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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 10, 2010 - MinutesPLANNING & ZONING BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 10, 2010 A Regular Meeting of the Planning & Zoning Board was held on February 10, 2010, at the City of Cape Canaveral Public Library, 201 Polk Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Bea McNeely, Chairperson, called the meeting to Order at 7:00 p.m. The Secretary called the roll. MEMBERS PRESENT Bea McNeely Lamar Russell John Fredrickson Donald Dunn Harry Pearson John Johanson Ronald Friedman OTHERS PRESENT Barry Brown Susan Chapman Kate Latorre Robert Hoog Betty Walsh NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Vice Chairperson 1 st Alternate 2nd Alternate Planning & Development Director Secretary Assistant City Attorney Council Member Council Member 1. Approval of Meeting Minutes: January 13, 2010 and January 27, 2010. Motion by Harry Pearson, seconded by John Fredrickson, to approve the meeting minutes of January 13, 2010. Donald Dunn apologized to the Board for not reading the minutes prior to the last meeting when the Board should have voted on the minutes. Vote on the motion carried unanimously. Motion by Donald Dunn, seconded by Harry Pearson, to approve the meeting minutes of January 27, 2010. Discussion followed regarding a motion that was made and not seconded at the January 27th meeting regarding the approval of the January 13, 2010 minutes. Vote on the motion to approve the January 27, 2010 minutes carried unanimously. 2. Discussion and Recommendation Re: Consideration to Allow Day Care Facilities (Child and Adult) in the Residential Zoning Districts. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes February 10, 2010 Page 2 Barry Brown, Planning & Development Director, advised that the owners of Palms East Apartments desired to start a child day care facility in the apartment complex. He explained that they intended to primarily serve the working parents who are tenants in their complex; they envision accommodating 25 to 40 children and house the day care in vacant space adjacent to the rental office. The City code does not currently allow for day care in the R-2 zoning district. However, in the past and evidently before the current R-2 zoning was applied to the property, there were various commercial uses in the complex, including: a beauty shop, barber shop, doctor's office, library, restaurant, and a bar. He advised that the issue of allowing a day care in R-2 zoning was brought before the City Council at their February 2, 2010 meeting. The City Council passed a motion to direct staff and the P & Z Board to consider and make a recommendation on allowing day cares (child and adult), in the residential zoning districts. He reported that staff surveyed other local governments and prepared a summary of the zoning categories, in which they allow child and adult day care, whether day care is a principal use or special exception use, and if there are criteria to evaluate a day care use. He added that staff had little time to research the issue, but wanted to put the ball in play and start the discussion. Mr. Brown asked the Board members to do some research of their own. He offered that the codes of most cities in the State could be viewed on www.municode.com. He voiced his opinion that it would make perfect sense to have uses such as day care closest to where people live in order to meet their needs. And he supported the request for a day care at Palms East, as a special exception and not a principal use. He asked the Board to consider if this type of use would be appropriate in all of R-2. He advised that they would not want to have a day care facility in an area that was primarily single family residential. Ron Friedman advised that he has a lot of experience with day care centers both professionally and family. He commented that day cares are a very good idea in today's economy, not only with a husband and wife who both work, but also there are a lot of single parents. He voiced his concern that if a day care was to be approved for a single family or duplex, the biggest concern would be parking. He explained that typically a day care center runs from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and if they are caring for ten children, there could be ten vehicles stopping to drop them off and pick them up. Therefore, one of the criteria for a single family or duplex would be adequate parking, including standing and holding areas. A duplex should have to get written approval from the next door neighbor that they would approve having a day care center on the other side of the common wall. There should also be time constraints for what days of the week and times during the day they are open. In apartment complexes, parking should not be a problem, because people live there and they already have parking spaces. To avoid parking problems for multiple dwellings, you could limit it to users that live within the complex or within so many feet (reasonable walking distance) from that complex so they don't create a parking or traffic problem. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes February 10, 2010 Page 3 Ron Friedman continued. He advised that if the property is part of an HOA or condominium association obviously would have to approve of it and would probably have to amend their documents to allow such a use. Additionally, for adult day care, if the adults are physically handicap, other than the parking or standing area there is not much of a problem. When you start talking about adults that are mentally handicap it becomes a controversy in the neighborhood. If the city was to allow drug or alcohol rehab during the day, you would have serious controversy. If the City Council was to change the city code to allow it, he recommended that they exclude any facilities for mentally handicap or alcohol or drug rehab, because of the absolute controversy that would arise. The Board members verified that day cares were allowed in the C-1 and C-2 zoning districts, as a principal use. Barry Brown advised that day cares are not addressed in the Comprehensive Plan, and there were no additional criteria for the use. Jeff Wells, Representative for Palms East, explained that the day care would be located in a one story building that currently houses their offices, and a laundry on the west side of the building that is divided by a hallway, with the other side approximately 6,000 sq. ft. of unused space. There were previous other uses in the building, including a bar and restaurant. He advised that because the space has not been utilized for so long, they would donate the space or have a very reasonable lease for someone who would want to come in and do something that was mutually beneficial. Obviously, a day care would be the best use with regard to the people in the community in that area and for the residents residing at Palms East. Cape View Elementary School is also down the street. Mr. Wells explained that for a parent who works 8:00 to 5:00, the day care could fill in the gaps in the morning before school and after school. They were looking to provide low cost day care for people who are in the community. He noted that there are 400 apartments in the area of Palms East. He advised that they have put together some plans, and would be receiving donations from the community, including Wachovia Bank who would donate money to assist with the modifications. Mr. Wells addressed the concern about parking. He advised that the area has traditionally been used for business and is not used for parking for the residents. He advised that they were hoping to get a day care up and running by the end of the school year in May. Discussion followed regarding State licensing requirements of running a day care business. Lamar Russell suggested that the best locations for a day care in the residential zoning district could be confined to apartment complexes or complexes with large parking lots. Discussion followed regarding staff performing more research on what other city's have in their ordinances for regulating day care facilities. Mr. Brown advised that staff did not research whether or not other cities have specific criteria in determining whether or not a day care was appropriate in a certain location. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes February 10, 2010 Page 4 Discussion continued regarding parking concerns, where to allow a day care facility, noise and outside play areas. The Board agreed to limit consideration of day cares in the residential zoning districts to R-2 only, by special exception. The Board members reviewed Section 110-38, criteria for special exception. John Johanson advised that additional criteria should be considered, such as: time and days the day care operates; number of parking spaces; noise; sufficient lighting; prohibit turning a residential unit into a day care; allowing day care in an established community would be wrong; and mixed use overlay. He commented that Palms East was a unique complex and ideal situation where a mixed use would fit. Harry Pearson made a motion to add day care facilities as a 6th item to Section 110- 294, Special Exception Permissible by Board of Adjustment. Motion failed for lack of a second. Discussion followed regarding: considering only allowing a day care facility in a separate building within a complex; definition of a family day care home; defining child care; addressing adult care as a separate consideration; considering day care in R-3; task staff with bringing other city's requirements to the Board to review and consider. The Board members reviewed special exception criteria in Section 110-39 to determine if it was sufficient for considering a day care in R-2. Motion by Harry Pearson, seconded by Donald Dunn that day care facility be added as a 6th item to the list of uses in R-2 allowed by Special Exception in Section 110-294, Special Exception Permissible by Board of Adjustment. Vote on the motion carried unanimously. Kate Latorre, Assistant City Attorney, advised that she was going to propose bringing back a draft ordinance adding day care to allowable special exceptions in R-2, and proposing additional criteria based on discussion and research for consideration at the next meeting. By consensus, the Board members agreed. 3. Election: Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. Bea McNeely nominated Lamar Russell for Chairperson. Donald Dunn seconded the nomination. Lamar Russell accepted the nomination. There being no other nominations, nominations were closed. By voice vote, Lamar Russell was elected Chairperson. Lamar Russell nominated Bea McNeely for Vice Chairperson. Donald Dunn seconded the nomination. Bea McNeely accepted the nomination. There being no other nominations, nominations were closed. By voice vote, Bea McNeely was elected Vice Chairperson. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes February 10, 2010 Page 5 OPEN DISCUSSION: David Schirtzinger, citizen, asked if a day care at Palms East could be considered an amenity at Palms East for the residents, since they already have their own laundry mat and swimming pool. Barry Brown, Planning Director, advised that at a certain point, that was a judgment call on staff's part, as to whether that is a traditional amenity of an apartment complex. He did not know what staff's answer would be. Kate Latorre advised that it was a use issue. There would have to be an interpretation of the code whether or not that use was a residential amenity to the apartment complex. She added that just given the fact that the use is regulated by the State it probably was not a residential amenity, it was really more of a commercial enterprise. Barry Brown advised that City Council met with the Visioning Committee and went over the Economic Development Action Plan that was prepared by A.G. Consulting, and it was his understanding that the report is in an electronic format and he would e-mail it to the Board members. He advised that preparing the plan was one of the recommendations of the Visioning Report. He noted the Economic Development Action Plan may be a vehicle by which the City is able to implement many of the recommendations of the visioning. He will also forward the members a copy of the latest Community Development Department's Activity Report. Barry Brown advised that the City was still waiting to receive the revised plat for the Young property from the applicant. Motion by Lamar Russell, seconded by Bea McNeely, to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Chairperson ALL Susan L. Chapman, Secretary