Showing posts with label Intracoastal bridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intracoastal bridge. Show all posts

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hallandale Beach P&Z Board unanimously REJECT The Related Groups' Beachwalk project on Intracoastal; vote is also a rejection of Bill Julian's support for it


By turns surprising and forceful, and much to the delight of the clear majority of the dozens of Hallandale Beach citizens who came to City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to oppose it, the Hallandale Beach Planning & Zoning Advisory Board unanimously REJECTED The Related Groups' Beachwalk project on the Intracoastal by a vote of 4-0.


It's also noteworthy that former HB Comm. William "Bill" Julian, a 2012 candidate for the City Commission and a longtime object of scorn and enmity on this blog for reasons that are well-known to regular readers, typically, showed the sort of VERY BAD judgment that marked his ten years on the city commission, by choosing the wrong time and the wrong place to come out in support of a 30-story-plus development project on an already gridlocked road -a block from a drawbridge no less!- that was completely out-of-scale for the area.


And this came after he prefaced his remarks by verbally patting himself on the back and engaged in revisionist history by implying that he had a been an eagle-eyed watchdog for the community, when the reality is that he was one of the most disconnected and oblivious of all of Joy Cooper's Rubber Stamp Crew while he sat up on the dais.


Julian WASN'T a watchdog by any stretch of the imagination, rather he was the proverbial Wooden Indian that just sat there and consistently said and did the wrong thing while the city continued its sad decline into incompetency and irrelevancy, even while its budget nearly doubled in six years.
(And where's the tangible proof now of any of that spending?)


Many of the people in the room who pay close attention to what goes on in this community and who are, thus, all-too-familiar with Julian's troubling history on the commission and well-known knack for making bad things worse, made a point of speaking to me in-person immediately after the public meeting or thru emails later, all asking a variation of the same thing: "What the hell was Julian thinking?"


But then one need only ask when WASN'T that the question in everyone's mind after watching him in action, even when he wasn't in action but rather in repose?
Julian is nothing if not consistent in his ability to make HB's citizen taxpayers cringe and flinch, and even occasionally recoil in horror or dismay.
And he showed why again on Wednesday.


Among the well-informed Hallandale Beach residents from all over the city who made it a point to see for themselves what the P&Z Board would do, Julian's botched effort and the Board's rejection of his points was almost as much of a reason to smile as the decision itself, which will now go the full commission for further action.


More particulars on the Beachwalk vote and how it came to be rejected, complete with photos and videos, should be up on the blog on Saturday.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Related Group's 31-story Beachwalk project in Hallandale Beach -on the Intracoastal- goes to HB Planning & Zoning Board Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Above, looking east from the south sidewalk of the Intracoastal Bridge/State Road 858 over the Atlantic Intracoastal waterway, looking towards State Road A1A and the city's iconic beachball-colored water tower and the adjoining three condo towers of The Beach Club. If the Beachwalk project is approved by the Hallandale Beach City Commission in a few weeks, it would be located just south of this bridge and this particular view will never be the same. September 8, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
The Related Group's proposed 31-story Beachwalk mixed-use development project in Hallandale Beach, to be located at 2600 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., on the south side of the Intracoastal Bridge/State Road 858, where the old Manero’s restaurant was formerly located, and across the street from Walmart, goes before the Hallandale Beach Planning & Zoning Advisory Board Wednesday at HB City Hall at 1:30 p.m.


The official name for the group behind this proposal is PRH-2600 Hallandale Beach LLC




Above, an admittedly not-so-great photo I snapped of one of the artist's depictions of the project during a Power Point presentation by attorney Debbie Orshefsky at the developer's October 11, 2011 Community Forum at the HB Cultural Center. This depiction is looking southwest from the beach/State Road A1A. The Beachwalk is on the extreme right, on the south side of the bridge. 
One of my last posts on this project -full of useful information I encourage you to read before the meeting if you never saw it the first time- was on October 3rd, 2011 titled,  October 13 Community Meeting re Beachwalk - 31-story mixed-use project at old 'Manero's' restaurant site; new gridlock-inducing plan for HB?
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/october-13-community-meeting-re.html

Wednesday's agenda is here: 
http://www.cohb.org/files/PLANNING%20AND%20ZONING%20BOARD%20AGENDAS/2012-01-25-Planning%20and%20Zoning/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202012-01-25%2013-30.htm

-----

South Florida Business Journal
Related Group buys waterfront site for 60% off
by Brian Bandell
Thursday, May 5, 2011, 3:42pm EDT -
Last Modified: Thursday, May 5, 2011, 4:20pm EDT

After handing over several of its condo projects to lenders, this time Jorge M. Perez and his Related Group are buying a property from a bank.
PRH-2600 Hallandale Beach LLC, an entity ultimately managed by the Miami-based developer, bought a Hallandale Beach site along the Intracoastal Waterway from TD Bank for $2.92 million.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/05/05/related-group-buys-waterfront-site.html


------


Thursday, September 6, 2007

Rod Stewart was right! Every picture really does tell a story!

Rod Stewart was right!
Every picture really does tell a story!
In this case, though, unlike Stewart's iconic 1971 album, released when I was ten-years old,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Picture_Tells_a_Story , the pictures I have here for your perusal tell a tortured tale of continued neglect of even basic aspects of public safety.

How does the State of Florida allow a situation to develop where an important warning sign with flashing lights near a draw bridge -Draw Bridge Ahead- become obstructed by plant growth for the better part of a year?

The photos below are taken from the point of view of this sign that's been obstructed for months on the south sidewalk, adjoining East-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd./S.R. 858 next to the Intracoastal Draw Bridge.
An obstructed sign that might as well be invisible for all the good it does.

Yet another Florida Dept. of Transportation District 4 success story!!!

I thought after the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Governor Crist specifically ordered FDOT to inspect all FL bridges from top to bottom?
Nope, guess not!
At least not in Hallandale Beach.

Look at the photos -you be the judge.



Looking northeast on east-bound Hallandale Beach Blvd./S.R. 858 towards City of Hollywood and the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa.
September 2007 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking at the back of the sign from two feet away
September 2007 photo by
South Beach Hoosier

Looking west on HBB from the south-side sidewalk
September 2007 photo by
South Beach Hoosier
Do you see me NOW?

Looking east on HBB/S.R. 858
Sepember 2007 photo by
South Beach Hoosier
Do you see the large patch of green just past that light pole.
The sign is in there.


May 30th, 2007 Midnight
photo by South Beach Hoosier


May 29th, 2007 3 p.m.
photo by South Beach Hoosier


January 14, 2007
photo by
South Beach Hoosier
_____________________
Email questions and comments to:
Hmmm... what does their website say about bridge safety and maintenance?
See for yourself!
BRIDGE INFORMATION
The Florida Department of Transportation bridge program has a solid safety record. The Safety and Preservation of the State Highway System is the top priority of the Florida Department of Transportation. The FDOT staff involved with designing, constructing, inspecting and maintaining our bridge inventory is committed to ensuring these structures remain safe. While we are confident our bridges are safe, the FDOT bridge staff is always vigilant in maintaining safety and seeks to always improve our program.
The State of Florida ranks among the lowest in the nation for percent of bridges that are considered "structurally deficient." In Florida, this does not mean a bridge is unsafe. If a bridge is unsafe, we do not hesitate to close it immediately.
This site will be updated quarterly (Last updated on November 6, 2007)

Bridge Condition Terminology
Bridge Inspection Process
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Highway Bridge Replacement Rehabilitation Program
Florida Bridge Information (11-29-2007)
Archive Reports
Any questions you can contact the Office of Maintenance at (850) 410-5757 or email Questions Concerning Bridge Inspection Reports Information

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Hallandale Beach's Intracoastal bridge sign is disappearing!


Looking east on Hallandale Beach Blvd./S.R. 858
August 2007 photo by SouthBeachHoosier
Can you see me now? Can you read what it says?




The view from HBB & S.E. 24th Street
August 2007 photo by SouthBeachHoosier

Hmmm... maybe you need to take a step or two back from it, like a Pointillist painting, to see the whole picture.
Maybe even back across the street to the corner of Hallandale Beach Blvd. and S.E. 24th Street.
How's that working?
Can you make it out now?