Besides a lack of scoring coming off the bench, the other reasons the Miami Heat have lost their way in their playoff series against the Indiana Pacers -palm tree karma, simple math and lack of attention to detail

Above, the electronic mesh advertising billboard sign on the facade above the entrance gates to the AmericanAirlines Arena in downtown Miami around 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon before that night's Pacers-Heat playoff game. All photos on this post were taken Tuesday May 15, 2012, all  by South Beach Hoosier.

Besides a lack of scoring coming off the bench, the other reasons the Miami Heat lost at home Tuesday night to the Pacers in Game 2 -palm tree karma and simple math. 


The number of playoff games left for the Miami Heat to win the 2012 NBA title going into the best-of-seven series against the Indiana Pacers was 12, but on Tuesday afternoon, with under 4 hours to go before Game 2, already up one game to none, the total was 11, not the 12 that was indicated on the (illegal) signs placed on the palm trees in front of the arena on Biscayne Blvd., opposite The Freedom Tower.
There should've already been an "X" marked thru this number.

Above, looking west towards Biscayne Blvd. from in front of the AAA, and at bottom, looking south from there towards The Freedom Tower and downtown Miami.

Looking east and upwards towards the AAA from the sidewalk along Biscayne Blvd. 

I was in downtown Miami on Tuesday, a warm, muggy and overcast day that looked to be uncomfortable from the get-go when I left Hallandale Beach that morning.
It had glare written all over it, and the closer I got to downtown, the more it was obvious to me that it was one of those days that make sunglasses a must, even for kids.
And yet I saw plenty of tourists walking around near Bayside and the Port of Miami without them, squinting like crazy, which I'm sure will show up in many of the photos they shot that day, once they got home.

On a personal level, I knew the overcast skies and glare would play havoc with any outdoor photos or video I shot as I made my way from the Miami-Dade County Govt, HQ bldg, the Stephen Clark Building I hadn't been at since the Marlins Stadium controversy a few years. 


Having already read the illegal signage story in the Miami Herald the previous week about the Heat, largely owned by the state's wealthiest person, Micky Arison, once again throwing their weight around and acting like they were above local laws, as I went past the area in the morning, I knew I'd have to swing by later to take another first-hand look at what was what.

The Kumho Tires ad image above shows the numbers being crossed-out correctly, showing 11, but the actual sign in front of the arena was not touched, and thus, sports superstition raises its head, as does the palm tree karma for being f-ed with in the first place.
-----


http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/09/2791625/city-tells-miami-heat-to-remove.html

Miami Herald

City tells Miami Heat to remove tire ads wrapped on palm trees at arena

By Andres Viglucci

May 10, 2012

The Miami Heat must have missed the news: The Miami Commission killed a measure two weeks ago that could have allowed advertising banners to be placed on trees.

That didn’t stop the team from wrapping the trunks of 16 royal palms in front of the publicly owned American Airlines Arena on Biscayne Boulevard with ads for Kumho tires. City officials say the ads are illegal.

On Wednesday, just before game five of the Heat’s first-round playoff series with the New York Knicks, code enforcement officers ordered the team to take down the white banners, which carry the slogan “DRIVE to the CHAMPIONSHIP’’ printed sideways above the image of a car tire and a Heat flaming-basketball logo.

“Not very catchy,’’ opined assistant city manager Alice Bravo.

And not very legal, either, she said. The team, which manages the arena, didn’t apply for permits, Bravo said.

Even if it had, Miami-Dade County’s sign ordinance, which applies inside the city as well as in unincorporated areas, frowns upon signs of any kind on trees. Under a section entitled “Prohibited signs,’’ the code reads: “No sign shall be attached to trees.’’

The county owns the arena, but the city is supposed to enforce the Miami-Dade sign ordinance inside its own borders.

The team could be fined if the banners aren’t gone by Thursday, Bravo said, though the city prefers to achieve compliance first. She did not know how long the signs have been up.

The Heat, however, refused to take the signs down. In a statement Wednesday, spokeswoman Lorrie-Ann Diaz said the team would remove the “sponsorship message’’ from the banners but leave them up “until the end of the playoff run’’ while applying for a permit.

Bravo said she was uncertain whether the tree banners without an advertising component would be permissible on the arena property itself, but added that she believes draping banners on palms on the public sidewalk is not. The festooned trees are on both the arena steps and the sidewalk out front.

The Kumho tire ads, in any case, remained up as crowds of fans arrived for the game Wednesday night.

The ads-on-palms flap comes amid growing controversy over the proliferation and legality of LED billboards and other outdoor ads locally, especially in and around downtown Miami. Billboard opponents, county planning administrators and county attorney Robert Cuevas say the county ordinance bars electronic ad billboards, which the city has approved.

More recently, the city commission gave preliminary approval to LED billboards on the Gusman theater downtown, the Miami Children’s Hospital and the Knight Center, as well as in city parks. But on April 26, facing public criticism, the board killed a measure intended to allow ads on parking pay stations and bicycle-rental kiosks that was so broadly worded that it could have permitted them as well on fire hydrants, public buildings, bridges and even shade trees.

Also in violation of the rules, the critics say: The Heat’s digital mesh on the arena facade. The electronic sign, also permitted by the city, shows ads for Goya products, Kia cars, Office Depot and Kumho. But the county’s sign code explicitly disallows ads for goods and services unavailable at the site, Cuevas said in a recent legal opinion.

Cuevas’ memo said enforcement is up to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and the county commission.

The elected officials, however, have not taken action.

On Wednesday, an anti-billboard group, Scenic Miami-Dade, filed a complaint with Gimenez’s office over the Heat’s palm-tree ads. The letter opened with a single word: “Disgusting.’’

-----
As we all know, this is NOT the first time the Heat acted like they owned the property and built everything themselves, when that is not the case. It's a county-subsidized building. 

WFOR-TV

I Team: County Receives Nothing From Heat, Arena Revenue

Reporting Jim DeFede

May 5, 2011 10:52 PM

Related article and video is at:

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/05/i-team-county-receives-nothing-from-heat-arena-revenue/

Biscayne Times

A Waterfront Park for All to Enjoy

REMEMBER “PARCEL B,” THE LAND BEHIND THE MIAMI HEAT’S ARENA? YOU OWN IT BUT CAN’T USE IT -- YET

Written By Erik Bojnansky   

AUGUST 2011

http://www.biscaynetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=939:a-waterfront-park-for-all-to-enjoy&catid=50:community-news&Itemid=223

Miami NewTimes

Banana Republican blog

Micky Arison and Miami Heat Get Audited by Miami-Dade Inspector General

By Francisco Alvarado 

January 13 2012 at 2:02 PM

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/01/micky_arison_and_miami_heat_ge.php

When providing a Sun-Sentinel reporter with much-needed context re HB, we're reminded again of Comm. Lewy's penchant for craveness, verbosity & duplicity and City Manager Antonio's knack for under-performance

Above, one of the small army of City of Hallandale Beach vehicles -in this case, Code Compliance- that never ever move from their spot in front of or behind the HB City Hall/Police Dept. HQ complex off of U.S.-1/Federal Highway, even while residents and visitors often have to drive around and around the complex looking for a place to park. It's been like this all around the complex for well over eight years and the powers-that-be, Mayor Cooper and City Manager Antonio, continue to ignore resident's calls to keep city vehicles in the back. A few summers ago, a dry one in comparison to normal, I actually took photographs of a couple of COHB cars that had the same exact thing: spider webs that went from the ground to the back tire and then to the bottom of the back seat door on the Driver's side. That's the anti-taxpayer attitude that passes for normal here! March 21, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. 


Below is a copy of an email that I wrote last Friday night to South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Tonya Alanez, who along with Sun-Sentinel columnist and blogger Michael Mayo, were in attendance at the March 7th Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, sitting just a few feet away from me, as I recorded certain parts of the meeting and watched the usual antics of the Joy Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew, this time, as they tried to prove a negative -why the Marcum LLP report was actually, well, apparently  good news.

Yes, just ignore those 250 or so "exceptions" Marcum made note of in doing a very shallow review of just some records the city was willing to cough-up, not the array of ones the citizens of this community wanted reviewed for other factors, including fraud, given the millions of tax dollars involved.

No, this is NOT that promised review of the March 7th meeting I mentioned a few posts back, where there were a number of public policy issues that really stood out and demand your attention and notice.

For instance, Comm. Alexander Lewy foolishly making a motion to preclude the elected city commission from actually speaking on the matter of the RK Associates development project on N.E. 14th Avenue so the public in the Chambers could hear their rationale for voting however they were going to vote, on an agenda item I had forgotten was even going to be discussed that night.

Perhaps Lewy did so because developer RK has a solid and consistent history of late of NOT living up to their word or the signed agreements with the city on behalf of the city's taxpayers, something you'd think that City Manger Antonio felt was worth mentioning.
He didn't.
Surprise!

Those of us paying close attention to these matters the past few years already know, though I doubt that would include either Comm. Lewy or Sanders, given that they voted for the motion along with Comm. Ross and Mayor Cooper.
Surprise!

When I showed-up for the evening meeting I hadn't planned on speaking during the Public Comments on that agenda item, but after witnessing Lewy's galling gambit, and listening to an incredulous and quite reasonably-exasperated HB citizen, Michele Lazarow, ask Lewy to explain why he felt the need to make such an unusual motion -which I may've have witnessed maybe once in the past six years that I can recall off the top of my head- and her NOT hearing a good response from Lewy the Liar, I decided that someone need to be reminded of the pink elephant in the room.

After admitting I hadn't planned on speaking, I reminded everyone there in the room and at home watching via their computers, with great specificity, that RK was a serial violator, picking on but the lowest-hanging fruit -their complete failure three years later to comply with the city's signage requirements in the Publix grocery store parking lot off of NE 14th Avenue and HBB, per the surveillance cameras and the next-door Publix Liquor store.
The signs were supposed to be present when the liquor store opened but three years later -NADA!

I know about this because I'm the person who three years ago walked the city's wet-and- shriveled-up paper Code Compliance complaint into Publix and handed it to their on-duty manager, after seeing it lying on grass near the parking lot one rainy day while walking back to my home from a walk up to the beach and back.
Like me, it was soaking wet, and it looked to have long since been separated from the wooden stick it had been attached to, far from where anyone at Publix or RK would ever have sees it.
Yes, a case of Classic HB Theater of the Absurd!

Again, those required signs were STILL missing three years later!

And as if I could have scripted it better myself, that night, RK said it wanted to provide LESS than the required number of parking spaces the city's own staff was asking for.
Surprise!

Last I heard, they STILL owe the public parking spaces for other parts of their retail complex north of Hallandale Beach Blvd. over where the Kirova Ballet studio is located, towards Diplomat Parkway, but...
But again, this isn't THAT blog post!

-----
March 16, 2012




Dear Ms. Alanez:

re your article, Hallandale Beach bans 'human signs' but halts enforcement
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-hallandale-human-sign-ban-20120315,0,6117918.story
Hmm-m...if you knew the true facts, you'd know why that Lewy quote from your article is a perfect combination of faux sanctimony and utter hypocrisy, and even more than is usually the case with any self-serving thing Comm. Lewy says, it's a case of consider the source...

"Without any type of regulations, we would have sign wavers on every single street corner and every single block," Commissioner Alex Lewy said

Let me explain why.


As is customary in most American cities, the hefty candidate packets given to all city candidates in Hallandale Beach by the City Clerk's office upon filing have a section that details the city's own rules regarding where campaign signs can and can't be legally placed within the city.
(Did you know the City of Hallandale Beach also forbids candidates for any political office from using (independently-owned) bus benches within the city limits?)


So, given this information, you'd naturally think then that the same city Code Compliance Dept. that actually cited Comm. Keith London in 2010 for having his one campaign sign on his own front yard -since only one is allowed- a few inches too close to the sidewalk, WOULD see all if not some of the many illegally-placed Alexander Lewy campaign signs in front of and around HB City Hall itself for days and days during both Early Voting and prior to the 2010 General Election in November, right?


I mean especially since the Code Compliance office is right there at HB City Hall, and most of the cars in the City Hall parking lot off of U.S.-1 are assigned to Code Compliance, despite the fact that MANY MANY MONTHS often go by when those vehicles DON'T MOVE, while city residents continually strain to find a place to park for important evening meetings there, right?


And then when you add in all those myriad political campaign signs that have been plucked by Code Compliance for whatever reason, whether illegally or not, and which remain in the back seats of those very cars for days if not weeks at a time, as anyone who has been to City Hall at those particular times knows, including former candidates, well, it's so noticeable that observant people like me even snap photos of the signs in the cars, and see the same signs inside, day-after-day.


But to answer my own question, no, the city's Code Compliance office DIDN'T see those Lewy signs just feet away from their own cars, they just look the other way. 
That's how things are done here.


There's your enforcement of sign ordinances in this city -special rules for special people.


That is, unless you walk into City Hall and wait 10 minutes like I did for someone from that office to actually come to the public window so you can tell them and make a formal complaint when they say they'll get to it.
Unless you won't leave until you actually send a city employee outside their own building to pick the illegal signs up, and then wait and follow the city employee to see that they actually do it, since the signs have either been there illegally for days or the better part of a day, depending upon what day it is.

"Without any type of regulations, we would have sign wavers on every single street corner and every single block," Commissioner Alex Lewy said.

It never ends with him. 


Later...

City spokesman Peter Dobens said the city is confident that its ordinance is constitutional but as a precaution has suspended enforcement while awaiting additional legal review and an opinion from City Attorney Lynn Whitfield.

"The city doesn't believe that it is a free speech issue, because it's clearly an advertisement. However, when it came up, that's when the city said, 'Let's take a look at it,'" Dobens said.

Now that's funny!

It's really too bad that as has been the case for YEARS now, the Sun-Sentinel, the Herald and all of South Florida's TV stations missed the two public meetings, where the City Commission showed no interest in the First Amendment rights of HB business owners, as well as the city's P&Z meeting weeks before that.

I'm sure that if this had been attempted in another city closer to, well, the oblivious Herald's own HQ, given the likely economic results, it would've gotten some coverage, but if it happens in HB, no, everyone in the news room just shakes their head and says, "No, we'll pass."

Not that this lack of living bodies in the back of the room stopped me:
Regulating signage & advertising during a bad economy? Oh, so that's the ticket to economic recovery in Hallandale Beach
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/regulating-signage-advertising-during.html

As it was, when I specifically asked the city's staff at the P&Z meeting during public comments whether or not any of those affected businesses, especially the ones that the city was clearly targeting, had been informed about the proposal, that meeting as well as the upcoming Commission meetings by the city, i.e. them, to ensure some degree of fairness, given that nobody was there, they basically shrugged their shoulders.

There's your evidence of the City of Hallandale Beach going the extra-mile for local businesses!

And yet how entirely predictable was the result of the city's actions?

I already knew from experience that there would be a drop-off for the affected businesses, and as you dutifully reported...

Seven out of 10 customers said they came to his gold-buying business because they remembered his Uncle Sam sign holders, Ezekiel said. Business is now down about 40 to 50 percent, he said."We're crippled enough in this economy, there's no reason to cripple us more," Ezekiel said. "It's like a billboard, they constantly see it, he makes them laugh, he makes them smile and they remember and they come in."

When the business closes up, and it becomes yet another one of the many, many empty storefronts in this city, esp. on HBB in particular, be sure to make plans to come back around HB City Hall and ask the same city commissioners who voted for it whether they have any second thoughts, and even better, just whom do they think is really going to rent those storefronts anyway, some upscale businesses looking to relocate?
Really?

And yet even while they purport to be working towards solving a problem few people think is a real problem, the city looks the other way as the folks from PAL -who already get plenty from HB taxpayers, with little oversight- can put up their advertising signs, sandwich board signs and even city-owned electronic message boards all over town, regardless of whether it's fair or even placed in a safe location, something they don't do for even the city's own important meetings.

Yes, like the Golden Isles Tennis Center where the mayor plays, whose sandwich board sign has been on a median near the Publix on HBB almost un-interrupted for years.
Huh, I wonder why?

Over-and-over in Hallandale Beach under Mayor Cooper, it's a case of special rules for special people.

Next time you're driving south to Hallandale Beach from Hollywood on U.S.-1, one of the city's three main streets, pay attention to how many city blocks on your right -the west side- between Atlantic Shores Blvd. and NE 3rd Street actually have an open business.

There's one (small) block.
That's it.

Though you and I have never officially met or spoken, you're probably smart enough to realize in advance that you are never going to get anything even remotely resembling the unvarnished truth from the city's not-so-talented and not-so-observant new taxpayer-financed spin-meister, Mr. Dobens, given that this city under this administration, for all its lip service, prefers to keep its residents in the dark for as long as possible, rather than trust them to make up their own minds with freely-shared information.
Like adults.

I strongly suggest you take a look at these contemporaneous comments and photos of mine so that when the city loses its case, as I'm sure they likely will, you'll at least have some knowledge for better understanding that they never really took anyone' else's opinion into consideration.

That's how they do it here under the present Joy Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew.

Or, you can just do a Google Images search for "alexander lewy" "campaign signs" and get much the same.

The first dozen or so photos that appear in the search results are all ones that I snapped at the time -there's your proof of both his obliviousness and his hypocrisy, both of which have been on almost continuous display since he was elected, and which shows no sign of abating.

For instance..

1. 
   You're surprised? 13 days before HB election, Alexander Lewy was ...

   hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/.../youre-surprised-13-days-befor...

   Oct 28, 2010 – 13 days before HB election, Alexander Lewy was ALREADY running afoul of rules -no campaign signs on City Hall land, capisce? Uncouth ...

   
   

   
   

   Once again, thru his words & misdeeds, Alexander Lewy is proving ...

   
   

   hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/.../once-again-thru-his-words-mis...

   Mar 22, 2011 – Above, Alexander Lewy and his campaign sign at the entrance of the... IF it was legal to put campaign signs there on city property, within the ...
2. Hallandale Beach Blog: Weather forecast: 100% chance of stone ...
3. hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/.../weather-forecast-100-chance-o...

   Oct 22, 2010 – Above, October 10, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of Alexander Lewy and Bill Julian campaign signs on Atlantic Shores Blvd., Hallandale ...

As for your Friday night post, VIDEO: No love lost between Hallandale Mayor Joy Cooper, Commissioner Keith London
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2012/03/video_no_love_lost_between_hal.html

you DON'T mention that the predicate for this was City Manager Mark A. Antonio and his staff failing to make copies of Marcum LLP's supposed last-minute four-page addition to the public record, actually available to the public, who'd been waiting for the agenda item to come up for quite some time.

Marcum's reps publicly stated that they had turned over the documents to the city at 4 p.m., but though Antonio and his highly-paid staff of assistants had well over five hours to make copies by the time it finally came up -since it was NOT on the city's own website, and yet would be voted upon- Antonio & Co. failed to do the logical and responsible thing, which in case you forgot, even Mayor Cooper was not very happy about either.

So, Antonio having failed to do something simple and obvious, while they yakked and yakked and actually debated whether or not to direct the staff to make copies, someone showed some initiative and got positive results.
Which is why they took the 15-minute break after Comm. London returned with copies for everyone in the room to actually read for the first time, including the taxpayers in the room, whom they all supposedly work for, though you wouldn't know it from their attitudes and work ethic.

While I like most concerned residents of Hallandale Beach am glad to see someone from the South Florida news media actually showing-up here for a change -and actually staying for the whole meeting- while I'm mindful of the fact that you have limited space, if you can't actually make more of an effort to incorporate any of the actual context or nuance that's actually going on here, frankly, in my opinion, it's actually almost worse than nothing, because it perpetuates the popular idea among the extant news media that the residents of this particular community are entitled to LESS actual democracy, transparency and competency in government than other communities, or news coverage, simply because of where we live in South Florida.
We aren't.

Regulating signage & advertising during a bad economy? Oh, so that's the ticket to economic recovery in Hallandale Beach

Above and below, where we set our tale today: Hallandale Beach, FL, looking south-bound on U.S.-1 & Hallandale Beach Blvd., home of one of the city's two red-light cameras that made it infamous in South Florida.

Go ahead and ignore all the gang graffiti you see on all these signs and posts on the main roads in town - HB City Hall already does.

September 23, 2011 photos by South Beach Hoosier.

Somewhat out-of-the-blue Tuesday night, I found myself discovering that one of the other things that will be going down at Wednesday afternoon's HB Planning & Zoning Board meeting at 1:30 p.m., besides the previously-mentioned attempt by Mayor Cooper & Co. to thwart the will of the majority of the homeowners in Golden Isles, is, of all things, regulating signage and advertising.

Yes, signage, one of my longstanding bête noires in the poorly-managed Broward city on the ocean that is as dysfunctional as any city in South Florida.

The same city that on its own electronic message board, across the street from Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino, off U.S.-1 & SE 3rd Street, was running the wrong meeting time for its second City Commission get-together of the month for many months AFTER I'd already told the head of the city's IT Dept. about the problem, AFTER first mentioning it publicly minutes before during Public Comments of a City Commission meeting in which I focused on the city's inability to see extant problems right in front of their own face, but which everyone else can see.

The sign is less than a block from City Hall, but somehow, we're supposed to believe that over many months, nobody but me noticed?

Even I don't believe that.

It's hard not to get the impression right now that this effort on Wednesday is a solution in search of a problem, when there already are longstanding problems -including lack of appropriate and sufficient signage- the city is NOT handling competently, efficiently or with any degree of smarts.

Problems that have existed for many years...

The very city that, as mentioned here more than a few times in the past, DOESN'T have a single directional sign anywhere within its borders indicating exactly where City Hall is, or the Police Dept. HQ, or the Fire/Rescue HQ or... even a sign on busy U.S.-1 for the municipal swimming pool just three blocks away.

The city swimming pool that even many usually well-informed residents don't even know exists.

Yes, that city.

Across the street from the main U.S.-1 entrance to Gulfstream Park, one block north of HB City Hall and the HB Police Dept., gangs use Gulfstream Park signs as Post-Its to let everyone know who did it. There's no mystery folks. September 23, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

.

Meanwhile, HTC shows who's really boss across the street from The Village at Gulfstream Park, one block south of HB City Hall and the HB Police Dept. HQ., and in front of the U.S. Post Office.

September 23, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Per Analysis item #12 below, will that include Gulfstream Race Track & Casino, the Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex and the Mardi Gras Casino, all of whom are currently using LED signs that appear to my eyes to currently be illegal based on what the city is now proposing, per "animated, flashing or moving lights are prohibited."

That's exactly what they do all right.

You know, the large monument signs on U.S.-1/Federal Highway and on Hallandale Beach Blvd. that not only weren't up in time before the racing season actually started two years ago -despite plenty of time to put them up- but which weren't even constructed in time for them to be used for Thanksgiving/Christmas promotional purposes by the few retail shops that were then up.

Above and below, the eastern monument sign for the Mardi Gras Casino on U.S.-1 & Atlantic Shores Blvd., and the not-so-grand eastern entrance to it. That's why they call it blight!

If you weren't paying attention before, you can see that this area is AQ!

September 23, 2011 photos by South Beach Hoosier.

Above and below, the signs on U.S.-1 and HBB. September 23, photos by South Beach Hoosier.

Yes, the same Gulfstream Park/Forest City geniuses who used their Aventura sign on U.S.-1 recently for weeks in a way that caused even me to think they had reached a new nadir.

The only words that appeared there? "It's all here."

Really.

Above and below, heading north-bound on U.S.-1/Biscayne Blvd. at NE 213th Street thru the last two blocks of Aventura and Miami-Dade County before hitting Hallandale Beach. Gulfstream Park sign on your right. September 23, photos by South Beach Hoosier.

THAT message in black letters on a purple background that's hard to read for drivers passing by on the road. Real genius!

Seriously, given the City's of Hallandale Beach self-evident terrible job of public safety as well as properly maintaining its own signage and lighting, and keeping them either un-obstructed or working or both, or even contacting FDOT, FP&L, or Broward County Traffic & Engineering to alert them to street lighting that is out for months or YEARS at a time, even including in front, near and adjacent to HB City Hall, the Police Dept. HQ, the Fire/Rescue HQ, and other city properties, the idea of the city deciding during a bad economy to create new rules for signage and advertising is rich.

But that's how it goes here.

Can you tell what color that traffic signal on the right is? No, not the one on the left that is red. Yes, the one obstructed by the tree branches on west-bound Atlantic Shores Blvd. & Diplomat Parkway.

You can tell what color it is once you almost pass the tree and are almost IN the middle of the intersection. There are dozens and dozens of similar situations like this all throughout HB and Hollywood, but nobody from either city ever notices. Nope. September 23, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

--------

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD AGENDA

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 1:30 PM

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A. Approval of Draft Minutes from August 24, 2011 (Supporting Docs)

4. OLD BUSINESS

A. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 32, Article III of the City of Hallandale Beach Code of Ordinances, the "Zoning and Land Development Code", by amending Section 32-151, RS-5 Single-Family District and by creating Section 32-181, entitled Golden Isles Neighborhood Overlay District, providing supplemental standards relative to permitted uses, site development standards, signage and notice requirements. Providing for conflicts; providing for severability; providing for an effective date. (City of Hallandale Beach Application # 02-11-TC) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

5. NEW BUSINESS

A. Application # 04-10-P by Alan Waserstein Requesting Approval of the "Waserstein Gulfstream Plat" in Accordance with Article II, Division 2 of the Zoning and Land Development Code at the Property Located at 900 South Federal Highway. (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

B. An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida Amending Chapter 32, the Zoning and Land Development Code, Article IV Division 17, Signs, Relative to Prohibited Signs, Permitted Signs, and Nonconforming Signs, Providing for Conflict, Providing an Effective Date. (City of Hallandale Beach Application # 67-10-TC) (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)

6. SCHEDULING NEXT MEETING

A. November 23, 2011

7. OTHER

8. DIRECTOR'S REPORT

9. ADJOURNMENT

Interested parties may appear at the aforesaid time and place and be heard with respect to the above. The agenda and related cases may be inspected as of Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at the Development Services Department, 400 South Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach, Florida during normal business hours, and Monday through Friday.

http://www.hallandalebeach.org/files/PLANNING%20AND%20ZONING%20BOARD%20AGENDAS/2011-10-26/Staff%20Reports/00008363.htm

DATE: October 17, 2011

TO: The Planning and Zoning Board

FROM: Christy Dominguez, Director of Planning and Zoning

THRU: Thomas J. Vageline, Director of Development Services

SUBJECT: Application #67-10-TC – Sign Code Amendment

CAD #022/03

PURPOSE:

To amend Chapter 32, Article IV Division 17 of the Zoning and Land Development Code regarding the City’s sign requirements.

BACKGROUND:

The City Commission requested staff review studies related to digital sign technology (LED) to determine its safety and whether the City should consider amending the sign code to permit such signage. Staff has also received many inquiries from business owners regarding the use of LED signs. Based on the increased demand for LED signs and research conducted on the topic, staff concluded the City should consider amending its sign code to permit the use of LED signs and provide regulations for size, light intensity and display duration for those signs.

In addition, the City has recently experienced an influx of human signs, particularly along Hallandale Beach Blvd. The term “human sign” is typically used to describe any type of signage that is held or worn by a person advertising a business or activity and usually involves someone standing in the right-of-way holding a large sign. Not only can this type of attention-seeking signage be unsightly, it can also be extremely dangerous as the intent is to distract a driver’s attention.

On May 12, 2011, staff reviewed the current sign code with the Code and Permitting Advisory Board and discussed possible amendments to the Code related to digital signage and human signs. The Board was in agreement with staff’s proposal and supported moving forward with the draft Ordinance.

On June 7, 2011, staff attended a webinar with the City Attorney on drafting regulations for signage which discussed regulations for both digital signage and human signs. Staff was able to incorporate similar regulations from other municipalities into the attached draft Ordinance.

DISCUSSION:

Staff conducted research on the use of digital sign technology (LED), particularly regarding the safety of such signs. In 2009, a report was issued for the National Cooperative Highway research program which evaluated the safety impacts of digital technology in outdoor signs. The report summarized multiple studies which analyzed various factors that distract a driver’s attention. Although the report concluded that there may be a correlation between digital sign technology and the occurrence of automobile accidents, there was no conclusive evidence that a digital sign is any more distracting to a driver than any other type of sign. As such, staff proposes to incorporate several new regulations for LED signs into the attached ordinance with the goal of achieving a balance between the safety and aesthetics of the community while maintaining a business-friendly attitude.

In addition, the increased number of attention-seeking or human signs has become a major concern for Hallandale Beach residents. Further, regulating human signs has become a challenge for staff to enforce. Although the current Code prohibits off-premise signs and movable or portable signs, it does not specifically address human signs. Staff has reviewed other municipalities’ codes and while some cities do permit human signs subject to strict regulations, most cities such as Dania Beach, Aventura, Coral Gables, and Boca Raton outright prohibit them. Staff also proposes to prohibit the use of human signs for both safety and aesthetic reasons.

Other revisions to the sign code are also proposed such as allowing accessory restaurants with more than 100 seats in multifamily zoned districts to have a wall sign, which was a recommendation of the Citywide Master Plan for the Oceanfront Neighborhood (S. Ocean Drive).

ANALYSIS:

Based upon the research conducted by staff, the following is a summary of the proposed amendments in the attached draft Ordinance:

1. Adds definitions for Changeable Message Signs, Human Signs and LED signs.
2. Expands the wall sign definition to include LED signs.
3. Adds human signs to the list of prohibited signs.
4. Expands language permitting signs at churches or synagogues to also include other houses of worship.
5. Adds the RM-HD-2 zoning district to the list of multi-family districts.
6. Allows restaurant uses in multi-family residential districts with more than 100 seats to have 1 wall sign, not exceeding 20 square feet. In addition, properties with an existing freestanding sign identifying a permitted residential use may be permitted an additional 8 square to identify the restaurant.
7. Clarifies that commercial properties are permitted 1 temporary real estate and 1 construction sign per street frontage, instead of per establishment
8. Reduces the permitted height of freestanding signs at service stations from 18 feet to 8 feet, which is consistent with maximum permitted height for other commercial freestanding signs.
9. Eliminates awning and window sign size restrictions for properties with nonconforming pole signs, as the majority of pole signs within the City have been removed.
10. Single-use properties with at least 200 linear feet of frontage may utilize LED technology for two LED wall signs, provided only one LED wall sign shall be permitted per wall face and be no greater than 25 square feet. This restriction provides a limited use of LED signs with the intent of preserving the character of Hallandale Beach.
11. Shopping centers on Hallandale Beach Blvd. or U.S. 1 having more than 3 acres and a main street frontage of 500 linear feet may utilize LED technology for one of the permitted monument signs on the property.
12. Staff has included several regulations regarding the use of LED signs in the City. In addition to strict distance requirements from residentially zoned property, there are maximum brightness levels, minimum display length requirements, a default mechanism to freeze the screen in the event of a malfunction, and animated, flashing or moving lights are prohibited. These safety measures are consistent with provisions in other municipalities’ sign codes.
13. Permits temporary banner signs no greater than 10 square feet for businesses adversely impacted by construction due to exterior renovations or improvements.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Planning and Zoning Board recommend approval of the attached ordinance. The Ordinance will subsequently be presented to the City Commission for First and Second Readings.

Prepared By: _________________

Sarah Suarez, AICP

Senior Planner