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Golden Isles board asks Stantec to revise entrance plan after feasibility and access concerns
Summary
At a Dec. 17 special meeting the Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood District board and residents agreed not to support Concept 3 from Stantec's visioning work, citing likely loss of condominium parking, impacts to private front yards and emergency vehicle access; the board directed Stantec to return with revised, less-impactful options and cost estimates (including undergrounding).
The Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood District Board of Directors on Dec. 17 discussed Stantec's master-plan concepts for the neighborhood's main entrance and reached consensus not to support the most invasive option.
At the special meeting, the mayor said Stantec presented three concepts and that implementing the third option would likely require taking condominium parking spaces and some residential property, and raised concerns about emergency-vehicle egress. "I will never support number 3," the mayor said, adding the board should not approve a plan that "adversely impact[s] anybody's parking or anybody's access."
Marius Solison, president of the Golden Isles homeowners association, told the board residents were asked for opinions at two hearings and completed a subsequent survey; those survey results made Concept 3 appear responsive to resident preferences, but later field work revealed obstacles such as power poles in the city right-of-way and parking that encroaches on the right-of-way. "The residents didn't pick a concept, they just voted on some surveys and provided answers to those surveys," Solison said, describing the survey as a wish list rather than a formal adoption.
Bridal Weitz, chair of the Golden Isles Safe Neighborhood Advisory Board, said Stantec's earlier review found that the Fire Department would need more space than anticipated, which made Concept 3 infeasible as presented. Weitz and other advisory-board members recommended returning to Stantec for revised options that would avoid takings, keep condominium parking intact and still achieve many resident preferences. "We don't want to take anyone's property," Weitz said, and called undergrounding power lines a likely byproduct that could free space for landscaping.
Richard Levinson, an advisory-board member, urged the firm to deliver positive alternatives. "We need to bring them in and tell them that they need to do what they were hired to do, and that is to be positive, bring us some positive solutions," Levinson said.
Directors and advisory-board members repeatedly emphasized emergency access, parking impacts, and the desirability of undergrounding power lines. One estimate cited during public comment placed the cost of undergrounding at about $8,000,000. The clerk later confirmed staff is assembling a scheduled calendar of meetings and other process improvements to ensure clearer communication with residents as the project advances.
No formal motion or vote was recorded; board members said they reached consensus not to support Concept 3 and asked staff and Stantec to return with revised concepts that avoid taking parking or residential property. The board also asked staff to present firm cost estimates for undergrounding and other revisions at a future public meeting.
Next steps: Stantec will prepare and present revised concepts and cost estimates to the advisory board and the Golden Isles board; staff will continue coordination on hearings and public notices before any final action.
