and we are are waiting to see and the city is already um making uh taking precautions and uh doing what we can to adjust for um anything that could come. But um that's all I'll say on that one. Um that's it from uh staff. Mr. Chair, meeting

I have a I have a one um one question just to follow what you're saying. I was going to ask um also about further education with with the top with the topic of um property taxes. Um, first of all, it's the city. So, definitely we're strongly recommending for not to have property taxes being cut cuz I I need I want the citizens to understand the importance of what this is and how big it's going to be to the impact the city of Rivera. Yes. And and those of us who work for the city, we under we understand it firsthand. We understand that the the majority vast majority of the budget of the city comes from property taxes. Um, for most people and even those who don't work for the uh the city, you know, it sounds good. Oh, reducing my property taxes. Great. That's wonderful. Um, but when you uh shrink uh the the local government's budget, um choices have to be made. And um often at these meetings uh we talk about the different needs of the city infrastructure um uh services uh that the the citizens want expect or require in in some uh cases are significantly affected if something like that takes place. So um again as an individual property owner it it it sounds good and it it makes sense. Um however, when you're looking at um the commons and the the greater good of the community, um that is a a a really big deal and um some kind of way uh cities will have to figure that out. And um depending on how deep the cuts could be, um it could be some really uh difficult choices that your elected officials will have to make to adjust to significant revenue uh cuts. and what are we doing as a city to be able to get this the proper information out to the people so they understand the ramifications of what this decision could be?

Um I I can't speak to that um that that um may be a qu a question best directed to a city administration or the um uh uh marketing and communications. Um but I I do know uh that uh there has been messages and um preparations and definitely uh concern and planning going on uh within the city related to how we would adjust. Um but as far as information campaign to the community, I would have to defer to city administration on that one chair real quick on that part. That's something that we can do as well. I think there may be um some type of clause against um certain governmental entities doing that. So I I think as residents ourselves is up to um educate ourselves as well as our neighbors on the potential effects of that.

Yes.

As as it's written now, the Senate still has to add their little tidbit on it. It was only it's only meant for homesteaded property, not commercial, not rental, not industrial. And they do have caveats built in for our public service to make sure they're not impacted on. Have we done a study of how many homes are homesteaded in Riviera Beach? Is it 20%, because I always hear a lot of people saying the majority of homes are rented and we have a large industrial and commercial. So, how much are we really talking about? what is the percentage of homesteaded properties? They were also looking at doing only the cuts uh for seniors 65 and older. So, right now they're the House is looking to cut between 35 and 50% of that tax bill, not 100%. Uh and excluding the school taxes, but how many homes are homesteaded here in Riviera Beach? Has anybody figured that out? because that's what's going to impact us. Not the rentals, not the commercial, not the industrial. And you know, we get a big chunk of money from our commercial and industrial here in Riviera Beach. So, how how many homes that what percentage has anybody has the city come up with a figure?

Mr. Sure. If yes, the finance department has been working with city administration to uh create estimates um based on homesteaded properties and um but we we don't know what the final um you know law would be if it passes. Um but they have developed some estimates of what the range of cuts and effects could be on the city. I don't have that number, but yes, uh the staff has been working on uh trying to anticipate what it could be. It would it would be nice to have the exact amount of homesteaded properties in the city because those are the ones that are going to be affected and then you're looking at 35% maybe 50% cut. But we need to know it would be nice for the citizens to have all the information,

right?

Because there's a lot of citizens here that live here and their property tax bills have gone up even if they're homesteaded 3% a year. So now their home is now worth 400,000. Well, that 3% is taking a nice chunk out of our seniors or out of the folks that have been living here for a very long time because you will know property taxes went up again in Palm Beach County this year because they're saying that the housing values have gone up. So, what I'm trying to get at is we need to be prepared. We need to know and get the facts out once the Senate passes whatever they're going to do and they merge both bills with amendments. We what we need to figure out how many homes are homesteaded in Riviera Beach. That's something the finance department should have already calculated. That's a simple figure, but we need to know what it is.

I I I don't want to misconstrue anyone in the audience to think that that number is not in the hands of finance and they haven't figured it out. I I'm saying I don't have that number. Um I'm not on that committee, but the city is working on behalf of its residents to figure out what that may mean and and be able to prepare accordingly. But um I do know that they've run the estimates and I'm sure they started uh with the number of homesteaded properties and trying to estimate based on what the cut may be and the range and and and coming up with some projections, but I I do not have that information with me uh today tonight. Thank you, sir. Thank you, chair.

Chair, I have a comment question. Um Oh. Oh, no. I had a question. Um, so two one two things. One, and I don't want to we don't want to we got a game and then we don't want to talk be here all night either, but um to the vice chair, it even though where the city is planning and all of those things and and preparing and getting the proper information out. If this passes and the the vote mean the res mean the residents vote on this and it passes, it's a much much much more impact that people are considering. You have social services that are funded by taxing districts. So it's not just only our city um part of it. There's multiple layers to it. And so it is vitally important that educ education and being informed is is that. And then getting back to the um individuals that spoke, we didn't address the business part of it. Miss Young had a question as relates to um business tax receipt and business something else and I I forgot that we didn't address that um question.

You are correct. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. And I think the question was, are there um and I wrote it down too, is there a special exception for pricing for u small businesses? Um there are a very limited number of situations as it relates to land development where certain types of small businesses um experience a lower um fee that they pay for their applications or or um services from the development services department. Um, beyond that, um, I'm not sure and I know the procurement department, I don't know if you all have, um, met with them yet. Um, I know they reach out and have programs to support small businesses in their endeavors in the city and there are certain um, economic development um, initiatives by the CRA and uh, through uh, city administration. Uh so um the the short answer is through the land development process there are some but I think the majority of the city's initiatives and work to support small businesses are what with outside of the um planning and zoning uh sphere.

Thank you chair. Um, as a follow-up question, is there a way we could start adding a condition, especially to our mixeduse projects that have commercial spaces? We can add a condition that says that they would rent or offer that space to a small business as a way to again support small businesses in our community.

I'm not sure on that one. I would have to defer to legal to research to make sure we're in our box um when it comes to requiring that kind of thing because it it at the end of the day this is private property and um local government only has so much authority to say what you can and cannot do on your private property or who who you must lease to. Um and and I know we do a lot of that in in in planning and zoning because we tell you how high you can build and how close to the property line and things like that. um and when it's in the for justifiable public interest, there's a lot that we can do. Um but there's also a line that uh that uh legally we have to respect people's property rights at the end of the day and their ability to run their businesses um in the way they see fit. So that particular question is something I I could review with legal to see if we're in bounds for that. Um there's certain things that if a a developer comes here and they just voluntarily want to do something then it's not an issue but as far as us requiring it or making it a condition uh unilaterally we do have to have certain levels of justification for those types of things. So the short answer is at this moment I I can't answer that but that is something we can look into.

Understood. Thank you. What we try to do uh Miss Joseph is from what Mr. Fernandez says we have a condition where we encourage that type of thing. But we, as Mr. Surman said, we have to be careful from a legal standpoint. We just But we can't encourage it. And we've I've done that. I've mentioned it. Uh, but I've also said in the same breath, I can't force you. I can only encourage you to do that.

I understand. I just just knowing what we're seeing in the market right now. A lot of commercial spaces are sitting vacant. So if there's opportunities where we can support local small businesses, I think it's beneficial for everyone. Mr. Wy, I have a question. Mr. Chair, yes. All right. Yes. Um, as a as a city, I mean, I hear a lot of we all hear a lot of presentations from developers or what even, you know, whatever's in the newspaper of everything that's being built. So, how do you when it comes to workforce housing and affordable housing, how do you calculate how much our city needs?

How we make sure I understand the question. How do we calculate how much is needed in our just in our city? Because, you know, every city's different and you know, they have different different population like West Palm Beach has a lot more people than we have. So maybe they would require more workforce housing just based on history or affordable. So how do you how do you figure how much we need?

Well, there is through the census there is you know division. You've seen a census report and it it lays out the pre the percentage the income that people are making. You know when you you have a census they go around and do the census and through that process there's a percentage of of what is called the area median income if you like 80% bel or below your within a certain classification of of of in terms of affordability and then it goes down or up from there. uh there are statistics you know that we we we could go through the the Bureau of Economic and Research called Bieber uh through the state to get that information. That's the best place to go to get that.

When the developers are coming to you, do you say you we've already committed to to what our capacity is for workforce or affordable housing? I mean, how that's sort of my question. How do you fit? How do you calculate it? Now, maybe that's a different question. Maybe for Mr. Surmans, you need 10,000 units or 10,000 properties, 5,000. How do you know?

And I I don't have the number off the top of my head, but I do know that in our comprehensive plan with in the in the housing area, we do have target uh unit a target number of units that we're trying to uh partner with the private sector to achieve in the city. and it is based on uh our demographic da d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d da uh income number of units and those things to uh create that target but I don't have the number off the top of my head. Um I will just add that if someone if a project is participating in our Miho program that requires them to contribute to affordable housing. There is a formula in that ordinance that calculates the number of affordable uh units that particular project must provide to the city in the form of real property or a contribution to the affordable housing trust fund. Uh so there is a formula in the code uh that looks at individual project for their required contribution. So when you're when those decisions are made, someone's going to make a contribution to the MIA plan or property. So, if they're building a condominium or rentals, whichever, um, does the credit of the number someone gets five additional stories, then I don't know if I'll articulate this very well or not, but does that unit or do those credits have to be part of that building? so many stories or so many units within that building or could it go to an area like Rivier Beach Heights that need some help and you know what I'm saying?

Yes. Uh and and through the chair, yes, you are are correct. U they do have the option to do either they can include the units in their development. They could provide the units offsite on another property they control or partner with or they can provide a um a calculated fee based on the ordinance that they would pay to a fee in loo that they would pay to the housing trust fund. So a development has three options when they participate in the mihop bonus program. Okay. Thanks. Yes ma'am. The chair. Yes. We have Dr. Hayes would like to say something. Yes.

Thank you. Good evening. Dr. Hayes, um, assistant to the city manager. Um, just a quick update. You all asked a question about how many homes are homesteaded here in the city of Riviera Beach. Between 30 and 35 homes. Um, 30 to 35%, I'm sorry, of our homes are homesteaded. as it relates to property tax reform. Um that discussion that's happening here in Tallahassee, Mr. Evans would be happy to come back to present a presentation to you all so that you can have an update. That is the discussion that they are having at some of our council meetings. And so if it's the will of the board, he would be happy to do that. Absolutely. Thank you. That's all from the staff presentation unless there was any more questions. Mr. Chair,

great presentation. Yes, I do have another question. I'm so sorry, Miss Hayes. So, did I understand that only 30 to 35% of the homes here are homesteaded? Yes, ma'am. So, of the 36,000 residents we have, I don't know how many homes we have. So you 39,000 plus residents here. Absolutely. Okay. Thanks. A quick question. What is the percentage of property taxes that they pay?

So I do not have that information. [laughter] However, I'm sure the city manager will when he comes back to present. You just have to let us know when you want us to come back. You're welcome. Yes. All right. So, all our questions have been answered through public comments. Um, I guess we can go on to general discussion. Nothing additional uh from staff, Mr. Chair. And yes, nothing additional. One thing I'd like to say, thank you for the academy for coming. Thank you guys. Have a nice day.

And do we have any staff updates? None from staff, Mr. Chair. Correspondence.

No, sir.

Okay. Um I have something that um I want to discuss just from a board standpoint. Um and again, congratulations to u the River Beach PAL police um program here. Um Officer Nance, I know one of our esteemed um officers here in the city of River Beach. He's actually doing a program here at River Beach Prep um starting this Saturday uh March 14th through Saturday, May 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. where they'll be having programs to help set up for the kids to for the SAT and the ACT prep program to be able to get the kids um ready for college who are ready to attend college. So that's something that the city of River Beach is doing and like I say again with Officer Nance is something that he's spearheading. So if you see Mr. N and you want to have some kids from high school who actually want to get um step ahead and get an advantage, um please get in contact with Mr. Nance, um you can get in contact with me also. I don't know if it's okay for me to give his number. I don't know if you want to. Is that the right thing to do? [laughter] All right. He has it on the flyer, but I just wanted to make sure that Yeah. The option is to make sure we get the kids out there. [laughter]

Yeah.

All right. But officer Nance will be the person that be involved with that also. And also I wanted to bring up one thing that we're doing also. And I was talking with Mr. um Evans about it. Um Alpha Star program here that I'm involved with here with a young lady name by the name of Marcia Kelly who works at um the River Beach Preparatory Academy. Also um we're doing a program that's going to be start Monday where we are taking six kids to Atlanta, Georgia for a college tour. Um, and it's everything is pretty much paid for for the kids and everything. And they're going to go up and see the Coca-Cola plant. If I'm correct, this Coca-Cola plant there, the Pepsi Cola plant Coca-Cola plant there. And they're going to go up there and Mr. Evans trying to set the kids up to be able to meet with some government officials. Um, they'll be going to um numerous um places there to get these kids um acclimated to getting ready to go to college. Now, the main thing I want to um stress uh with these kids is that these six kids were chosen because these kids were at River Beach Prep um and this was almost like a last ditch effort to get the kids um ready for school, right? And what Mrs. Kelly has done with these kids was is astronomical because these kids are now scoring uh 25, 27, 28, 29, 30 on the ACT scores. and now their attitudes have changed to where they actually want to go to college and be uh very productive citizens of um of our society, especially here in River Beach. Um so this program was actually set up for them to where they don't have to pay anything. They're going to be flown up to um Atlanta and we're going to have a sprinting truck. We'll take them around. They're going to be staying in the Airbnb and they're going to be going to a lot of different um things there. So, I will have pictures posted and everything and um hopefully these kids get a good opportunity to see something new, to see something different and be able to realize that the city is the world is bigger than Rivera Beach and they had the opportunity. So, these kids

really put in a lot of hard work to go from where they were to where they are now and now they have the desire and that's all they've been talking about all week is that they can't wait to get there and and be able to do some different things and see some different sites. And like I said, along with Mr. Evans is trying to help out with some other things that we can do. So, if anybody has any good ideas that you can run across myself, I'm more than welcome to. I rather have more too much for them to do than not enough, but they get an opportunity. I can leave the city to be able to do some good things up there. And um like I say, a lot of people have contributed to it and they're really really excited about it and everything. So, we'll be up there for four days. We'll be there Monday through Thursday. We're leaving Monday morning. We coming back Thursday evening. And um like I said, I'm just just to see the look on their faces. And I don't think I've been hugged so hard, you know, just to just to have a kid. Like I said, it's pretty much expenses paid for um you know, by by us. So the kids just being able to go and they worked really hard and hopefully next time we'll be able to take more kids and everything. So if anybody has any ideas, please contact myself and hopefully we'll do this again next year and be able to take more kids with us. Any other comments?

I have one more. Has the city council members made individual contributions from their uh promotions accounts? No, ma'am.

No. And and um the thing was that we we we did have um a person um different groups and and a couple businesses that actually reached out and it's it's it's crazy because I have a lot of people who I do not know at all. And um we have money coming in, you know, $50 here, $50 there just to help out, help pay for dinner, whatever like that. But most of the expenses are are pretty much taken care of, but Mr. Evans is trying to, you know, get some things to where, you know, hopefully last minute where it can do have something to assist. But this program was basically done through Applear through donations um and everything to be able to take care of this for the kids and everything. So, um hopefully next time this will be something that once people see the success in it and what the um the reaction with the kids and hopefully other people say, "Hey, you know, next time I want to be a part of it and hopefully sponsor some of it next time." Um but this time it was it was pretty much on us. So, we basically financed pretty much everything for for what the kids are going to be participating in.

How much more money do they need? Well, to be honest with you, I just want to be able to for them to be able to have um you know, to pay for a dinner, you know, we got to put gas inside the sprinter and stuff like that. Just small stuff. The big stuff has pretty much been taken care of. But um I'm not a millionaire and you know, so anything will be anything will be nice and everything is going to be documented. So we don't have to worry about money going places that's not supposed to cuz definitely we're definitely not that um that's not our caliber. But we just want to make sure that these kids get a great opportunity to be able to see something. Nice job. Thank you.

So that's with correspondence. So um I don't see a date for the next planning and zoning board meeting. Mr. Chair, the next planning and zoning board meeting will be Thursday, March 26, 2026. And we will be in the Hatcher room across the hall. Will there be food available? That was good. She's They spoiling us. They're spoiling us now. So, can we just do the meetings with the um the advisory board and the Well, we will when when Director Sur comes back in the building, please address all those comments to director Suranimously. [laughter] Mr. Chair. Yes.

And on to my left, we have our new planning and zoning board attorney, Mr. Tracy. Mr. Tracy. Hello. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for welcoming me, land use and zoning attorney with the city of Riviera Beach. Looking forward to working with you all. Thank you. Welcome. Congratulations and thank you sir. Do we have any motion to adjourn? A 30 motion to adjurnn. Second. Good night.