Fort Lauderdale City Commission Meeting Summary - Oct 23, 2025
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Fort Lauderdale City Commission Meeting - October 23, 2025
The Fort Lauderdale City Commission convened on October 23, 2025, to address communications from the Board of Adjustment, audit results regarding the Aquatic Center renovation, regional safety initiatives, and strategic planning for City Hall and the beach park. The meeting also included public comments supporting the City Attorney selection, a proposal to increase business taxes, and an overview of recovery services for the homeless community.
Consent Calendar
- Board of Adjustment Communication: The Board requested that administrative variances be interpreted to exclude new construction from the ability to appeal directly to the City Commission, aiming to prevent an influx of appeals that could displace other agenda items. Staff clarified that current ordinance revisions already restrict this process to existing single-family dwellings, maintaining the intent to allow homeowners to bypass the expensive circuit court process while filtering out new builds.
- Aquatic Center Cost Recovery: Approved the final settlement agreement with the design builder, Hensel Phelps, securing a cost recovery of $148,486 following a close-out audit. This amount included $91,093 in a direct check and the forfeiture of remaining contract funds, resulting from a comprehensive cost verification process.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Angel Rosenberg Support: Commissioner Melissa Dunn (City of Lauder Hill) and former City Attorney Earl Hall strongly expressed support for the re-hiring of Angel Rosenberg as City Attorney, citing her 30 years of experience, responsiveness, and sound legal advice during her tenure with Lauder Hill.
- Sherry McCartney Support: Citizen and activist Mark Dickerman expressed support for Sherry McCartney, highlighting her impressive background and previous work experience as a suitable asset for the city.
- Aquatic Center Utilization: The Mayor expressed concern that the new Aquatic Center facilities, including the dive tower, are being underutilized and are hemorrhaging money due to a lack of events and low attendance. The Mayor directed staff to investigate event history, revenue, and marketing strategies to improve utilization.
Discussion Items
- Broward Regional Safety Action Plan (BSAP): The Broward MPO presented a plan to reduce fatal and serious injuries on roadways to zero by 2050. The Commission discussed three priority corridors within the city: Sistrunk Boulevard, Broward Boulevard, and Northwest 31st Avenue. Commissioners raised questions regarding the feasibility of changing signal timing, the adequacy of street lighting (specifically the dim nature of lights on Sistrunk), and compliance with the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) regarding crosswalk colors. A request was made for a resolution of support to move these projects into the funding cycle for design and construction, with a goal to accelerate construction via federal grants.
- City Attorney Selection: The Commission engaged in a discussion regarding the three finalists for City Attorney (Paul Bengal, Sherry McCartney, and Angel Rosenberg). The Mayor expressed a personal preference to support Sherry McCartney due to her style, knowledge, and experience, though the final selection and nomination resolution would occur during the evening conference meeting. Commissioners confirmed that the Vice Mayor would be able to participate and potentially alter the outcome during the evening session.
- Business Tax Recommendation: Staff presented four options for a business tax increase, noting the fee has remained flat since 2004. The Mayor questioned the necessity of the tax, while Commissioners inquired about the specific benefits and revenue usage. Staff recommended Option Three, a 5% increase every other year, which would generate nearly $800,000 in additional annual revenue over a nine-year period. The Mayor noted the increase is minimal for individual businesses (only a few dollars) but significant for the general fund. The Commission expressed general support for the staff's recommendation.
- Fellowship Recovery Community Organization: The group presented their peer-support recovery services, housing, and respite care for the homeless. They reported serving 150 individuals since March, with 19 currently in housing. The Mayor and Commissioners commended the team's passion and lived-experience approach. The Commission requested a more frequent tracker of progress on homelessness initiatives and discussed potential community support, including a request for turkey donations for their Thanksgiving dinner service.
- Fort Lauderdale Beach Park: Staff presented Alternative 1A for adding new basketball and pickleball courts near the Bahia Mar Community Management District. Commissioners discussed the layout, with one expressing concern about the East-West orientation of a pickleball court due to sun glare, and another advocating for four pickleball courts instead of three to meet future demand. Staff agreed to further evaluate the possibility of expanding footprints while respecting the Coastal Construction Control Line and interlocal agreements.
- City Hall Project Update: Staff outlined the criteria and timeline for selecting a development team for the new City Hall project, including a public presentation in December. The Mayor raised concerns about the safety implications of ground-floor retail and requested specific inclusion of P3 experience in Broward County, bonding capacity, and safety track records (EMR stats) in the evaluation criteria. Staff agreed to solicit additional information from the proposers regarding these specific criteria.
- Sewer Laterals: The Commissioner expressed concern over residents believing the city is not responsible for sewer laterals on public right-of-way. Utility staff clarified that the city is indeed responsible for the lateral from the main line to the property line, while the homeowner is responsible from the property line to the house. The Commission directed staff to clarify code language to eliminate this confusion.
- Drone vs. Fireworks: The Mayor and Commissioners discussed the possibility of replacing traditional fireworks with drone shows for the Fourth of July and New Year's celebrations to reduce environmental and pet impact. Staff confirmed that the estimated cost for a drone show (approx. $80,000 for 400 drones) is lower than the current fireworks program (approx. $140,000) and agreed to provide a cost-benefit analysis.
Key Outcomes
- Direction on Safety Plan: Commission requested a resolution of support to be voted on in the evening session to include Sistrunk Boulevard, Broward Boulevard, and NW 31st Avenue in the MPO funding cycle.
- Business Tax Increase: The Commission reached a consensus to move forward with staff's recommended Option Three (5% increase) for the local business tax.
- City Hall Criteria: Commission directed staff to explicitly include requirements for Broward County P3 experience, bonding capacity, and safety track records (specifically EMR < 1) in the evaluation process for the City Hall developers.
- Beach Park Layout: Commission provided feedback on Alternative 1A, requesting further design analysis to ensure adequate separation between basketball courts and exploring the feasibility of adding a fourth pickleball court, while respecting the Coastal Construction Control Line and the Interlocal Agreement deadline of January 2027.
- Sewer Lateral Clarification: Commission directed staff to draft clarifying code language to explicitly state city responsibility for sewer laterals from the main line to the property line.
- Drone Show Analysis: Commission directed staff to compare costs for drone shows versus fireworks for upcoming holidays (Fourth of July and New Year's).
- Closed Session Requests: Approved a closed session for October 23rd to discuss a settlement offer in the Fire Station 51 litigation matter and requested a closed session for November 4th to discuss settlement talks with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
Meeting Transcript
Everybody and welcome to the uh Fort Lauderdale City Commission conference meeting. Uh thank you all for being here today. Uh we have some very important things to discuss and to decide today. So uh um very happy that uh we have people here to participate in the process. So uh for those of you who are here for the first time, uh we begin our conference meeting by going through the agenda and tonight, excuse me, this afternoon, we have uh one communication from the uh from the um uh the Board of Adjustments. And um and let's see, it starts out with a motion made by Ms. Pat Rathburn, seconded by Mr. Hagopian to communicate the following to the City Commission. The board desires that the following be addressed, that the administrative variance does not apply to any new construction. City Commission may want to reconsider hearing appeals because of what the board anticipated would be their sheer volume. Um that suggests that people would disagree with what the Board of Adjustment has to say and they would want to come to the City Commission. And that's are they saying that that would happen on a regular basis? Well, remember we we let we let them bypass the court process, right? And we said we would take those appeals. We would take that, right? Yes. Umardo. I see waltzing up to the podium. Just wanted to make sure I was here to answer any questions you might have regarding that. We um have talked about it internally. Uh sorry, Anthony Fajardo, director of development services. Uh we've talked about that internally. If you want us to make a change to the ordinance, we could, but we think an interpretation will cover it. Um we're basically looking at anything that's brand new would have to go through the typical process. Anything that's subject to an existing structure and some kind of change to modify it, would go through the administrative process. So we're not looking to make this change. So I think that we want the the Board of Adjustment is asking that new construction not be able to appeal to the City Commission if there's an adverse ruling at the at the board's uh meeting. Is there any appetite on the commission to change that? Mayor, if I'm not sure that's correct. Yeah, Mayor, if that if I may. So on second reading tonight, we have the change to our ordinance that has the administrative appeal process um not administrative review process for variances. And it also has a change for the appeal process that allows a uh an order of the uh a order from the board to be appealed directly to the city commission. And that's what they're alerting you to as their concern. Right now, those appeals are taken to circuit court, right? So this is to allow a homeowner to not have to go through the expense of going to court. They could instead come here to the city commission. Correct. I believe that was the philosophy. That that was the philosophy. And the board of adjustment, just based on the uh the time that they take on reviewing these items, just as wanted to point out to the uh commission that it may uh take up a lot of your agenda space if you were to hear these appeals on a regular basis. Well, I think we anticipated anything like that. I think it's important that you know anything we could do to save a property owner the expense of going to court, because uh it could be expensive. And um I mean I would just be in favor of keeping it. Okay, so we have the administration we have the we have the um recommendation by the board of adjustment, and if there's any further discussion on that, we can take it up tonight when we when we discuss the item for vote, correct? Okay. One clarification of do we ain't the new construction part is handled okay though, right? It that is what Anthony was talking about with regards to the intent. Correct. We um we revise the language, and that's I believe uh would be page four. Page seven of the um draft ordinance.
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