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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP & Z DRAFT Meeting Minutes - May 26, 2010PLANNING & ZONING BOARD MEETING MINUTES MAY 26, 2010 A Regular Meeting of the Planning & Zoning Board was held on May 26, 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 John Johanson Ron Friedman OTHERS PRESENT Susan Chapman Kate Latorre Robert Hoog Barry Brown NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Vice Chairperson 1St Alternate 2nd Alternate Secretary Assistant City Attorney Council Member Planning & Development Director 1. Approval of Meeting Minutes: May 12, 2010. Motion by Bea McNeely, seconded by Harry Pearson, to approve the meeting minutes of May 12, 2010. Vote on the motion carried unanimously. 2. Continued Discussion & Recommendation to City Council Re: Proposed Ordinance Amending Section 110-557, to Allow Commercial Parking Facilities by Special Exception in the C-1. M-1 and C-2 Zoning Districts Ctabled at previous meeting). Barry Brown, Planning & Development Director, gave an overview of the agenda item and staff report. He advised that he gave this request a considerable amount of deliberation and concluded that this is an appropriate use given the right location, adequate buffering and screening, and the ability to limit the number of commercial parking facilities. He believed that the economics of paving and providing stormwater will preclude most people from converting their vacant land into commercial parking facilities. The advised the use should be allowed in C-1, C-2 & M-1, but was not supporting any parking garages at this time. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes May 26, 2010 Page 2 Discussion was held regarding hours of operation. Following discussion, the Board members agreed that hours of operation should be flexible. Discussion was held regarding provisions for security. Following brief discussion, it was determined that provisions could be added to individual special exceptions as needed. Discussion was held regarding the need for parking. Bea McNeely commented that she recognized the need for parking and believed the ordinance criterion was adequate. Discussion was held regarding distance requirements between like establishments. Barry Brown advised that 1/3 mile was the distance requirement for vehicle rental facilities. Bea McNeely suggested that the distance criteria for commercial parking be changed to 1/2 mile to create more space between them. Donald Dunn advised that he would not support adding car lots on AIA, because they would not help or improve the look of the city. He commented that they should only be allowed in the M-1 zoning district. Ron Friedman disagreed. He believed that there was a need, in addition to Izzy's Restaurant. He pointed out that one of the car rental facilities was allowed a maximum of 28 vehicles and he recently counted 43 vehicles. He advised that another car rental facility parks vehicle overflow on the grass right up to the sidewalk. He explained that since part of the "vision" is to have people to come and walk around town to restaurants and shops, things the city does not have now, they will all need parking. He agreed with Mr. Porter that it is a reasonable request in our present economic times to get something out of the land now in terms of return, and when the economics get better the property owners will want to do something different with their land. John Johanson agreed that there is a need for parking for different reasons. He explained that on the south end of town, from the triangle south, there is a need for the restaurants and stores; however the north end appeared not to have the same need. He advised that new parking facilities would need to be built to current code, as there is no grandfathering, because the use as it stood now did not exist. He voiced his opinion that this issue needed to be addressed at the same time as the visioning so it is uniform with the "vision". He commented that if the open properties along the north end of the city were allowed to have commercial parking it would be a huge mistake. He wanted the distance requirement to be 1/3 of a mile south of the AIA split only, and no distance condition for the north end. John Fredrickson advised that he has lived in the city for 19 yrs. This morning he drove from the north end of the city to the south end and looked at what his town has to offer. He advised that along A1A, there are two carpet stores, three car washes, three hotels, four gas stations, five car rental facilities who over park their lots, and do what they want. If they are a forewarning of future parking lots then he wanted no part of it. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes May 26, 2010 Page 3 r John Fredrickson continued to explain that there are at least 17 vacant lots, two outside entertainment places, Fairvilla, and a few nice buildings. When he turned around at the south end of the city and came back, he did not see a town that he would like to live in. There is nothing to recommend Cape Canaveral on the basis of driving in from the north, from route 528 south through the City. He noted that the City paid $35,000 for the visioning to find out how the City can improve and be something. We haven't even had a chance to implement the "vision", and the requests are already coming through for parking lots. Harry Pearson voiced his opinion that there was no need for a minimum separation between commercial parking lots. He commented that a 15 ft. buffer was excessive. Barry Brown commented that a 15 ft. buffer was not excessive; and along A1A 15 ft. should be considered a minimum. Discussion was held regarding the legal standing of the city's visioning. Chairperson Russell advised that if the Board makes a favorable or adverse decision based on the visioning, it will have no legal standing. The only legal standing that the members can base their decision on is the existing Comprehensive Plan and the existing zoning code. He commented that the Board has spent a lot of time on the visioning process, and everyone is worried about how commercial parking would fit in to the vision. It was unknown how commercial parking would compliment or mess-up the coming visioning. He advised that the vision is a facilitating plan and has no legal standing. Kate Latorre, Assistant City Attorney, explained that the visioning plan does not have the force of law. It's a planning tool and an impetus to start adopting Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code amendments to the code so the City can obtain these things that have been included in the visioning. She did not see anything wrong with looking at the visioning for purposes in analyzing this proposed amendment to the code, it may or may not be relevant. It should be used as a guide to the portions that are appropriate. She noted that in reviewing the application the Board should be looking at from a planning and zoning perspective. He stated that the saying "build them and they will come" is nonsense, because there is nothing here for them to see. Chairperson Russell concluded that an ordinance for commercial parking was premature. Discussion continued. John Porter, applicant, advised that most of his points had already been made at previous meetings. He commented that most of the five City Council members supported paid parking at the beach ends and this request may weigh-in favorably, for the simple reason that if the City wants to do it, the taxpaying citizens should have that same opportunity. He advised that the many existing large parking lots on A1A are not well buffered or attractive, because they were installed so long ago, that none of the current City code applied back then. Planning & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes May 26, 2010 Page 4 John Porter continued to advise that his parking lot would be heavily buffered, landscaped, and virtually unseen from A1A. He had no intention to get a special exception to enhance the resale value of the property. He planned to cash flow the property and keeps it long term. He commented that if they don't approve the ordinance the City is going to have more of what it already has right now. There is parking all around town which is a code enforcement issue, and there is natural pressure on existing infrastructure for more parking. Leo Nicholas, citizen, commented regarding the commercial parking that the City already has at this time. Specifically, the hotels on the north end. It either should be legalized or addressed by code enforcement for violation of the City code. The 800 lb. gorilla already exists. Joyce Hamilton, citizen, advised that she has traveled up and down A1A and has witnessed cars parked on the grass areas. She believed that there is a need for parking, not necessarily on A1A. She advised that one of the problems would be transporting the people once they park their vehicles. At 8:20 p.m. Chairperson Russell called for a five minutes recess. The meeting reconvened at 8:26 p.m. Chairperson Russell reviewed the special exception conditions. He advised that 1/3 of a mile would be changed to 1/2 mile, as suggested. Delete #9 - hours of operation. Discussion followed. Motion by Lamar Russell, seconded by Donald Dunn, to recommend that the City Council disapprove the ordinance to authorize paid commercial parking facilities by special exception. Vote carried by a 4 to 1 vote with members voting as follows: Donald Dunn, for; John Fredrickson, for; Bea McNeely, against; Harry Pearson, for; Lamar Russell, for. Donald Dunn asked when a vehicle is considered storage. Kate Latorre responded that the City code does not address that, and it would be a business by business decision. OPEN DISCUSSION No open discussion was held. Motion by Lamar Russell, seconded by Donald Dunn, to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m.