Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stacking Lane Variance Festival Redevelopment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board largely backs reduced driveway stacking lengths for 24‑acre Festival site despite mixed votes
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board granted a variance reducing required stacking lane depths for a large redevelopment of the former Festival flea market into multi‑building industrial use, following traffic analyses and coordination with FDOT and County staff.
The Planning & Zoning Board on July 17 approved a variance to reduce the city’s standard minimum stacking‑lane (driveway throat) depths on a 24‑acre redevelopment site at 2900 West Sample Road — the former Festival flea market — after staff and independent traffic consultants concluded the proposed four‑driveway layout would distribute traffic safely.
Applicant Foundry Commercial and zoning counsel Matthew Scott explained that the project proposes three warehouse buildings (approx. 115,000 sq ft; 61,000 sq ft; 299,000 sq ft) with dispersed parking and four access points (two on Sample Road under FDOT jurisdiction and two on NW 20th Avenue under Broward County jurisdiction). Scott said the site’s size and multiple access points make the code’s fixed stacking‑length standard, which ties throat length to total parking count, impractical. The applicant requested throat depths of roughly 50–70 feet at the site’s four driveways rather than the 100 feet the code requires for large parking fields.
City staff and the city’s traffic consultant reviewed the applicant’s traffic study and recommended limited changes; the city’s consultant recommended one internal east‑west drive aisle be restricted to right‑turn‑only movements at a particular intersection to reduce conflicts. FDOT gave preliminary approval for the Sample Road driveways and Broward County review was pending in writing; staff included a condition requiring written Broward County acceptance of proposed driveway lengths before building permits are issued.
Board members debated whether the request represented the minimum relief necessary and whether a code text amendment would be more appropriate for a site of this scale, but several members said the site’s unique size and plotted access points created an exceptional condition. The motion to grant the variance passed with four votes in favor and two opposed; the approval includes conditions recommended by staff and the city traffic consultant, including signage and a right‑turn restriction on the internal drive aisle as shown on the approved plan.
