Thoughts on the Hollywood Moratorium That Wasn't

My comments follow the Herald articles by Breanne Gilpatrick.
Six days later, the Sun-Sentinel has still never mentioned the issue of the proposed building moratorium or the Hollywood City Commission meeting.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/breaking-news/story/796479.html
Miami Herald
Hollywood to discuss downtown building ban
By Breanne Gilpatrick
December 2, 2008

Hollywood will consider putting the brakes on the high-rise developments sprouting up near Young Circle Wednesday, with a proposed temporary moratorium on downtown building until commissioners approve a development blueprint commissioned several years ago -- but never ratified.

The moratorium, which will be discussed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, would stop the city from issuing building permits to construct new buildings or expand old ones in the portion of downtown that runs from Fillmore Street south to Monroe Street and from 22nd Avenue east to 16th Avenue.

If approved, the proposed building ban would likely last until at least next spring, and would exclude any properties used for government offices or educational facilities.

In 2006, commissioners imposed a similar moratorium on beach development, while approving new height limits and landscaping and open space requirements for new projects along the coast. That ban lasted about 18 months.

Critics say the downtown moratorium is too broad and would hurt economic growth downtown. But some commissioners say the city also needs to consider how major projects will affect their hopes of drawing visitors to Young Circle.

''Our objective is to make sure that buildings that are going to be in Young Circle for the next 50 years conform with the vision that we have for the city,'' Mayor Peter Bober said.

Several years ago, commissioners asked Architect Bernard Zyscovich to draft a Downtown Master Plan for the area surrounding Young Circle, where the city and Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency have spent millions on renovations. Zyscovich completed that plan in 2004, but its zoning regulations were never adopted.

Since then, commissioners have signed off on major downtown projects that have exceeded the height regulations and zoning limits included in that plan.

Most recently, commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of a 22-story apartment tower and office complex off Young Circle, known as ArtsPark Village, even though Zyscovich and some residents said the project was too dense for the area. Wednesday's City Commission meeting will start at 1 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall, 2600 Hollywood Boulevard.
The moratorium discussion is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/798324.html
Miami Herald
Hollywood commissioners reject downtown development moratorium
By Breanne Gilpatrick
December 3, 2008


Hollywood commissioners unanimously rejected a proposed development moratorium Wednesday that would have put the brakes on the high-rise projects sprouting around downtown.

Supporters of the proposed moratorium said it would allow the city to use the economy-induced development lull to revise and adopt a downtown master plan architect Bernard Zyscovich completed in 2004 for the area near Young Circle. That development blueprint has yet to be ratified by the city.

But during two hours of debate, commissioners said the moratorium would hurt growth downtown and punish developers who have tried to work with the city to revise their projects. They also said the moratorium was cobbled together without an adequate study to research its impact.

''We are trying to bring our downtown to life,'' Commissioner Linda Sherwood said. 'And the word moratorium says `Uh-uh, don't come. We're going to make it very hard for you.' ''

The moratorium, which would have extended into next spring, would have included the portion of downtown that runs from Fillmore Street south to Monroe Street and from 22nd Avenue east to 16th Avenue. It generally would have stopped the city from issuing building permits for the construction of new buildings or the expansion of old ones, if those projects exceed the density limits allowed by the city's current zoning rules.

Commissioners imposed an 18-month moratorium on beach development in 2006, while approving new height limits and landscaping and open space requirements for new projects along the coast.

Since the city's downtown master plan was completed in 2004, commissioners have signed off on major downtown projects that have exceeded the height regulations and zoning limits included in that plan.

In other business Wednesday, commissioners reversed a decision made last month and opted to privatize trash pickup -- following resident complaints that the proposed plan to keep the service in-house would have eliminated bulk trash pickup and raised fees.
The privatization plan, which was originally proposed to fill a budget gap, will take several dozen city employees off the payroll.
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By the way, since I've forgotten to mention it in the past, the public library next to the
Hollywood Beach Community Center, was one of my old stomping grounds when I first came down here from D.C., and stumbled upon it completely by accident.
That is also where I first heard about Sara Case and then later, her great website, Balance Sheet Online. http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Sara has a slightly different p.o.v. from me about Young Circle, but as always, she had some very interesting stuff on the site well in advance of last Wednesday's City Commission.
http://www.balancesheetonline.com/cra.htm

Before I get distracted by the comments about Young Circle, I wanted to mention, in case you didn't already notice, that I added this video to my site about two weeks ago, as I've always loved this film's energy and spirit:
Olivia Olson "All I Want For Christmas Is You" from Love Actually (2003)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkihOkI_7eM

Sadly, another year I'm NOT one of Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating People"
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Watched last Wednesday's Hollywood City Commission meeting live via computer, rather than going up there and good thing, too, in retrospect.

They had quite an embarrassing situation developing there, as after about two hours, it was apparent there was really no STRONG support for having a building moratorium, especially after Hollywood business people who usually disagree with each other, actually agreed that it was bad idea.
Hollywood Planning Director Jaye Epstein admitted under questioning that he thought it was a bad idea, too.

Which begs the question about how the staff report came out, huh?

Mayor Peter Bober was not at all pleased with things at the end, even though he admitted during the course of the meeting that he supported the idea, in theory, behind a temporary building moratorium, which I also can appreciate.

Though it was supposedly announced two weeks ago, most people seemed to know nothing about the issue being on the commission agenda until Tuesday's Herald story, including me, and I
receive the advance notice email about meetings from the city

A few friends and acquaintances of mine, who are usually very on top of things up there, were also caught flat-footed until I shared the news with them.

They have an interest in it because first and foremost, they want the general area to be better and more inviting, and to have more attractions/amusements of the sort that attracted them to Hollywood in the first place.

But they also have kids attending the Hollywood Charter School, a double A-rated school that's currently located on the property that's gotten the most attention.
The school itself has always been a key part of the puzzle of the SE corner of Young Circle, but a piece that Comm. Fran Russo in particular has long seen as the biggest obstacle to getting that area developed quickly and the way she believes it ought to be done.

I refer to theses women collectively by shorthand as "Dynamic Hollywood Charter School Moms, Inc."

(I sent one of them an email about it before I went to last Wednesday's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, whose big issue was who would get the city's lobbying contract: Ron Book, Corcoran and Associates, Larry Smith...
A post on that subject will be forthcoming this week once I re-think some more notes I took at the meeting.)

So, getting back to first getting word of the agenda, Downtown Hollywood CRA Director Neil Fritz admitted under cross-examination that he didn't find out about it until the day before.

Speaking of cross-examination, an attorney for one of the property owners affected by the proposal objected right away to the usual waiving of quasi-judicial procedures for the meeting, which explains a lot and was my first hint that it would be somewhat of a circus atmosphere.
And I was not disappointed on that score.

People took advantage of the opportunity to play Perry Mason Jr. by cross-examining each other with more leeway than you'd normally expect or see at other commission meetings.
Naturally, as you'd expect, a few people went a bridge too far, and were reproached by property owners' attorneys, who metaphorically cold-cocked their testimony, which elicited chuckles from the crowd.

My sense of things, having gone to all but one of the Zyscovich forums held in Hollywood on the
zoning and creative re-thinking that needs to take place, was that lots more people than usual said that Bernard Zyscovich needs to finish his work on zoning sooner than the expected March/April,
even past supporters of his.

Understandably given the economic realities of the current economy and real estate in South Florida, Bernard Warner, the head of WSG, said that they'd have major financial problems with Block 55 (SE corner of Young Circle) if the moratorium was put in place.

In the first hour of the hearing, when it seemed to be stuck-in-the-mud looking for traction, Comm Patty Asseff commented that she felt like she was wasting her time be being there, and that if things didn't get moving forward, she'd consider taking an early exit.

Much later, Comm. Linda Sherwood called out a few fervently anti-build types with numbers purporting to show that they rep only 33% of the group they said they were speaking for, which made me laugh.
She really zinged 'em!!!

My overwhelming sense of things is that as far as the Hollywood commissioners are concerned, the tail (Zyscovich) had been wagging the dog (the city) for long enough.
But in the end, that's the Commission's own fault, of course.

I also thought I'd mention that the city's online connection had lots of problems over the course of the two hours, which is unusual, since it's usually close to excellent.

There were lots of frustrating frozen images on the screen for 2-3 minutes, even while I could hear the audio.
But even the audio seemed more muddled and inaudible more frequently than usual, perhaps because so many hand-held mikes were being used for public participation when there was cross- examination.