Showing posts with label Carlos Ott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos Ott. Show all posts

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Latest news re The Hyde Beach Resort project on Hollywood Beach -the former Beach One Resort- right next to the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A: goes to the Hollywood Planning & Development Board on Thursday February 13th at 6 p.m.

Inline image 1

Notice that the artist's rendering of the project above, to the right, which I snapped at Hollywood's Planning Dept. this week -a plan which is completely different in design and scope from the original plan approved by the Hollywood City Comm. for the Beach One Resort, which was truly beautiful- does NOT show the Apogee right next to it 
And also does NOT show the effect of The Related Group's North Beach plans for a building where the old Beachside Cafe was located.

(Which the City of HB had ZERO renderings of at the beach for residents and visitors to see at both its groundbreaking weeks ago or at any point since then, contrary to common sense or any sense of getting the community to buy into it.)

Also NOT shown -the iconic HB Water Tower.
That's THREE neighbors NOT shown in one rendering.

But then the rendering for Apogee wasn't so accurate back in 2012 either, were they?
Just saying.

Below, from February 2012.


February 10, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

My previous blog posts on this very important parcel on A1A are here:


June 2008 Artist rendering of aerial view of Beach One Resort, Hollywood, FL
Carlos A. Ott, Architect from submitted documents to the City of Hollywood Development Review Board. September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

October 4, 2008

Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/naming-names-herald-style-beach-one.html and 



October 18, 2008
Beach One Resort's Approval in Hollywood Provokes Wrath and Harsh Words at Hallandale Beach City Commission
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/beach-one-resorts-approval-in-hollywood.html


October 21, 2008
Cleavage Grows Larger b/w City of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood After Beach One Resort Approved


December 5, 2008
Sue-happy Hallandale Beach vs. Hollywood re Beach One Resort
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/first-shoes-drop-sue-happy-hallandale.html


JUNE 15, 2012 
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's old threats & lawsuits re-emerge as Hollywood's Beach One Resort sues over its access to the beach, the latest shoe to drop in The Related Group's Beachwalk project that'd make HB's North Beach a de facto private beach for The Related Group's properties, NOT a public beach for HB residents
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/hallandale-beach-mayor-joy-coopers-old.html

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Cleavage Grows Larger b/w City of Hallandale Beach and Hollywood After Beach One Resort Approved

My comments follow the article.
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www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/hallandale/sfl-flbbeach1020sboct20,0,1304132.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Plan for 41-story hotel divides Hollywood, Hallandale Beach officials
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
October 20, 2008


Hollywood
The neighbors are at it again.

Relations between Hollywood officials and their southern counterparts in Hallandale Beach are once again strained, this time by a proposed 41-story beach hotel immediately north of the cities' common line.

This feud might even end up in court.

In a rare unanimous vote, Hollywood officials on Wednesday passed a zoning change that allows developers to move forward with Beach One Resort at the northeast corner of South Ocean Drive and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The vote happened to the chagrin of, and after pleas from, Mayor Joy Cooper and others from Hallandale Beach in the audience.
Cooper joined her city manager in complaining that the hotel would be too tall and would bring more congestion, especially in front of an adjacent fire station.

But Hollywood commissioners, usually known for their bickering, appeared giddy at the prospect of adding a world-class hotel to an area already chockablock with luxurious condos and tourist resorts.

The 477-room hotel is expected to rake $1.2 million a year into the city's coffers.

Shortly after the Hollywood vote, Hallandale Beach officials hurriedly voted to file a lawsuit against their neighbors by Nov. 13.

"We have to be cordial, but we also have to champion our cities," Cooper said Friday.

Only months ago, the commissions met jointly to discuss issues affecting both cities. The sides complimented each other and promised to work together.

But on Wednesday, Hollywood officials killed an attempt by Hallandale Beach City Manager Michael Good to give a presentation of his city's concerns. During Wednesday's meeting, Commissioner Fran Russo said Hallandale Beach has ignored Hollywood's concerns about traffic related to development plans at Gulfstream Park and nearby casinos.

"What did Hallandale Beach give us?" she asked. "Nothing."

Commissioner Richard Blattner said he once tried getting the cities to share public safety facilities and services, but that he was "given the coldest shoulder I've ever received."

Mayor Peter Bober tried to ease tensions.

"There are tough times ahead and the economy is going south and crime is going north," Bober said. "There are a number of issues we have to work on together, whether we like it or not, and it's important we be civil to each other."

Reader comments at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/T6QE94US7CE5UAOH4
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This article only reaffirms my long-held belief about Ihosvani Rodriguez, and I stand by my generally negative opinion of him and his incredible lack of curiosity.

He may well be the least curious reporter I've seen in thirty years, based solely on what he's written about events that he and I have both attended.

While you can't mention everything, of course, his stories seem to barely reach the minimum threshold, and of course, there's always the Sun-Sentinel website where he could add more context and nuance. He doesn't.


For instance, you want some facts not mentioned in his version of events above?

How about the fact that according to Joesph L. Herndon, the attorney of record for developer FORTUNE International, among the three items that the developer refused to negotiate was simply forking over $1.5 million dollars to the City of Hallandale Beach for them to simply fold up their tent -and complaints- and walk away. http://www.fortuneinternationalrealty.com/Fortune/Default.aspx

You may better recognize that particular tactic as attempted extortion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion

Honestly, after four years of working towards an agreement with the City of Hollywood, and producing a truly amazing design by Carlos Ott, the developer has enough problems without playing the role of an ATM machine or personal piggy bank for a city government like HB, which
can't properly run, manage their own affairs, maintain or plan their own facilities without embarrassing -thou predictable- results.

[My upcoming blog post later today or Wednesday about Hallandale Beach DPW Director William M. Brant and his department's continuing dreadful performance since he took over, should prove to be a real eye-opener for many, as it'll completely connect the dots for so many self-evident things I've been railing about here.

The photos I'll post as evidence to buttress my points are really quite compelling, and you'll finally see a hint of what I've been hoarding for months for just such a moment as this.
To drop them on his head like a ton of bricks when he refuses to exercise good judgment and management, and instead does little to change the endemic culture of incompetency and cronyism
that is the norm of HB city employees, to the detriment of the minority who are hard-working.
Sorry, that's just not acceptable anymore and neither is threatening public safety by either his stubborness, incompetency or unwillingness to open his eyes.

Trust me, when you see why that post is being written, you'll realize how laughable it is that the members of the City of Hallandale Beach City Commission nominated itself for an 'award of excellence' from the terribly un-objective Florida League of Cities, along with noms for City Manager Mike Good and Comm. Dotty Ross. http://www.flcities.com/muni_awards.asp

Making public news of the latter's nomination prior to her re-election effort, given how truly painful and embarrassing her last term and voting record has been for all concerned -not least, HB citizens interested in genuine reform and accountability- is nothing but a cold-blooded attempt to pull Ross across the finish line one last time, and cement Mayor Cooper's armada of puppets on the commission who are willing to do her bidding without any argument.]

Returning to the facts and issues that were not mentioned, what can you say other than appalling about the City of Hallandale Beach NOT following or respecting Hollywood's written rules of procedure, especially those relating to the requirements necessary to gain status as an intervenor in the matter, with all the legal rights that accrue to that position, like being able to cross-examine
others, for instance.


Yet when HB City Manager Mike Good showed up at HB City Hall early that evening after arriving
from Hollywood's meeting, he was heard to say to anyone within earshot, in this case, longtime HB political activist and HB Commissioner candidate Julie Hamlin -who related this anecdote to me in person- something along the lines of "Guess who was against US at the Hollywood meeting? The usual people."


Hmm-m..."the usual people."
Oh, I think I know whom he means there, and I suspect many of you may have an idea on that, too.
I'm one of them.


To my mind, Hollywood Vice-Mayor Richard Blattner really delivered the most telling punch in the quickly-getting-testy tête-à-tête when he recounted that "THE coldest shoulder" that he's ever gotten representing Hollywood was from the HB City Hall crew of ten years ago, when they treated his entreaties and questions about a matter that also affected Hollywood like he was an interloper,
or some third-rate party favor that they didn't want to hold onto as a keepsake and merely tossed into the garbage can on their way out.

Blattner was a nobody worthy of concern or respect as far as Hallandale Beach was then concerned. (Shocker! Dotty Ross was on that HB City Commission, too.)
His comments towards the end of the back-and-forth were a real punch in the gut to the whole pathetic charade that HB had tried to perpetrate on an unsuspecting public.


Also never explained by Good in either Hollywood or later in his rants against the City of Hollywood at the HB City Commission meeting, much less, NEVER seemingly asked by Rodriguez of Good below:

Why was HB Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan -a good guy in general but NOT without his faults, esp. excessive procrastination, not accepting constructive criticism or responding quickly to problems- was NEVER notified by Good's office about the myriad meetings that were being held.

Whatever else you may think about the project, it certainly WASN'T Hollywood City Manager Cameron Benson or Beach One Resort project attorney Herndon's job to decide whom the city of HB would have present at whatever meetings were held, right?

(At this point, aren't you the least bit curious to find out who WAS there for HB, and whether they even work for HB any longer? I am.)

As all the cool kids on MTV's The Hills might say:
"Dude look in the mirror! It's your fault."
(Okay, so I have a bit of a thing for LC, but is that so bad? I love her funny phone commercial)

Or, as the sublime headline of popular Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Riemer had it Monday:

It's not my fault that I'm to blame for all this
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-te.reimer20oct20,0,796965.column

Eight years ago on a July 8th, in another incident he was forced to respond to, the Herald reported:
"Regardless of what happened, he's responsible for his actions." Good said. "He's going to be held accountable."

Yes, easier said than done.
Especially by you, the person who is being paid close to $250K in salary and benefits to manage a city of only 4.4 miles.


But as many of us have learned the hard way, accepting responsibility for their collective actions and mis-steps has never been the strong suit of either Cooper or Good, as we've seen when measuring their words to their actions, as well as those of city employees who are supposed to work for us, not against us.


The proof of that is all around us everyday as we walk, drive and bike around the city and see the results of all the broken promises, missed deadlines and below-average planning and coordination.
Could those crummy, expensive results staring back at us all be the result of (the so-called) "mis-communication" at HB City Hall?

In a word: no!

Mis-communication?

Mis-communication is when I ask one of you guys to meet me at Starbucks after the Dolphins or Hurricanes game on TV to talk about the campaigns or current events, and you stroll in about 35 minutes late like the character being described in Carly Simon's song, You're So Vain, and you say,
"Oh, sorry, I got busy..."

No, Mayor Joy Cooper, City Manager Mike Good and City Attorney David Jove
NOT
doing their due diligence in advance of their ill-advised effort, to actually know the Hollywood rules in advance, or not having something on paper about definitely being allowed to speak or give a Power Point presentation, and thinking they were just going to buffalo Mayor Bober and the Hollywood Commission and get special treatment in front of THEIR own citizens, well, that's just sheer incompetency and mismanagement.

That's the HB M.O. in a nutshell, my friends.

The fact that people in the chambers near me were actually giggling when Mayor Cooper, City Manager Good and Development Services Director Richard Cannone spoke with their 'forked tongues,' should give you some idea of how embarrassing a performance it was to watch

from beginning to end.

Tell me, if this presentation of theirs was so powerful and persuasive, why didn't they actually videotape it in advance, just in case, and put it on their own city's backward website for HB residents to see, and then email them or the links to the various interested parties, so they'd know with certainty the city's supposed objections based on facts.

Oh, that's right, HB's antiquated website doesn't allow you to watch anything.

That Rodriguez didn't even mention Mayor Cooper's wild threats to charge a fee to access the public beach -North Beach- near the Beach One Resort property, something she has neither the legal power or authority to do, is, of course, par for the course for him.


But I mentioned it last week because I thought you ought to know the facts.

That sort of desperate attempt by Cooper to lash out and threaten retaliation because of yher own failures is exactly the sort of thing that should've been the sub-header of the story.


Rodriguez might've also cared to enlighten everyone with the news that it was left to unethical, money-hungry HB Commisioner William Julian to reach the nadir of oratory by condescendingly chiding Comm. Keith London for, if you can believe this, having actually attended that second reading in Hollywood -as well as the first reading on October 1st, the second of three meetings, where London was the only HB elected official there- and speaking his mind as a citizen, with Julian saying something about London deserving a star for going, like he was some sort of kindergartner.
Wow! And the hits just keep on comin'!

This from a clown like Julian who never attended any of the three public meetings, just like his fellow puppets, Comm. Dotty Ross and truly disappointing and stoic Comm. Anthony Sanders, both of whom sat on the dais -and their hands- like bumps on a log, saying nothing of any real consequence while all this was going on for hours.

Just when you think the level of representation and discourse here can't get any lower or more embarrassing, you have someone like Julian who didn't attend any of those public meetings four miles away, criticizing someone who does.

That's the sorry but accurate snapshot of Hallandale Beach, Florida two weeks before Election Day 2008.
That's why I'm voting for Arturo O'Neill and Carlos Simmons for Hallandale Beach City Commission on Election Day.

As LBJ's ads said so well and simply in 1964, "The stakes are too high for you to stay at home."
Exactly!
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Hey, so guess which southeast Broward city's public parking lot next to their Police Dept. and City Hall was pitch black again for at least the eighth consecutive night in a row?
(Though probably much longer.)

I'll give you one guess: it's two words.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Lights Out -AGAIN!- at HB City Hall; Anger at City of Hollywood!

Good grief!!!
It was "Lights Out" -AGAIN!- at the Hallandale Beach Municipal Complex Wednesday night.

I'll have more to say about this later on Thursday, as part of a look at the continuing pattern of supervisory neglect at Hallandale Beach City Hall, via an open letter to Hallandale Beach DPW Director William M. Brant, PA, who, to my mind, has a lot to account for these days.

As I've stated here previously, Brant is clearly a very smart man, an opinion I first shared with a
microphone in my hand at a public day-long citywide meeting last spring.
He may well be THE smartest person in all of City Hall, per se, but that will count for very little with me and many other HB residents, especially come Election Day, unless he gets a MUCH better handle soon on his Dept.

Specifically, matters that don't involve water, reverse osmosis, rainwater barrels and the like, because quite frankly, the city is an absolute mess and looks like an eyesore and Brant's DPW is in the middle of it all.
How does he NOT see it?

I'm talking about massive amounts of broken parking lot lights on city properties that linger for months or years without remediation, broken or missing city signage for equal periods of time, city-owned barricades that are left to rust and rot on city streets, sidewalks -and in bushes along main drags- for months and years at a time.
Trust me, Hallandale Beach Blvd. from I-95 to A1A is full of them, as my photos will make clear.

Just compare the different sides of the intersection of Pembroke Road and S. 21st Avenue on the city's border and compare the sides of curbs in Hollywood and the mess in Hallandale Beach, as I did yesterday while waiting at a red light.
All in plain sight.

And perhaps most troubling for him due to the unfortunate metaphors, city street lights in front of and around City Hall that have been out for weeks and which always seem to go out right before elections, causing me and many other people interested in reform to vote against incumbents who can't keep the light's on, the bare minimum to expect in a city.
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I arrived at Wednesday night's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting around 6:45 p.m., with the meeting already well underway, having been scheduled to start at 5 p.m.


I arrived straight from the important City Commission meeting up at Hollywood City Hall, where I spent the entire afternoon listening and participating in the discussion of the future of the Beach One Resort project designed by Carlos Ott, which I'd vocally supported as the last public participant to speak on the matter.

Once in the HB Chambers, I watched in anger and amazement for about two hours and fifteen minutes as Mayor Joy Cooper and City Manager Mike Good proceeded to describe an afternoon in a parallel universe that was very different from the one we'd all been at earlier.

Their parallel universe was one where, in their words, the city of Hollywood "didn't show [them]
professional courtesy" and allow them to do what they wanted and intended.
My universe had been the one at a packed Hollywood Chambers, the one where Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober bent over backwards to be fair and civil to folks from the City of Hallandale Beach, even giving them slightly more time to speak than they deserved, given that they were so very unconvincing in their arguments, perhaps, because it was so transparently untrue.

Mine was one where, as usual, Comm. Keith London was honest and spoke his mind, this time as a HB citizen who'd done his homework, having attended the first hearing two weeks ago on the first. (I know that because he sat in the same exact row as me on October 1st.)

In fact, London was the ONLY Hallandale Beach commissioner who was motivated enough to make the ten-minute drive up and see for himself what was going on with the important project, something that, for whatever reason, Dotty Ross, William Julian and Anthony Sanders had no interest in or time for.

Have I mentioned here lately that I really, really hate laziness in a public official?
Almost more than lack of ethical scruples.

Have you noticed, that seems to be a recurring theme with those three particular commissioners: a real lack of energy, curiosity or willingness to make the slightest effort to be better informed.

It's no wonder they open wide and swallow whole the answers they get spoon-fed from the City Manager's staff, without ever asking a hard or even slightly probing question that would elecit more information for the public.

In the end, London was neither for or against the project, instead counseling the Hollywood Commission to simply use their best judgment, which is only fair, since it's NOT as if Hallandale Beach's City Hall cared one whit about the ripple effects of The Mardi Gras, The Village of Gulfstream or The Beach Club towers on Hollywood.
Nope, they sure didn't, which made former Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti understandably angry at the time.

This time, though, the shoe was on the other foot, which is why Cooper and Good seemed to be almost hysterical at times in spinning tales about what had happened.
(I saw former Mayor Mara enter the Commission Chambers around 4:25 p.m., the first hearing I've personally attended where I saw her since her re-election defeat by Peter Bober.)


It was hard to figure out what made the Hallandale Beach City Hall Crew angrier:

a.) Mayor Bober's basic fairness and unwillingness to break his own city's rules and create a bad precedent, just to make HB happy when they showed up en masse at the last minute.
b.) Bober not allowing the city to become an intervenor at the last minute like they wanted, since they didn't follow the proper Hollywood procedures, usually a couple of days advance warning; Hallandale Beach itself requires three days warning.
c.) Bober not allowing the HB City Hall team to just swoop in and make their points via a lengthy Power Point presentation to be led by Richard Cannone, the HB Development Director, whom I've generally cut slack to in the past -until recently- because he's clearly a smart guy in a sea of dummies and droids at city hall, which has got to be enormously frustrating.
I've been there!

I'll discuss the whole Beach One Resort matter soon in a separate blog post, along with the photos and facts I've previously promised, plus some info you won't find anywhere else.


I got so frustrated by what I heard said early on in HB, and Ross, Julian and Sanders seemingly hypnotized reaction to these fantastical stories of Cooper and Good, that I signed up with the City Clerk to make some comments during "Public Participation."
I should've known better.
When that still hadn't happened by 8:55 p.m., hours after the meeting started, I'd had enough, and left to go home and catch the last presidential debate between McCain and Obama.

And that's when things really got interesting!

I left the Commission Chambers with Arturo O'Neill, one of the two HB City Commission candidates I'm supporting on November 4th, and a fellow North Miami Beach Senior High grad.

Once outside, I promptly walked him around the City Hall Municipal Complex, reiterating the obvious from my recent posts about the lack of public safety and accompanying lack of accountability by either DPW or the HB Police Dept.

It only made more stark to him the city's chronic inability to provide basic public safety competency even around their own headquarters.
He wants to change that culture and hold people accountable, even if others on the commission won't, no matter what happens.

Just as was true on Sunday night and Monday night, every single city public parking lot light in the complex was completely out, on both the U.S.-1/South Federal Highway side and the S.E. 5th Street side.

Which is to say, where anyone attending the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting we'd been at, anyone needing to get to the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. would park, and walk thru a pitch black parking lot.
Something I'd have definitely mentioned if I'd ever gotten the chance, with Mr. Brant in the Green Room.

Public safety?
No, despite all the rhetoric that was uttered up in Hollywood for public consumption as justification for HB's concern, it's clear thru the preponderance of the evidence that the HB City Hall Crew prefers public safety as a 'talking point,' an idea, NOT a reality.

I'll connect the dots on that topic later Thursday and it won't be pretty for some of the people responsible, since there will be more eyes than usual seeing my post from now on.




October 15, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Arturo O'Neill under the eastside city security camera, right near the city parking lot light that's been out since at least February -before the camera was installed.

You'd think the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. would want the best possible video feed, oui?
But then over a year after they were first approved, City Manager Mike Good still doesn't have an operational policy for the security cameras to show the public or the City Commission to allay their legitimate concerns.


October 15, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
A pitch black parking lot is not an inviting prospect at any time, especially after a HB City Commission meeting that was long on hot air and short on, yes -wait for it- ILLUMINATION.

October 15, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
"And the flag was still there..."
That black parking lot behind Arturo is the one closest to the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. HQ.

How would you like to have to go there to report something upsetting, and have to worry about your safety in the Police parking lot?
That's the reality!

October 15, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Here, Arturo stands next to the HB Sign that with the exception of a handful of days two weeks ago, has been out for over four-and-a-half years.
Really.

Who could make this stuff up?

October 15, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Notice how Arturo's portfolio writing pad blends into the background?
All the photos above were taken with a flash, otherwise, you'd never have seen anything.

Special thanks to Arturo O'Neill for being a good sport and agreeing to be in these photos that I really think speak volumes about how poorly the City of Hallandale Beach is managed and maintained.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

re Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One

October 3, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier
New Notice sign advertising the meeting on the 15th.

Well, I ended up having LOTS of problems posting Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One a few hours ago, as I lost it a couple of times during the Hurricanes-Seminoles ballgame when very strong area storms knocked out the electricity hereabouts momentarily.

I was literally sick at the thought of having to completely re-arrange those photographs again in the laborious way Blogger forces you to do so.

Plus, I completely lost the draft which explains why I titled that post the way I did.


So, long story short... look at Breanne Gilpatrick's Thursday Herald article on the approval, so far, of the Beach One Resort project at 4111 S. Ocean Drive, i.e. on State Road A1A and Hallandale Beach Blvd., and tell me what's missing from her story?

Go ahead, I can wait.


Are you back?


You have a project that everyone describes as "beautiful," and yet she never mentions the name of the architect who actually designed it, or the name of the developer who hopes to turn it into an iconic reality.

This, in an area that's positively drowning in ugly buildings and developers who throw up schlock and take curtain calls -even when nobody is applauding.
Or the Miami Megaplan.

As mentioned, it's been reduced by 10 floors to be in proportion with the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa down the block and is absolutely gorgeous, resembling a ship's bow.

To answer the first part of the question, it's been designed by world renown architect Carlos Ott, who developed the original concept for the iconic Burj Al Arab in Dubai, http://www.burj-al-arab.com/ , a hotel which Hollywood Comm. Patty Asseff mentioned on Wednesday that she had stayed at earlier this year.

He's also doing the Jade Beach down on Collins Avenue and 170th Street and the Jade Ocean, also in Sunny Isles.

At the Sept. 11th Development Review Board hearing in Hollywood, Mr. Ott looked and talked exactly like you'd imagine an architect with his particular background would look, too: dignified, well-dressed and precise.
Almost more like a veteran character actor deep in his character than a real architect.


For the record, the name of the developer is Edgardo DeFortuna the president of Miami-based Fortune International Realty. See this article on his background.

I should mention here that even the neighborhood critics along A1A who attended that meeting on the 11th acknowledged -and not at all grudgingly- that the design is positively breathtaking.

Still, they couldn't resist the opportunity to say publicly how truly ugly and oversize The Beach Club condos south of the Hallandale Beach Water Tower are, especially in comparison.

This is the old version and height, not the new one, but you get the general idea. http://200.124.202.19/ott/ott.html

Also, as noted previously here, keep in mind that the rendering doesn't show The Sian in between it and the Westin., since it's intended to be an aerial comparison of relative height, not actual physical proximity.

The next time this project will come up for review is the second City Commission reading, on Wednesday October 15th at 1 PM.

To see the portion of Wednesday's hearing on Beach One Resort, complete with Power Point presentation, go to http://www.hollywoodfl.org/Media/Archives/ccm100108/ccm100108_Indexed.pdf and click the blue line on # 23.

PO-2008-20 - Ordinance First Reading - An Ordinance Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Waiving The 10 Acre Minimum Acreage Requirement For A Planned Development; Changing The Zoning Designation Of The Property Generally Located At 4111 South Ocean Drive From C-1 (Commercial Low Intensity) To PD (Planned Development District); Allocating Up To 238 Bonus Hotel Density Rooms From The "Hollywood Beach Hotel Room Pool"; Approving The Planned Development (PD) Master Development Plan For The Subject Property (Hereinafter Known As "Beach One Resort Planned Development Master Plan"); And Amending The City’s Zoning Map To Reflect The Change In

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Naming Names Herald-style -Beach One Resort Hotel in Hollywood Passes Round One


June 2008 Artist rendering of aerial view of Beach One Resort, Hollywood, FL
Carlos A. Ott, Architect from submitted documents to the City of Hollywood Development Review Board. September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

This was NOT intended to be an accurate representation of all beach properties along that part of State Road A1A, since SIAN is missing from it, but rather an attempt to show what the general area heights were, with the Westin Diplomat a few blocks to the north and the three condo towers of The Beach Club in HB a block to the south.

The newest proposal by Beach One Resort is 130 feet/ten stories shorter than their original one.

Hollywood Beach Eyesore Continues to Grow
The view of the neighborhood nuisance as seen on April 3rd, 2008 at Hallandale Beach Blog.
My frustration with this longstanding situation on State Road A1A, which lasted for years, led me to placing this photo front and center on my blog for quite some time.


While I was obviously pleased to see that a slit-fence was finally installed there a few weeks ago in August, and even more pleased to see the 25-foot mound of dirt removed, frankly, I never really got the reasonable answer I was looking for from the City of Hollywood about why there wasn't one to begin with, and why that property seemed to have special rules that applied to it, despite how self-evident the problem was.
Honestly, could it have been more evident?


A few times, I spotted City of Hollywood building inspectors in front of the Crowne Plaza -before it officially opened- and walked over to inquire if they knew anything about what was going on with all the dirt that had been flying around the neighborhood for at least 18 months.
Sad to say, their customer service skills couldn't have been worse -un-friendly and un-professional.


Dudes, when you park your City of Hollywood car right on the sidewalk, forcing everyone in the neighborhood to actually have to walk out into the street with traffic, the least you could do is keep the bad work attitude to yourself.
For what it's worth, I did manage to snap a few quick photos of these nominees for Hollywood city Employees of the Month with the bad attitudes.
But I decided not to "out" them by posting their photos months ago, though I could've, since I know they'd have claimed they were "misunderstood," always the last refuge for bad govt. employees.


No, actually, I didn't misunderstand, I just wrote down what you said, the day and time, your license plate tag info, and a general description of you.
That way, in the future, if I see you in the Hollywood City Hall Commission chambers, I can stop, pivot, and segue into your actions and call you out in front of your colleagues as a jerk.
Don't thank me, it'll be my pleasure.


In August of 2007, I finally got so frustrated with the situation that I went to Hollywood City Hall myself, and after describing why I was there, I got the opportunity to speak with someone about it in the Planning Dept.
I asked questions about the property and why it seemed so impervious to the usual rules that apply to areas like that prior to construction, since by then, it had been about 10 months without any slit-fencing of any kind, even while the mound of dirt had grown to be at least 25 ft. high, which was not really what the neighbors next door at SIAN and elsewhere signed up for in the way of beach culture.


Despite my various efforts, it would be almost an entire year before the slit-fence was erected.
For the record, as I've written many times here, though this property has been a neighborhood nuisance for both Hollywood and Hallandale Beach residents for quite some time, when Mayor Joy Cooper obliquely referred to it at the joint HB-Hollywood City Commission meeting I attended in June, from my perspective and that of many others, that was THE first time Cooper ever referred to it publicly, despite it having been a self-evident problem since at least November of 2006.


Mayor Peter Bober -whom I'm a supporter of- wasn't elected mayor of Hollywood until March of this year, so honestly, how could it be that Mayors Cooper and Mara Giulianti and City Managers Mike Good and Cameron Benson could all have ignored something that large at one of the busiest intersections in southeast Broward for so long? 
And at the beach, no less!
Do you really have to ask?


Well, at least there's a new sheriff in town in Hollywood who's interested in accountability and transparency, which is more than can be said in Hallandale Beach.

More comments following the Miami Herald article.
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HOLLYWOOD
Hollywood high-rise wins key backing
By Breanne Gilpatrick
October 2, 2008


Hollywood city commissioners tentatively approved a key zoning change Wednesday for a proposed 41-story ocean-side hotel set to join other high-end high-rises near the Hollywood-Hallandale Beach border.


Developers for Beach One Resort sought the change to allow them to build a 477-room hotel on the 1.59-acre parcel at the northeast corner of South Ocean Drive and Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
Once completed, the hotel will join Hollywood's Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, the three-tower Beach Club condo complex in Hallandale beach and other high-rises in the area. Commissioners said the project blends well along the southern stretch of Hollywood beach dominated by luxury hotels and condominiums.


''I love this project,'' Commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan said.


"It's beautiful, and I appreciate that you did look to the Diplomat and you did look at what we already have and it complements that area beautifully.''


Original plans called for a 549-foot-tall building with 51 stories.


But developers worked with the city to lower the height by more than 130 feet, bringing the building in line with the other hotels along that portion of Hollywood beach.


Earlier this year, some beach residents told the city's Planning and Zoning Board that they thought developers were trying to build too much on the parcel and worried the 418-foot-tall building would cast a shadow over the beach.
But the reaction Wednesday was largely positive.
''It's perfect for our community,'' Hollywood beach resident Joe Joynt said.
Because the property sits outside the boundaries of Hollywood's Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, any property tax revenue generated by the project would flow into the city's budget.
-----------------------
I will have much more to say about the particulars of this project over the next week, as well as lots of details about that Hollywood City Commission meeting that the local media have failed to report or mention, but I wanted to post this information before any more time slipped by.


I attended the Sept. 11th Development Review Board hearing in Hollywood on the Beach One Resort project and attended this past Wednesday afternoon's Hollywood City Commission meeting on it, the first of their two meetings on the proposed 41-story hotel, which will be just north of the Hallandale Beach Water Tower on State Road A1A and Hallandale Beach Blvd.


This past Tuesday night, I sent out an email to some local South Florida public policy folks of my acquaintance whom I knew had an interest in the project, and what it might represent for Hollywood, asking for as many of them as possible to attend the meeting so they wouldn't be hearing rumors and scuttlebut and could contribute some thoughts.


My thinking all along was that many people initially liked The Radius project on Young Circle, too, but we know what everyone thought once it was actually built, don't we?


Where's that curvilinear aspect to it that would have prevented it from feeling like it's going to topple over on top of you, like a top-heavy model or Playmate, when you walk across the street to the Starbucks.


The curvilinear aspect is something that was added to the WSG project on the southeast corner of Young Circle a few months ago, and is one that will be immediately noticeable about the Beach One Resort, also, something that, if executed properly, will help it become a real iconic property in South Florida.


(As opposed to those South Florida real estate projects elsewhere that bastardize the meaning of the word because their dopey PR folks can't think of another name for ugly and tall, so they call it iconic. As if.)


It holds great promise for being a signature location for Hollywood, a visible landmark for decades to come that shapes visitors first impressions of the city, while also being the embodiment of that ideal that Bernard Zyscovich has spoken about with regard to the area south of Young Circle, i.e. a tangible and visible entryway into the city, to give it a sense of place.
Still, as you can tell from my comments accompanying some photos I've snapped over the past few months of the area, I do have a real fear about the shadows that will be cast upon HB's already tiny beach in the afternoon.
Design, specs, renderings at: http://www.hollywoodfl.org/docdepotcache/00000/812/PO-2008-20.PDF

You can watch a replay of Wednesday's meeting online at:
http://www.hollywoodfl.org/city_clerks/meetings_webcast.htm
That's right, you can watch the whole thing, about ninety minutes, complete with graphics on the screen so you can actually follow it at home -unlike the case in Hallandale Beach.
You can even see the running time so you know that when X,Y or Z was said or done, you can tell someone about it and they can find that exact moment.
Imagine that? Graphics and running time and everything.


Meanwhile, Hallandale Beach has COMCAST Channel 78, which might as well be running a test pattern, since it has no information onscreen during HB City Commission telecasts to let you know where they are in the proceedings.
--------------------
PO-2008-20 - Ordinance First Reading
An Ordinance Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Waiving The 10 Acre Minimum Acreage Requirement For A Planned Development; Changing The Zoning Designation Of The Property Generally Located At 4111 South Ocean Drive From C-1 (Commercial Low Intensity) To PD (Planned Development District);
Allocating Up To 238 Bonus Hotel Density Rooms From The "Hollywood Beach Hotel Room Pool";
Approving The Planned Development (PD) Master Development Plan For The Subject Property
(Hereinafter Known As "Beach One Resort Planned Development Master Plan"); And Amending The City's Zoning Map To Reflect The Change In Zoning Designation. (05-ZJ-21)


September 28, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking east towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower from Hallandale Beach Blvd.


September 28, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking northwest from Surf Road in Hallandale Beach towards the Beach One Resort lot, whose fence currently is sporting a Dotty Ross for HB City Commission campaign sign, which will no doubt come as news to the owner. In the past two years, that exact spot, just opposite The Beachside Cafe, has had Tim Ryan for State Senate campaign signs and William Julian for HB City Commission campaign signs. Every time I've seen them, I've wondered who thought they could put a campaign sign on someone else's property, since it doesn't belong to The Beachside Cafe or the City of Hallandale Beach.
But that's symptomatic of the attitude and culture here in Hallandale Beach among many local pols and their supporters: to try to get away with things until you get caught and then feign ignorance when you are.


September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking up at the east facade of Hollywood City Hall on my way into the meeting.



September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
A rendering of the Beach One Resort looking south on the beach from north of the property, basically around the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa.



September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
A rendering of the Beach One Resort looking north from State Road A1A.



September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
A rendering depicting the West/A1A and East/beach elevation of the Beach One Resort.



September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier
A rendering showing the narrow ship-like appearance of the hotel, with the beach to the right.




September 11, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier
Looking west towards Hollywood City Hall as I made my way home.



September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking east from the north sidewalk of the Intracoastal Bridge, i.e. State Road 858/Hallandale Beach Blvd., towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower to the left and the north (1850 S. Ocean) condo tower of The Beach Club to the right.

September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking north onto State Road A1A from the city boundary dividing the City of Hollywood to the north and Hallandale Beach to the south.
You can see the yellow 9/11 Development Review Board meeting sign right next to the bus bench.
As I was leaving the beach area around 6 PM or so, to get back home for the Hurricanes-Gators ballgame, I walked over to it and pushed itdown a bit, but given the heavy winds that day, I had no reason to think the sign would still be there and not on the street somewhere.

Hollywood might want to make a mental note of the simple fact that the beach area is always going to be the windiest place around, so lightweight Notice signs that are planted in the ground, probably should not be used there.

I'm constantly surprised at the number of people in the area who don't realize that the north side of Hallandale Beach Blvd. is, in fact, the entrance to Hollywood.
The sign on the A1A median welcoming you into Hollywood is two blocks north only because that median is the first one on A1A which is wide enough for the sign's placement, since the median on HBB is too narrow.

Much of the confusion no doubt stems from the fact that the city border is farther north on U.S.-1/ Federal Highway, up at Pembroke Road, and many people just assume it's at roughly the same position over on the beach.

That's why even in local sources or on www.flickr.com, you often see incorrect references to the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa and Hallandale Beach.
From the hotel, looking west, the west side of the Intracoastal is HB, but the hotel itself is in the City of Hollywood.


September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking west from Surf Road towards the lot and the sign announcing the Sept. 11th City of Hollywood Development Review Board hearing.

Currently, this is the beach parking lot controlled by what some call the rather 'shady' folks at The Beachside Cafe, which charges $5 to park in this unlit and un-supervised lot full of rocks, gravel and potholes. And did I tell you about all the feral cats?
The cats who used to congregate below the 'scarecrow' Hallandale Beach Police car near the entrance to the parking lot?
Even amongst the dumbest of South Florida's criminals, seeing bowls of cat food and water in front of a Police car's front or back tire, day after day, well, it's a bit of a hint that there are no real cops around.
And there aren't, either!
But that's another familiar refrain and subject I won't get into a tangent on now.


September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Looking south from Surf Road towards the HB Water Tower and The Beach Club.


September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Hallandale Beach Water Tower.



September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
This image, of course, will all but disappear once the Beach One Resort goes up.


September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Me and my early evening silhouette.


September 6, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
The dividing line beween sunshine and shadows is a very clear one.
Shadows courtesy of The Beach Club.
The long shadows cast by the condos make it much more difficult for the lifeguards to discern swimmers in the water. Just ask them and they'll tell you as much.


September 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
The view of the Beach One Resort lot while standing atop that A1A bus bench, minus about 20 feet of dirt.


September 2, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Looking southeast from the east sidewalk on State Road A1A towards the Hallandale Beach Water Tower, Hallandale Beach Fire/Rescue #600.


I'll have MUCH more soon on that whole crazy area, scene of some shady shenanigans that have taken place there for years, as well as a thorough photographic review of the so-called North Beach Community Center, which has been the subject of many past HBB blog posts.
The city took title to it on August 3rd, 2007, but it won't be open to actual Hallandale Beach residents and taxpayers 'till February or March of next year, 18 months later.
Eighteen long months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


But not to worry, friends, pals and cronies of the well-connected at Hallandale Beach City Hall have been able to use the building over the past 14 months.
Just not you!
For you, it's closed.


That's life in Hallandale Beach, Florida in the year 2008 under the ruinous reign of Joy Cooper, Dotty Ross, William Julian and City Manager Mike Good.


How many times can I say here that they're a very big part of the problem, not part of any constructive common sense solutions.


Election Day is just 30 days away, so do yourself and the city a big favor and vote NO on Dotty Ross, and cast a vote for reform, accountability and transparency at Hallandale Beach City Hall.


Vote for Arturo O' Neill and Carlos Simmons on November 4th for the Hallandale Beach City Commission.
You'll be glad you did!