Council says new study will answer questions


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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013

PAGE 6

Council says new study will answer questions; developer has concerns By: KELLY JOSEPHSEN

[email protected]

The Village Council says a new traffic study for a Walgreens at the Village entry block will look at local traffic numbers, the configuration of the site itself and the worstcase scenario – thereby giving it the information it needs to vote on the project next February. However, a traffic engineer working for the Walgreens development team worries the Village’s study will actually be less accurate than the information the Council rejected earlier this month. “We’re moving forward,” said Village Manager John Gilbert, noting the Village’s traffic engineer, Atkins North America, will begin a study based on local counts soon. “I’m committed to having the report to provide to the community prior to the first meeting in February.” Site plan review is set for Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. However, Joaquin Vargas, the developer’s traffic expert, said he’s worried there are there are too few good comparable properties on the Key to make for a valid study. “I’m not sure we have the conditions to do a quality local study that will provide more accurate data,” he said. “It may not be an appropriate approach given the conditions.” Vargas hopes to work in unison with Atkins to make sure the information provided to Council members is as accurate as possible. Village officials have said they will consider such a request. The Council deferred site plan review December 3, much to the Walgreens development team’s anger, based on concerns that the traffic study the Village had obtained for the project did not provide enough real-life information about how it will impact congestion at the entrance to the Village and how its ingress and egress system will work.

CVS comparison planned

Village Attorney Steve Helfman said the new study – which he expects will be done by Atkins even though the Council called its first attempt a “botched project” – will record and analyze real conditions on the Key. He Atkins will be told to look at a similar local store, most likely CVS, and to extrapolate from there the traffic a Walgreens might generate. He said Atkins will literally take video of the CVS parking lot and count the number of cars that go in and out each hour, generating “very accurate data for the similar use in your community.” From there, Atkins needs to perform a complex analysis, and Council members agreed. Helfman said it’s important to understand how the level of traffic created by CVS, located at the south end of Crandon, would impact the entry block, which he said is a much more complicated location – it’s at the intersection of Key Biscayne’s two busiest streets, Harbor Drive and Crandon Boulevard. Council member Michael Kelly agreed the sitespecific analysis is vital, as the CVS intersection is “reasonably well controlled” while the entry block can be “a mess.” Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Michael Davey noted a store at the entrance to town is different than one at CVS’s location toward the other end of Crandon. “If you’re coming home and you need something, you’re stopping at that Walgreens,” he said, where currently traffic is likely divided between CVS, 7-Eleven, Key Pharmacy, Winn-Dixie, etc. Mayor Frank Caplan agreed traffic already backs up coming into the Village during the evening rush hour, and the consultant needs to consider Walgreens’ impact on that situation. Finally, Council member Jim Taintor said special consideration should be given to the fact that people who live in condos on the east side of Crandon will probably drive to

Walgreens by going north on Crandon and turning around at the Calusa Park circle to come back south to the store. He noted there are already backups around the circle. Helfman said Atkins will be advised to consider that Walgreens will be the Key’s second chain drug store – as Council member Ed London pointed out, “You’re not creating more traffic, just redistributing” – but also on the uniqueness of the entry block and various means of access.

Would local study be flawed?

Vargas expressed concerns about the Council’s plans to use CVS as its only comparison. “We have to follow guidelines published in a document that talks about how to do these localized traffic studies, and they’re very clear that you need to select a minimum of three sites,” he said. “You can’t focus on one brand. You have to take a couple of each and average them.” That creates a problem in Key Biscayne, he said: “The island doesn’t have three sites. They have two, and those aren’t ideal.” He noted the Walgreens would be a standalone store with its own parking lot, so people who go there would only be going to the pharmacy/convenience store or an adjoining liquor store. However, Key Biscayne’s other two pharmacies – CVS and Key Pharmacy – are both part of shopping plazas where multiple businesses share the same parking lot. “How do you separate who is going where, or who is going to two or three different places? How do you account for that?” Vargas asked. “Those are challenges where I have concerns that we don’t have a good database for comparison on the island.” Vargas said the situation causes him to suspect using standard traffic engineering calculations from the Institute of Traffic Engineers – the very process the Council rejected earlier this month – is in fact the best option. According to Vargas, accepting the standard numbers is still taking a conservative approach: in an island setting like the Key, trips to a convenience store/pharmacy are typically much lower than an identical store on the mainland, because the only customers are people who live in town or are already there for another reason. However, the ITE’s standards were established based on traffic in urban metro areas where people are coming to stores from all over the area. It’s a phenomenon he’s seen play out again and again as he’s done work for cities in the Florida Keys and for the City of Miami Beach. “You get a lot less passerby traffic,” he noted, adding he expects the localized traffic counts in Key Biscayne will bear that out. Due to Vargas’ concerns, David Puyanic, President of Commodore Realty, an entry block owner, said he plans to request that Vargas participate in the Village’s traffic study. “We’re going to ask them,” he said. “I guarantee they’re not going to allow it, but we’re going to ask anyway.” Building, Zoning and Planning Director Jud Kurlancheek said he’ll review the request: “We are always open to suggestions from David Puyanic,” Kurlancheek said, adding, “and they have never been bashful about sending me emails.”

Worst-case scenario

Meanwhile, Council members say it’s also essential for them to know precisely what they could be getting the community into at the entry block, and that’s why a worst-case analysis is needed. That includes the implications of another 8,000-square-foot building that could go up on the lot. Helfman explained the Council is approving a site plan, not a use, meaning the building could be occupied with any tenant allowed by the Village’s commercial zoning rules. If Walgreens were to back out of its lease or go out of business, he said, the own-

ers could fill the building with any tenant accepted by the code without running it by the Council. He said the process for the “worst-case” study is simple: Atkins can use standard national figures for the use that generates the most trips and apply the data to the Village. “They can pick the most intense use, project the trips and you’ll have the worst case,” he said. Davey added that analysis should also include the second standalone building allowed on the site. Though Helfman noted that would be difficult since the developers haven’t proposed a plan for the structure yet, Davey noted its ultimate use still factors into maximum traffic to the site. Puyanic argued the Council’s plan to consider a “worst-case scenario” is unheard of – a standard no prior development on Key Biscayne has never been held to. “To look at the highest use has never been done before,” he said, adding Walgreens is a common use found all over the country, so it’s not as if the developer is proposing something unusual.

Site configuration

The new study will also take a careful look at ingress and egress at the site. Village officials and Council members have called the situation very complicated – Kurlancheek noted there are five ways in and out of the property, and the Council is especially concerned about cross-access through the Harbor Plaza shopping center. Puyanic, however, said the cross access has existed for a long time and actually takes cars off of Crandon by funneling them

through Harbor Plaza; and Vargas said his study found all access points to the project would operate “at a very good level of service” and cause minimal delays.

Village sticking with Atkins

However, Council members are confident their new study will provide the answers they need, and the only big question December 3 was whether to stick with Atkins, as several were critical of the firm. “Did we pay these people yet?” London asked. “I don’t think they did the job.” “They did a poor study,” Kelly agreed. “Do we really want to go back to them, or should we find another firm? Why would we use someone who led us down wrong path?” Kelly suggested working with Village engineer Stantec instead, but London voiced a concern: “If I was [the developer] and you hire another engineer, it looks like you’re shopping for results.” Council members were quick to state there is no wrongdoing on the Village’s part – “This is not about being dissatisfied with the conclusion. This is about a botched project,” said Caplan; Kelly added, “We want the truth, and we want it done correctly” – but said they’ll stick with Atkins. Helfman thinks the firm can get the job done. He noted Atkins is a large, national firm that employs the type of expert traffic engineers the Village needs, and said he’ll talk to the consultant about doing the additional work at cost or for a minor additional fee. If that doesn’t work out, he’ll approach Stantec.