Lack of a Quorum Delays Key Planning Commission Vote

By Jorge Casuso

A key vote to decide the fate of a major development on the Civic Center site was postponed Wednesday when the Planning Commission failed to have a quorum.

With the developer racing against a December 31 deadline, the commission was expected to vote on an appeal of the proposed four-story office building, which faces Ocean Avenue next to the RAND property the City Council voted to purchase Tuesday night.

The city has expressed interest in buying the prominently situated three-quarter acre site to round out the purchase of 11.3 acres of the RAND property it has offered to buy for $53 million.

The vote was postponed when only four commissioners showed up, and one of them - John Zinner - had to excuse himself due to a conflict of interest. Zinner who has worked as a consultant for the developer, Maguire Partners.

Had there been a fifth member present for a quorum, the appeal - which requires four votes to uphold -- would have failed, and the development would have moved forward.

"It was to their advantage to put this thing off," Zinner said, referring to opponents of the project. "It would have had to be a unanimous vote" to uphold the appeal.

"It's disappointing to be all ready to go and have no place to go, but another week can't hurt," said Ellen Brennan, a beachfront resident who filed the appeal. "It gives us one more week to consolidate our support."

Absent from the meeting were commission chair Ken Breisch, who was attending a conference in Atlanta, and commissioners Darrell Clarke and Kelly Olsen.

Clarke called a few hours before the meeting to say he couldn't make it. He was not at work on Thursday due to illness.

Olsen said he had a job interview and could not attend "due to personal and professional reasons." He added that he had already notified staff he couldn't make the meeting due to a scheduled trip, which he subsequently cancelled.

"I was supposed to be out of town yesterday, but I got a call from a television show on Fox Tuesday evening," said Olsen, who got the job, which helps track down "real life heroes." "I had interviews (Wednesday) and had to go back out to deal with that."

It is unclear if the appeal will have the support of four of the six commissioners expected to vote next Wednesday night. Breisch and Clarke have not expressed their positions, but Olsen is expected to oppose the project.

The 70,000-square-foot project, which has restaurants and retail space on the ground floor, was approved by the seven-member Architectural Review board by a 4 to 0 vote.

Brennan, who was not present at the ARB meeting, filed an appeal, claiming that the proposed office building failed to meet a requirement that all elevations be treated so they don't look like the back of the building.

"My goal is to get the building changed," Brennan said.

Opponents of the project see an appeal of the ARB decision as providing a golden opportunity to rethink the future of the site and integrate it into the Civic Center plan the council is expected to revisit after Tuesday night's offer to RAND.

If Maguire Partners fails to meet the deadline, the developer will forfeit the rights to develop the proposed office building. They would then have to seek approval for a new development agreement.

"I don't think this council would approve such a thing," said Councilman Ken Genser, the only council member who opposed the project, referring to the current proposal. "But if it did, it would need a new environmental review."

Given the RAND deal, any new proposal would likely have to wait until a new Civic Center plan is approved, which is expected to take extensive public debate.

"We're revising the Civic Center Plan, so I don't think we should give permits under the old plan," Genser said.

City officials have expressed interest in purchasing the site, and, according to a knowledgeable source, have approached Maguire Partners within the past three months.

"Maguire has no interest in selling," the source said. "The speculation is that Maguire will aggressively defend its development rights. They will go to the mat on this."

If Maguire Partners misses the deadline, the value of their property could decrease considerably without the development agreement.

"We're going to assist them as best we can to make that deadline," said Suzanne Frick, the city's planning director.