TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Tim Stillings, Director of Planning, Zoning, and Building Department
THROUGH: Donald B. Cooper, City Manager
DATE: June 7, 2016
Title
CONSIDERATION OF AN 18 MONTH EXTENSION FOR THE CONDITIONAL USE FOR DEPOT SQUARE APARTMENTS, LOCATED BETWEEN THE CSX RAILROAD AND INTERSTATE 95 RIGHTS-OF-WAY, SOUTH OF LAKE IDA ROAD. (QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARING)
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to Approve the request for an extension of the Conditional Use approval to allow a multiple family residential development in the Mixed Industrial and Commercial zoning district with a density of 23.99 dwelling units per acre (284 dwelling units) for Depot Square Apartments, by adopting the findings of fact and law contained in the staff report, and finding that the request, and approval thereof, meets criteria set forth in Section 2.4.4(F)(1) & (3) of the Land Development Regulations, with said approval to be valid until December 3, 2017.
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The conditional use approval is to allow a multiple family residential development in the Mixed Industrial and Commercial zoning district with a density up to 24 dwelling units per acre (23.99 proposed). The development includes 284 multiple family dwelling units in seven three-story buildings. The residential development consists of 77 one-bedroom units, 162 two-bedroom units, and 45 three-bedroom units. Of these units, the applicant proposes to set aside workforce housing units consisting of 19 one-bedroom units, 41 two-bedroom units, and 11 three-bedroom units, for a total of 71 workforce dwelling units.
The City Commission approved the conditional use on June 3, 2014 with expiration date of June 3, 2016.
Pursuant to LDR Section 2.4.4(F)(1) (Extensions), extensions may be granted to the previously approved application, pursuant to the following:
§ A written request must have been received by the City at least 45 days prior to the expiration date;
§ The letter must set forth the basis and reason for the extension;
§ The extension shall be considered by the same body which granted the original approval;
§ The extension, if granted, shall be for 18 months unless otherwise stated.
LDR Section 2.4.4(F)(3) “No Construction”
Per LDR Section 2.4.4(F)(3) when the project has not commenced construction, or construction has not been deemed substantial, the request for extension shall be considered pursuant to the following:
(a) The project shall be evaluated pursuant to the land development regulations in effect at the time of consideration of the extension request and shall comply with such current requirements;
(b) Additional submittal information including a new application and copies of previously submittal material may be required;
(c) The granting body must make findings pursuant to 2.4.4(B);
(d) The granting body may impose additional conditions of approval pursuant to 2.4.4(C) to insure compliance with any applicable changes to regulations or changes in circumstances which have occurred since the previous approval.
The construction phase of the development has not commenced. There have been no changes to the development regulations that would apply to the development. At its meeting of June 3, 2014, the City Commission approved the conditional use for the development. The requested extension would be valid through December 3, 2017. The applicant has also submitted a site plan extension that will be considered by the Site Plan Review and Appearance Board at its meeting on June 22, 2016. It is noted that if the extension request were denied, the applicant would need to resubmit the conditional use (and companion Class V site plan application) as a new application.
The applicant submitted the following verbatim statement in justification for the proposed extension:
“…From the above time line, it is clear that after the initial approval of the project by the City Commission and SPRAB the developer has been working diligently and continuously to obtain the permits and approvals needed to initiate development and construction on the project. This is evidenced by the fact that:
Ø Since obtaining initial City Commission and SPRAB approval, the developer proceeded as quickly as City review procedures would allow to obtain approval of the certification plan for the project, correct the scrivener’s error discovered in the base survey, formally amend the plan to address the plan changes approved by the City Commission on June 2nd, 2015 and to prepare and submit the construction documents for final permitting. Unfortunately, the process of obtaining these necessary approvals has consumed most of the two-year time frame established by the Conditional Use and SPRAB approval.
Ø The developer has executed a contract with general contractor Kaufman Lynn Construction and plans to initiate work on the project in the next few weeks.
Ø The developer’s lender took issue with various documents negotiated by the prior owner that encumber the property. Specifically, the lender was concerned with the inability to take a security interest in abandoned Depot Road until the completion of the new road. That requirement made the project unfinanceable. To solve the issue, the developer was required to take additional recourse (which further evidences the developer’s commitment to complete this project in the most expeditious time frame possible). In addition, the lender had concerns about the ongoing lawsuit between the City of Delray Beach and Depot Warehouse (John Gwynn). These matters delayed the start of construction by six months.
As the project is currently progressing, construction and land development work for the project will be fully under way by the anniversary date of the Conditional Use and SPRAB approvals in June of this year…”
City Attorney Review:
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency.
Timing of Request:
None