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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 14, 2010 - P & Z MinutesPLANNING & ZONING BOARD MEETING MINUTES APRIL 14, 2010 A Regular Meeting of the Planning & Zoning Board was held on April 14, 2010, at the City Canaveral Public Library, 201 Polk Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Lamar Russell, Chairperson, called the meeting to Order at 7:00 p.m. The Secretary called the roll. MEMBERS PRESENT Lamar Russell Bea McNeely John Fredrickson Harry Pearson Donald Dunn Ron Friedman MEMBERS ABSENT John Johanson OTHERS PRESENT Barry Brown Susan Chapman Kate Latorre Robert Hoog NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Vice Chairperson 2nd Alternate 1St Alternate Planning & Development Director Secretary Assistant City Attorney Council Member 1. Approval of Meeting Minutes: March 10, 2010. Motion by Harry Pearson, seconded by Bea McNeely, to approve the meeting minutes of March 10, 2010. Vote on the motion carried unanimously. 2. Discussion Re: Request to Amend Section 110-332 of the City Code to Allow Commercial Parking Facilities as a Permitted Use in the C-1 Zoning District — John Porter, Applicant. Barry Brown, Planning & Development Director, explained that Mr. Porter asked city staff if he could provide parking for a fee on the former Azteca property to support other uses such as: overflow restaurant parking, parking for beach goers, and parking for cruises. Staff researched the city code and determined that it does not expressly address commercial parking facilities either a principal or special exception use. Staff advised Mr. Porter that the city code would need to be amended to allow for a commercial parking facility and he therefore submitted the "Application for Amendment to Zoning Ordinances". Mr. Porter submitted information and codes from other cities to support his request. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2010 Page 2 Barry Brown advised that the cities of Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Malabar, Vero Beach, and New Smyrna Beach allow for commercial parking facilities as a permitted use in their commercial zoning districts. He reminded the Board members that they were considering a code amendment change that would not only apply to Mr. Porter's property, but all properties in the C-1 zoning district. He advised that some considerations may include: landscape and noise buffers; the use in C-1 and C-2 zoning districts; parking garages and/or ground level parking facilities; architectural design standards; imposing a time limit on parking; and how the use may benefit others in the city. John Porter, Applicant, advised that he researched the codes of "like communities regarding commercial parking facilities. Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach both allow commercial parking. He also pointed out that the property located across the street from the Azteca property is located in the County (aka "no man's land) and that it is being leased to a rental car business for parking. The rental car business is located in Cape Canaveral but leasing property in the County for parking, therefore, dollars are going across the street to the County rather than the city. In the past, Izzy's restaurant had approached him for permission to park on his property in order to satisfy a city code requirement for minimum parking to obtain a liquor license. There is a demand for overflow parking for car rental facilities. The Mayor advised him that the car rental facilities are currently parking their overflow at the beach ends. Additionally, hotels are currently using their lots for parking long-term (over two days) for people going on cruises. He explained that the city's Economic Development Plan talks about town centers; and being a walk -able and bike -able community. In order to walk and bike, visitors would need to park their vehicles somewhere. So in order for the city to carry out its "vision" and make the city's "dream come true", vehicles will need to be parked somewhere. He advised that the city can continue through the back door where businesses are currently parking vehicles or through the front door by bringing the issue to the Planning & Zoning Board and address the need, growing need, and demand; and mold it in a way that is more acceptable in our community. He gave an overview of the city's adopted Visioning Statement and highlighted that if the city wants a "walk -able downtown core", then parking will need to be provided. He voiced his opinion that the city should be discussing and taking action now. He reviewed other cities codes regarding commercial parking facilities. He commented that the City of Vero Beach did a wonderful job in safeguarding its natural environment of having a beautiful presentation on their main roads. He hoped and dreamed that someday the City of Cape Canaveral's Al corridor can look a lot more like Vero Beach. He further commented that Vero Beach obviously saw the need for parking lots and parking garages in there code; and he saw them as a leader in sustainable development. He did not know if they had both private and/or municipal parking areas. He had not recently visited Vero Beach to actually look at the parking, but was merely using their code as an example for the City of Cape Canaveral. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2010 Page 3 Chairperson Russell asked the Board members if they had any questions for Mr. Porter. John Porter advised that he did not have a background as a planning professional; he sells souvenir goods to major theme parks around the Country and operates a miniature golf course. He explained that it is only because of the economic situation that we find ourselves in now that they are considering parking as a use of the property. It would have not made sense to put in a parking facility a couple of years ago because of the land values. He advised that he already has a parking lot and pays over $100,000 a year in taxes. At this time, a parking facility seems to be a good use of the property. He did not believe that everyone along A1A would turn their property into a parking lot, because he did not believe that economics would drive it. Additionally, an existing business, by city code, needs to have a certain number of parking spaces available to the users of that business; therefore, they should not be allowed to "double -dip" with their parking spaces, i.e. allow or charge patrons to park in spaces required for the hotel while they are on cruises. John Porter answered various questions for the Board members. He advised that his property would accommodate 75 to 100 parking spaces; currently there were 70 spaces on asphalt; if they were able to demolish the building, more spaces would be created where the pad is for the building. This zoning change would be accompanied by existing code regarding landscaping, setbacks, and buffer; it was his understanding that if the code amendment were to pass and they were able to have the use in this location, then they would be subject to city code to guard against visual blight. He noted that his property was under Chapter 11 and being reorganized. He was dedicated to making the commercial parking facility work, if the Planning & Zoning Board and the City Council are in favor of changing the city code to allow the use. He gave a history of various contracts he previously had in place for lease of his property. He advised that the city currently had code enforcement action against the property for its dilapidated condition. He realized that the building was a stain on the city and wanted to get rid of it, but it may take up to six months for him to do anything due to the property being under Chapter 11. Joyce Hamilton, citizen, asked John Porter various questions. He answered that the 75 existing parking spaces at Fantasia Miniature Golf would remain separated from the existing 70 parking spaces surrounding the restaurant. If some or all of the restaurant building was demolished, there would be additional parking spaces where the building existed. Entering and exiting from the property would be directly from A1A or Holman Road. There were no plans to sell the golf course. Joyce Hamilton commented that when the City talked about Visioning, they had talked about building closer to the road, constructing buildings on the property frontage with parking in the rear. She asked as the city creates its vision, i.e. downtown area, how the people were going to be transported. Lamar Russell advised that in other places he visits, he parks in a municipal lot and walks or takes a cab wherever he needs to go. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2010 Page 4 Barry Brown advised that the city's Comprehensive Plan was silent as to commercial uses, therefore no changes needed to be made. Kate Latorre, Assistant City Attorney, advised that this use was considered a "personal servicd'; therefore, would not require a Comprehensive Plan amendment. Beatrice McNeely advised that the city should also consider the use in the C-2 zoning district. Discussion was held regarding C-1 and M-1 zoning districts. Harry Pearson advised that the Board should have the opportunity to review and make recommendation on individual requests for the use. He was in favor of the use by special exception rather than a principal use. Leo Nicholas, citizen, advised that the city code already allows outside parking and storage areas in the C-2 zoning district with certain criteria that must be met. He suggested that the Board consider that criteria when considering allowing commercial parking facilities. He commented that the use would be good in both C-1 and C-2. He suggested the Board also consider the use by special exception, because they can consider the economic situation and individual taxable land value on a parking lot, as opposed to if a building was erected on the property. Donald Dunn advised that he reviewed the city's final visioning report and found no indication for a need for commercial parking. He noted that a parking lot would not employ many people or have much business income, compared to a building. He commented that a parking garage would be ideal in the M-1 zoning district. Ron Friedman commented regarding how commercial parking lots could be advantages to nearby commercial businesses and gave an example of how a business could have employees park in a nearby parking lot, thereby keeping on-site parking open for customers. Lamar Russell summarized the Boards discussion and comments. He voiced a concern regarding changing the code to allow the use before the city's visioning and rezoning is completed. Barry Brown explained that city was preparing the `Strategic Plarf, which will help guide future planning, as well as budgeting. He further explained that the Strategic Plan is being created by combining the 2007 Redevelopment Plan, recommendations from the Visioning, and the Economic Development Action Plan. But, this does not mean that the City will not be moving forward with customer requests. The Board members held discussion regarding the need for short-term and long- term parking. Lamar Russell commented that already along A1A, parking is located in the front, and that was only going to change over a long period of time. He explained that the only chance the city has on enacting the vision is to start in places that don't have that situation, such as vacant lots. Joyce Hamilton, citizen, asked if Mr. Porter planned on transporting his customers to their destinations. Lamar Russell responded that whatever Mr. Porter does on his property will serve only a local area and not the entire city. He advised that parking lots will need to be provided to create development opportunities for narrow properties along Al A. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2010 Page 5 Lamar Russell asked the Board members to consider allowing parking areas by special exception or principal use. He noted that if they were allowed by special exception, they could consider each request individually and impose conditions or not, and regulate distances similar to the rental vehicle facilities. John Porter commented that from a business standpoint, a special exception would actually be better, because it is a barrier entry from competitors coming into the market. He advised that one way to accelerate the city's vision to get A1A where the city wants it to be is to lead by example. The city can start on the public right of ways, set up facade with improvements and redevelopment grants to accelerate some of the things that would peak the interest of property owners and business owners to upgrade the looks of their properties. David Schirtzinger, citizen, advised that during the visioning workshops the public seemed to like the parking areas in Winter Park, which were located behind the buildings. They also liked the looks of the parking garages in Boca Raton. He was concerned about what was going to be done along A1A. He commented that what is done should support the residents and not necessarily the Port. The city has already allowed vehicle rental facilities which support the Port, more so than the residents. He advised that the parking problems he sees are at the beach end streets during the summer time, and existing vehicle rental facilities parking overflow on the grass. He commented that in Cocoa Beach parking facilities are located on the east side of A1A a block from the beach. He did not believe that there was currently a need for parking on the west side of A1A. He did not know if the hotels were breaking any codes or laws by allowing their customers to park their vehicles for long periods of time. John Porter advised that per the city code, a hotel must have so many parking spaces for the number of rooms. When they allow people to come there, rent a room, than leave their vehicle at the hotel while they take a cruise is double-dipping. He advised that there is a need for parking right now. The city would be serving a tax -payer and resident of Cape Canaveral by allowing him to use his commercial property, located along Al A, for a commercial parking facility. Following discussion, by consensus of the Board members, agreed to have Kate Latorre, Assistant City Attorney and Barry Brown, Planning & Development Director work together to draft an ordinance allowing commercial parking in the C-1 and C-2 zoning districts by special exception, to include: criteria for distance, adequate buffering along A1A, enhanced landscaping, consider parking in the rear, possibly incorporating requirements similar to vehicle rental facilities. Also, consider parking garages in M-1. Lamar Russell asked that they also incorporate the use into the visioning. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2010 Page 6 Barry Brown advised that staff would attempt to have the draft ordinance ready for the Board for review by the April 28th meeting. Once the Board makes it recommendation, the ordinance would then have two readings by City Council for adoption. He explained that if the ordinance is adopted for the use by special exception, then Mr. Porter would be back before the Board with a special exception request. OPEN DISCUSSION Donald Dunn asked when the Board would be considering adult care facilities. Barry Brown, Planning & Development Director, advised that the "issue was brought up by one City Council member, after a lengthy discussion about child care. He gave a list of his priorities, including: creating CRA districts, Ear Based Amendments, and creating mixed-use land development regulations. He noted that the city could not make any changes to the Comprehensive Plan until the Ear Based Amendments are adopted. Donald Dunn requested that adult care facilities be placed on a future agenda for discussion. Discussion was held regarding Hometown Democracy Amendment #4. Motion by Harry Pearson, seconded by Bea McNeely, to adjourn the meeting at 8:58 p.m. Lamar airperson Susan L. Chapman, Secretary