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Showing posts with label Hollywood Circle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollywood Circle. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

My critical analysis of awful #YoungCircle Roadway Feasibility Study that'll make #HollywoodFL #traffic worse, NOT better ๐Ÿ˜ฎ = coming soon. This week!

My critical analysis of awful #YoungCircle Roadway Feasibility Study that'll make #HollywoodFL #traffic worse, NOT better ๐Ÿ˜ฎ = coming soon. This week!


Looking east/northeast from the west side of Young Circle/ArtsPark, with Hollywood Circle being built in the distance, opposite the northeast corner, Hollywood, FL.
To me, the only thing in Hollywood as sublime as Hollywood Beach near the Johnson Street bandshell on a sunny November weekend after the tens of thousands of Canadians have made their annual invasion of the area during "the season" is this statue.
Erected to City of Hollywood founder and its first mayor, Joseph Young, it bears the single greatest line you could ever want to see on a statue honoring any politician, at any time, especially in ethically-challenged Florida: "His vision and courage created this city."
No matter how many times I've walked past this statue, I can never pass near it without stopping for a moment and reading it yet again, knowing how many people in this area are indebted to this man that so few people living here now ever think of.
May 31, 2017 photo by me, South Beach Hoosier. © 2017 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.




























South Florida Sun Sentinel
Running rings around future of Young Circle - Proposal for a two-way traffic pattern in Hollywood gets mixed reviews
Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel
July 16, 2017
HOLLYWOOD - A grand redesign may be in the cards for downtown Hollywood's Young Circle, the roadway that confounds drivers with its one-way traffic and seven stoplights.
The ambitious plan calls for the removal of all the traffic lights and would give Hollywood a rare two-way traffic circle. Drivers in the inner lane would travel clockwise; those in the outer lane would travel counterclockwise, as they do today. Four roundabouts with landscaping would replace the lights at Federal Highway and Hollywood Boulevard.
Also under discussion: Persuading the state to build an underground tunnel at Federal Highway and Young Circle to give drivers the option of bypassing the traffic circle. But the idea is so new that Hollywood officials have no plans drawn up yet.
See the rest of the article at:

I didn't bother to mention Sunday on Twitter, above, how little the Hollywood CRA's transportation and planning consultant, Ian Lockwood, seemed to know about the future consumer/traffic realities of the Young Circle/ArtsPark area.

 Specifically, about Hollywood developer Chip Abele's soon-to-open Hollywood Circle project on the NE corner across from Young Circle, i.e. Block 55. That project will not only include the new and much-larger Publix, but also an upscale restaurant, hotel and condominium. 
There's also Abele's already-approved large condominium and 103-room Hilton-branded hotel project that'll be going up across the street from the SW corner of Young Circle at Harrison Street.

This project, now known as Block 40, but formerly called Young Circle Commons, is the one that I told many of you readers about last September 21st, via email and Twitter, just minutes after it was approved by the Hollywood City Commission.
Hollywood developer Chip Abele at the September 21, 2016 Hollywood City Commission meeting. Photo by me, South Beach Hoosier.


Here's a link to one of my blog posts from 2009 about Mr. Abele's efforts to get something built at that same NE corner location, Block 55. 
He never gave up.

 That little historical interlude makes me wonder something, and I might as well say what I'm thinking: Would it really have been too much to expect the consultant hired by the Hollywood CRA to at least know as much about the general area under discussion, both pro and con, as... well, me?

Above, looking north towards the construction at Hollywood Circle from the east side of Young Circle/ArtsPark, where despite the city's big sel-serving talk of the past decade-plus that it was a transit-oriented city, there is not one actual bus shelter at that location for transit riders to stay out of the rain or hot sun, at what is THE busiest bus stop in southeast Broward County. 
When it rains, transit passengers have to hide under Publix's canopy waiting for their bus then run thru the busy parking lot -and moving cars!- to get to the sidewalk and bus. 
Really. 
In the year 2017. It's #pathetic 
May 31, 2017 photo by me, South Beach Hoosier.

I saw Mr. Abele at the second Young Circle Roadway Feasibility Study meeting, but did not have a chance to speak to him, though he was seated in the front of the room at the Fred Lippman Multi-Purpose Center on Polk Street, where all the meetings were held.
In fact, he was seated right near former Hollywood and Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, one of my favorite people, and someone whose (continuing) dedication to this city and its residents' best interests nobody can deny or top in my estimation.

I mention this because it was NOT at all clear from Mr. Lockwood's remarks that he fully understands just what that sort of intense development in that area will mean for the future in the way of additional bodies and traffic there, after it has gotten used to being the way it's been for so many years, which to my eyes, is not nearly as busy and "crowded" as many people imagine when there are no events going on there.

Ask yourself this simple question: If you were already a struggling business located on Young Circle, where parking is always at a premium in the minds of most people, how would tearing-up the existing US-1 to create this plan with its four roundabouts that will slow traffic down to a crawl -and thereby reduce your present and future potential customer base- help your business in the short-term and the long-term? 

 Especially once you realize that the plan aims for nothing less than to reduce the number of vehicles that actually go past your business on US-1, WHY would you stay there? 
Why indeed.
This point was driven home when Comm. Gunzburger asked Mr. Lockwood several simple-but-pointed questions that he should have regarded as softballs if he was properly informed and prepared, but which he could not answer, despite being given plenty of time to respond.
In fact, from where I was sitting, towards the back of the room, right in front of Comm. Debra Case, he actually seemed to try to make light of his failure to know something important, which is certainly an interesting approach.

 Mr. Lockwood's inability to answer her simple question about when the traffic survey he was relying on was conducted matters a great deal, because in this area of South Florida, tens of thousands more people live here and in next-door Hallandale Beach from October thru April.
A high percentage of the Canadians from Quebec and Ontario who are staying at local hotels and motels that cater to them not only use US-1 daily, but use Young Circle in particular. 
And everyone in the room knew that. 
Everyone but Mr. Lockwood.
Just saying...
The plan, as presented so far -and I've seen it three separate times- largely ignores the fact that thousands of people in Aventura, Hallandale Beach, Golden Beach, Hollywood and North Miami Beach depend upon that road everyday to get to work in Fort Lauderdale, or to go to the airport, as well as for others to go to work or home in the opposite direction, going thru Hollywood.
None of that was mentioned the three times I heard Lockwood go thru his paces, full of the same familiar faces, nor the fact that the people who live in those places, as well as their respective City Commissions, will be weighing-in on the proposed change, too, since they are stakeholders as well.
But if you attended those Hollywood CRA-arranged meetings, you almost might think that only people at Hollywood City Hall and FDOT would be deciding everything.

Here's what I can tell you for a fact, the sort of thing I'll expand upon in my forthcoming blog post later this week. On the afternoon of the last public meeting regarding this CRA-sponsored plan, I went over to The Greek Joint in downtown Hollywood with the intention of speaking with its popular, high-profile owner, Jimmy Sklavenitis.

I wanted to find out who, if anyone, had talked to him about the plan already, whether from the Hollywood CRA, the city or the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
In short, to find out his current opinion about the plan as of that date and whether he saw the fatal flaws right away, or, wanted to hear more before perhaps realizing what a diaster this plan would be and the havoc it would create in the area if it became a reality.

I wanted to speak to him because I had already spoken to owners and managers of several restaurants and businesses on Hollywood Blvd., Harrison and Tyler since the first meeting had taken place.
None of the people I spoke to, all of whom either owned or managed popular places that draw LOTS of paying bodies into downtown Hollywood, knew a thing about it.
That is to say, none of them knew anything concrete about a plan or the meetings despite the fact that there had already been several meetings on the plan before I spoke to them.

 They certainly were not aware of what the consultant wanted to do in the way of dramatically changing a major South Florida road into a boutique road, like something quaint that you might see in a small tourist-dependent town in the Horse Country of Northern Virginia on a Sunday morning/afternoon drive from Arlington County or DC on the day the Redskins draw the NFL bye week. (As I know from experience.)

In short, turn an iconic road that's very important to the everyday functioning of the local economy into something that's a little too precious and affected. 
And NOT at all useful.

In any case, when I arrived at The Greek Joint, Mr. Sklavenitis was not there, but in talking to several employees and customers for a few minutes while I was there,not one of them said that they had heard anything about the plan.
After I shared some pertinent facts with them, they told me they didn't understand why if it was such a great plan, the Hollywood CRA seemed to be doing as little as possible to communicate with the residents and business owners in the area so they could weigh-in with their opinions, whatever that happened to be.

So, what does that tell you about the intensity of the public engagement efforts of the Hollywood CRA in the preceding weeks?

Another salient fact worth mentioning here that's been largely ignored in the public discussion so far is that nobody I know of in Hollywood is in favor of the current retail building on the east side of Young Circle staying in their current configuration once Publix leaves for its new home across the street in a few months. 
I mention that because some of the backers of the Lockwood plan seem to imagine that people opposed to the plan want it to stay in place, when nothing could be further from the truth.

 In fact, a few years ago when dynamic architect Bernard Zyscovich was hired by the city as a consultant to create a new master plan for the city, having frequent meetings in Hollywood to talk about ideas for transforming the face and image of Hollywood into a more dynamic, attractive and well-functioning community, especially the downtown area, meetings that I always attended and blogged about at the time, he specifically spoke about the necessity of opening up the east side of Young Circle.
In short, to make it just like what Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy says in the Sun Sentinel article about allowing the beach to meet Young Circle via Hollywood Blvd. without having to look at the unattractive backside of an older retail complex.

 "When you approach the circle from the east you see the back of the Publix and the loading docks," Levy said. "It would be great to connect Hollywood Boulevard to the circle. Imagine standing in the ArtsPark and looking east all the way to the Hollywood Beach Hotel. It would be amazing."

 Now I'm going to change the tenor of this blog post a bit, since there was someone else mentioned in that article that I've had personal dealings with before, someone that deserves some of your attention, but not because of anything positive...

Most -though not all- of you also know from several of my past emails and blog posts over the years why I hold thin-skinned and egotistical Greg Stuart, Exec. Director of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), cited in the Sun Sentinel article above, in such very low regard. 
Stuart's name and initials can be found on so many awful, failed or tortured transportation plans, policies and projects in Broward that he was always quick to praise, despite the self-evident facts-on-the-ground or his disregard for the known behavior and habits of Broward residents.

This petty, petty man's own words, actions and behavior have consistently shown him to be a person who simply can't take ANY constructive criticism, esp. in public from people who have a great familiarity with both the facts and his own actions and words.

That is never more the case then when he is clearly and consistently on the wrong side of public opinion, and consistently championing the sorts of nonsensical Big Government plans that, objectively, in the end, seem only to benefit planning and traffic consultants and bureaucrats, like his employees and his friends.
And elected officials who push these plans who then receive campaign contributions from those very same consultants and their firms- but not actual residents, taxpayers, drivers or mass transit riders.
You know, stakeholders?

His clown-like performance at Hallandale Beach City Hall, a few years ago, where he publicly denied so many things that were objectively true was a real beauty, and one of the worst public performances I've ever seen in South Florida.
That's even more damning when you know that I was on Capitol Hill frequently during my 15 years in Washington, D.C., AND was present at many of the Miami-Dade Commission meetings concerning the proposed government-funded Marlins ballpark, and saw things there that I was truly astonished by.

Equally contemptible was Stuart's truly smarmy and self-serving response to my having to bring up
just a few of the "Inconvenient facts" that HB Mayor Cooper and the City Commission seemed either woefully ignorant of -always a good bet there as experience shows!- or were afraid to mention publicly because they necessarily showed the Broward MPO and Stuart himself in such a negative light if genuine facts were to be discussed and evaluated.

Stuart also used the fact that once I spoke on the agenda item, that I could not get back to the microphone to rebut his future lies and exaggerations of his track record that same night, while he could just stand there and say sweet nothings into the microphone and Mayor Cooper just let him vamp.

His attempt to belittle me and my points largely failed, because as everyone who knows me can tell you, and as most of the well-informed people in the Commission Chambers already knew as well, I'm not going to say things into a microphone that I haven't already checked -and double-checked.

Stuart just happened to have the good fortune at that moment to be at the one City Hall in Broward where facts, logic and reason are almost always ignored, per Mayor Cooper's custom.
So he got away with saying things that were simply not tethered to reality.

So, that said, it should hardly be surprising that Stuart's crazy about this plan that Broward MPO's elected head, Hollywood Comm. Richard Blattner, is largely in favor of.
In fact, Stuart says he think it's "phenomenal."
But then that's what good sycophants like Stuart say and do, isn't it?

Don't be surprised if there's a blog post here in the coming months that asks -and answers- the question, "Is a big part of the problem with Broward County's dysfunctional planning and traffic the fact that it contains too much of Greg Stuart's fingerprints?"

 More facts about this project coming later this week.


This was my response -as I balanced a laptop at a Hollywood City Commission meeting- to some one who agreed with some emails I circulated a few weeks ago.

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 7:20 PM
Subject: re Young Circle Roadway Feasibility Study


I just got your email while at the Hollywood City Comm. meeting.
I'm still there at 7:20 PM.

I attended last night's meeting as well as the previous meeting and last night, Mr. Lockwood, if possible, actually manged to be even more condescending and patronizing of the public -and skeptics like me- than at that the last meeting, which is really saying something.

This, on top of his inability to answer basic reasonable questions, whether from Sue Gunzburger re the integrity of the park and the County's investment in it, to when during the year his traffic numbers were done, to other questions from the public, including about how
valid it is to allow one car trying to park by backing up to park, to stop all traffic in one direction, since under the plan, it'll now be one lane.
So what's his plan for emergency vehicles on one lane roads?

I had planned on speaking this afternoon under Public Comments after Lockwood made his presentation to the City Comm., focusing on the CRA's abysmal civic engagement, with no visible advertising via fliers and sandwich boards along Young Circle, or at the ArtsPark
itself.
Nothing at Radius or Starbucks or... anywhere...

So, the hundreds and thousands of people who attend Monday night Food Truck gatherings and the Friday night family gatherings ever week, well, apparently, the Hollywood CRA didn't think any of them would be interested or have something to contribute that was better than what was presented.

What would explain such a colossal failure to do the most obvious thing? What's the CRA's explanation?

What's their explanation for ignoring the business people who own and operate popular restaurants and stores who are completely in the dark about something that DIRECTLY affects them, their business and their personal and economic futures?

Trust me, I've been taking notes, taking photos and asking people who have invested in the area what they knew about it, and when did they first hear about it. Nothing.
ZERO.

So imagine how happy they are to hear about it from me, after-the-fact?

In the end, I decided not to rebut Camejo and Lockwood publicly today, and instead write my longstanding concerns via a fact-filled, photo-filled email to the City Comm. next week pointing out the flaws as well as reminding them of the city's longstanding failure to do basic safety checkups in the years since the ArtsPark was formally opened, and then post it to
my popular blog, Hallandale Beach Blog.

Trust me, I can describe the whole circle by heart and what's missing and what's wrong.
So why isn't the city starting with solving those safety and aesthetic problems first?
It could not be more obvious.

In my email, I'm going to offer to give them a quick tour pointing these things out, which, once you see them, you can't believe they haven't been fixed the past 8-10 years.

Today's "findings" by Lockwood are based on... 152 self-selecting people.
The "Usual Suspects." 
I know because I am one of them.
But where's the diversity of opinions?

I saw far too many people drinking the consultant's Kool-Aid last night and today, rather than ask even, well, even softball questions, the whole City Commission completely rolled over.
It was a sad sight. :-(

Contact me if you might be open to meeting at Panera's or someplace similar because I share many of your concerns about this make-work opportunity for Mr. Lockwood and his company, who want the gravy train to continue.

By the way, his company will have to bid against other companies to actually do any of the things he discussed and proposed.
That is a fact that was never mentioned at either meeting but which came up today.

Not that the City of Hollywood has any money to do any of the things Lockwood proposes.

Dave

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Saturday, February 21, 2009

Miami Herald editorial re Hollywood Circle: "Lop the top off that tower, city says"

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/914424.html


Miami Herald

Editorial 

February 21, 2009


Local perspectives

HOLLYWOOD

LOP THE TOP OFF THAT TOWER, CITY SAYS

Civility and common sense have taken root among Hollywood officials -- a welcome development. For instance, the City Commission, with Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan dissenting, gave the green light to a condo tower and retail development project this week without the usual accompanying fireworks. But the commission added one condition with its preliminary approval: Reduce the height of the proposed 25-story condo.

Good call. Mr. Bober and Ms. O'Sheehan said they couldn't vote for the project unless it is reduced in size.

The project would be at the northeast corner of Young Circle and would have a new Publix -- long a fixture there -- along with 20,000 square feet of office and retail space. The tower would have 424 condos.

But that number should be reduced. The developers should comply with the commission's reasonable requirement. Downtown is the right place for highrises, but not too high or too crowded. Staff recommends that the tower be reduced to 22 stories, the height of the Arts Park Village project also located on Young Circle.

City Planning Director Jaye Epstein says that project should represent the city's height limit. This is a sensible way to allay residents' concerns that Young Circle could become a condo canyon. You wouldn't want to surround the county's ArtsPark with a wall of highrises.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

In Hollywood, blighted Block 55 gets a new lease on life as "Hollywood Circle"

My comments follow the Miami Herald article.
I should mention that due to the Blogger.com software once again playing tricks with the fonts and the Preview function, the below may appear very different from what I initially intended, as it took forever to actually post this.

Then I noticed a few mistakes I'd made in haste and received word that something I'd already written earlier in the day was not, in fact, 100% correct, causing more upset, since that meant jumping thru this hoop one more time.
Hopefully, this will be the last time I have to do this.

This corrected version is slightly different from what I originally wrote and posted a few hours ago, and also now has an addendum at the end. 
----------------------------------
Miami Herald
Proposed condo tower on Young Circle gets boost from Hollywood commissioners
By Breanne Gilpatrick
February 19, 2009

In a late-night vote, Hollywood commissioners on Wednesday agreed to pave the way for a proposed condo tower and retail development along Young Circle. There was one catch: to go forward, commissioners say, the proposed 25-story project needs to be shorter.
After roughly four hours of debate, commissioners voted 5-2 to give their initial approval to a key zoning change for the project known as Hollywood Circle. The development, which would sit at the northeast corner of Young Circle, currently includes plans for 424 condominium units, a new Publix grocery store and roughly 20,000 square feet of retail and office space.
However, commissioners said developers need to work with the city to reduce the project's height before a final vote in the upcoming weeks.
''What can I say?'' Commissioner Linda Sherwood said. ``This is Hollywood and Hollywood is always concerned about height.''

 TOO TALL?
If built as proposed, the project would be the highest development planned for the Young Circle area so far.
City staff says that's too tall. Jaye Epstein, the city's planning director, urged commissioners to crack down on the growing high-rises cropping up around downtown.
He said the ArtsPark Village project -- a 22-story condo and office tower approved last year for another corner of Young Circle -- should serve as the city's development ceiling.
''In Hollywood, whatever A gets, B gets more,'' Epstein said. "There has to be a line in the sand. . . . The point has to be made. We need to stop the madness.''
Some residents also worry that the number of high-rises planned will create a canyon effect around Young Circle ArtsPark -- Hollywood's downtown centerpiece.
Critics also have said they don't want the city to approve any more major developments in the area until commissioners receive the results of a downtown master plan being created by architect Bernard Zyscovich.
But developers say only the portion of the project closest to Young Circle -- and furthest from the surrounding neighborhoods -- will be 25 stories tall.
Supporters and business leaders also praised the overall project, saying it will draw more residents and retail shops to the area and help reinvigorate downtown. Developers say the project is several years from completion, when the economy should be in better shape.
The property now houses a smaller town house development and the site of a former Greyhound bus station.

 `DO A LITTLE BIT MORE'
''Downtown Hollywood really needs to be revitalized,'' Commissioner Dick Blattner said. "I think all of us feel strongly that we need this kind of development downtown. . . . You've done so much so far, just do a little bit more.''
Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan and Mayor Peter Bober voted against the project, saying they couldn't support it until the height had been reduced.
''Do we need this? Is this a good project? Is this a blighted block? Absolutely,'' O'Sheehan said. ``But sometimes I need a new car, and I don't go onto the car lot and pay the sticker price.''

 Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/910744.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

 -------------------------------------
The Sun-Sentinel initially had a report without a byline at:

Later, they ran this article on the approval of Chip Abele's project, Hollywood Circle.

Downtown Hollywood condo-retail project gets initial approval
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
February 19, 2009

 HOLLYWOOD
Plans for what could be a 25-story condo and retail project in downtown received an initial approval on Wednesday, despite the protest of nearby residents who say it's too high.

Commissioners passed on first reading a zoning change that would allow the proposed Hollywood Circle to tower above all other buildings around Young Circle.

The approval came even though commissioners have not yet received the recommendations of an architect being paid $200,000 to draw up a vision for downtown.

Even the city's planning director has issues with the proposed neck-arching height.

Under the proposal, the $100 million Hollywood Circle will include 424 condo units and an eight-story parking garage. It also will have 46,000 square feet to build a new home for a Publix supermarket.

Developer Chip Abele plans to build in phases, starting with the supermarket and stores. He would build the residential part when the real estate market improves.

The project has gained much support from the Hollywood business community and from residents in Parkside, just south of Young Circle.

"Life presents opportunity and here's a great opportunity in this economy," said Parkside resident Barry Stock. "We need help in this economy and we shouldn't complain to the Lone Ranger that his horse's legs are too long."

But residents in adjacent Hollywood Lakes say they want to see a project there, but not one that high. They wanted Wednesday's meeting postponed until after March 10, when architect, Bernard Zyscovich, presents his study. Officials plan to incorporate the study -- including building heights -- into city zoning laws.

Mayor Peter Bober and Commissioners Richard Blattner and Heidi O'Sheehan voted to postpone the meeting.

"I don't think this is consistent to what the majority of the Hollywood residents want to see," said Bober.

The rest of the commission didn't want to wait, and received the scorn of a number of residents.

"You all talk about being stewards of our money, but how do you explain to your districts that you spent $200,000 and then disregarded the report," said Siobhan McLaughlin. " I find that absolute disheartening. It's a disgrace."

Commissioner Patty Asseff, whose district covers the area, said she wanted to move quickly on correcting the blighted corner.

"It's been too many years," said Asseff. "Everyone has been waiting patiently, and now is the time to finally do it."

Hollywood Lakes residents are not the only ones concerned with the project's height.

City Planning Director Jaye Epstein said the developer should lower the height at least three floors before the plan returns for a final vote in upcoming weeks.

A different project, on the southeast corner, has already been approved at 22-stories. Epstein said that should be the limit for all of downtown.

"The message should be that we're fed up ad we're not taking it anymore. It has to stop," said Epstein. "Whether its Zyscovich or Epstein, I think it needs to stop. Stop the madness"

But Abele said lowering the residential tower would be costly and could mean having to raise the rent on tenants.

"We're in a horrendous economy. To chop down or take things away from the project is not the right thing to do," he said.

Commissioners have not yet scheduled a final vote that would include setting a height limit.

-----------------------------------



Looking north towards Hollywood from in front of Gulfstream Park, 500 block of South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach, the block south of Hallandale Beach City Hall.
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.



A different perspective on Hollywood than what you're used to, using my camera's Zoom-in function. Looking north towards Hollywood and The Radius at Young Circle, from the 500 block of South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach, the block south of Hallandale Beach City Hall. February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.



Looking north at Radius, the NW corner of Young Circle, from the east side of The ArtsPark at Young Circle, Hollywood
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking north at Block 55 from the east side of The ArtsPark at Young Circle, Hollywood
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


I plan to comment on this article later on both the Miami Herald's website and more later on the blog, but I wanted to post this now in case you hadn't seen it yet.
In my opinion, this Herald article has a weird combination of both mis-statement of basic facts as well as a paucity of important self-evident facts that add context to this story.

 The most glaring being that the article starts by saying "In a late night vote..."
H-m-m-m...

Well, I got home from the meeting around 8:45 p.m., after poking my head in for a few minutes at the HB City Commission meeting -Donald Shockey of EDAW was making his presentation of the HB Master Plan they've been working so hard on- I turned on my computer to watch the rest of Hollywood's meeting via their website, something we can't do currently in Hallandale Beach.
The final vote on Young Circle happened just before 9:05 p.m.
Late night?

Hollywood Planning Director Jaye Epstein specifically said that just as Hollywood 
residents and City Hall all recognize that the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa will be the tallest structure on the beach, they also recognize that the WSG will be the tallest structure on The Circle.
Absolutely nobody disputes this point at City Hall or anywhere in the city.
Now that is context.

Yet in her article, Gilpatrick mentions the number of storeys of the proposed WSG 
project on the SE corner of Young Circle -never actually referring to it as the WSG
project- even though everyone else does- or more importantly, even say what the actual height approved by the city for that project is: 236 feet.

So how do you not mention the actual approved height of WSG in a news story about the height of structures on The Circle?
Or neglect to mention the height of the much-criticized building directly across the street, Radius, is 141 feet?

I don't know, and for what it's worth, outside of Hollywood City Hall, I've heard exactly one person in the area refer to it as ArtsPark Village, not WSG.

I think for the most part, Gilpatrick is a good reporter, but I honestly don't know how she could neglect to mention the approved height of WSG when it directly answers the comparison question.
She also neglected to mention that the project will actually have many MORE parking spaces than required, or even the presence of the Papa John's Pizza on U.S.-1, the only existing retail on the entire block.

More importantly for HB's consideration, she neglected to mention that Jaye Epstein 
specifically said that he personally doubts developer Chip Abele will be able to do all the 424 condo units until at least 2011.
2011.

I realize that all things involving design or real estate are a bit subjective, but having been there last night, just a few feet away from the renderings, and having previously read lots of the docs, in my opinion, the proposed project on Young Circle I saw is MUCH MORE attractive than any of the three recent development projects I can think of involving residential units that the HB City Commission has approved over the past 18 months, but which have yet to start building.
And that's true of those on U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd., like Oasis, the project that Steve Geller represented.

Background docs on the Hollywood Circle project are at:
City of Hollywood City Commission
February 18, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

To me, that's not only very bad news for Hallandale Beach, but an important reality check, since if Abele's very attractive project will have vacancy problems before 2011, how long will the HB projects remain vacant, garbage-strewn lots?

Recall what I said previously about having personally observed -and photographed- the fact that at the much-ballyhooed, pie-in-the-sky project known as The European Club, on HBB 
and Three Islands Drive, there was a red warning notice put on its fence on Dec. 15th by a contractor for non-payment of funds?

Well, as bad as that area is now, in part because of the bus stop, imagine that huge lot 
without a fence!
Instant new dumping point for the many lazy residents and contractors of SE Broward, who already are pretty brazen about dumping materials in the city, whether at the city's poorly-run (and inadequately-marked) recycling areas, or, even just off of U.S.-1 itself.

It recently took the City of Hallandale Beach almost two weeks to respond to a report I called in to the Sanitation Dept. of a Christmas tree having been dumped across the street from Gulfstream Park on SE 7th Street, a popular dumping ground that I complained about two years ago, next to the city's "NMB water connector."
The tree that had already been there for two weeks.

In case you're trying to visualize that location in your head, that's exactly two blocks south of Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Yet somehow, day-after-day, week-after-week, the city and its employees never quite
noticed the Christmas tree off the side of the road, next to a govt. location it is legally responsible for maintaining.

To be honest, last Friday morning, before heading to downtown Miami for the Marlins 
Stadium hearing, I was tempted to go over there and drag the tree down the sidewalk 
and deposit it in front of the HB City Hall sign, to see what the response rate might be for the city's slothful employees, but decided not to.
We all know how that would've ended, don't we?

More alibis, excuses and finger-pointing from HB City Hall, as if I haven't already heard a lifetime of that from this crew in five years.

Looking towards Hallandale Beach City Hall.  September 17, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

This is a city, after all, which never noticed that ALL the parking lot lights in front and 
alongside of their own City Hall and Police Dept. HQ were out for well over three weeks in October, right before the election.
Even while all sorts of things were taking place there, including, yes, evening HB City 
Commission meetings.

In case you're coming late to the party on that embarrassing issue, see my October 15th post: Lights Out -AGAIN!- at HB City Hall; Anger at City of Hollywood!
The HB Cultural Center suffered a very similar fate, a point I made repeatedly to print and TV reporters who were assembled there late every afternoon covering the long lines of Early Voting taking place inside.
As usual, the reporters had Less Than Zero interest in figuring out how a city that poorly-run could have the gall or chutzpah to nominate itself for a City of the Year award from the Florida League of Cities, the eternal opponent of Florida's concerned citizenry.

Just because the city says on their terrible website that, "Hallandale Beach is a progressive city with big city sophistication and a hometown feel." doesn't make it true.

In any case, since she didn't see fit to mention it, the much-anticipated Bernard Zyscovich zoning/design plans for the City of Hollywood are scheduled to be publicly unveiled on March 10th.

FYI: The official address for Chip Abele's Hollywood Circle project will be 1740 Polk Street, Hollywood, FL 33020
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Earlier I initially posted that I hadn't seen Breanne Gilpatrick present in the Hollywood City Commission Chambers as I usually have in the past, and nobody I knew (and trust who also recognizes her) had seen her either, so I naturally assumed she wasn't there.
I also mentioned that I hadn't seen anyone from the Sun-Sentinel, either.
Now I know why.

Around 8:30 p.m. or so tonight, I received an email from the Sun-Sentinel's Ihosvani Rodriguez informing me that the two of them are now working "out of Room 215 (rear City Hall conference room) during meetings."
"It's now the quasi-press room."
"We were both there "late" last night."

I apologize to Breanne Gilpatrick and Ihosvani Rodriguez for my mistake and will know better next time not to assume that just because I can't see a reporter in the room, that they aren't necessarily there somewhere.
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