Planning board backs Pembroke Plaza redevelopment with drive‑through hours limit

The Hallandale Beach Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously May 12 to recommend approval of a major development application for Pembroke Plaza at 837 Pembroke Road, including variances to allow a reduced perimeter landscape buffer and narrower interior landscape islands. The board attached conditions addressing impact fees, mitigation for nearby residences and limitations on restaurant drive‑through hours.

Josiah Israel, associate planner for the city, told the board the proposed one‑story retail plaza totals 5,195 square feet with a drive‑through component of roughly 2,305 square feet and a resurfaced parking lot with 22 spaces and EV stalls. He said the applicant exceeded the city tree requirement, providing 24 trees where 18 were required, but asked for variances to reduce a required 5‑foot perimeter buffer to 2 feet and to allow 5‑foot interior landscape islands instead of the 7‑foot minimum.

Applicant Daniel Shamosh introduced the development team and said the site plan includes three tenant units and a drive‑through lane. A traffic consultant, Chris Hagen of Kimley‑Horn, explained Pembroke Road is an FDOT roadway and that the driveway access approved by FDOT is inbound‑only; exit movements are routed to Northwest 9th Avenue with design measures (angled curbing and signage) to encourage right turns.

Residents raised concerns during public comment. Cheryl Robinson, who gave her address as 1046 Foster Road, said she opposed the project and urged developers to prioritize local entrepreneurs and provide space for community businesses: “We’re just tired of the developers and people coming and getting pieces of the pie and just building up things, and we don’t have anything as the residents and the natives,” she said. Talia Rodriguez urged the board to consider infrastructure and flooding in the Northwest Foster corridor and to use zoning to support community spaces and services for seniors and vulnerable residents.

Board members focused questions on traffic movements, the potential for cars to mix in the parking lot and drive‑through queue, tree removal and mitigation, dumpster capacity and accessibility ramps. Hagen said the drive‑through queue provides about 115 feet of stacking (roughly five to six vehicles) and that the driveway configuration and flared curb were intended to direct exiting vehicles to a right‑turn movement. Board members requested the city consider a physical barrier or other measures on Northwest 9th Avenue to discourage left turns out of the site; the applicant’s representative agreed to ask the commission to study that.

On the vote, the board approved the major development review and the requested variances and recommended approval of the conditional‑use permit for the drive‑through component with the applicant’s proffer that, if the use is a restaurant, the drive‑through be closed daily from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The applicant also proffered not to install a monument sign and to work with staff on ramp placement nearer the intersection to improve accessibility and wayfinding. The board recorded the actions as unanimous and forwarded the items to the City Commission for consideration.

The city will consider the board’s recommendation at the commission level; staff and the applicant will continue coordination on the conditions, including impact fee payment, mitigation measures and the proposed ramp refinements.