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Item 8C - CloisterCITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH AGENDA ITEM# 8C JANUARY 25, 2016 PUBLIC MEETING WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CLOISTER SOUTH GATE AND COMMISSIONER STINSON January 7, 2016 IN ATTENDANCE: Commissioner John Stinson Director of Public Works Doug Layton City Manager Nelson VanLiere Chief of Police Michael Deal RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE PER SIGN_IN SHEET: Mr. Joe Romero Mr. Kirk Hanson Ms. Joan Waits Mr. Butch Toney Mr. Chris Jorgensen Ms. Mary Reed Ms. J enn Lagner Mr. Phil Corp Mr. Chuck Pitts Ms. Luly Rady Mr. Lovell Farris Mr. Alan Gleit Ms. Julie Reichard Mr. Sasioata Roy Ms. Loretta Weil Ms. Meade Coplan Ms. Susan Carr Mr. John Mahler Ms. Danetta Mahler Mr. Richard Reichard Mr. Ron McBride Mr. Austin Reed Mr. Charles Vermillion Ms. Polly Bell Ms. Pat Pitts Mr. Robert Hines Ms. Caryn Farris Ms. Joan Toney Ms. Mary Ulrich Mr. JeffWeil Ms. Alison Brown Commissioner Stinson opened the meeting at 6:30pm on January 7, 2016. Rules of order were explained to the gallery requesting all comments be confined to the matters at hand and no personal attacks or comments be expressed. 1) Topics Topics of the Forum were conveyed to the attendees. The topics were described as follows: a. 10th Street (Beach access to Ocean Blvd.) b. Plaza (Ocean Blvd. -East Coast Dr.) c. Club Dr. (Beach Ave. -Ocean Blvd.) d. Cloister Condominium south access gate use e. Impact of a solution January 7, 2016 1 Cloister AGENDA ITEM# SC JANUARY 25, 2016 2) Open Discussion Commissioner Stinson opened the discussion to the citizens. Citizen complaints, concerns, or other questions were noted by Commissioner Stinson and City staff in attendance and documented by topic below. (The lists are in no particular order.) Discussion regarding concerns ensued until approximately 7:50pm. a. 10th Street (Beach access to Ocean Blvd.) i. Congestion at the beach access and surrounding the Cloister main gate ii. Vehicles backing out of the 10th St beach access opposing traffic iii. The width of 10th St. is not conducive to on-street parking iv. Parking is not clearly defined, nor enforced v. Traffic is opposing in a narrow driving lane area vi. High level of pedestrian use requires better-defined walkways, etc. vii. Consider changing the parking b. Plaza (Ocean Blvd. -East Coast Dr.) i. Plaza between Ocean Blvd. & East Coast Dr. is too narrow ii. Vehicle speed on Plaza between Ocean Blvd. and East Coast Dr. is excessive iii. No stop signs on Ocean Blvd. or East Coast Dr. at the Plaza intersection for north or southbound traffic iv. Pedestrian and bike use is heavy v. Traffic intensity is high for a short narrow street with little setback from homeowners c. Club Dr. (Beach Ave.-Ocean Blvd.) i. Consider changing Club Dr. to one-way westbound ii. Parldng on Club Dr. is not clearly marked, enforced and contributes to congestion and pedestrian safety iii. No sidewalks contributes to pedestrian safety iv. 8th St. between Beach Ave. and Ocean Blvd. experiences the same congestion as Club Dr. v. Traffic entering Beach Ave. from Club Dr. vi. Pedestrian and bike use is heavy and there is no beach access to distribute some of the pedestrian use d. Cloister Condominium south access gate use January 7, 2016 i. The gate has been opened without the proper authority or approval ii. The original PUD as per City Commission meeting minutes indicate the gate was approved for emergency access only iii. Why push traffic from this area into other adjacent congested areas iv. Concern about the impact to property values if the gate isn't authorized for use 2 Cloister AGENDA ITEM# 8C JANUARY 25, 2016 v. Visibility when departing the Cloister Condominium is restricted, especially if vehicles are parked along the north side ofthe street vi. Does the City have the authority to control the use of the gate 3) Solutions Commissioner Stinson ended open discussion on complaints and concerns at approximately 7:50pm, at which time Commissioner Stinson restated the five topics and chose to begin with Item B. Plaza (Ocean Blvd. -East Coast Dr.). Discussion ensued. Due the high level of energy demonstrated by residents and stakeholders, at approximately 8:10pm, Commissioner Stinson ended open discussion on solutions. Commissioner Stinson restated the objective of the forum to come to a reasonable compromise to present to the City Commission on January 11, 2016. Commissioner Stinson stated his reluctance to share his proposal with the group to prevent predisposing anyone in the audience to considering his recommendation and hopefully allowing the group to naturally reach a general consensus. Due to emotions running very high, Commissioner Stinson then detailed his proposal to the group. Commissioner Stinson's proposal is detailed as follows: a. The Cloister south gate would be agreed to be utilized as an entrance only and authorized by the City for such use pending City Commission approval. This action, due to the Cloister residents having incurred significant expense to install the gate for exiting traffic, may cause the City of Atlantic Beach to incur expense for reversing the gate. Alternatives to changing the configuration of the gate might include providing infrared remotes to residents to allow opening of the gate as approaching from the south along Beach Ave. This change may also generate a request from the Cloister residents for City staff to restripe internal parking spaces immediately adjacent to the gate due to the spaces being configured for inbound traffic from the south gate. b. Designate Club Dr. as a one-way street, westbound from Beach Ave. to Ocean Blvd., clearly marked at the intersection of Club Dr. and Ocean Blvd. to prevent incorrect access to those unfamiliar with the direction of traffic along Club Dr. Evaluate parking along Club Dr. (north or south side of the street), and clearly mark all public parking and increase enforcement of parking violations. c. Designate Plaza as a one-way street, westbound from Ocean Blvd. to East Coast Dr. clearly marked for all traffic transiting north or southbound on either Ocean Blvd. or East Coast Dr. and for eastbound traffic on Plaza arriving at the intersection of Plaza and East Coast Dr. Additionally restrict parking along Plaza between Ocean Blvd. and East Coast Dr. January 7, 2016 3 Cloister AGENDA ITEM# 8C JANUARY 25, 2016 d. 1Oth Street i. Reconfigure angled parking for resident and beach access east of the Beach Ave. f 10th St. intersection angled from northeast to southwest to be angled from northwest to southeast to eliminate vehicles backing out toward the 10th St. entry to the beach access. Consider steepening the angle of parking to increase distance from the back of vehicles and the 10th St. parking. ii. Redesignate beach access parking and resident parking, placing beach access parking immediately adjacent to the Beach Ave. and 10th St. intersection which allows beach visitors to recognize the availability of parking for beach access prior to entering the beach access area. Designate resident parking to be immediately adjacent to the actual beach access, understanding that residents will understand the utilization of parking better than visitors and will more quickly recognize any hazards introduced by visitor traffic, whether vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian. Evaluate the installation of LED lighting at the 10th St. beach access entry, similar to parking garages at airports that via sensors determine the existence of a vehicle and clearly alert incoming drivers to the number of beach access parking spaces available. iii. Using existing City right-of-way, construct and clearly mark a turn-around at the end of 10th St. adjacent to the beach access. It is likely the available City property will not accommodate a full radius turn, and may require a three point turn to complete the reversal of traffic at the east end of the street. iv. Restrict parking along 10th St. between Beach Ave. and Ocean Blvd. to improve vehicle movement east and westbound along the street. 4) Closing Comments Commissioner Stinson provided his justification and explanation for the changes and answered questions about the proposal and other questions about the jurisdictional control of the gate, the documents he had reviewed on the City web site detailing the long history of the gate and estimated cost to implement the recommended changes. It was suggested a straw vote be taken about acceptance and or rejection of the proposal presented by Commissioner Stinson. At the time of the straw vote, some guests had departed. It is estimated there were approximately 35 guests remaining of the approximately SO guests initially in attendance. Note, some guests either chose not to vote or chose not to sign the sign-in sheet. The straw vote was taken. January 7, 2016 4 Cloister The vote was: 20 ayes; 6 nays. AGENDA ITEM# 8C JANUARY 25, 2016 Commissioner Stinson thanked everyone for his or her participation, interest, opinions and patience. Commissioner Stinson concluded the meeting at approximately 9:15 pm. January 7, 2016 5 Cloister