Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin
admin
over 1 year ago
Received via email on 9.10.23 from Leigh and Pamela Dunston of 282 Monterey Road:
1. Notification of Neighbors
Comment: This is especially important to residents of Monterey Road, the epicenter of the Demolition Derby and the long suffering North End residents.
Depending on contractors to provide notice to residents, who probably don't support endless construction noise, dust and gridlock, isn't a reasonable solution. We didn't even receive notice of planned demolition/construction projects next door to our home.
One suggestion is that staff be responsible for verifying that notice has been provided rather than rely on those whose interest may not be served by providing notice.
In addition, perhaps neighbors could advise staff, in advance of a permit expiring, that they strongly disapprove of it being extended and citing reasons because they may actually know facts, unknown to staff, regarding the project.
We have already notified staff that we object to any extension of the project on the property bordering our back yard that expires in October. This project has proceeded in a slow motion, haphazard fashion and sometimes it seems like the screeching stone cutting operation has been coordinated with online teaching activities at our home.
3. Duration of Permits
Comment: Since building permits have already been issued for three of sides of our home and another is being sought for the fourth side, we have a particular interest in turning off the noise, dust and traffic congestion on our narrow street ASAP. Please note that 2 of the 3 ongoing permitted projects involve total demolition and aren't just renovation or addition projects and that the fourth project, now under consideration by ARCOM, is another total demo/construction event.
The noise from the 2 total demos, located across the street and next door, along with the stone cutting on the property bordering our back yard was horrendous and wasn't really helped much by closing all the doors and windows and keeping the AC on. In fact, if we had been renting our home, I would have called the rental agent to advise them that we were cancelling the lease because we were constructively evicted from the premises and would be considering legal action.
We have already advised staff regarding the affect of the exodus of undocumented construction workers from Florida as a result of legislation that became effective in July, hoping that the unrelenting assault on our neighborhood would slow down and the plight of North End residents might improve if learning of this additional situation that would be used as an excuse to delay completion was taken into account. No such luck, now we are advised that projects being approved and already approved should look forward to being allowed more time to disrupt the peaceful enjoyment of our homes. Do you realize that there is already one major construction project on Monterey Road that has been going on for about four years.
It is obvious that in recent years billions of dollars in real estate transactions have created unprecedented demolition and construction in Palm Beach, especially in certain neighborhoods. This makes it necessary to have in place sufficient, well qualified staff to handle the deluge of development and enforce code provisions since the current situation can be compared to historic California Gold Rush in that both seem to have the appearance of being out of control.
We have been advised by staff that they have no idea of how many or where building permits have been issued in Palm Beach and probably won't have this information for more than a year. If The Town is unable to have adequate knowledge or maintain reasonable control over construction, then it appears that the only remedy is a moratorium.
Regarding expansion of notification, Monterey Road residents have been advocating for expanded notice of demolition and construction projects along with building permit extensions because our entire narrow street is affected by any building project and we already have so many that our lives are being disrupted on a daily basis. For example, some unnoticed residents would have liked being able to object to the scheme that finally resulted in the demolition of the beautiful Fatio designed Monterey Colonial home and were unable to act, having discovered its fate too late.
There is also a situation where any projects on Colonial will also affect Monterey because Colonial is a one way street so that a lot of Colonial construction traffic will use Monterey.
So it seems that notification should be tailored to the characteristics of the location and after completed by the contractor,etc., perhaps they should execute a form affidavit stating the names and addresses of neighbors notified along with the form of notification, which affidavit will be considered, retained and filed by staff for future reference.
The Council or ARCOM might even request staff to make their own attempts to notify owners of adjacent property who didn't receive notice of a
permit extension, etc.
I am writing to offer comments and suggestions regarding the Permit Time Extensions (PTE) in the Town. My comments are based on personal experience as well as a review of current practice by the Planning, Zoning, & Building Department.
Let’s start by framing the PTE issue:
The front end of the Town’s building permit process here is robust (ARCOM, Town Council, etc.), well-documented, and checked at multiple levels.
By contrast, at the back end, the existing PTE process is poorly documented, casually vetted, haphazardly noticed, and poorly supervised.
Residential construction in the Town is, by definition, a noisy, disruptive, intrusive disturbance to residents and neighborhoods. That’s why we have zoning & building codes, code-enforcement, etc. That’s why construction time limits were created - to protect the rights of town residents to the “quiet enjoyment” of their homes.
Who will tell Mr. Bergman?
Under the current “loop-holed” PTE process, construction time limits have no meaning, particularly for residential construction in the North End.
Reading Mr. Berman’s memo of 8/23/2023 confirms this. His memo elides a host of issues:
There is no effective penalty for failure to meet construction permit schedules. Many delays are self-inflicted by owners & contractors themselves, e.g. design changes, 3-strikes violations, etc. And can we finally declare a statute-of-limitations on using “Covid” as an all-purpose excuse, when in fact, poor management supervision and construction planning are to blame?
My personal favorite in Mr. Bergman’s memo:
“…The notification to neighbors is not a Town Code requirement for expired permits, but a policy matter that staff and the Town Council do their best to enforce. ….”
The current PTE process contains no effective penalties to prod owners & builders to complete their work on time. Stated fines are trivial “traffic tickets” given today’s project costs. Developers, architects, and construction companies know this and exploit the loopholes. So residents pay the price when construction drags on and on, in a PTE system that is badly out of balance.
What is to be done?
Here are three suggestions:
1. Create a monthly heat map, or dashboard, delivered to the Town Council and publicly available, that lists every construction permit in the Town that is within 30 days of expiration, with a status comment. The list should indicate what, if any, extensions have previously been granted.
2. Contractors should be required to notify neighbors of any PTE request via certified mail/return receipt at least 30 days prior to their permit expiration. This notification should explain how neighbors can comment or object to the PTE. Proof of this notification should be included before any consideration of that PTE by the Town Council.
3. Fines and stop work orders should be increased to serve as more effective incentives to encourage owners and contractors to carefully plan, stage, and supervise their projects for timely completion.
By contrast, Mr. Bergman, in his memo, advocates for even longer construction times including PTEs for “de minimus” exceptions.
What, exactly, is Mr. Bergman offering to long-suffering Town residents, in exchange for even more disruption to their neighborhoods?
Received via email on 9.10.23 from Leigh and Pamela Dunston of 282 Monterey Road:
1. Notification of Neighbors
Comment: This is especially important to residents of Monterey Road, the epicenter of the Demolition Derby and the long suffering North End residents.
Depending on contractors to provide notice to residents, who probably don't support endless construction noise, dust and gridlock, isn't a reasonable solution. We didn't even receive notice of planned demolition/construction projects next door to our home.
One suggestion is that staff be responsible for verifying that notice has been provided rather than rely on those whose interest may not be served by providing notice.
In addition, perhaps neighbors could advise staff, in advance of a permit expiring, that they strongly disapprove of it being extended and citing reasons because they may actually know facts, unknown to staff, regarding the project.
We have already notified staff that we object to any extension of the project on the property bordering our back yard that expires in October. This project has proceeded in a slow motion, haphazard fashion and sometimes it seems like the screeching stone cutting operation has been coordinated with online teaching activities at our home.
3. Duration of Permits
Comment: Since building permits have already been issued for three of sides of our home and another is being sought for the fourth side, we have a particular interest in turning off the noise, dust and traffic congestion on our narrow street ASAP. Please note that 2 of the 3 ongoing permitted projects involve total demolition and aren't just renovation or addition projects and that the fourth project, now under consideration by ARCOM, is another total demo/construction event.
The noise from the 2 total demos, located across the street and next door, along with the stone cutting on the property bordering our back yard was horrendous and wasn't really helped much by closing all the doors and windows and keeping the AC on. In fact, if we had been renting our home, I would have called the rental agent to advise them that we were cancelling the lease because we were constructively evicted from the premises and would be considering legal action.
We have already advised staff regarding the affect of the exodus of undocumented construction workers from Florida as a result of legislation that became effective in July, hoping that the unrelenting assault on our neighborhood would slow down and the plight of North End residents might improve if learning of this additional situation that would be used as an excuse to delay completion was taken into account. No such luck, now we are advised that projects being approved and already approved should look forward to being allowed more time to disrupt the peaceful enjoyment of our homes. Do you realize that there is already one major construction project on Monterey Road that has been going on for about four years.
It is obvious that in recent years billions of dollars in real estate transactions have created unprecedented demolition and construction in Palm Beach, especially in certain neighborhoods. This makes it necessary to have in place sufficient, well qualified staff to handle the deluge of development and enforce code provisions since the current situation can be compared to historic California Gold Rush in that both seem to have the appearance of being out of control.
We have been advised by staff that they have no idea of how many or where building permits have been issued in Palm Beach and probably won't have this information for more than a year. If The Town is unable to have adequate knowledge or maintain reasonable control over construction, then it appears that the only remedy is a moratorium.
Regarding expansion of notification, Monterey Road residents have been advocating for expanded notice of demolition and construction projects along with building permit extensions because our entire narrow street is affected by any building project and we already have so many that our lives are being disrupted on a daily basis. For example, some unnoticed residents would have liked being able to object to the scheme that finally resulted in the demolition of the beautiful Fatio designed Monterey Colonial home and were unable to act, having discovered its fate too late.
There is also a situation where any projects on Colonial will also affect Monterey because Colonial is a one way street so that a lot of Colonial construction traffic will use Monterey.
So it seems that notification should be tailored to the characteristics of the location and after completed by the contractor,etc., perhaps they should execute a form affidavit stating the names and addresses of neighbors notified along with the form of notification, which affidavit will be considered, retained and filed by staff for future reference.
The Council or ARCOM might even request staff to make their own attempts to notify owners of adjacent property who didn't receive notice of a
permit extension, etc.
September 10, 2023
To: Town Council, Town of Palm Beach
Re: Permit Time Extensions
I am writing to offer comments and suggestions regarding the Permit Time Extensions (PTE) in the Town. My comments are based on personal experience as well as a review of current practice by the Planning, Zoning, & Building Department.
Let’s start by framing the PTE issue:
The front end of the Town’s building permit process here is robust (ARCOM, Town Council, etc.), well-documented, and checked at multiple levels.
By contrast, at the back end, the existing PTE process is poorly documented, casually vetted, haphazardly noticed, and poorly supervised.
Residential construction in the Town is, by definition, a noisy, disruptive, intrusive disturbance to residents and neighborhoods. That’s why we have zoning & building codes, code-enforcement, etc. That’s why construction time limits were created - to protect the rights of town residents to the “quiet enjoyment” of their homes.
Who will tell Mr. Bergman?
Under the current “loop-holed” PTE process, construction time limits have no meaning, particularly for residential construction in the North End.
Reading Mr. Berman’s memo of 8/23/2023 confirms this. His memo elides a host of issues:
There is no effective penalty for failure to meet construction permit schedules. Many delays are self-inflicted by owners & contractors themselves, e.g. design changes, 3-strikes violations, etc. And can we finally declare a statute-of-limitations on using “Covid” as an all-purpose excuse, when in fact, poor management supervision and construction planning are to blame?
My personal favorite in Mr. Bergman’s memo:
“…The notification to neighbors is not a Town Code requirement for expired permits, but a policy matter that staff and the Town Council do their best to enforce. ….”
The current PTE process contains no effective penalties to prod owners & builders to complete their work on time. Stated fines are trivial “traffic tickets” given today’s project costs. Developers, architects, and construction companies know this and exploit the loopholes. So residents pay the price when construction drags on and on, in a PTE system that is badly out of balance.
What is to be done?
Here are three suggestions:
1. Create a monthly heat map, or dashboard, delivered to the Town Council and publicly available, that lists every construction permit in the Town that is within 30 days of expiration, with a status comment. The list should indicate what, if any, extensions have previously been granted.
2. Contractors should be required to notify neighbors of any PTE request via certified mail/return receipt at least 30 days prior to their permit expiration. This notification should explain how neighbors can comment or object to the PTE. Proof of this notification should be included before any consideration of that PTE by the Town Council.
3. Fines and stop work orders should be increased to serve as more effective incentives to encourage owners and contractors to carefully plan, stage, and supervise their projects for timely completion.
By contrast, Mr. Bergman, in his memo, advocates for even longer construction times including PTEs for “de minimus” exceptions.
What, exactly, is Mr. Bergman offering to long-suffering Town residents, in exchange for even more disruption to their neighborhoods?
Respectfully,
David A. Kelso
255 Monterey Road