[2:45] [Background noises]

[3:44] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: We call the meeting

[3:46] to order, the Pledge of Allegiance.

[3:54] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

[3:56] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

[3:56] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[4:05] You have had a chance to go over the minutes, any comments ?

[4:16] We also want to welcome our new member here

[4:21] to the city replacing Dwight, Dwight

[4:25] went on to a more relaxed life.

[4:30] Welcome.

[4:41] All those in favor I aye?

[4:47] Minutes approved.

[4:53] Speaker: Please be advised the following items on the agenda

[4:56] are quasi judicial in nature, please be ready to comment when

[5:02] the chairman asks for public input for the item .

[5:10] All testimony including public testimony and evidence

[5:13] will be made under oath or affirmation.

[5:16] Additionally, each person who gives testimony

[5:18] may be subject to cross-examination.

[5:20] If you refuse either to be cross-examined or to be sworn,

[5:24] your testimony will be given its due weight.

[5:27] The general public will not be permitted

[5:30] to cross-examine witnesses, but the public

[5:32] may request the Architectural Review

[5:34] Board to ask questions of staff or witnesses on their behalf.

[5:37] Persons representing organizations

[5:39] must present evidence of their authority

[5:42] to speak for their organization.

[5:44] Further details of the quasi judicial procedures

[5:47] may be obtained from the clerk.

[5:50] Do we have any disclosures of communications concerning either

[5:56] of the items on today's agenda?

[6:01] seeing none, please swear in anyone who wishes to be heard

[6:06] today..

[6:11] Village Clerk Juan D. Garcia: All those providing testimony

[6:14] please raise your right hand, do you swear to tell the truth,

[6:18] the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

[6:22] thank you.

[6:50] Speaker: We received the written confirmation

[6:53] they are in Agreeance with the conditions.

[6:56] It follows the village code and planning ordinance.

[7:24] Brett Loman: This project was originally approved back in 2023

[7:28] and awaiting construction for several years.

[7:32] The owner and design team have seen opportunities

[7:35] for design improvements to the overall site plan as well as

[7:39] architectural features.

[7:41] What's been presented today is the overall site plan,

[7:45] which I can present just briefly in a series of renderings.

[7:51] Initially we had a series of external renderings going around

[7:55] the perimeter of the property, I supplied those and also provided

[8:00] updated renderings so we can see those previously approved versus

[8:03] what's being proposed right now .

[8:08] On the overall site plan, just a few things

[8:10] that are being updated.

[8:12] Starting in the Northwest corner,

[8:16] originally that was more of a site circulation space and what

[8:21] we've done here is to provide a flat grass area .

[8:28] As we work around the perimeter of the property,

[8:31] we've been identifying corridors for trees, larger specimen trees

[8:38] and renderings, we've got the before and after shots

[8:42] for the landscaping scheme.

[8:46] as we work our way around the site,

[8:49] there's an outdoor barbecue area which originally

[8:52] was part of the garden before.

[8:54] We are presenting an outdoor patio which you will

[8:56] see in the exterior renderings.

[8:59] The site circulation towards the Northeast corner

[9:03] of the property, which is the lower plan right

[9:06] is being reconfigured to be more efficient

[9:09] as well as for staff parking, exterior work services,

[9:14] it's all going to be sheltered by hedging and landscaping

[9:19] from the street.

[9:23] this area highlights the overall main floor level plan

[9:26] and there's three features I want

[9:27] to identify that are being updated from the previously

[9:30] approved project.

[9:33] The first one starting at the upper right originally

[9:36] we had an exterior stair tower.

[9:40] Since this project has gone underway,

[9:43] we realized the better function for this massing which

[9:47] remains consistent from the previously approved blueprint

[9:50] was a storage condition as opposed

[9:53] to an exterior stairway which is not needed.

[9:56] The next is the entry vestibule, originally

[10:00] the glass ran all the way across but we decided

[10:03] to create more of an experiential quality

[10:06] vestibule itself which you will see in some of the renderings.

[10:50] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: There is no visual aid

[10:54] to understand what is really being changed, which puts us

[10:58] in a difficult position.

[10:59] Are you attorney, architect?

[11:05] You understand now how we approve this thing

[11:10] three years ago.

[11:15] Brett Loman: When this was first submitted,

[11:17] it was asked to remove the clouds.

[11:50] The last on this plan is this footprint here,

[11:56] originally it was proposed as covered parking

[11:59] and now we are enclosing this space as an enclosed garage.

[12:31] Directly above is this two bedrooms and a common living

[12:35] space.

[12:35] One of the changes that we made as a bump out here,

[12:40] I could have shown what it looked like before versus what

[12:44] it looks like now, but the living room and bedroom

[12:46] to the right of it had gone straight across

[12:49] and now it's being bumped out to increase that area.

[13:20] on the upper level the only other changes

[13:23] is directly what I explained to the ground floor plan.

[13:29] Entry on the ground floor remains

[13:32] under the previously approved roof canopy,

[13:34] but it is a proper bump out to create that entry vestibule.

[13:39] The last change on this plan is the storage tower,

[13:43] which originally was the upper portion so it's been converted

[13:49] into a storage within the existing footprint that

[13:53] was previously approved, it's just

[13:56] a change of function within this footprint.

[14:28] Brett Schlacter, Board Member: Nothing to disclose.

[14:33] Brett Loman: What's been shown on these next slides

[14:36] is the originally approved rendering versus the proposed

[14:41] rendering which is directly below, and what we need to do

[14:44] is take nearly the exact same shot

[14:46] so you can understand what was previously

[14:48] approved versus what is being proposed at this point.

[14:52] Some of my comprehensive comments

[14:56] on what was being proposed, what this is showing

[14:59] is that the elevation from the cul de sac

[15:03] remains nearly identical to the original proposed, so there were

[15:09] some functions occurring on the left hand side with the staff

[15:12] parking site circulation, but those remain behind landscaping.

[15:18] The architectural landscaping itself in this view

[15:22] remains consistent.

[15:23] Some of the areas I described are further on down the slides.

[15:30] Just to reiterate what was previously approved,

[15:34] we had the overall landscape hedging on the left hand

[15:38] side coming towards the main entry

[15:40] to the house which remains consistent with the original,

[15:43] and on the right hand side we have this water feature element

[15:47] that wraps around toward the right hand side

[15:49] and I will get into that on a later slide

[15:54] but this elevation remains consistent with what

[16:00] was approved.

[16:08] This rendering is meant to show the program change

[16:13] within the footprint, here the original proposed rendering

[16:17] which was approved was consistent

[16:20] with the adjacent glass elevations

[16:22] and in the proposed rendering we are bumping out the entry

[16:25] vestibule to provide a proper entry and more

[16:29] of an experiential quality to this project.

[17:02] This view up top the original rendering was approved

[17:09] with some adjustments to the landscape,

[17:13] but the overall massing remains consistent.

[17:18] You will see it's very subtle, but the bump out to that portion

[17:21] directly above the garage .

[17:35] Right here was a covered carport, and on this side

[17:40] you will see the garage door so it's a pass through garage

[17:44] with a door on both sides.

[17:48] The main entry on the garage is on the other side of that .

[17:58] This view here, again these are renderings wrapping around

[18:02] the house from originally proposed so we took the same

[18:06] shots in our attempting to show the adjustment within this

[18:10] rendering, this is where the proposed barbecue area was .

[18:18] As we wrap around the house, this view

[18:20] is meant to showcase the adjustment to the trees.

[18:23] On the originally approved rendering

[18:26] there's a series on the west or intercoastal

[18:29] face of the sea wall.

[18:31] As this project has come into realization,

[18:34] this views towards the water are better without the palms

[18:39] and the landscape architect has adjusted the overall landscaping

[18:42] plan as well as provided a bit more privacy and shade

[18:47] to the southern elevation of the project.

[18:55] This view is showing the change from the approved rendering

[18:59] which was a garden space to a flat grass relaxation and play

[19:04] area.

[19:06] Again, the architecture here remains

[19:08] consistent with the original and is

[19:10] more of landscaping adjustments as you

[19:14] go from the north down to the south and around to the Marina.

[19:18] There was a question about the change to the elevation.

[19:22] The original stair tower here that was open

[19:26] screened, since this is being closed,

[19:29] it is now stone that comes down and very

[19:33] close to the window that breaks down the side elevation of that.

[19:38] I would also like to point out the scale from the street,

[19:46] you see originally it extended closer to the side yard property

[19:51] line and since then we have extended it a little bit less,

[19:56] provided landscaping to work to the advantage of masking that

[20:01] stair tower .

[20:06] Lastly, when this was being reviewed

[20:08] with part of these changes, we added this additional rendering

[20:13] to showcase the overall elevation

[20:15] from the cul de sac a little bit closer,

[20:17] so you could see that mass on the right hand side

[20:20] and how it's working to be screened through landscaping.

[20:29] Thank you.

[20:48] Board comments and questions?

[20:55] Speaker: My questions are focused on the stair tower

[20:58] in the guest parking area or staff parking area,

[21:02] we don't have the before to understand what is happening

[21:05] in the staff parking area .

[21:14] In that Northeast corner, can you describe the changes,

[21:19] and help me understand how you are blocking the views

[21:23] from the Marina Basin?

[21:27] I see you have a four foot fence called out in minimal

[21:30] landscaping there .

[21:37] Brett Loman: In the previously approved plan,

[21:40] the entrance was at this location so it was not changed,

[21:44] and the hedging on the street side remains consistent

[21:47] so there's going to be a hedge that runs around on the Marina

[21:52] side, we are using a fence which the code can only

[21:57] be four feet tall but we are using the fence to impose

[22:02] that staff parking area there.

[22:04] As you work your way to the left or to plan south,

[22:08] that's where the landscaping starts

[22:10] to pick up and start to screen those site service areas.

[22:15] Before, the area was more of a garden,

[22:17] and as the project is coming to realization

[22:19] we realized we needed a bit more room for enclosures and things

[22:23] like that.

[22:24] Everything is enclosed with a fence, and where we can

[22:28] we are putting an additional layer

[22:30] of landscaping per the guidelines

[22:33] to shelter this area from public view.

[22:43] Speaker: I think that's going to be an area of concern

[22:46] because that is visible from the public basin.

[22:52] South, you have a lot more landscape but I think that area

[22:57] it looks like you would lose two of these parking spaces .

[23:08] I just think more hedging, you can't get more than four feet

[23:13] with the structure but I think it's

[23:14] going to look nicer because that's

[23:16] where they're going to be sitting

[23:18] entertaining with their boats, I think

[23:23] it would be a nicer experience for the community as well.

[23:36] Speaker: The tower, it is very large and I'm pretty sure it was

[23:43] me that brought up the concern with the mass .

[23:48] I'm probably going to recommend you lose one of these date palms

[23:53] and add a larger tree in the right of way there to create

[23:58] a larger landscape visual barrier,

[24:02] because it's a massive structure,

[24:04] 35ft tall blank concrete facade.

[24:09] It's obscured by a tree that doesn't exist in the plan .

[24:24] This is the view here, if you look here you have a 35 foot

[24:29] tall concrete wall from the cul de sac .

[24:39] If you lose the northernmost one on that,

[24:42] I think you'd be able to screen it better with without losing

[24:46] the formality of that large colonnade of palm trees .

[24:54] That would be my request and recommendation .

[25:10] Speaker: I think the trees as shown now really

[25:13] start to soften it, I guess it's not a bad idea.

[25:19] these are simple things.

[25:27] Brett Loman: You're suggesting for more of a specimen tree?

[25:43] I think the attempt with this landscaping

[25:47] was to try to hide some of this massing,

[25:51] because that was a concern when we originally presented.

[25:54] I agree with your comments to provide something

[25:58] different to try to take away that massing from the street.

[26:20] Speaker: Overall, the before and after is represented

[26:24] a very harmonious transformation we liked and we approved, it's

[26:31] a beautiful house.

[26:33] I personally don't see any significant issues,

[26:37] there's some layering of landscape

[26:39] that architects sometimes push back on but architects love it

[26:44] because it does soften a very sort of monumental architecture,

[26:49] in this case.

[26:53] Those are simple things, I don't know

[26:56] if you want to make that a condition

[26:57] or a friendly suggestion, the landscape layering.

[27:11] I want to point out I'm busy in the neighborhood

[27:17] and I'm doing a house across from this one,

[27:19] there's a lot of parking already that's Marina parking.

[27:23] I'm not saying it's beautiful or attractive,

[27:27] there are parking lots you see from around the boat

[27:32] but I think layering landscape in front of that would really

[27:36] help get the cars to appear more from the perspective

[27:42] of the Marina.

[27:44] The four foot fence kind of meaningless,

[27:50] it would have been nice to see a design for that fence

[27:53] but I assume it's similar to fencing

[27:55] that we see in the renderings.

[27:58] They are probably like 50% or more opacity,

[28:03] so there's already an intent to create

[28:06] privacy and visual separation.

[28:15] so we will put that into our condition.

[28:22] We do have public comments.

[28:30] these comments come from a neighbor,

[28:36] She states you could compare or see

[28:40] an overlay of what was approved and what was proposed.

[28:44] I think she agreed with me.

[28:50] Building taller from the entrance to the East,

[28:55] the north feels like we are getting

[28:57] blocked in by another wall restricting air movement.

[29:02] The color scheme seems to have darkened a bit,

[29:05] is there an intention of changing the color scheme

[29:08] or is this a rendering effect?

[29:13] Brett Loman: I think this is renderings

[29:15] and how they've changed over the last few years,

[29:18] especially with AI.

[29:21] The tree is obviously show a little bit darker

[29:25] in this update, the color scheme remains consistent,

[29:29] it's just a rendering.

[29:47] Speaker: The house seems to be getting even bigger than it

[29:50] was, it's enormous.

[29:52] My perception is there really no major volumetric change turning

[29:58] a carport into a garage , but it doesn't change the massing.

[30:06] I like the addition of more green space .

[30:13] Those are six comments from a neighbor,

[30:16] you could receive these forms from the city I suppose .

[30:25] Should we have a motion on this?

[30:35] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Any other public comments

[30:37] at this point?

[30:39] we are good for moving this forward.

[30:46] Speaker: I motion to approve with the condition

[30:48] we amend the Northwestern storage tower

[30:55] and increase the landscape screening on that side.

[31:00] Those are conditions, not recommendations.

[31:07] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Everybody

[31:09] agree with those conditions?

[31:10] So we move it Forward.

[31:16] All those in favor of moving the project forward

[31:22] with those conditions say aye?

[31:28] Four votes out of four members today, thank you.

[31:32] How much more time for completion?

[31:38] another year?

[31:41] very well.

[31:54] Is the next group ready to go?

[32:00] identify yourself for the record.

[32:12] Speaker: We are here to represent my client,

[32:19] as well as his, for a new two story home that is about

[32:25] 13,000ft².

[32:26] I'm sure you guys have looked at the plans that we submitted,

[32:31] and there's a lot of renderings that depict different types

[32:34] of materials .

[32:39] The outside finishes and the overall design,

[32:42] it's a beautiful concept.

[32:44] We are trying to get everything that the board has requested

[32:48] implementing it, we request if possible for your approval.

[32:56] That being said, I have my lead designer who is very familiar

[33:02] with the project and I want to bring him to the podium

[33:06] and explain more about the concept for the design .

[33:21] Speaker: For the record before I start,

[33:26] full disclosure I am friends with the foxes

[33:30] and have seen the plans in the past.

[33:43] Speaker: Thank you for having us.

[34:01] Martin Litman: I guess I'll start with some of the exterior

[34:04] images so that we can explain what the design process and how

[34:09] the creative process started , this is the perfect page

[34:16] to start with.

[34:18] The top renderings are street views

[34:22] and the bottom two renderings are courtyard views.

[34:25] The whole concept behind how we started the massing

[34:28] of the design really stemmed from the existing house that is

[34:32] there today .

[34:39] I have a picture that I brought here just

[34:41] to give a little reference, this is the existing home

[34:44] that's here today.

[34:46] The owner really liked that layout,

[34:49] and that idea about having two one story structures towards

[34:53] the street view , so they wanted to maintain that idea even

[34:59] though this is esthetically completely different.

[35:02] Really that is what started the design

[35:05] to try to adhere with the client's request of having

[35:09] these structures be the screening towards the street

[35:12] to create privacy, and as you continue to the courtyard,

[35:17] these one story structures create a connection

[35:21] to the two story structure of the residence

[35:24] as it continues towards the west through these architectural

[35:30] elements here, which are two beams that connect the one story

[35:35] structures to later the rest of the home towards the west.

[35:38] The idea is to have a very private courtyard,

[35:43] and not only are these two one story structures very important

[35:47] functional part of the program, but like I was saying,

[35:51] it really creates that beautiful private area in front.

[35:55] As we continue moving towards the next page,

[36:01] we really don't discuss on the interior but we decided

[36:05] to include some images so you can see in general and explain

[36:10] the cohesion between the interior and exterior

[36:13] of materials can really be seen throughout the project .

[36:21] we designed the interiors, but we have an interior designer

[36:25] that's going to be sourcing and taking care of all the shop

[36:29] drawings, et-cetera.

[36:30] We have designed the house entirely,

[36:33] even though the exterior is here we wanted to really show

[36:37] the interior to have a sense of the overall project

[36:43] because the materials on the exterior,

[36:47] really there's three main materials being used.

[36:51] On the board below, you can see all of the wood accents ,

[37:00] there's various features.

[37:02] You have vertical slats that can be seen here

[37:07] which would be on the board.

[37:10] Then we have more solid paneling around other areas of the home,

[37:14] later we have stone cladding throughout these beams

[37:20] and throughout these bands, the roof and the vertical walls,

[37:26] and in the center here we have a different stone

[37:29] which is more of a marble.

[37:34] Those are technically the three materials

[37:35] we will be using throughout the project front, rear, interior

[37:41] and exterior.

[37:42] You can see here how we would tie together the accent

[37:47] and at the same time, the wood cladding happens

[37:51] to be on the exterior of the portico,

[37:54] but then on the interior we bring the marble

[37:57] from the front one story structure

[37:59] and it becomes a design accent feature,

[38:05] everywhere else you have the wood cladding here

[38:07] in its different forms.

[38:10] Here it's solid, here are the slat versions .

[38:17] We also use the slats as a design feature for the entry

[38:22] fence and vehicular gate .

[38:29] Here on the interior we are using all the same materials,

[38:32] the wood and marble and stone.

[38:35] As we continue going to the rear,

[38:38] we are very consistent with the material selection as well.

[38:43] One of the most important features as I mentioned that

[38:46] the client really designed, I mentioned one of them was

[38:52] in the front which is the one story structures and then

[38:55] the other main program desires that they really wanted to have

[39:04] their bedroom as far west as possible,

[39:07] that's why the entire master suite on the second floor here

[39:12] creates the covered terrace below ,

[39:18] and you can see on the side here to be able to achieve that

[39:23] proximity to the water, we brought all of the master suite

[39:29] as close as possible, and then we have a side balcony so it

[39:36] wouldn't push the bedroom toward the rear or towards the east,

[39:40] so that was really the conception

[39:43] behind the rear design.

[39:44] The entire master bedroom towards the water creating

[39:48] the covered terrace is extremely important,

[39:53] and they wanted to have the view towards the Northwest,

[39:59] and that's what this balcony is there for.

[40:03] When you're in the bedroom, this is the balcony area which is

[40:07] an additional seating exterior area .

[40:14] In many areas of this house the interior exterior connection,

[40:17] nowadays you hear so much about in these modern homes,

[40:22] we really wanted to help create that interior exterior flow.

[40:26] Even though the bedroom has a lounge area where the study is,

[40:31] it continues out towards this balcony and you have that

[40:36] Northwest view .

[40:44] I guess that concludes the presentation,

[40:48] maybe it's good to mention that in the pool

[40:52] we have a sunken fire pit as well.

[40:57] in a way, the shape of the pool looks

[41:04] like it's a straight rectangle, but actually

[41:08] the pool of water line is more of a U shape

[41:13] and the center we carved out a space for the sunken fire pit.

[41:20] thank you so much.

[41:33] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Let me ask you a few things.

[41:38] A few practical things, just coming

[41:43] from the kind of experience that time gives us.

[41:47] You have the condensing units on the rooftop

[41:50] which is convenient because you bring that noise up to the roof

[41:53] and hopefully it doesn't affect anybody.

[41:57] But I believe the building code requires

[42:00] you have access to a rooftop and access for servicing.

[42:15] so that's just a friendly comment,

[42:17] because what we typically try to do because a lot of these end

[42:21] up having roof terraces as well, since we are going up

[42:27] to the roof tariff with some kind of stair,

[42:31] you just don't want it to become an afterthought.

[42:35] This would create imperfection, so think about that the ship

[42:41] ladder thing becomes a last minute thing .

[42:48] That's something I think you need to look

[42:50] at in refining the design.

[42:51] The other question is about your gates,

[42:54] we all have this sort of request sometimes

[42:56] from clients that want privacy to bring their front gate as

[43:00] high up as possible and it looks like the gate

[43:08] that you designed seems to be like a ten foot gate.

[43:18] Is that permitted by zoning?

[43:25] The note says five feet, but the rendering

[43:29] is whatever it wants to be.

[43:38] Martin Litman: At one point the owner

[43:41] wanted to pursue some sort of variance request,

[43:44] but they understood we are going to keep it at five feet.

[44:09] We thought there was some sort of precedent

[44:13] about it, seeing that it wasn't, maybe

[44:17] the owner later wants to pursue that in the future.

[44:21] I don't think so, but.

[44:29] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Its nice, but also the front door ,

[44:41] is that in half?

[44:46] Martin Litman: When it's closed it's supposed to look like 125

[44:50] foot panel .

[45:00] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: But the actual function

[45:02] is the lower half.

[45:09] Martin Litman: Where this beam is is the 12 foot height,

[45:16] coinciding with the window with the glass.

[45:26] There's two different types of stones,

[45:30] there's the actual marble , which is here

[45:36] and on the interior of the portico which I can point out

[45:41] in the example.

[45:46] the idea is for it to be an opposite of Carrara marble,

[45:53] instead of gray with full white, it's actually

[45:57] white veins with full gray.

[46:08] And then we have another stone, which

[46:12] is more to depict something similar to limestone

[46:16] but it is still stone.

[46:39] This idea of warmth which is what we most wanted to achieve.

[46:51] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: The way that the roof is draining,

[46:53] you try to avoid any dripping, it seems like there's a smooth

[46:58] parapet all throughout .

[47:13] Martin Litman: Normal drain on the emergency drain,

[47:18] but since you pointed that out, to be able to achieve the thin

[47:25] slab esthetic, we actually have above the windows that's where

[47:32] we have a drop made out of the same aluminum as the window

[47:37] frames .

[47:40] You can really see it here how all of the air conditioning

[47:45] ducts and the dropped ceiling when you were on the interior ,

[47:53] the height is to the top of the window but on the exterior to be

[47:56] able to achieve the thin slab, we are actually dropping

[48:01] or raising above the windows enhancing the actual aluminum

[48:05] of the window frames, so that's how specifically here you can

[48:12] really see how that horizontal line and in the section you can

[48:19] also see how we achieved in this render .

[48:36] It's a concrete tie beam, then it will be cladded in the same

[48:41] aluminum as the window Correct , the glass goes up to the bottom

[48:49] of the tie beam and then the tie beam will be cladded

[48:52] in the aluminum.

[49:09] Martin Litman: It's a detail we thought a lot about,

[49:13] but the window ends prior.

[49:23] It was the intention to make it look like the thin roof

[49:30] line could be more visible, that's why

[49:36] even the stone in the windows are not

[49:41] flush with the front of that band, we set it back.

[50:02] That section is on the portico .

[50:11] About 60% of the length of this eyebrow

[50:13] is resting on the portico.

[50:15] You can see it here, they touch each other.

[50:35] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: It's not about the structure,

[50:38] is it supposed to read as a band that's just floating

[50:40] or is it part of the architecture of the two story

[50:46] element?

[50:47] I'm not getting that band.

[50:52] It looks like just a floating piece,

[50:56] but is it a floating piece or is it part of the whole element?

[51:02] Martin Litman: That's why this wood cladding does not

[51:05] go all the way to the top of the roof, the band of what

[51:08] would be the thickness of the roof is around and has

[51:12] the continuation and becomes that eyebrow.

[51:14] Basically it starts in this image where I'm pointing right

[51:19] now, this would be the balcony.

[51:21] Gets towards the front and then it turns the corner,

[51:24] goes all the way around and then it connects back to this balcony

[51:30] as well.

[51:32] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: I think this is still in schematic mode,

[51:35] when you slice through a few sections of the house,

[51:38] sort of the challenge or the calibration here

[51:43] that is going to be key to success

[51:44] to maintain the slenderness of those edges

[51:46] is how you step it down into sort of that lower roof that

[51:51] then is the one that's draining, and you have that parapet.

[51:56] I'm trying to imagine how that parapet works,

[51:59] and you have to feel these are slender canopies.

[52:04] The challenge always with these canopies is how they deal with

[52:07] the water and more and more try to sort of push the water off

[52:10] the edge so it doesn't drip, because when you get that

[52:14] moisture constantly it starts to grow bacteria and it starts

[52:18] to get dirty , so these are the things in the tropics that we

[52:26] need to work out.

[52:28] You have a lot of edges that appear to be very slender,

[52:34] I don't know how much water we are capturing and draining.

[52:42] Martin Litman: The reason for the parapet

[52:45] is so we can have the height to create the pitch.

[52:51] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: I see you are sloping them quarter

[52:54] inch back to the preferred roof, I

[52:58] think that's a good strategy for sure.

[53:06] Speaker: I like the front of the house, however

[53:08] I'm looking through the drawings and trying

[53:10] to understand what you are doing at this level here.

[53:14] Is this supposed to be the entire house?

[53:19] is the front portion a one story?

[53:25] Martin Litman: This is just the main structure,

[53:27] let me show you the site plan here.

[53:31] There you can see on the second floor

[53:33] plan what would be the roofs of the one story structures.

[53:38] This is the second floor floor plan

[53:41] that shows the roofs of the one story structures

[53:43] and then the roof plan shows just the two story structure.

[53:50] but we will resolve the drainage for the one story

[53:54] structures the same.

[53:59] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: If you overlay the roof,

[54:01] you have these two openings for palm trees on the other side

[54:04] of the entrance but when I go to the roof plan I'm not seeing

[54:08] that so I'm trying to understand it.

[54:14] Martin Litman: Because you have that eyebrow that you were

[54:17] asking me about before that goes across .

[54:37] The roof comes to here, so basically this area here

[54:42] would be the eyebrow and this would be the portico.

[55:02] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: A public comment,

[55:04] and then we will continue.

[55:27] Heather Brecker: First I will say

[55:29] that's a beautiful rendering.

[55:31] We have been residents for six plus years now.

[55:38] I will read this to you...

[55:42] For six consecutive years we have

[55:46] dealt with construction next to or across from our home.

[55:49] At that time we had a son who was not even yet one years old,

[55:53] and with no meaningful regard for the fact that we

[55:56] were residents, our family's home, and the place where

[55:59] we are entitled to live, reasonably

[56:02] has been impacted by this construction for our safety,

[56:06] health, and quality of life.

[56:08] This has not been a short term inconvenience,

[56:11] six years is a long time living with ongoing noise, dust,

[56:17] vibration, distraction, loss of privacy

[56:20] and the constant intrusion that comes with construction

[56:23] of not just a single family residence

[56:25] but as you know some really massive, significant

[56:28] construction projects in the vicinity five houses down

[56:34] or across where our home is located.

[56:38] While we all live in a beautiful community,

[56:40] we also live in a community, and I

[56:42] do want you to understand that our living has been impacted

[56:49] substantially by all these significant construction

[56:53] projects that are now beautiful homes,

[56:55] and we have dealt with living through all of this

[56:58] like I said for six consecutive years.

[57:01] The burden of that development have

[57:03] been placed almost entirely on the families who

[57:06] live in its path.

[57:09] I don't want to go on longer than this,

[57:11] but our address should not become a permanent construction

[57:13] zone simply because development is permitted,

[57:16] there has to be a point at which the impact to the people

[57:19] and the lives who live here have matter

[57:22] and therefore ask you to understand

[57:24] timely the consideration not only

[57:26] of just where we are at, but our health

[57:28] and well-being and the safety.

[57:31] I will let my husband continue.

[57:38] John Brecker: It is a beautiful house, unfortunately

[57:41] we're not going to live there when we have

[57:43] the burden of construction.

[57:46] The house across from us is currently building Of 500 zero

[57:52] square foot house and next to it it's

[57:54] been five years of that construction.

[57:57] I brought a picture today of when

[57:59] we walked in here the cars that are lined up on the street.

[58:02] Some days it's impossible for us to get out of our driveway,

[58:05] we've gotten a flat tire, we've had to change multiple,

[58:10] we've had to change our air conditioning

[58:12] system because of all the dust.

[58:13] There's been vibration constantly

[58:16] that has affected our foundation of our house,

[58:19] and that's not just our house, that's

[58:21] people along the corridor.

[58:23] We've had construction behind us, next to us, and diagonally

[58:28] for the last six years.

[58:30] We have a seven year old who can't go out and play

[58:36] because there are trucks and construction workers constantly

[58:42] coming by.

[58:44] I think this needs to be put into consideration,

[58:48] 1300 zero square foot house in a number of years in construction.

[58:52] We've lived here for six years under these conditions,

[58:54] and I don't think anyone in this room

[58:56] would buy a house that you've had construction

[58:58] of this magnitude for so long, and with the disruptions

[59:03] that we've had.

[59:04] There's noise disruptions.

[59:05] I work from home, there's noise disruptions.

[59:08] I think that this really needs to be thought of.

[59:12] As specifics to the house, the two main buildings

[59:16] they want to build right onto the street, I really object to.

[59:21] It's going to be a massive project for them to build those,

[59:24] it's going to be all trucks and noise and dust,

[59:27] we live right across the street.

[59:30] Is not taking into account the neighbors that live there.

[59:34] It's beautiful, but it's a huge inconvenience

[59:36] to us and to our neighbors, so I think the sign needs

[59:40] to go back and be changed.

[59:42] It would be one thing if you kept it all the way back

[59:45] and had a courtyard, but to build those two pieces,

[59:48] it's going to be a huge disruption to us.

[59:51] Not to your clients, but to us, so I

[59:55] think it needs to be a really thought about design

[59:58] of this property so it's fair for the people who already live

[1:00:01] here, along with the timeline.

[1:00:05] I think there's needs to be a discussion .

[1:00:12] There's no room to park .

[1:00:20] Heather Brecker: I have to call the gates sometimes to get out,

[1:00:24] God forbid there was an emergency.

[1:00:30] We have two points that have been many times

[1:00:33] literally blocked and people get in the way and they go fast.

[1:00:37] If my son is coming home and he just wants to go outside,

[1:00:40] I'm worried someone's skirting by at 60mph because they want

[1:00:45] to just get through the area because it's such mayhem.

[1:00:51] John Brecker: There have been many times

[1:00:53] you go through the street and can't get through.

[1:00:56] You either have to wait or go around.

[1:00:58] This plan of a 1300 zero square foot of this house at this time

[1:01:04] is not realistic, we cannot handle the amount

[1:01:06] of construction or vibration.

[1:01:22] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Thank you

[1:01:23] for your honest presentation.

[1:01:25] I'm trying to share and lead this board.

[1:01:32] My thoughts are that we are trying

[1:01:34] to look at design, esthetics, consistency, contacts,

[1:01:39] and there's a criteria we have to follow.

[1:01:44] What is outside our realm here is really

[1:01:46] all the issues created by this excess

[1:01:52] in buying homes, tearing them down, and building

[1:01:57] larger homes, that's kind of the constant trend.

[1:02:01] Your city commissioner and the mayor

[1:02:04] would be the people to really understand your concern,

[1:02:08] they understand the limitations of what they can do

[1:02:12] to sort of create legislation.

[1:02:15] From a design point of view, the city has a zoning consultant

[1:02:21] that looks at does the house comply with zoning criteria

[1:02:25] and then the official reports to us as a board ,

[1:02:34] does the project meet the zoning criteria of the village.

[1:02:38] Does, otherwise it wouldn't have gotten to us.

[1:02:45] Then, does it meet the building code

[1:02:47] and all kinds of other technical aspects of the code

[1:02:53] officially read into the record and creates a series

[1:02:57] of conditions to move forward.

[1:03:00] That's the typical process, I see what you are saying every

[1:03:04] day, I see it in Palm Island and Hibiscus Island and Palm Beach

[1:03:09] and Delray and all the beautiful luxury communities we have

[1:03:13] in Florida that are now gaining a lot of attraction people want

[1:03:17] to come and live in the same environment that you live,

[1:03:21] it's a big challenge to all of these communities ,

[1:03:27] everybody is having to deal with construction traffic .

[1:03:33] You have an effective gate in trying to manage things,

[1:03:36] but it is kind of pure chaos because a lot of people

[1:03:41] are allowed in because they are contractors working

[1:03:43] different projects, and what they do once they get in,

[1:03:47] who's going to be policing how they park and drive.

[1:03:52] All these concerns about safety for yourselves

[1:03:56] are legitimate comments, but I don't

[1:04:00] know what to do about it because we have to judge is it

[1:04:04] contextual, is it going to perform well,

[1:04:07] does it have adequate landscaping.

[1:04:09] The two frontal garages are in the zone they are allowed,

[1:04:14] they are not doing anything that is not allowed

[1:04:16] but what we see is when people are building these larger

[1:04:19] homes a lot of times they come to us

[1:04:21] and they have one parking garage and we

[1:04:24] say how is that going to work?

[1:04:27] We do see a future hopefully where a lot of us are not going

[1:04:30] to be using too many cars , they still have to go somewhere so we

[1:04:37] do have concerns.

[1:04:38] This house appears to have two garages for two cars, plenty

[1:04:42] of car capacity, but your concern is understood by me,

[1:04:47] and I will just allow the other board

[1:04:50] members to state the concern and comments about this.

[1:04:53] We have a resident actually sitting with us ,

[1:05:00] that's all I have to say.

[1:05:08] Speaker: The street is very complicated,

[1:05:10] I can't get out that exit any day, it's always blocked .

[1:05:18] It's complicated, but I can also say the team have really stepped

[1:05:25] it up .

[1:05:29] Trying to impose the requirements to make it better

[1:05:32] for the residents, but it's not our jurisdiction .

[1:05:58] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: As a public official how do you deal

[1:06:00] with that, we live in the United States when you buy a property

[1:06:04] you have certain rights , and then it affects others that live

[1:06:09] in the neighborhood like you being affected.

[1:06:13] So how do you legislate to avoid that, you basically

[1:06:16] have to put some kind of building moratorium,

[1:06:19] and I don't think that's going to happen.

[1:06:22] People buy properties, people make investments,

[1:06:25] and people have rights you can try to challenge them and go

[1:06:30] through the legal process .

[1:06:45] if you talk to everyone managing these construction sites,

[1:06:49] the superintendents and project managers,

[1:06:52] most of their day is spent talking to the front gate

[1:06:56] because someone's trying to get in then they have to manage that

[1:06:59] and then they've got a big piece of equipment being delivered ,

[1:07:05] it's like that's what you're living every day in about 30

[1:07:10] active construction sites.

[1:07:12] It's stressful, puts the stress on the community.

[1:07:16] As you know, there's a lot of Jewish holidays where nothing

[1:07:19] happens but it's not enough .

[1:07:35] It's a real issue, I don't have any solutions unfortunately .

[1:07:51] I would go to the commission .

[1:08:11] Speaker: Everything behind the gate

[1:08:13] is private streets, the civic Association manages the gate

[1:08:16] access, and that's another avenue for you

[1:08:19] to communicate about how that is being handled as well.

[1:08:27] What other communities are doing is

[1:08:30] they require the contractor to present the construction plan,

[1:08:35] like on site I'm going to provide parking for 15 cars.

[1:08:42] Does that really happen , do contractors really buy a minibus

[1:08:50] to transport their crew to the site, that's not very practical.

[1:08:54] I don't know what else to say here .

[1:09:11] Usually these are 2 to 3 year constructions.

[1:09:16] These have changed architects and designers,

[1:09:20] owners make changes and they have to get revisions.

[1:09:25] We can't control that, it's just the way these things evolve

[1:09:33] because people are creative and they have expectations

[1:09:36] so it's difficult for us to have any impact

[1:09:39] on the schedule or the building official, per se.

[1:09:56] Speaker: The mayor would be the avenue through, and then

[1:10:00] your community association or even

[1:10:03] bring it to the community input whether conditions

[1:10:07] are agreed upon.

[1:10:27] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: That's happening too

[1:10:29] at the state level, they are superseding our authority

[1:10:33] to have moratoriums until October 2027.

[1:10:45] Speaker: If you go to the first page on the plans,

[1:10:47] there's a note of an ordinance you could look at which protects

[1:10:50] you .

[1:11:18] Speaker: We've made sure every construction site has

[1:11:21] a pre-construction meeting for demolition that's part of that

[1:11:24] ordinance, we will have that meeting and code enforcement

[1:11:28] will be part of it, police department and public works all

[1:11:32] part of that meeting to be able to control the access

[1:11:40] the vehicles inside the site .

[1:11:51] That house has been in construction before I got here,

[1:11:53] and I've been here five and a half years.

[1:11:57] Keep in mind we can't control that, but just

[1:12:01] for peace of mind based on the last communication

[1:12:04] we had with that site, supposedly

[1:12:08] before the end of September they are going to finish,

[1:12:13] that's what they've been telling us.

[1:12:17] This could be any time after now this process,

[1:12:21] then they have to go through the process of permitting which

[1:12:24] could take another month and a half to three months

[1:12:27] and then after that they can start construction.

[1:12:29] But then, you also have another house across with the other

[1:12:36] owner similar to this that got approved 4 or 5 months ago that

[1:12:40] is under construction already , that one should be done probably

[1:12:49] within 6 to 8 months .

[1:12:56] But the other one, it will probably be 2 to 3 years

[1:13:02] so unfortunately I cannot control the construction speed

[1:13:08] or how they acquire the materials .

[1:13:18] We have another one inside the dry lot

[1:13:19] has been in construction for more than four years,

[1:13:23] but the materials that they picked out

[1:13:26] and the lead time they've taken that time,

[1:13:29] unfortunately we can't control that.

[1:13:32] But I completely understand, if you want we can give you contact

[1:13:39] information for the construction and you can see the construction

[1:13:46] contractor at the construction meeting and have a point

[1:13:50] of contact and hear what we say to them .

[1:14:02] To be neighbors you cannot start on the wrong foot,

[1:14:04] you have to be pleasant and passionate and not allow

[1:14:08] the destruction for the residents of the other

[1:14:12] neighborhoods .

[1:14:18] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: We get the idea,

[1:14:19] we feel your frustration and your pain

[1:14:22] and we wish we could do something about it.

[1:15:00] Thank you guys.

[1:15:11] We have some additional public comments

[1:15:15] which I will read into the record,

[1:15:17] they are available for the architects to read.

[1:15:21] They are very sensible comments ,

[1:15:27] and then we have public comments from this couple .

[1:15:32] We can wrap up the feedback, any more questions?

[1:15:40] Speaker: On the north side you have a single access gate access

[1:15:44] and no access until you get to the rear yard,

[1:15:49] so the courtyard I would imagine there will be kids at some

[1:15:52] point, there's kind of a visual barrier pure .

[1:16:03] the whole northern 75 by ten feet accessible

[1:16:08] except from the right of way or the backyard,

[1:16:12] I would just recommend a gate.

[1:16:19] Martin Litman: There's a side exit through the gym that is

[1:16:23] additional .

[1:16:39] The other one, with that garage facing the street and the cars

[1:16:45] having to do a 180, can we screen the lights coming back

[1:16:51] to the neighbors who just left because normally the headlights

[1:16:58] as you are leaving your driveway point down at the street .

[1:17:17] Normally on a structured garage they're

[1:17:20] going to require some sort of visual barrier

[1:17:22] to keep that from happening.

[1:17:40] Speaker: Do you have a fresh air intake system for this house?

[1:17:49] Martin Litman: We didn't do the mechanical problems yet,

[1:17:53] but we always do .

[1:18:21] Jose L. Gomez, Board Member: I've been looking at the plans,

[1:18:23] and there's a little coordination to be done .

[1:18:34] The eyebrow is pretty impressive over already in arch .

[1:18:50] Speaker: We have to trust, there isn't a process where you come

[1:18:53] back after full design and see things,

[1:18:56] it's not going to happen and I think the beauty is that we have

[1:19:01] different brains here and we are all kind of giving you our best

[1:19:05] thoughts to make sure you find great success .

[1:19:11] I think the sign is nicely done and I

[1:19:14] think your clients are happy and you've got consistency

[1:19:17] in the vocabulary, the material, palette is fantastic.

[1:19:21] It's sort of in the execution because we

[1:19:25] want to make sure contractors don't

[1:19:28] cut corners and things like that,

[1:19:30] we wish you good luck on that.

[1:19:38] Excellent job, the feedback you're

[1:19:40] getting from the neighbors is more

[1:19:42] because there's a lot going on, it's a beautiful community

[1:19:46] and people get concerned.

[1:19:52] Speaker: I feel sympathetic .

[1:20:06] Reinaldo Borges, Chair: Let's go forward on this,

[1:20:09] anybody wants to make a motion to approve.

[1:20:15] That was a, I saw it .

[1:20:23] All those in favor say aye.

[1:20:27] you've got four yeses and no official written conditions,

[1:20:33] we are submitting the comments of the neighbors

[1:20:35] for your consideration and wish you the best.

[1:20:55] It depends on the quality of the drawings .

[1:21:03] I think no other official business, so we are done,

[1:21:06] we closed the meeting, no more public comments .

[1:21:12] The world is safe, everything's happy, everything's beautiful.

[1:21:16] The meeting comes to a close, thank you so much!

Architectural Review Board - Sep 3rd, 2026

Agenda

Transcript