P&Z ... What's Up With No Meeting Again ?
Yesterday, the Fort Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board again defaulted on their duties to meet and send recommendations to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. This time, it was with encouragement from a City Commission member herself, Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom.
It's a giant, ugly battle being waged over the First Presbyterian Church's plan to seriously enlarge their footprint on Las Olas Boulevard .... The new plan calls for a five story parking garage, with retail frontage, and a two story family center. Local opposition to the planned project is fierce.
The P&Z meetings on the item have been deferred over and over since earlier in the year. First, four of the members announced conflicts with the Church project and recused themselves!
So, first there were nine, now there were only five! It takes all the remaining five to convene, to constitute a quorum, and with any defections of the five, the item stays in limbo.
Enter member number five - Mike Moskowitz ...
When it finally looked like the months of stalling the item were over, and the final five were scheduled to meet and decide on the issue during a "special meeting" called for this past Thursday, Moskowitz announced he was unavailable after all, and the fragile quorum was lost once again.
I called Moskowitz this morning and asked "what's up with that !".
...... Moskowitz told me he had a discussion with his appointer, Commissioner Rodstrom, and she was not at all happy with the reduced size of the Planning and Zoning Board making the decision on the Church property application.
....... So Moskowitz didn't attend. Quorum lost again.
...... Even though the P&Z Board couldn't hold the meeting, they did send a communication to the City Commission asking them to appoint enough members to the Board so they could fulfill their duties.
......... I'll keep you informed..... Tim
It's a giant, ugly battle being waged over the First Presbyterian Church's plan to seriously enlarge their footprint on Las Olas Boulevard .... The new plan calls for a five story parking garage, with retail frontage, and a two story family center. Local opposition to the planned project is fierce. The P&Z meetings on the item have been deferred over and over since earlier in the year. First, four of the members announced conflicts with the Church project and recused themselves!
So, first there were nine, now there were only five! It takes all the remaining five to convene, to constitute a quorum, and with any defections of the five, the item stays in limbo.
Enter member number five - Mike Moskowitz ...
When it finally looked like the months of stalling the item were over, and the final five were scheduled to meet and decide on the issue during a "special meeting" called for this past Thursday, Moskowitz announced he was unavailable after all, and the fragile quorum was lost once again.
I called Moskowitz this morning and asked "what's up with that !".
...... Moskowitz told me he had a discussion with his appointer, Commissioner Rodstrom, and she was not at all happy with the reduced size of the Planning and Zoning Board making the decision on the Church property application........ So Moskowitz didn't attend. Quorum lost again.
...... Even though the P&Z Board couldn't hold the meeting, they did send a communication to the City Commission asking them to appoint enough members to the Board so they could fulfill their duties.
......... I'll keep you informed..... Tim
Tim, You are too kind to Mr. Moskowitz.
The neighborhood is buzzing over the fact that Charlotte Rodstrom TOLD her appointee to not attend the meeting because she did not want P&Z to have a quorum. She was originally for the project and now against it and Moskowitz was leaning in favor of the project. Question: Is a sitting Commissioner allowed to interfere on this level and prevent the Planning and Zoning Board from meeting?
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FULL DISCLOSURE - As Secretary of my Condo board I used exactly the same ploy when the President and Treasurer were running amok -
All I recall is that there use to be a one or two story retirement home in the same location which they now use to sell Xmas trees The scale of the development would appear to be out of whack out with the strip and corner park.
Now there's a memorial tree in that corner park that Stan Smoker pulled up from the house near the canal so his son could build on the opposite corner. Delivered a fine building on schedule did young Smoker. All developers take note. Best turnaround ever - all the ducks in a row.
Bumped into old man Smoker near the tree and complimented him on this tribute to his wife. He proceeded to tell me his life story which really is part of the history of Fort Lauderdale. Maybe another blog another day.
What happens to the tree memorial to Stan Smoker's wife?
Now as to Charlotte Rodstrom who I respect and like. All we got from Tim's blog thus far is hearsay unless he is "failing to communicate". And I know Mike Moskovitch a little bit enough to believe he could have come up with the gambit all on his own. (The P&Z Board did something similar with Bahia Mar where the board was equally split when members didn't show and they were incorrectly advised by the assistant City Attorney they had to vote up or down.) I mean I dreamt up the same tactic on the condo board, so why wouldn't Moskowitz? Maybe the odds have been stacked so much against the Collee Hammock folk, that desperate measures like this were called for to win some time.
You can see Tim Smith infers that he was "instructed" as there's a white space between her displeasure and his Mike Moskovitch's withdrawal on the blog but he did not probe deeply enough to get a direct admission. As far as I know once on a board the sponsor can't pull you off - just wait until the next round of appointments - so unless Moskowitz wants to make a career on P & Z I don't see how much pressure Charlotte Rodstrom can exert against a board member.
It's easy to jump to conclusions. But why would Charlotte jeopardize her position to buy just four weeks delay? She's canny enough to use "plausible deniability" and like the Queen in a Shakespearian drama say to Moskowitz something like "don't you have something else to do that night?" or is that too Washington D.C. for Fort Lauderdale? Show us the paper trail Mr. Smith. Find your "Deep Throat". Send in Jack Bauer.
Go to myfortlauderdale.blogspot.com to enter
TIM SMITH'S CRAZED NAKED GUY CAPTION CONTEST
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CJ Becks question:
What happens to the tree memorial to Stan Smoker's wife?
If you look at the proposed plan, the tree is intact, many more trees are added along Tarpon street,(live oaks) and a large green area on the corner is maintained.
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